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and complexion he was beyond painting. He is, like, she said, to nothing that we have seen; yet he doth resemble Apollo, as I have fancied him, when, rising in the east, he bestirs himself, and shakes daylight from his hair. And, overcome with a passion which was heavier than she could bear, she confessed herself a wretched creature, and im-l plored forgiveness of God Cupid, whom she had provoked; and, if possible, that he would grant it to her that she might enjoy her love. Nay, she would court this piece of deformity to his face; and when the wretch, supposing its to be done in mockery, has said that he could wish himself more ill-shaped than he was, so it would contribute to make her grace merry, she would reply, if Oh! think not that I jest; unless it be a jest not to esteem my life in comparison with thine; to hang a thousand kisses in an hour upon those lips; unless it be a jest to Now that I am willing to become your wife, and to take obedience upon me.”riAnda by his own white hand, taking it in hers, so strong was the delusion, she besought him to swear to marry her dis baredat end to trova sdt i balita The term had not yet, expired of the seven days within which the doting duke had sworn to fulfil her will, when, in pursuance of this frenzy, she presented herself before her father, leading in the dwarf by the hand, and, in the face of all the courtiers, solemnly demanding histband ind marriage. And, when the apeish creature made show of blushing at the unmerited, honour, she, to comfort him, bade him not to be ashamed; for, in her eyes, he was! worth a kingdom" og with sut bɔ sodatorgi. quibus' to

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And now, too late, did the fond father repent him of his dotage. But when by no importunity he could prevail upon her to desist from her suit, for his oath's sake he must needs consent to the marriage. But the ceremony was no sooner, to the derision of all present, performed, than, with the just feelings of an outraged parent, he commanded the head of the presumptuous bridegroom to be stricken off, and committed the distracted princess close prisoner to her chamber, where, after many deadly swoonings, with intermingled outcries upon the cruelty of ther

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father, she, in no long time after, died; making ineffectual appeals, to the last, to the mercy of the offended Power, the Power that had laid its heavy hand upon her, to the bereavement of her good judgment first, and to the extinction of a life that might have proved a blessing to Lyciabos users bagsterw 8 120 bazestitos ede‚icad

Leontius had scarcely time to be sensible of her danger! before a fresh cause for mourning overtook him. His son Leucippus, who had hitherto been a pattern of strict life! and modesty, was stricken with a second arrow from the deity,offended for his overturned altars, in which the prince had been a chief instrument. The god caused his heart to fall away, and his crazed fancy to be smitten with the excelling beauty of a wicked widow, by name Bacha." This woman, in the first days of her mourning for her husband, by her dissembling tears and affected coyness, had /drawn Leucippus so cunningly into her snares, that, before she would grant him a return of love, she extorted from the easy-hearted prince a contract of marriage, to be fulfilled in the event of his father's death. This guilty intercourse, which they covered with the name of marriage, was not carried with such secrecy but that a rumour" of it ran about the palace, and by some officious courtier was brought to the ears of the old duke, who, to satisfy himself of the truth, came hastily to the house of Bacha, where he found his son courting. Taking the prince to task roundly, he sternly asked who that creature was that had bewitched him out of his honour thus. Then Bacha, pretending ignorance of the duke's person, haughtily de-" manded of Leucippus what saucy old man that was, that without leave had burst into the house of an afflicted widow! to hinder her paying her tears (as she pretended) to the dead. Then the duke declaring himself, and threatening her for having corrupted his son, giving her the reproachful" terms of witch and sorceress, Leucippus mildly answered, that he did her wrong."The bad woman, imagining that the prince for very fear would not betray their secret, now conceived a project of monstrous wickedness; which! was no less than to ensnare the father with the same arts

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which had subdued the son, that she might no longer be a concealed wife, nor a princess only under cover, but, by a union with the old man, become at once the true and acknowledged Duchess of Lycia. In a posture of humility, she confessed her ignorance of the duke's quality; but, now she knew it, she besought his pardon for her wild speeches, which proceeded, she said, from a distempered head, which the loss of a dear husband had affected. He might command her life, she told him, which was now of small value to her. The tears which accompanied her words, and her mourning weeds (which, for a blind to the world, she had not yet cast off), heightening her beauty, gave a credence to her protestations of her innocence. But the duke continuing to assail her with reproaches, with a matchless confidence, assuming the air of injured virtue, in a somewhat lofty tone she replied, that though he were her sovereign, to whom in any lawful cause she was bound to submit, yet, if he sought to take away her honour, she stood up to defy him. That, she said, was a jewel dearer than any he could give her, which, so long as she should keep, she should esteem herself richer than all the princes of the earth that were without it. If the prince, his son, knew anything to her dishonour, let him tell it. And here she challenged Leucippus before his father to speak the worst of her. If he would, however, sacrifice a woman's character to please an unjust humour of the duke's, she saw no remedy, she said, now he was dead (meaning her late husband) that with his life would have defended her reputation.

Thus appealed to, Leucippus, who had stood a while astonished at her confident falsehoods, though ignorant of the full drift of them, considering that not the reputation only, but probably the life, of a woman whom he had so loved, and who had made such sacrifices to him of love and beauty, depended upon his absolute concealment of their contract, framed his mouth to a compassionate untruth, and with solemn asseverations confirmed to his father her assurances of her innocence. He denied not that with rich gifts he had assailed her virtue, but had

found her relentless to his solicitations; that gold nor greatness had any power over her. Nay, so far he went on, to give force to the protestations of this artful woman, that he confessed to having offered marriage to her, which she, who scorned to listen to any second' wedlock, had rejected.

All this while, Leucippus secretly prayed to Heaven to forgive him while he uttered these bold untruths; since it was for the prevention of a greater mischief only, and had no malice in it.

But, warned by the sad sequel which ensued, be thou careful, young reader, how in any case you tell a lie. Lie not, if any man but ask you "how you do," or "what o'clock it is." Be sure you make no false excuse to screen a friend that is most dear to you. Never let the most well - intended falsehood escape your lips; for Heaven, which is entirely Truth, will make the seed which you have sown of untruth to yield miseries a thousand-fold upon yours, as it did upon the head of the ill-fated and mistaken Leucippus.

Leontius, finding the assurances of Bacha so confidently seconded by his son, could no longer withhold his belief; and, only forbidding their meeting for the future, took a courteous leave of the lady, presenting her at the same time with a valuable ring, in recompense, as he said, of the injustice which he had done her in his false surmises of her guiltiness. In truth, the surpassing beauty of the lady, with her appearing modesty, had made no less impres sion upon the heart of the fond old duke than they had awakened in the bosom of his more pardonable son. His first design was to make her his mistress; to the better accomplishing of which, Leucippus was dismissed from the court, under the pretext of some honourable employment abroad. In his absence, Leontius spared no offers to induce her to comply with his purpose. Continually he solicited her with rich offers, with messages, and by personal visits. It was a ridiculous sight, if it were not rather a sad one, to behold this second and worst dotage, which by Cupid's wrath had fallen upon this fantastical old new

lover. · All his occupation now was in dressing and pranking himself up in youthful attire to please the eyes of his new mistress. His mornings were employed in the devising of trim fashions, in the company of tailors, embroiderers, and feather-dressers. So infatuated was he with these vanities, that, when a servant came and told him that his daughter was dead, even she whom he had but lately so highly prized,-the words seemed spoken to a deaf person. He either could not or would not understand them; but, like one senseless, fell to babbling about the shape of a new hose and doublet. His crutch, the faithful prop of long aged years, was discarded; and he resumed the youthful fashion of a sword by his side, when his years wanted strength to have drawn it. In this condition of folly, it was no difficult task for the widow, by affected pretences of honour, and arts of amorous denial, to draw in this doting duke to that which she had all along aimed at, -the offer of his crown in marriage. She was now Duchess of Lycia! In her new elevation, the mask was quickly thrown aside, and the impious Bacha appeared in her træe qualities. She had never loved the duke, her husband; but had used him as the instrument of her greatness. Taking advantage of his amorous folly, which seemed to gain growth the nearer he approached to his grave, she took upon her the whole rule of Lycia; placing and displacing, at her will, all the great officers of state; and filling the court with creatures of her own, the agents of her guilty pleasures, she removed from the duke's person the oldest and trustiest of his dependants.

Leucippus, who at this juncture was returned from his foreign mission, was met at once with the news of his sister's death and the strange wedlock of the old duke. To the memory of Hidaspes he gave some tears; but these were swiftly swallowed up in his horror and detestation of the conduct of Bacha. In his first fury, he resolved upon a full disclosure of all that had passed between him and his wicked step-mother. Again, he thought, by killing Bacha, to rid the world of a monster. But tenderness for his father recalled him to milder counsels. The fatal