East. The name of the eldest was Ibrahim, and
of the youngest Abdallah. They lived together
in such a perfect friendship, that to this day it
is said of intimate friends, that they live toge.
ther like Ibrahim and Abdallah. Helim had
an only child, who was a girl of a fine soul, and
a most beautiful person. Her father omitted
nothing in her education that might make her
the most accomplished woman of her age. As
the young princes were in a manger excluded
from the rest of the world, they frequently
conversed with this lovely virgin, who had been
brought up by her father in the same course of
knowledge and of virtue. Abdallah, whose
mind was of a softer turn than that of his
brother, grew by degrees so enamoured of her
conversation, that he did not think he lived
when he was not in company with his beloved
Balsora, for that was the name of the maid.
The fame of her beauty was so great, that at
length it came to the ears of the king, who
pretending to visit the young princes his sons,
demanded of Helim the sight of Balsora, his
fair daughter. The king was so inflamed with
her beauty and behaviour, that he sent for
Helim the next morning, and told him it was
now his design to recompense him for all his
faithful services; and that in order to it, he
intended to make his daughter queen of Persia.
Helim, who knew very well the fate of all those
unhappy women who had been thus advanced,
and could not but be privy to the secret love
which Abdallah bore his daughter, Far be
it,' says he, from the king of Persia to cou-
taminate the blood of the caliphs, and join
himself in marriage with the daughter of his
physician.' The king, however, was so impa-mily after they are dead, as well as to take care
tient for such a bride, that without hearing of them while they are yet living. The Black
any excuses, he immediately ordered Balsora Palace is so called from the colour of the build-
to be sent for into his presence, keeping the ing, which is all of the finest polished black
father with him, in order to make her sensible marble. There are always burning in it five
of the honour which he designed her. Balsora, thousand everlasting lamps. It has also a
who was too modest and humble to think her hundred folding doors of ebony, which are each
beauty had made such an impression on the of them watched day and night by a hundred
king, was a few moments after brought into negroes, who are to take care that nobody en-
his presence as he had commanded.
ters besides the governor.

It is the custom among the Persians, to convey in a private manner the bodies of all the royal family, a little after their death, into the Black Palace: which is the repository of all who are descended from the caliphs, or any way allied to them. The chief physician is always governor of the Black Palace; it being his office to embalm and preserve the holy fa

She appeared in the king's eye as one of the virgins of Paradise. But upon hearing the honour which he intended her, she fainted away, and fell down as'dead at his feet. Helim wept, and after having recovered her out of the trance into which she was fallen, represented to the king, that so unexpected an honour was too great to have been communicated to her all at once; but that, if he pleased, he would himself prepare her for it. The king bid him take his own way, and dismissed him. Balsora was conveyed again to her father's house, where the thoughts of Abdallah renewed her affliction every moment; insomuch that at length she fell into a raging fever. The king was informed of her condition by those that saw her. Helim finding no other

means of extricating her from the difficulties she was in, after having composed her mind, and made her acquainted with his intentions, gave her a certain potion, which he knew would lay her asleep for many hours; and afterwards, in all the seeming distress of a disconsolate father, informed the king she was dead. The king, who never let any sentiments of humanity come too near his heart, did not much trouble himself about the matter; however, for his own reputation, he told the father, that since it was known through the empire that Balsora died at a time when he designed her for his bride, it was his intention that she should be honoured as such after her death, that her body should be laid in the Black Palace, among those of his deceased queens.

In the mean time Abdallah, who had heard of the king's design, was not less afflicted than his beloved Balsora. As for the several circumstances of his distress, as also how the king was informed of an irrecoverable distemper into which he was fallen, they are to be found at length in the history of Helim. It shall suffice to acquaint the reader, that Helim, some days after the supposed death of his daughter, gave the prince a potion of the same nature with that which had laid asleep Balsora.

Helim, after having conveyed the body of his daughter into this repository, and at the appointed time received her out of the sleep into which she was fallen, took care some time after to bring that of Abdallah into the same place. Balsora watched over him till such time as the dose he had taken lost its effect. Abdallah was not acquainted with Helim's design when he gave him this sleepy potion. It is impossible to describe the surprise, the joy, the transport he was in at his first awaking. He fancied himself in the retirements of the blest, and that the spirit of his dear Balsora, who he thought was just gone before him, was the first who came to congratulate his arrival. She soon informed him of the place he was in, which, notwithstanding all its horrors, appeared

to him more sweet than the bower of Mahomet, [ tual a passion for each other, that their solitude in the company of his Balsora. never lay heavy on them. Abdallah applied himself to those arts which were agreeable to his manner of living, and the situation of the place; insomuch that in a few years be converted the whole mountain into a kind of garden, and covered every part of it with plantations or spots of flowers. Helim was too good a father to let him want any thing that might conduce to make his retirement pleasant.

Helim, who was supposed to be taken up in the embalming of the bodies, visited the place very frequently. His greatest perplexity was how to get the lovers out of it, the gates being watched in such a manner as I have before related. This consideration did not a little disturb the two interred lovers. At length Helim bethought himself, that the first day of the full moon of the month Tizpa was near at hand. Now it is a received tradition among the Persians, that the souls of those of the royal family, who are in a state of bliss, do, on the first full moon after their decease, pass through the eastern gate of the Black Palace, which is therefore called the gate of Paradise, in order to take their flight for that happy place. Helim therefore having made due preparation for this night, dressed each of the lovers in a robe of azure silk, wrought in the finest looms of Persia, with a long train of linen whiter than snow, that floated on the ground behind them. Upon Abdallah's head he Axed a wreath of the greenest myrtle, and on Balsora's a garland of the freshest roses. Their garments were scented with the richest perfumes of Arabia. Having thus prepared every thing, the full moon was no sooner up, and shining in all its brightness, but he privately opened the gate of Paradise, and shut it after the same manner as soon as they had passed through it. The band of negroes who were posted at a little distance from the gate, seeing two such beautiful apparitions, that showed themselves to advantage by the light of the full moon, and being ravished with the odour that flowed from their garments, immediately concluded them to be the ghosts of the two persons lately deceased. They fell upon their faces as they passed through the midst of them, and continued prostrate on the earth until such time as they were out of sight. They reported the next day what they had seen; but this was looked upon by the king himself, and most others, as the compliment that was usually paid to any of the deceased of his family. Helim had placed two of his own mules at about a mile's distance from the Black Temple, on the spot which they had agreed upon for their rendezvous. Here he met them, and conducted them to one of his own houses, which was situated on mount Khacan. The air of this mountain was so very healthful, that Helim had formerly transported the king thither, in order to recover him out of a long fit of sickness; which succeeded so well that the king made him a present of the whole mountain, with a beautiful house and gardens that were on the top of it. In this retirement lived Abdallah and Balsora. They were both so fraught with all kinds of knowledge, and possessed with so constant and mu

In about ten years after their abode in this place, the old king died, and was succeeded by his son Ibrahim, whọ, upon the supposed death of his brother, had been called to court, and entertained there as heir to the Persian empire. Though he was some years inconsolable for the death of his brother, Helim durst not trust him with the secret, which he knew would have fatal consequences, should it by any means come to the knowledge of the old king. Ibrahim was no sooner mounted to the throne, but Helim sought after a proper opportunity of making a discovery to him, which he knew would be very agreeable to so good-natured and generous a prince. It so happened, that before Helim found such an opportunity as be desired, the new king Ibrahim, having been separated from his company in a chase, and almost fainting with heat and thirst, saw himself at the foot of mount Khacan. He imme. diately ascended the hill, and coming to Helim's house, demanded some refreshments. Helim was very luckily there at that time; and after having set before the king the choicest of wines and fruits, finding him wonderfully pleased with so seasonable a treat, told him that the best part of his entertainment was to come. Upon which he opened to him the whole bistory of what had passed. The king was at once astonished and transported at so strange a relation, and seeing his brother enter the room with Balsora in his hand, he leaped off from the sofa on which he sat, and cried out,

6

It is be! it is my Abdallah!' Having said this, he fell upon his neck, and wept. The whole company, for some time, remained silent and shedding tears of joy. The king at length, having kindly reproached Helim for depriving him so long of such a brother, embraced Balsora with the greatest tenderness, and told her that she should now be a queen indeed, for that he would immediately make his brother king of all the conquered nations on the other side the Tigris. He easily discovered in the eyes of our two lovers, that instead of being transported with the offer, they preferred their present retirement to empire. At their request therefore he changed his intentions, and made them a present of all the open country as far as they could see from the top of mount Khacan. Abdallah continuing to extend his former improvements, beautified this whole prospect

MR. IRONSIDE,

The letter which I sent you some time ago,

and was subscribed English Tory, has made, as

She maketh herself coverings of tapestry, you must have observed, a very great bustle in her clothing is silk and purple.

town. There are come out against me two

pamphlets and two Examiners; but there are printed on my side a letter to the Guardian about Dunkirk, and a pamphlet called, Dunkirk or Dover. I am no proper judge who has the better of the argument, the Examiner or myself: but I am sure my seconds are better than his. I have addressed a defence against the ill treatment I have received for my letter (which ought to have made every man in England my friend) to the bailiff of Stockbridge, because, as the world goes, I am to think myself very much obliged to that honest man, and esteem him my patron, who allowed that fifty was a greater number than one-and-twenty, and returned me accordingly to serve for that borough.

And yet how few are there who attend to the drama of nature, its artificial structure, and those admirable machines, whereby the passions of a philosopher are gratefully agitated, and his soul affected with the sweet emotions of joy and surprise!

6

How many fox-bunters and rural squires are to be found in Great Britain, who are ignorant that they have all this while lived on a planet; that the sun is several thousand times bigger than the earth; and that there are other worlds within our view greater and more glorious than our own! Ay, but,' says some illiterate fellow, 'I enjoy the world, and leave others to contemplate it.' Yes, you eat and drink, and run about upon it, that is, you enjoy it as a brute; but to enjoy it as a rational being, is to know it, to be sensible of its greatness and beauty, to be delighted with its harmony, and by these reflections to obtain just sentiments of the Almighty mind that framed it.

The man who, unembarrassed with vulgar cares, leisurely attends to the flux of things in heaven, and things on earth, and observes the laws by which they are governed, hath secured to himself an easy and convenient seat, where he beholds with pleasure all that passes on the stage of nature, while those about him are, some fast asleep, and others struggling for the highest places, or turning their eyes from the entertainment prepared by Providence, to play at push-pin with one another.

Within this ample circumference of the world, the glorious lights that are hung on high, the meteors in the middle region, the various livery of the earth, and the profusion of good things that distinguish the seasons, yield a prospect which annihilates all human grandeur. But when we have seen frequent returns of the same things, when we have often viewed the heaven and the earth in all their various array, our attention flags, and our admiration ceases. All the art and magnificence in nature could not make us pleased with the same entertainment, presented a hundred years successively to our view.

I am led into this way of thinking by a question started the other night, viz. Whether it were possible that a man should be weary of a fortunate and healthy course of life? My opinion was, that the bare repetition of the same objects, abstracted from all other inconveni

When I consider things in this light, methinks it is a sort of impiety to have no attention to the course of nature, and the revolu-encies, was sufficient to create in our minds a tions of the heavenly bodies. To be regardless distate of the world; and that the abhorrence of those phenomena that are placed within our old men have of death, proceeds rather from view, on purpose to entertain our faculties, a distrust of what may follow, than from the

There are very many scurrilous things said against me, but I have turned them to my advantage, by quoting them at large, and by that means swelling the volume to a shilling price. If I may be so free with myself, I might put you in mind upon this occasion of one of those animals which are famous for their love of mankind, that, when a bone is thrown at them, fall to eating it, instead of flying at the person who threw it. Please to read the account of the channel, by the map at Will's, and you will find what I represent concerning the importance of Dunkirk, as to its situation, very just. I am, Sir,

• very often your great admirer,

RICHARD STEELE,'

No. 169.] Thursday, September 24, 1713.

-Cœlumque tueri

Jussit-
Ovid. Met. Lib. i. 85.
And bade him lift to heaven his wond'ring eyes.

and display the wisdom and power of their Creator, is an affront to Providence of the same kind, (I hope it is not impious to make such a simile) as it would be to a good poet, to fit out his play without minding the plot or beauties of it.

In fair weather, when my heart is cheered, and I feel that exaltation of spirits which results from light and warmth, joined with a beautiful prospect of nature; I regard myself as one placed by the hand of God in the midst of an ample theatre, in which the sun, moon, and stars, the fruits also, and vegetables of the earth, perpetually changing their positions, or their aspects, exhibit an elegant entertainment to the understanding, as well as to the eye.

Thunder and lightning, rain and hail, the painted bow, and the glaring comets, are decorations of this mighty theatre. And the sable hemisphere studded with spangles, the blue vault at noon, the glorious gildings and rich colours in the horizon, I look on as so many successive scenes.

prospect of losing any present enjoyments. I greatest benefactor to them all is the merchant.
For (as an ancient author somewhere expresses
it) when a man has seen the vicissitudes of
night and day, winter and summer, spring and
autumn, there turning faces of the several parts
of nature, what is there further to detain his
fancy here below?

The spectacle indeed is glorious, and may bear viewing several times. But in a very few scenes of revolving years, we feel a satiety of the same images; the mind grows impatient to see the curtain drawn, and behold new scenes disclosed; and the imagination is in this life, filled with a confused idea of the next.

Death, considered in this light, is no more 'I. That trade which exports manufactures than passing from one entertainment to an-made of the product of the country, is unother. If the present objects are grown tire-doubtedly good; such is the sending abroad some and distasteful, it is in order to prepare our Yorkshire cloth, Colchester baize, Exeter our minds for a more exquisite relish of those serges, Norwich stuffs, &c.; which being made which are fresh and new. If the good things purely of British wool, as much as those exports we have hitherto enjoyed are transient, they amount to, so much is the clear gain of the will be succeeded by those which the inex- nation. haustible power of the Deity will supply to eternal ages. If the pleasures of our present state are blended with pain and uneasiness, our future will consist of sincere unmixed delights. Blessed hope! the thought whereof turns the very imperfections of our nature into occasions of comfort and joy.

'II. That trade which helps off the consumption of our superfluities, is also visibly advantageous; as the exporting of allum, copperas, leather, tin, lead, coals, &c. So much as the exported superfluities amount unto, so much also is the clear national profit,

But what consolation is left to the man who bath no hope or prospect of these things? View him in that part of life, when the natural decay of bis faculties concurs with the frequency of the same objects to make him weary of this world, when like a man who hangs upon a precipice, his present situation is uneasy, and the moment that he quits his hold, he is sure of sinking into hell or annihilation.

There is not any character so hateful as his who invents racks and tortures for mankind. The free-thinkers make it their business to introduce doubts, perplexities, and despair, into the minds of men, and, according to the poet's rule, are most justly punished by their own schemes.

No. 170.] Friday, September 25, 1713.

The merchant advances the gentleman's rent, gives the artificer food, and supplies the courtier's luxury. But give me leave to say, that neither you, nor all your clan of wits, can put together so useful and commodious a treatise for the welfare of your fellow-subjects as that which an eminent merchant of the city has lately written. It is called, General Maxims of Trade, particularly applied to the Commerce between Great Britain and France. I have made an extract of it, so as to bring it within the compass of your paper, which take as follows:

-Timeo Danaos, et dona ferentes.
Virg. Æn. ii. 49.
I fear your Greeks, with presents in their hands.
London, Sept. 28.
MOST VENERABLE NESTOR,

THE plan laid down in your first paper
gives me a title and authority to apply to you
in behalf of the trading world. According to
the general scheme you proposed in your said
first paper, you have not professed only to en-
tertain men of wit and polite taste, but also
to be useful to the trader and the artificer. You
cannot do your country greater service than by
informing all ranks of men amongst us, that the

'III. The importing of foreign materials to be manufactured at home, especially when the goods, after they are manufactured, are mostly sent abroad, is also, without dispute, very beneficial; as for instance, Spanish wool, which for that reason is exempted from paying any duties.

'IV. The importation of foreign materials, to be manufactured here, although the manufactured goods are chiefly consumed by us, may be also beneficial; especially when the said materials are procured in exchange for our commodities; as raw silk, grogram-yarn, and other goods brought from Turkey.

'V. Foreign materials, wrought up here into such goods as would otherwise be imported ready manufactured, is a means of saving money to the nation: such is the importation of hemp, flax, and raw silk; it is therefore to be wondered at, that these commodities are not exempt from all duties, as well as Spanish wool.

'VI. A trade may be called good which exchanges manufactures for manufactures, and commodities for commodities. Germany takes as much in value of our woollen and other goods, as we do of their linen: by this means numbers of people are employed on both sides, to their mutual advantage.

'VII. An importation of commodities, bought partly for money and partly for goods, may be of national advantage; if the greatest part of the commodities thus imported, are again exported, as in the case of East India goods, and generally all imports of goods which are re exported, are beneficial to a nation.