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news, and bring him to me. The monarch ordered him to be clothed with a robe of honor, presented him with ten horses, ten mules, and ten camels out of his own stables. He added a purse of sequins for the expense of his journey, and gave him a letter of recommendation to the governor of Damascus.

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LESSON ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-FIFTH.

The Snow Drop.

First born of youthful spring,

And nursed upon dark winter's chilly breast,
Where still thy drooping form delights to cling,
Wrapped in its snowy vest,

Come quit thy lovely bed!

A voice breathes softly through the dewy air,
That bids thee lift thine unaspiring head,
And claim a parent's care.

Spring hovers o'er thee now;

Her fostering breath shall wake thee into life.
No longer shall thy fragile bosom bow

As in the wintry strife.

Chill was the wintry blast

That ushered into life thy pallid form;

But still a mother's robe was o'er thee cast,
To shield thee from the storm.

She gave her vernal dye

To tinge thy bosom in its snowy pride,
And make thee lovely to the gazer's eye,
With winter at thy side.

Like hope within the breast,

That blossoms even in affliction's hour;
Thou comest in thy vernal beauty dressed,
Ere storms have ceased to lower.

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LESSON ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIXTH.

Affection and Duty.

A grocer of the city of Smyrna had a son, who, with the help of the little learning the country could afford, rose to the post of naib, or deputy of the cadi, and, as such, visited the markets, and inspected the weights and measures of all retail dealers. One day, as this officer was going his rounds, the neighbors, who knew enough of his father's character to suspect that he might stand in need of the caution, advised him to remove his weights; but the old cheat, trusting to his relationship to the inspector, laughed at their advice.

The naib, on coming to his shop, coolly said to him, "Good man, fetch out your weights, that we may examine them." Instead of obeying, the grocer endeavored to evade the order with a laugh; but was soon convinced that his son was serious, by his ordering the officers to search his shop. The instruments of his fraud were soon discovered; and, after an impartial examination, openly condemned and broken to pieces. He was also sentenced to a fine of fifty piastres, and to receive a bastinado of as many blows on the soles of his feet.

After this had been effected on the spot, the naib, leaping from his horse, threw himself at the feet of his father, and watering them with his tears, thus addressed him: "Father, I have discharged my duty to my God, my sovereign, and my country, as well as to the station I hold; permit me now, by my respect and submission, to acquit the debt I owe a parent. Jus

tice is blind; it is the power of God on earth; it has no regard to the ties of kindred. God and our neighbor's rights are above the ties of nature; you had offended against the laws of justice; you deserved this punishment, but I am sorry it was your fate to receive it from me. My conscience would not suffer me to act otherwise. Behave better for the future; and, instead of censuring me, pity my being reduced to so cruel a necessity."

So extraordinary an act of justice gained him the acclamations and praise of the whole city; and, a report of it reaching the sublime porte, the sultan advanced the naib to the post of cadi, and he soon after rose to the dignity of mufti.

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Blessings attend thee, little one!

Sweet pledge of mutual love!
On this new coast a stranger thrown,
Directed from above.

A father's fondness welcomes thee;
A mother's tender care
Bears on her breast thy infancy,
On love's soft pillow there.

pray the hand that hither led
Forever be thy guide—

Nor sorrows gather round thy head,
Nor dangers press thy side.

Live to reward thy parent's heart
For every kindness given;

And, when earth's transient scenes depart,
Rejoice with them in heaven.

LESSON ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-EIGHTH. Royal Magnanimity.

Long after the subversion of the western empire, the monarch of the East, it is known, retained sufficient power, if not to hold their barbarous enemies in awe, yet, for a long time, to repel their invasions. These were more frequent and more formidable at each succeeding effort, till, at last, they resulted in the establishment of the Ottoman empire in Europe. In the reign of Melek Shah, king of Persia, a singular instance of generosity occurred, which proves that, at the period when the Christian and infidel powers were struggling for the yet undetermined ascendency, the title by desert was not so clear as historians would have us imagine, nor the epithet "barbarian," in all things, justly bestowed upon the enemies of Christendom.

That prince, when young, having ascended the throne, resolved to secure the admiration of his subjects by some extraordinary act of military prowess. The usual resort, on such occasions, for the Mahomedan sovereigns, was ever the decaying power of Greece; and, accordingly, in the name of the mighty king, Melek Shah, of Persia, an exterminating war was denounced against the emperor of Constantinople, his tributaries, friends, and allies, which he was not slow in requiting with the preparations of a mighty force, that almost immediately appeared on the Persian frontiers. Several actions were fought, under the conduct of the most trusted commanders; and in these, though the issue was never decisive, the advantage remained always with the troops of the emperor.

But, at length, the day approached on which the two nations were to make trial of their strength; and the respective armies, headed by the sovereigns in

person, appeared on opposite sides of a broad river, which, rolling its mighty waters between, offered a secure barrier, to either army, from a sudden attack, and gave to both sufficient time for preparation against a regular assault,-in which, as neither party could cross so unexpectedly as to take his enemy by surprise, the defenders would have all the advantage of time and place, of retreat and pursuit.

Trusting to this natural defence, with the additional security of doubled guards, the young Shah resolved to indulge, perhaps from a boyish feeling of bravado, in his favorite exercise, the chase; and, confiding to his well tried vizier the charge of the army, accompanied by a few chosen attendants, he prepared, in simple huntsman's apparel, for his amusement. Engaged in the pursuit, he did not perceive that he had proceeded far beyond the limits enclosed by his army and guarded by his sentinels, till he found himself surrounded by a party of soldiers, whom he instantly discovered to be scouts of the enemy. Without revealing his rank, he enjoined secrecy to his followers, and prudently suffered himself to be conducted as a prisoner, since he had no force with which to resist a score of well armed opponents.

When the disastrous tidings were brought to the vizier, he published through the camp that the Shah was seriously ill, commanded the guard to be strengthened round the royal pavilion, and, thus completing the delusion of his own soldiers, prepared to put in execution a deeper scheme for the delusion of the Greek sovereign. He demanded a parley, crossed the river, and, being admitted into the presence of the imperial soldier, proposed, in the name of his master and lord, the mighty Shah, the light of the earth, and first born of the sun, peace with the emperor of Greece. To this proposal he added such terms as the emperor could not decline; and, they being accepted, the vizier prepared to depart for the final rati

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