The Bloomfield times. [volume] (New Bloomfield, Pa.) 1867-187?, 1873-06-10
sU NDAy BEADING.
A CAPITAL MAXIM.

r ADY M. WORTLEY MONTAGUE
~ relates the following story - "One
day, as an ancient king of Tartary was
riding with his officers of State they met
dervise crying aloud, "To' him that will
give me hundred dinars, (small pieces of
money! I will give a piece of good ad-
vice. The king, attracted by this strange i,
declaration, stopped, and said to the der
wise, What advice is this that you offer
for hundred dinars ?''
"Sire, replied the dervise, 81 shall be
most thankful to tell you as soon as you
order the money to be paid me-" The
king, expecting to hear something extraor-
dinary, ordered the dinars to be given to
the dervise at once: on receiving which, he
said, "Sire, my advice is, begin nothing
without considering what the end may be-
I" The officers of State, smiling at what
they thought ridiculous advice, looked at
the king, who they expected would be so
enraged at this insult as to order the der
wise to be severely punished The king,
seeing their amusement and surprise, said,
81 see nothing to laugh at in the advice of
this dervise; but, on the contrary, / am
persuaded that if it were more frequently
practised, men would escape many calami-
ties. Indeed, so convinced am 1 of the
wisdom Of this maxim, that l shall have
it engraved on my plate and written on
the walls of my palace, so that it may be
ever before me-" The king, having thanked
the dervise, proceeded towards his palace
and on his arrival he ordered the chief
Bey to see that the maxim was engraved
on his plate and on the walls of his palace.
"Some time after this occurrence, one
of the mobiles OF the court, proud, ambi-
tious man, resolved to destroy the king
and place himself on the throne. In order
to accomplish his bad purpose, he secured
the confidence of one of the kings sur
geons, to whom he gave a poisoned lancet,
saying, "If you will bleed the king with
this lancet, will give you ten thousand
pieces of gold, and when ascend the
throne you shall be my vizier." This base
surgeon, dazzled by such brilliant pros
poets, wickedly assented to the proposal.
can opportunity of effecting his evil de-
sign soon occurred. The king sent for
this man to bleed him. He put the poi
soned lancet into side pocket, and hast
ened into the kings presence. The arm
was tied, and the fatal lancet was about
to be plunged into the vein, when sudden
ly the surgeons eye read this maxim at
the bottom of the basin, Begin nothing
without considering what the end may be-
He Immediately paused, as he though
within himself, If Ibleed the king with
this lancet he will die, and shall be seized
and put to cruel death. Then of what
use will all the gold in the world be to meP'
Then, returning the lancet to his pocket,
he drew forth another. The king, observ-
ing this, and perceiving that he was much
embarrassed, asked why he changed his
lancet SO suddenly. He stated that the
point was broken but the king, doubling
his statement, commanded him to show it,
This so agitated him, that the king felt as
sured all was not right. He said, There
is treachery in this Tell me instantly
what it means, or your head shall be sew
cred from your body = The surgeon,
trembling with fear, promised to relate all
to the king, if he would only pardon his
guilt. The king consented, and the sur
geon related the whole matter, acknowl-
edging that had it not been for the words
in the basin, he should have used the fatal
lancet.
"The king summoned his court, and
ordered the traitor to be executed. Then
turning to his officers of State, he said,
"You now see that the advice of the der
wise, at which you laughed, is most valua-
BILE; it has saved my life. Search out this
dervise, that may amply reward him for
his wise maxim."'