The true northerner., 1874-08-07

his system to give. He was afraid not
to give. So he said, / will answer the
demands of the law of the prophet by
giving so much, which will insure me
| Paradise, and fancied that was charity.
When the widow of Selim, the mule
driver, employed him to save her inner,
itance to her children, from the wicked
brother, he required all that the law
permitted him to exact, so that she
said, 'Lo l might as well have let
my brother have the land lie an
swered, 'the law gives it to me-go to.
He would oppress the poor III busl-
ness way, and compromise with his
conscience by subscribing tenth OF his
profits to charity. Compromising new
| er did work in such matters. The COM
promiser gives the devil something of
value. and receives in return that which
damns him. The expressions and
graspings of Hafiz were exactly balanced
| in number, by his charities, but he
side was the heaviest in quality. We
keep very accurate books, you observe. "
"Abdallah, the maker of shawls,
| is"
"No he isn't. He was an ardent
teacher of the rules the prophet gave to
the faithful, but he was the worst prac-
ticer / ever had any knowledge of. The
strong waters of the Giaour ruined his
prospects. He preached abstinence
from wine, but he constantly partook of
the forbidden drink. He loved wine,
and Immediately proceeded to deceive
himself that he had dyspepsia, and had
to take it, Hearing once that strong
liquor vas an antidote for the bite of n
serpent, he absolutely moved into
province where serpents abound. He
talked loudly about gluttony, but ex-
cused himself for eating five courses by
holding that he needed it to keep him
self up. He succeeded in deceivibg
himself, but he couldn't deceive U.S..
" Kahkani, the poet, whose songs
were all i'll praise of virtue, is here. The
fervent goodness that produced such
morality must be safe ?"
"Quite wrong, my dear sir Kah-
kanis poems were beautiful, but, bless
you, he never felt the sentiment in
them. He had an itching for fame, and
writing spiritual poems happened to be
his best hold. If he could have written
comic songs better than hymns he would
| HdNc WIlbtCu COullC SOlSS.
"Who have you here, pray ?"
"Saadi, the camel-shoer is here"
"Saadi Why he was constantly vio-
lating the laws OF the prophet"
"True, he would even curse the
camels he was shoeing. But he was
always sorry for it, and he would mourn
over the intirmities Of his temper, and
strove honestly and zealously all the
time to live better and be better He
did not make a grand success, but he
did the best he could. He gave liber-
ally of his substance, and without blat-
ting it all over Ispahan. When he gave
a dirhem, he didn't pay the newspapers
two dirhems to make the fact public,
which is my definition of the genuine
charity. Then there's Firdusi, the car
pet cleaner"
He never gave anything"
Certainly not, for he had nothing to
give. The prophet never asks impossi-
bilities. He would have given it if he
had it, and he tried hard to get it. Then
there's Jelal- ed-din-"
"He couldn't make a prayer"
True, but he said Amen to those
who could, and meant it, which was
more than half those who made the
prayers could say"
"And Wassaf, the teacher-where is
he? a more pure and blameless life no
man ever led"
"He is here, but occupies a very low
place"
"a low place ?"
Verify, Wassaf did not sin, it is
true, but it was no credit to him that he
did not. A more egregiously deceived
man never lived or died. He obeyed
the laws of the prophet because he
could not do otherwise then crediting
himself with what he could not avoid.
He could not be glutton for his stom-
ach was weak-he could not partake of
the strong waters of the Frank, because
his brain would not endure it-he was
virtuous because he was too cold
blooded-too thin -blooded to have any
passion. Hehadnot moral force enough
to commit decent sin, and this ina
bility to be wicked he fancied was
righteousness. He was moral oyster.
BE, an iceberg, plumed himself upon
being cold. Now Agha, the flute
player, who was at times q glutton and
a wine-bibber, and all the rest of it, is
several benches higher than Wassaf.
For Agha's blood boiled like a cauldron
he was robust, he had the appetite of
the rhinoceros ofAthe Nile, and physi-
cal nature that was constantly pushing
him to the commission of sin, but
Agha, feeling, knowing, that it was
wrong, fought against it manfully. He
fell frequently, for the evil one knew
his weak moments, but he rose and
fought against himself and managed to
come out victor at least half the time.
There was no more merit in Wassaf's
virtue than there is in an icebergs be-
ing cold. But for a burning volcano
like Agha to keep himself down to an
even temperature, that was great.
" My friend, it is not worth while to
enumerate, but-well, you will know
more when you get inside. You have
seen the sky-rockets of Jami. They
ascend with much fzz and make beau
tiful show, but alas before they reach
tLo skies they explode and disappear in
a sheet of flame. Precisely SO with
many men. They soar aloft on their
professions, but they, too, Ito use a
/ I,,,ct l,ogo.,,o