Dionysius.—­Of those not likely to suit the Seville market, Kyrie; books of sterling and intrinsic value; many of them in ancient Greek, which I picked up upon the dissolution of the convents, when the contents of the libraries were hurled into the courtyards, and there sold by the arrobe.  I thought at first that I was about to make a fortune, and in fact my books would be so in any other place; but here I have offered an Elzevir for half a dollar in vain.  I should starve were it not for the strangers who occasionally purchase of me.

Myself.—­Seville is a large cathedral city, abounding with priests and canons; surely one of these occasionally visit you to make purchases of classic works, and books connected with ecclesiastical literature.

Dionysius.—­If you think so, Kyrie, you know little respecting the ecclesiastics of Seville.  I am acquainted with many of them, and can assure you that a tribe of beings can scarcely be found with a more confirmed aversion to intellectual pursuits of every kind.  Their reading is confined to newspapers, which they take up in the hope of seeing that their friend Don Carlos is at length reinstated at Madrid; but they prefer their chocolate and biscuits, and nap before dinner, to the wisdom of Plato and the eloquence of Tully.  They occasionally visit me, but it is only to pass away a heavy hour in chattering nonsense.  Once on a time, three of them came, in the hope of making me a convert to their Latin superstition.  “Signior Donatio,” said they, (for so they called me,) “how is it that an unprejudiced person like yourself, a man really with some pretension to knowledge, can still cling to this absurd religion of yours?  Surely, after having resided so many years in a civilised country like this of Spain, it is high time to abandon your half-pagan form of worship, and to enter the bosom of the church; now pray be advised, and you shall be none the worse for it.”  “Thank you, gentlemen,” I replied, “for the interest you take in my welfare; I am always open to conviction; let us proceed to discuss the subject.  What are the points of my religion which do not meet your approbation?  You are of course well acquainted with all our dogmas and ceremonies.”  “We know nothing about your religion, Signior Donatio, save that it is a very absurd one, and therefore it is incumbent upon you, as an unprejudiced and well-informed man, to renounce it.”  “But, gentlemen, if you know nothing of my religion, why call it absurd?  Surely it is not the part of unprejudiced people to disparage that of which they are ignorant.”  “But, Signior Donatio, it is not the Catholic Apostolic Roman religion, is it?” “It may be, gentlemen, for what you appear to know of it; for your information, however, I will tell you that it is not; it is the Greek Apostolic religion.  I do not call it catholic, for it is absurd to call that catholic which is not universally acknowledged.”  “But, Signior Donatio, does not the matter