Richland beacon. [volume] (Rayville, La.) 1869-1890, 1873-05-31
A Capital Maxim.

! LADY MARY WORTLEY MoNTAGU relate.
! the following story: "One day. as an
! ancient king of Tartary was riding W it'll
! his officers of State. they met derviS,
crying aloud, To him that will give m,
hundred dinarS, (small pieces of money.
will give Il piece of good adyice.' Tn,
king. attracted by this strange declaration
stopped. and said to the dervisc. What
advice l. this that you offer for hundred
dirarS:' Sire replied the dervise, Il
shall be most thankful to tell you as soon
as you order the money To be paid me.
! The king, expecting to hear something
extraordinary. 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-
The officers of State. smiling ut 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 10 he severely punished. The king.
seeing their amusement and surprise, said.
see nothing to laugh at in the advice of
this dcrviSe; but on the contrary, am
persuaded that if it We're more frequently
practiccd, men would escape many calam-
itIcs. Indeed, so convinced am | of the
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 TIE
chief Bey to see that the maxim was en-
graved on his plate and on the walls of
his palace.
'Some time after this occurrence. one
of the mobiles of the court, a proud, ambi-
tiOuS man, resolved TO destroy the king
and place himself on the throne. In order
toaccompli>h this bad purpose, he secured
the confidence of one of the Xii g's sur
gcOnS, 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
prospects, wickedly assented to the pro-
pOSal.
An opportunity of efiecting his evil
design soon occurred. The Ming sent for
this man 10 bleed him. He put the poi
Soned lancet into a side pocket, and hast
ened into the kings presence. The arm
was tied, and the fatal lancet was about
10 be plunged into the vein, when sudden
~ the surgeons eye read this maxim at
iil' bDttoIl Ol lllt Dd>lil. Dt1ln llOlfllllD
without considering what the end may
be- He Immediately paused, as he
thought within himself. IF | bleed 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 me- Then, returning the
lancet TO his pocket, he drew forth an
other. The king, observing this, and per-
ceiviIg that he was much embarrassed.
asked why he changed his lancet SO sud-
denly. He stated that the point was
broken; but the king. doubling his state
ment, commanded him to show il. This
so agitated him. that the king felt assured
all was not right. He said. There is
treachery in this. Tell Inc instantly what
it means. or your head shall be severed
from your body" The surgeon, trem-
bling 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 valu-
able: it has saved my life. Search out
this dervise, that may amply reward him
for his wise MAXIM"