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industry is wasted in vain and foolish pursuits, while the respectable independence of middle life is fast becoming a sort of debatable ground, where no one cares to dwell.

Many usher themselves into spheres in which nonsense has a decided preference over instructive conversation or healthy employments. To behold the forwardness of youths, and the manner in which they are encouraged by parents, who should avoid, not covet, the materials of folly, is really melancholy.

Fortune forbid that society should, in future, be obliged to obey the dictates of those who have been destitute, in the most interesting period of life, of even a common acquaintance with domestic etiquette, and deficient, also, in those virtues which are the unmistakable soothsayers of a useful career.

To the well-informed citizen, who has been accustomed to mingle with families possessing modesty and intelligence, and found it a source of pleasure to chat with their offspring, the

presence of such would be afflictive in the extreme. In truth, they would be fortunate to escape a sound rebuke, and equally so to be for a moment entertained. They are not ambitious enough to learn true wisdom, nor sensible of the fact, that though not visibly under the control, yet they are actually at the mercy of others.

By observing the faults of associates, wise men, we are told, correct their own; but when a young man is determined to practice errors for the sake of appearing bold or free from harm, of being conspicuous, or earning a name, he must be lost to proper reflection, and will soon subside into a monument of worldly folly and self-conceit.

His own acts will deprive him of many privileges, and the time may come when he may wish that, like Marcus Aurelius, he could thank the gods for two things especially, for his having had excellent tutors for himself, and that he had found the like for his children.

BEAUTY COMETH FROM DARKNESS.

A FABLE.

BY C. D. STUART.

A FAIR white lily sat upon her throne in a summer bower. When the morning came, in its golden chariot, she saluted its brightness with divinest odors. The lily was beautiful to behold-she seemed the spirit of a saintly meekness and purity. The proud and the humble of earth looked upon her with equal delight, and to all she wore a blush suffused with fragrance. She was called the type of innocence, virtue, and humility. She was a blossom of light. But in the heart of this fair white lily was a seed of pride. The homage paid to her beauty made her vain among the flowers. She tossed her head, with scorn high above the gentle daisies and violets, and said to the red-lipped virgin rose, "I am more beautiful than thou." The soft, shining dew, crept into her heart at night, thinking it sweet to sleep and dream on such a couch, but she cast it rudely aside. "I am of the day," she said, "and will have naught to do with darkness." On the reeds and grass, the drops of shaken dew lay quivering under the lily's scornful glance. In the morning the sun's rays caught them up to heaven, and they said, "We will not visit the proud lily again." The days were beautiful. The skies, without cloud, poured a fiery glow over the

But

earth. The nights were beautiful. Moon and stars went on their dazzling courses. where the lily sat upon her throne, the air was dry and hard. The dew had forsaken the lily. Her lips grew parched, and her cheeks shriveled, and she wept, not in sorrow, but for vexation. "My beauty is fading," was her cry. "I am athirst-the day blinds me, and the sun drinks up my life." Then she saw the rose she had disdained, dewy in the morning, and fresh and beautiful. And the violets and daisies, sleeping in the grass, were lovely as ever. Then she saw her punishment, and besought the dew to return. But it was too late. In the darkness, as she gasped for life, she saw on rose and violets soft, shining eyes; eyes of the spirits of the night, which bring the nectar of heaven to the hearts of wearied flowers. They were dewdrops, and she heard the zephyrs singing above them, "Behold these, too, are ministers and messengers of God, without which the flowers cannot live." Then remorse shook the heart of the lily, and, falling upon her throne, she murmured, with the voice of death, "Accursed be the pride which knew not that, often, 'Beauty cometh from darkness.'"

THE STORY OF THE TWO PRINCES.

AN ARABIAN LEGEND.

BY MRS. H

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IN ancient gating the case, to slay them with his own times, there hand. But an officer of his household just dwelt in the then entering to salute him, seeing him so agiEast a great tated, inquired the cause of his trouble, when king, who had the king told him all that had been done (as two sons, famed he supposed) by his sons, and he declared he for their beauty would put them to death in the most shameful and loveliness. and ignominious manner, and the officer, seeing They had been the enormity of the offence, replied, reared with "Right and just would be the deed, oh magnificence king, but they are thy sons, and it would not and tenderness, be proper to kill them with thine own hand, and instructed for in so doing thou wouldst taste of their anin all the accom-guish; but send them, with one of thy officers, plishments and into some desert place, that he may kill them general science of the times in which they lived. when they are absent from thine eye." They had attained the age of seventeen years, when it became necessary for the king to travel to a distant country. He called his counselors and officers together, and, in their presence, he invested his sons, Amjad and Asad, with the sovereignty of his kingdom, and commanded his subjects to obey them in all things as himself. He then took leave of them and departed. Now it so happened that two ladies in the king's palace, on whom he had set his affections, were enamored of the two princes, and had long hoped they would return their love; but they were too noble, and loved their father too well to do anything contrary to his will, and the ladies, seeing the cold manner of the princes, despaired of ever becoming their wives; so they resolved to be revenged upon them for thus slighting their love. They determined to invent a story to tell the father upon his return, which their knowledge of the jealous disposition of the king, assured them would have the effect of banishing the princes from the kingdom, and probably taking their lives.

They were consulting together, when they were told the king had arrived; they hastened to him, without delay, and telling their artful and cruel story, so enraged the king against his sons, that he determined, without investi

Then the king called his treasurer, an old man, experienced in the management of affairs, and he said, "Go to my two sons, bind them, and take them into the desert, and slay them, and bring me two bottles of their blood, with their garments, in proof of their death." And he answered, "I hear and obey." So he went to seek the princes, and met them coming from their apartments, clad in their richest apparel, for the purpose of visiting their father, to render up their authority, and congratulate him on his safe return; and the treasurer laid hold of them, saying, "Oh, dear princes, I am a slave under command, and thy father hath given me an order concerning thee: will ye obey his command ?" They answered, "We will." And he bound them, and placed them on the back of a mule, and went forth with them from the city. He traveled with them over the desert until near night, when he alighted from his horse, and took from the back of the mule the two princes, and he wept on contemplating their youth and loveliness, and he cried, "Oh, my lords, it is very painful to me to do this dreadful deed unto you, but I am commanded by the king to strike off your heads." And they replied, "We are guiltless, but do thou as the king hath commanded; we forgive thee the shedding of our

blood." And they embraced, and bade each great mountain, the further extremity of which other farewell.

Amjad conjured the treasurer to kill him before his brother, but Asad cried, "Not so; let me not drink of the anguish of my brother's death; slay me first." Then Amjad said, "Do thou embrace me, and I will embrace thee; then the sword will fall upon us both, and kill us at one blow;" and they embraced face to face. The treasurer bound them, and he wept; while he did so, he drew his sword, and was about to strike. But, lo! his horse started away in fright over the desert; he was worth a thousand pieces of gold, and the saddle was of great price. So he threw his sword from him, and ran after the horse, and he continued running until he entered a forest. Now there was in the forest a dreadful lion; his voice was like the thunder, and his form was terrible to behold. The officer saw this lion approaching, and he found no way of escape: having thrown away his sword, he endeavored to defend himself, as well as he could, with a club of wood; but the lion sprang upon him before he had time to use it, and he was dashed to the earth by the enraged animal, where he lay expect ing death every moment. Just then he saw the princes enter the forest; he cried to them for help. Amjad, hearing him, flew towards him, and rushing upon the lion, slew him with the sword that had been intended as an instrument of his own death.

The treasurer, being thus delivered from a dreadful death, fell upon his knees to the princes, and cried, "Oh, my lords, it were not just that I should kill you; may he who would do so cease to exist; with my soul I will ransom you ;" and he embraced them, and thanked them for what they had done for him. And they went out of the forest together, and the princes inquired of him if he intended to fulfill their father's command, and he replied, "God forbid that I should do thee any injury. Know, however, that I desire to take off your clothes, and to clothe you with mine, and fill these two bottles with the blood of this lion, after which I will go to the king, and tell him I have killed you. Then do ye travel to other countries; for God's earth is wide." They did as he commanded them, and the treasurer returned to the king.

The princes proceeded over the desert, their food the herbs of the earth, and their drink the remains of the rain. while the other slept. for the space of a month,

At night, one watched Thus they continued until they came to a

was unknown; yet they ascended, and continued ascending five days, but saw no end to it, and they were overcome with fatigue. Asad said to his brother, "I can go no further." Amjad endeavored to cheer him, and they proceeded on until night overtook them, when Asad fell, unable to walk further. His brother took him in his arms, walking awhile and sitting awhile to rest, until daybreak gleamed, and ascending a little further, they found a spring gushing forth, and by it was a pomegranate-tree, and a niche for prayer. They seated themselves by the fountain, and drank of the water, and ate of the fruit; they then slept until the sun rose, when they arose and washed themselves, and repeated their prayers. Thus they continued three days by the fountain, resting from their fatigue, after which they continued many days their journey over the mountain, until a city appeared before them at a great distance, and they rejoiced when they saw it; and as they drew near to it, Amjad said to Asad, "Stay thou here, while I go to the city, to see what kind of a place it is, and inquire concerning its affairs." But Asad determined to go to the city himself; he took with him some pieces of money, and left his brother to wait for his return, and he walked on, without stopping, until he entered the city. And as he passed through its streets, there met him an old man; his beard descended over his breast; he was clad in rich garments, and on his head was a large turban. So when Asad saw him, he wondered at his appearance; and, advancing towards him, he saluted him, and said, "Which is the. to the market, O my master?" The old man, on hearing his words, smiled and said, "My son, thou seemest to be a stranger; what dost thou desire from the market?" And Asad answered, "I have a brother, whom I have left on the mountain; we are journeying from a distant country; we have been on the way a long time, and I wish to buy food, and return with it to my brother." And the old man told him to go with him to his house, and he would give him food for his brother, and acquaint him with the affairs of the city. And Asad said, "I will go ;" and the old man took him by the hand, and walked on with him until he entered a magnificent house, and he conducted him into a saloon, and in this saloon were many old men, arranged in a ring, with a fire in the midst of them, and they were sitting around it, worshiping it, and prostrating themselves

way

before it. And when Asad saw them, he was in terror, though he knew not their history.

Then the old man said to this company, "Osheykhs of the Fire, blessed is this day;" and he called loudly, whereupon there came forth a black slave, and he made a sign to him, upon which he bound Asad; and the old man said, "Take him into the subterranean chamber, and say to the slave-girl, torture him by night and by day, until the period of the voyage to the mountain of fire, when we will sacrifice him on the mountain." Accordingly, the slave took him to the chamber, and delivered him to the girl, who entered upon her office of torture; she beat him until he fainted; then she threw him a cake of bread, and left a cup of salt water, after which she went away from him, and left him, with the blood flowing from his limbs, chained and in solitude.

Meanwhile, his brother remained, expecting him till mid-day, and when he returned not, he wept, fearing some evil had befallen him. Then he descended the mountain, and entered the city; he walked on until he arrived at the market, when he inquired the name of the city, and respecting its inhabitants; and they told him it was called the City of the Magians, and its inhabitants (mostly) worshipers of fire, instead of God. He then bought food, and sat down to eat, but remembering his brother, he wept, and he arose and walked about the city to obtain tidings of him. And he found a Muslim, a tailor, in his shop, and related to him his story. And the tailor told him if he had fallen into the hands of the Magians he would not see him again without difficulty; and he tried to console him, and invited him to lodge with him. And Amjad remained with him many days, and he taught him the art of sewing.

Now one day, desiring recreation, he bathed, and dressed himself, and went forth into the city, and he met in his way a young girl, endowed with beauty and loveliness, and he was moved with affection for her, and walking by the side of her, he entered into conversation, and asked permission to visit at her abode; and she replied, "Not so, but I will go with thee." And he was ashamed to take her to the house of the friend with whom he lived, seeing it was a poor place. And he walked on with her from street to street until she was tired, and she said to him, "Where is thy house?" and he answered her, "There remaineth now but a short distance;" and he

turned aside into a handsome street, and looking towards the further end of it, he beheld a beautiful house, but when he came to it he found the door was locked, and he sat down upon one of the seats by the side of the door, and the damsel seated herself on the other, and said to him, "For what art thou waiting?" Upon this he hung down his head, but after a while he raised it, and answered her, "I am waiting for my memlook; for he hath the key, and I bade him prepare the food and flowers, and the wine, by the time that I returned from the bath." He said within himself, probably the time will seem tedious to her, and she will go away and leave me here. But when the time seemed long to her, she said to him, "Thy memlook is slow in returning, and we are sitting in the street." And she arose and approached the lock with a stone, and striking the lock, she broke it, and the door opened. And the prince said to her, "What possessed thee to do this?" And she answered, “Oh, my master, is not this thy house?" He said, "Yes; but there was no necessity for breaking the lock." Then she said to him, “Wherefore dost thou not enter?" He answered, “The memlook hath been slow in returning, and I know not that he hath done anything of what I ordered him." He then entered with her into the house, and he found in it a handsome saloon, furnished with stuffs of silk, and brocade, and in the midst of it a fountain of costly construction, and around it were arranged dishes set with jewels, filled with fruits and sweet-scented flowers. The place was full of precious goods, and attested the great wealth of the owner.

Amjad was in perplexity and terror, fearing the owner would return and kill him for thus making free with his house. But the damsel was filled with joy when she saw the magnificence of the place, and she said to the prince,

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Thy memlook hath not failed in the performance of his task; for he hath swept the place, and prepared the food and the fruit;" and she took a table, and set the food upon it, and ate, and said, "Eat, my master." So he advanced to eat, but the doing so gave him no pleasure. Then she brought the dried fruit and the wine, and she filled a cup, and gave it to the Prince, and he took it, saying to himself, "Ah! what shall I do when the owner cometh, and seeth me?" His eyes were directed toward the entrance, and the cup was in his hand, when lo! the owner of the house came. He was one of the grandees of the

city for he was the king's chief Equery; and he had fitted up this house, to retire to when he wished to throw off the cares of state, and enjoy the society of those he loved. He was a person of great generosity and beneficence. When he found the door of his house open he was surprised, so he entered carefully, and he beheld the prince and the damsel, with the dish of fruit and the wine service before them, and Amjad was holding the wine-cup, with his eye toward the door, and when he saw the owner of the house he trembled. And when Bahadir saw that he trembled, he made a sign to him to be silent, and come to him. So the prince arose to go to him. The damsel said, "Whither goest thou?" and telling her he would be absent but a moment, he went forth to Bahadir, for he knew he was the master of the house, and when he came to him he kissed his hands, and said, "I conjure thee, before thou do me any injury, to hear my words."

Then he told him his story, from the time he left his country, and of his royal state, and assuring him he did not enter the house by his own choice, but the damsel had broken the lock and opened the door. When Bahàdir heard his words, and knew he was the son of a king, he pitied him, and said, "Amjad, hear my words, and obey me, and I will guarantee thy safety; but if thou disobey me I will kill thee." So Amjad replied, "Command me; I will never disobey thee; for I owe my life to thy humanity." And Bahadir said, "Enter again the saloon, and be at peace, and presently I will come to thee as thy memlook, and when I have come, abuse, and revile, and beat me, and accept no excuse, and if thou show pity I will take away thy life, and whatever thou desirest, command me to get it for thee immediately. So pass this day, and to-morrow thou canst go away. Thus wilt thou be saved the shame of acknowledging thou hast entered another's house." Amjad kissed his hand, and entered again. His face was now smiling, and he was easy and graceful in his manner to the damsel, and she was astonished, and asked him the cause of the change. And he answered, "I believed that my memlook had taken from me some necklaces of jewels, each of which was worth ten thousand pieces of gold and I went out, reflecting upon this, and searched for them, and found them in their place, and I am happy. But I know not why my memlook remaineth away until now, but when he comes I will punish him.”

And while he was speaking, Bahàdir came

in, dressed as a memlook, and having kissed the ground, he crossed his hands, and hung his head, as one acknowledging guilt. Amjad looked at him with anger, and said, "What is the meaning of thy delay, thou unfaithful memlook ?" And he answered, "Oh, master, forgive me, I was washing my clothes, and knew not thou hadst returned." "But," said Amjad, "I must punish thee," and he threw him upon the ground, and beat him gently. But the damsel arose, and taking the stick from him, inflicted upon Bahàdir so severe a beating that the tears flowed. Then the prince took the stick from her, and pushed her away. So Bahadir arose, and having wiped away his tears, stood waiting upon them. After which, he swept the saloon, and lighted the lamps, but as often as he came in the damsel reviled him. And Amjad said to her, "Say no more to my memlook, he is not accustomed to such treatment." And they continued eating and drinking; and Bahadir waited on them until near midnight, when he became so fatigued with the waiting and the beating that he fell asleep. The damsel now said to Amjad, “Arise, and kill this memlook, and if thou do it not I will kill thee, for I will not be content unless he is put to death." And the prince asked her, "What hath my memlook done, that thou desireth his death?" And she answered, "He is insolent, and if thou do it not, will myself arise and kill him.” And she drew the sword to strike. And the prince said to himself, "This man hath acted kindly by me, and treated me with beneficence; shall I return evil for good? Never shall it be done." He then turned to the damsel, and said, "If the killing of my memlook is indispensable, I am more fit to kill him than thou?" And he took the sword from her, and raised his hand, and struck the damsel upon her neck, severing the head from the body.

Then Bahadir awoke with the noise, and he sat up, and he saw Amjad standing with the sword in his hand, and the damsel slain, and he inquired the meaning of her death. Then the prince repeated her words, and said, "She refused to do anything but kill thee, and this is her recompense." Upon this, Bahàdir rose and kissed Amjad, and thanked him. He then took the body and wrapped it in a cloak, and put it in a basket of palm leaves, saying to Amjad, “Thou art a stranger, and knoweth not the ways of the place, therefore stay thou here, and expect me back at sunrise. If I return not at that time, know that God's de

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