tian, Sir
Thomas Lawrence, Correggio and Salvator Rosa.

The vast library was encircled by lofty bookcases of walnut and ebony,
filled with rare and costly volumes from the curiously illuminated
missals of monkish days to the latest scientific works, together with a
liberal sprinkling of poetry and fiction; upon tables, stands and
mantels were superb ornaments in brass repousse work and grand old
faience, including some wonderful specimens of ancient Chinese crackle
ware, the peculiar secret of the manufacture of which had been lost in
the flight of ages.

At an exquisite desk of walnut, carved with grotesque images, sat the
Count of Monte-Cristo; he was busily engaged in writing, and beside him
lay a huge pile of manuscript that was ever and anon augmented by an
additional sheet, hastily scrawled in strange, bewildering Semitic
characters.

The Count showed but small trace of the passage of years; he did not
look much older than when he left the Isle of Monte-Cristo with Haydee
on that voyage which was destined to result so disastrously for the
Alcyon and her ill-fated crew. To be sure, his hair was slightly flecked
with gray, but his visage still retained its full outline, and not a
wrinkle marred its masculine beauty. He was clad in an exceedingly
picturesque costume, half Greek and half Turkish, while upon his head
was a red fez from the centre of which hung down a gilt tassel.

As he wrote his eyes sparkled and he seemed filled with enthusiasm. At
length he threw aside his pen, and rising began to pace the vast
apartment with long strides. "Alas!" he muttered, "perhaps after all I
am only a vain dreamer, as hosts of others have been before me. But no,
my scheme is feasible and cannot fail; it is based on sound principles
and a thorough knowledge of mankind; besides, the immense wealth that an
all-wise God has placed at my disposal will aid me and form a mighty
factor in the cause. In the past I used that wealth solely for my own
selfish ends, but now all is different; I have no thought of self--the
philanthropist has replaced the egotist; I have aided the poor, relieved
the stricken and brought joy to many a sorrowing home, but hitherto I
have acted only in isolated cases; now I meditate a grand, a sublime
stroke--to give freedom to man throughout the entire length and breadth
of the Continent of Europe. If I succeed, and succeed I must, every
down-trodden human being from the coast of France to the Ural Mounta