“And so,” exclaimed Tom, “this fine magic gallery turns out to be nothing more than a box full of rusty halfpence!” “I am sure,” said Louisa, “it was quite unnecessary to have engaged Cerberus as a sentinel over such rubbish.” “Hush!” cried the vicar; “you talk like one not initiated in the mysteries of enchantment: have you not read, that under its spells the meanest objects have assumed forms of splendour and magnificence?” [8] “Like the fabled touch of the Phrygian monarch,” said Mrs. Seymour, “which we are told transmuted the meanest materials into gold.” “In like manner, then, may treasures of the greatest value appear to ordinary eyes as mean and worthless.” “This cabinet,” continued Mr. Twaddleton, “is under the influence of a potent magician; by the touch of her wand, it would become irradiated as with celestial light, and these rusty coins would be transformed into all those various objects of interest and delight which I had promised to show you.” Tom and Louisa looked at the coins, then at the vicar, and afterwards at Mr. Seymour, to whom they cast an enquiring glance. “Then pray,” exclaimed Tom, “wave this mighty wand of your enchantress, and fulfil your promise.” “The enchantress,” replied the vicar, “is not disposed to grant her favours to those by whom she has not been propitiated.” “And what ceremony does she require?” enquired Louisa. “The perusal of sundry mystic volumes; and the consumption of a midnight lamp at her altar,” replied the vicar. “Do you not comprehend the allegory?” said Mr. Seymour. “The enchanted gallery is no other than a collection of antique medals;--the potent enchantress, ERUDITION, or that classical learning, without which they appear of less value than so many rusty halfpence.” “You are right,” cried Mr. Twaddleton: “the poetical import of a device can be alone felt and appreciated by those who are acquainted with the classical subjects to which it alludes; for, as Addison forcibly observes, there is often as much thought on the reverse of a medal as in a canto of Spenser; besides, how frequently do you meet with hints and suggestions in an ancient poet, that give a complete illustration to the actions, ornaments, and antiquities which are found on coins!--In short, the person who examines a collection of medals, without a competent knowledge of the classics, is like him who would explore a subterranean cavern without the aid of a torch.” “I have already learned one fact,” said Louisa, “with which I was certainly unacquainted; that the ancients possessed a much greater variety of money than modern nations.” (6)