who have not seen him can form no true 'judgment of his perfection.'

'Could flattery,' answered the sultan, be ever pleasing to me, it must be from the 'mouth of the princess of Cassimir; but I mean to turn your thoughts from me to a more worthy subject, where you may safely lavish your praises, without fearing to exaggerate. The lovely Hemjunah has promised to relate her wonderful adventures; ❝ and Horam, the faithful friend of my bosom, and our former fellow-sufferer, is come to < partake with me in the charming relation.' Prince,' said Hemjunah, I shall not con'ceal what you are so desirous of knowing." The sultan then waved his hand, and the slaves withdrew,

.

TALE VIII.

THE HISTORY OF THE PRINCESS OF CASSIMIR.

Ir is often,' said the princess of Cassimir, the fate of the greatest, to have their private interest sacrificed to the public good. Glory ' and honour in your sex, O prince! are motives which make this sacrifice the less lamented; but in ours, we have no way of "becoming useful to the public, but by join*ing hands where hearts are rarely consulted. Such was to have been my fate. Ere I had ' attained my thirteenth year, my father proposed to marry me to the prince of Georgia. 'It was in vain that, when my mother disclosed the fatal news to me, I urged my 'youth, and my entire ignorance of the prince 'or his qualities.

My child," said Chederazade, " to make * ourselves happy, we must be useful to the 'world. The prince of Georgia has done your હૈ father great service in the wars, and you are destined to reward his toils; all the subjects, * of Cassimir will look upon your choice as a

compliment to them, and they will rejoice 'to see their benefactor blessed with the hand ' of their princess." "But, madam," answered "I, "does the happiness of my father's subjects require such a sacrifice in me? must I live in a country to whose language and manners I am a stranger? must I be for ever banished; and must the realms of Cassimir look upon me as a monster, whose absence alone can effect their comfort and glory? O where will be the soft intercourse of hearts, or the 'mutual pleasures of love, in a match with 'such a stranger!"

"The idle dreams of love," said my mother Chederazade, "were invented by the evil 'genii, to increase the number of the children ' of disobedience: sound reason and policy ' acknowledge no such intruder: convenience ⚫ should first beget alliance, and mutual affection must be the fruit of mutual intercourse. The flame of love is subdued by caprice, by 'satiety, by disgust, and reflection; and the strongest bands, either of private or public societies, must be interest and utility. These, Hemjunah, are sufficient reasons to engage 'your compliance with your father's desire, ' and these will influence you, if prudence

⚫ and wisdom are the motives of your choice; and, if you want prudence, it is fit those 'who are able to instruct you should also guide and direct your actions." At these 'words Chederazade left me bathed in tears, and trembling at my fate.

me,

'My nurse Eloubrou was witness to the ' hard command my mother had imposed upon and endeavoured to comfort me in my ' affliction: but her words were but as the 'wind on the surface of the rock; and to 'add to my griefs, in a few minutes after, 'the chief of the eunuchs entered the seraglio, ' and bid me prepare to receive the sultan my father.

The sultan of Cassimir entering my apart'ment, I fell at his feet.

Hemjunah," said he, "the prince of "Georgia is my friend, and I intend to give Shocked at 'my daughter to his arms." 'these successive declarations of my fate, which I had no reason to suspect the day

before, I fainted away; and when I re' covered, found myself on a sopha, with Elou• brou lying at my feet.

My lovely princess," said Eloubrou, "how little am I able to see you, thus! and yet

I fear the news I have to impart to you may reduce you to your former condition." ""Alas," said I, " nurse! what new evil has befallen me? what worse can happen than my marriage with a stranger?"

"Princess," replied Eloubrou my nurse, "the prince is to see you this night; nay, the ceremonies are preparing, the changes * of vestment, the dessert, and the choral "bands."

"Ah," said I, "nurse! cruel Eloubrou! what hast thou said! Am I to be sacrificed this night to my father's policy? Am I to be given as a fee to the plunderer of cities and 'the ravisher of virgins?-for such are they 'whose profession is arms."

"No, most adorable princess!" said a young female slave who attended on Eloubrou; "trust but to me, and the prince of Georgia shall in vain seek the honour of alliance."

your

"The faithful Eloubrou shrieked at the words ' of the female slave, and endeavoured to clap her hands, and to bring the chief of the eunuchs to her assistance: but the female slave ' waved her left hand, and Eloubrou, and the rest of the slaves, stood motionless before