The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1851-10-29

The moaning Of thy winds hear
As the red sunset dies afar,
And bars Of purple clouds appear,
Obscuring every Western star.
look to Nature and behold
My lifss dim emblems rustlinR round
In hues of crimson and of gold
The years dead honors on the ground;
And siehing with the winds feel.
While their low voices murmur by,
How much their sweeping tones reveal
OF life and human destiny.
~--.e5-----sDs -.------- ..5'l-
From Chambess's Edinburgh journal.
Fadlallah.
The following anecdoie is told in the words Of
one of the Frank secretaries of the celebrated b.
ghos Bey, chief minister Of Mohammed Ali. late
viceroy Of Egypt:
was sitting one day in the private Office srrapr
ing some papers, and awaiting the arrival of my
principal, when rapid dialogue in the outer room
the door way Of which was covered BY curtain.
drew my attention. Both voices spoke in Arabic
ly justified by the Indifferent objections urged bv
the other against an invasion Of the privacy of INV
apartment, l was in the act Of clappinr nv
hands, when the curtain was thrust hastily aside,
followed BY black slave expostulating, a. in duty
bound, on the intrusion. The newcomer looked
surprised and annoyed at seeing me, and mustered
something about its being of the greatest conee.
quence to him to have an Interview with bis Excl.
lency. begged him to be seated, and wait for
half an hour; and proceeded with the arrangement
of the papers. Properly speaking, should have
evident was his agitation, that thought it best to
allow him some time to recover. He threw him.
self on divan, and endeavored to appear calm
but without success. From time TO time cast
glance towards him. and gradually felt my curiosi-
not more rhan two-and twenty years old, and Of
marked Oriental phy.iognomy. l could not, how
ever, make out to what race he belonged-such
delicate and expressive features being found in
hearty equal proportions amongst Turks, Arabs
Z and Levantines Of various ciasses. without being
t-antly in the Parisian style; and the more OBJ
~ ,~ed him the more was struck By the contrast
the general polish Of his manner and the un
easy cow, wing expression that occasionally flashed
across his 'ss,ures. Is il due to my sasacity to
saw that arm we'd 1t ls1t st the conclusion that he
was an Eastern Q, ave m tue disguise OF a Euro
NV curiostv went m \ increasing, and the desire
to speak was becoming ,,,resistibIe, when the boy
entered the apartment. / yehall never forget the
look of perplexity and oQmp sssIon that appeared
in the countenance Of he IA n nster, nor that OF
mingled fear and hops 81 which !. was met. g Fa.
dallah here" at length exclaimed /. ne bey; wa,
surprised at the rapidity with which understood
the whole affair in the sound Of that na>m and
probably my settled conviction that it y hope
less case disclosed itself in my look, for the une
man, seemingly anxious to eoect al opinions, bs.o
his eyes iotenlly upon me when he saw me start
a child. sslls..s !. Il. ~ 80 =.
The case was this: Fadallah was one Of the
young men who had bssn sent for education to
Europe. He formed part Of the Leghornsse Col
lege, and knew that various very unfavorable re-
rpOrs upon his conduct had been forwarded BY the
superintendent; and that, in fact, some tins pre-.
viousiy, it had been announced that he had not
only broken the bounds but turned Christian, and
claimed protection. from the native authorities.
This was an unpardoHable offence and for him to
voluntarily throw himself into the hand Of the
Egyptian Government, appeared to me to be sheer
madness. Possibly his Excellency thought as did
tor after some silence he muttered, Poor fellow!
and then recovering his official serenity, codly
asked what was the meaning of this visit.
The meaning was evident enough. Poor Fad
allah wanted to be forgiven to be taksn again into
favor or at any rate allowed permission to Join his
family-wealthy people in Cairo. He spoke long
time, and said some eloquent things; but it wa.
evident that his protraoted residence in Europe had
caused his views Of the state Of Egypt to difel
considerably from the truth: and when he two o.
three times based his hopes Of pardon on the fac
which he had read in newspapers, that Mohsmmet
Ali was now the father Of his people," 1 couls
see smile, halfsatirical, half lfcontemptuous, pls,
for an instant round the thin lips Of my sagaciou
master When the appeal was concluded, 1 begar
to suggest some questions; but the Boy interrupted
me, saying: There are three facts ascertained
Fadallah has disobeysd ordefs, has claimed foregi
protection, and has embraced Christianity - fatal
unpardonable acts on the other band he Ia. trustee
in the clemenoy Of his highnsse. We shall se
whether that trust be well founded.n
Fadlallah was handed over, not exactly to m,
custody, but to my care /; and he was advised rathe
thai ordered to keep the room allotted to him mex
to mine. He had probably expected to be sent t
prison, or at least to have sentinel placed at hi
door, and augured well from the omission Of thes
precautions For my own part scarcely kne,
what to think, and could not refrain, the first tim
was alone with the Boy, from asking what his res
opinion was But he at once checked my inSuis
tveness, and rather roughly turned to another sub
ject
Nevertheless l could not but feel some intsre.
in the fortunes Of young Fadlallah; and though b
was melancholy, and At first ayerse 10 society, j
two or three days we began to be socable. w
took our meals and smoked together, but il wa
y. some time before he alluded to his own circum
kances Indeed, we had not exchanged more tina
- few words on the subjsot, until one afternoon
: when had concluded my usual work, the Bey too
up a letter, and with very grave countenanc
read the following paragraph:
His highness has been made acquainted wit
the case of Fadlallah and has paid attention to th
extenuating circumstances. What is needful to b
done VIII be ordered"
"And what may be the inference 2" began
inquire.
Communicate this paragraph to the perso
whom ii concerns" said the Bey, dryly.
y took copy, and was retiring. The Bey cae
me Sa.ek and having looked very steadfastly at m
for a mo oent, observed with an affectaton Of car
lessness: II believe the Greek barque Oth0 sal
for Smyrna to- morrow morning at break Of day
al will make inquiries" 1 said.
"Pshaw know she does. You ought to kno
it too," replied the Bly, peevshly, and motioniu
to me to retire.
His meaning was now .|yldent. went to 70
my new friend Fadlallah, and WIN as much genti
ness as possible told the news ne listened ov
and over again to the paragraph, Ieao nimse
and so far from entertaining any SIM. "ei aPPrehe
sons, believed that his pardon would sur ny
1t was in vain suggested that the Bey "snt oe
to understand his masters character, and Hong
urged the prudence of flight, according to tn. n.
that had been thrown out. He only hestated /,
- moment, smiled at my fears, and jocularly aske
where the money was to come from. He had nc
got plastre. l offered to advance him money
which was sure his family would repay but
could not be brought to believe that there was an
immediate necessity for action. "To.m morrow" b
cried, "a positive decision will arrive, and then,
it be unfavorable, there will be time to flv,"
shrugged my shoulders, and as if by mutual cor
sent we dropped the subJect-I remaining anxiou
and gloomy, he becoming full of hope and spirit
and talking with incessant vivacity.
After supper he asked me if there was any OF
lection TO his walking out to enjoy the evening ali
u4saw none, and proposed to accompany him. w
= went forth together, and soon found ourselves o
). the then deserted beach Of the Cape of Figs, be