bringing it shall be defrayed by my master.'-'Your request is but reasonable,' replied the judge; 'do as you propose.' He then proceeded to other business.

When the court was about to break up, the judge addressed Zadig 'Well,' said he, 'is your stone yet come?' The Jew, sneering, replied 'Should your excellence wait here till to-morrow, you would not even then see the stone; for it is above six miles distant from hence, and would require fifteen men to remove it.' 'I have well said, cried Zadig aloud, 'that the stone would bear witness! Since this man knows where the stone lies, he confesses that the money was counted on it.' The Jew, thus confounded, was soon constrained to confess the truth; and the judge ordered that he should be fastened to the stone, without meat or drink, till he had restored the money, which was then speedily paid. From that time, the slave Zadig, as well as the stone, were held in great esteem throughout all Arabia.

CHAPTER X.

THE FUNERAL PILE.

SETOC, transported with his good success, made Zadig his favourite companion. He valued him as much as the king of Babylon had formerly done; and, luckily for Zadig, the merchant had no wife. He discovered in his master a natural propensity to goodness, and found him to be a worthy and a sensible man; but he was concerned to see a person he so greatly esteemed, paying divine adoration to a host of

created, though celestial beings, according to the custom in Arabia, of worshipping the sun, moon, and stars. He sometimes cautiously introduced this important topic; and at length ventured to assert, that they were equally created with things of less lustre, and no more entitled to our adoration than a tree or a rock. 'But,' said Setoc, 'these are eternal beings, from whom we derive every blessing we enjoy; they animate nature; they regulate the seasons; and are, in short, situate at such an infinite distance from us, that we cannot but revere them.'-' You receive more advantages,' replied Zadig, from the waters of the Red Sea, which carry your merchandise to the Indies; and may not that be as ancient as the stars? Or if you will worship what is at a distance, you shou'd rather pay your adoration to the land of the Gangarides, which is situate at the extremities of the earth." -'No,' said Setoc, 'the stars are so surpassingly brilliant, that it is impossible for me not to prefer them."

In the evening Zadig lighted a great number of candles in the tent in which they were to sup; and as soon as Setoc appeared, threw himself on his knees before the flaming tapers, and thus addressed them'Eternal and ever-shining brightness, be propitious to your votary! Having uttered these words, he sat down to table without regarding Setoc. What are you doing?" said Setoc, filled with astonishment. 'I act, Sir, like you, replied Zadig; 'I adore these candles, and neglect their Master and mine.'

Setoc comprehended the profound sense of this apologue. The wisdom of his slave entered into his soul; and he no longer burned incense to created beings, but adored the Eternal who made them.

The Arabians had at that time a horrid custom,

originally brought from Scythia, and which being established in the Indies by the credit of the Brachmans, threatened to spread it's infection over all the East. When a married man died, and his dearly beloved wife wished to be esteemed a saint, she burned herself publicly on her husband's funeral pile. This was a solemn festival, called the widow's sacrifice; and the tribe in which most women had been thus burnt, was held in the greatest respect. An Arabian of the same tribe as Setoc being dead, his widow, named Almona, who was very devout, made known the day and hour in which she would throw herself into the pile, amidst the sound of drums and trumpets. Zadig remonstrated to his master, how contrary this horrible custom was to the welfare of the human race, that young widows should be every day permitted to burn themselves, who were capable of giving children to the state, or of educating those they had already; and he obliged him to acknowledge, that so barbarous a custom ought, if possible to be totally abolished. 'It is now,' said Setoc, more than a thousand years since widows were in possession of the right of burning themselves; and who can change a law consecrated by time? Is there any thing more respectable than even an ancient error?' 'But reason is still more ancient and respectable, replied Zadig. 'Do you, Sir, communicate these sentiments to the chiefs of the tribes, and I will attend on the widow.'

Accordingly, he waited upon her; and, having insinuated himself into her favour by compliments to her beauty, he urged what a pity it was that charms like her's should be consumed by fire, only to mingle ashes with a dead husband; and was lavish in his praises of her constancy and heroic fortitude. You

must surely have loved your husband extremely?" said he. 'No,' replied the lady, 'I loved him not at all. He was a brute; he was jealous; and so great a tyrant, that he was quite insupportable: but I have, notwithstanding, firmly resolved to throw myself on his funeral pile.'-' There is then, surely," said Zadig, 'a very delicious pleasure in being burnt alive!'-' Alas!' said the lady, the thought makes nature shudder; but that is not to be considered. I am a professed devotee; and, should I shew the least reluctance, my reputation would be for ever lost. In short, the whole world would despise me, if I did not burn myself.' Zadig having made her confess that she burnt herself merely to please others, and satisfy her vanity, conversed with her a long time, in such a manner, as not only to make her a little in love with life, but even proceeded so far as to inspire her with some degree of partiality for the speaker. 'What would you do,' said he, 'if the vanity of burning yourself should not prevail ?'-' Alas!' replied she, ' I believe I should wish you to be my husband."

Zadig was too much filled with the idea of Astarte, not to elude this warm declaration. He took his leave; and went instantly to the chiefs, whom he told what had passed, and advised them to make a law, that no widow should be permitted to burn herself till she had conversed with a young man one hour in private. The law was accordingly passed, and since that time no lady has burnt herself in Arabia. To Zadig they were indebted for destroying, in one day, a cruel custom that had lasted so many ages; and he was therefore very justly regarded, by all the ladies in Arabia, as their principal benefactor

CHAPTER XI.

THE SUPPER.

SETOC, who could not long separate himself from Zadig, in whom he discovered so much wisdom, took him to the fair of Balzora, whither the richest merchants in the earth usually repaired. Zadig was delighted to see so many men of different countries assembled in the same place. It seemed to him as if the universe was one large family met together at Balzora. On the second day after his arrival, he sat at table with an Egyptian, an Indian, an inhabitant of Cathay, a Greek, a Celtic, and several other foreigners, who, in their frequent voyages to the Arabian Gulph, had learned sufficient Arabic to make themselves understood. The Egyptian appeared greatly exasperated: 'What an abominable place is Balzora!' said he; 'they here refuse me a thousand ounces of gold, on the best security in the world!'-'How is that?" said Setoc; 'on what security have they refused you this sum?'-' On the body of my aunt,' replied the Egyptian. 'She was one of the finest women in all Egypt; she constantly accompanied me in my journies, but unhappily died on the road. I made her one of the choicest mummies we have amongst us; and might, in my own country, have whatever I pleased, by giving her as a pledge. It is exceedingly strange, that they will not here lend a thousand ounces of gold on so solid a security!" He was now going to vent his rage on an excellent boiled fowl; when the Indian, taking him by the hand, cried, in a sorrowful manner, 'Ah! what are you going to