in order that he might not, after the deed was done, punish those whom public necessity obliged to imbrue their hands in his father's blood.

Hossain was greatly affected by this advice. His heart revolted at the idea of seducing the prince, whom he had bred up in every virtue, to commit parricide, even though he knew, that by placing him on the throne, he would himself, by the softness of Motasser's character, become in fact the sovereign. But the incitements and the reasonings of Barrah at last prevailed, and he left her with the intention of proceeding to break the business to the Prince.

As Hossain approached the Prince's chamber, he heard light talking and laughter within, and on entering, was not a little surprised at beholding Gazelle with the Prince. He had, for some time before, often wondered what had become of Gazelle, but the hand of fate was upon him, and restrained him from enquiring. Discerning, however, what was the state of matters between her and the Prince, he said nothing, but making an apology for disturbing their dalliance, returned to Barrah and told her what he had discovered; upon which the remorseless crone advised him to work through the medium of Gazelle, to bring the Prince to his purpose. With this again the mercifulness of his nature was dissatisfied: for he thought with pity of the beauty and innocence of Gazelle, and shuddered at the idea of staining such purity with guilt. Barrah, however, convinced him, that without placing Motasser on the throne, the evils which afflicted the empire could not be removed, and she undertook her self to speak with Gazelle on the subject. This lessened the horror in the mind of Hossain, and he consented at once that she should do so. Accordingly, that same night, she had a secret conversation with Gazelle, the nature of which was only known by the result, which came to pass in this

manner.

When Motasser went to pass the night in the chamber of Gazelle, he found her pale and dejected, and begging to know her grief, she related to him the prevalent injustice which withered the strength of the empire. She described the miseries of the poor, and the terrors of the rich, and

represented the danger in which he himself stood, if the wrongs of the people were not redressed. This infected his mind, naturally compassionate-he deplored the sufferings of the people, and, soft and apprehensive, he dreaded their exasperation, insomuch that in the morning, when Hossain came to him again to speak of the dangers of the empire, he found Motasser already more than half converted to his purpose: and that same evening the four councillors, who were of Hossain's party, met Motasser and him, and it was determined that in the course of the same night Mollawakkel should be strangled. The better to complete this design, it was agreed before they separated, that to prevent Motasser from yielding to qualms of filial contrition, he should remain with Gazelle and Barrah, denied to all visitors, until the hour arrived that was fixed for his father's doom.

When Motasser was thus consigned to the custody of his own and Hossain's evil genius, it was arranged among themselves by the five conspirators, that they should each assassinate one of the other five who were opposed to their machinations. Accordingly, they severally sent a special messenger inviting them to come to their respective houses with all speed; and the summons being punctually obeyed, the unfortunate faithful adherents of the Caliph, were all dead before the hour of his fate arrived.

At the time appointed, the conspirators assembled in the palace, and with Motasser, whom they had taken from the chamber of Gazelle, at their head, they proceeded to the hall of the guard, through which it was necessary to pass to the entrance of the chamber where Mollawakkel slept.

The guards, seeing so many of the wisest councillors with the prince, never imagined that any harm was intended to the Caliph; and thus it took place, that, upon the order of Motasser, they quietly retired from the hall, and went into the garden.

As soon as they quitted the hall, four of the councillors entered the chamber where Mollawakkel lay asleep. Hossain stayed in the hall of the guards with Motasser; and when a sound was heard of confusion in the Caliph's chamber, with

stifled shrieks and groans, Hossain threw a shawl over the head and face of Motasser, and prevented him from alarming the guards who were without; for the dreadful sounds of the tragedy which was acting at his father's couch, recalled all his natural affection, and roused him with an energy he had never displayed before. But the deed was done-the four traitors had strangled the monarch; and they now came forth, with cries of horror, that they had found him dead of a fit, and they hailed Motasser as the Caliph. The guards came rushing in, and beholding the horror of the Prince and the councillors, ascribed it to grief, so that the guilt of the parricide was not suspected.

Next morning, the ceremony of installing the young Caliph on the throne was performed, with all the customary magnificence, in the great golden hall of the palace. The nobles and great officers of state stood on the right and the left of the throne. The eunuchs, the slaves, and the guards, in gorgeous array, occupied the two sides of the hall, and a space was left, like an avenue in the middle, to admit those who had special homages to perform at the foot of the throne.

The incense of the worship, of which Motasser was the object, inflated his heart. He looked around with complacency on the splendid and reverential multitude, and the dreadful scene of the preceding night was forgotten in the pomp and pride of the moment. Hossain at this time, who had to do special reverence as the Governor of Bagdad, entered the hall. Being an old man, his steps

were infirm, and perhaps, too, he was shaken by the remembrance of what he had done, for, in ascending towards the throne, he walked totteringly and slow. When he was about to kneel, Motasser happened to cast his eyes on the pictures which adorned the walls, and beheld in one of them the murder of a Persian king by one of his own sons. It was a lifelike limning, and the sight of it smote the soul of Motasser with instantaneous torment. He shrieked with such horror, that Hossain fell dead at his feet, and he rushed towards the picture, confessing his crime, and acknowledging himself worthy of perdition. The astonished multitude, in the dread of some horrible tumult, fled in confusion; the hall was left to the despairing Caliph and the dead body of Hossain. Three days and three nights Motasser sat contemplating the picture, and giving vent to wild cries and the most woful lamentations. On the fourth morning he was found dead; and though search was made for Gazelle and Barrah, they were never discovered.

When Astrolab was consulted concerning them, and the prodigy which had taken place, he could only say that it had been ordained from the beginning of things, and the decree of fate, promulgating the time when it should come to pass, was inscribed with stars on the firmament.

Such is the story which is ascribed to the Camed Astrolab, the famous soothsayer of Bagdad, and which is written, in choice Arabic, in the seventh volume of the Thousand and One Tales of Constantinople, collected agreeably to a firman of the late Sultan Selim.