many domestics; the subsistence of all was derived from the plunder of the district, which had the calamity of being under the protection of the Aga. The Greek rayahs, of course, were subjected to heavier and more frequent exactions than the true believing peasants. As often as a drunken soldier chose to reel across their threshold, they had to pay an avania for the favour; whenever the governor had a present to make at the beiram, the capitation tax was to be paid, though "the price of their heads" had perhaps been paid thrice over. When an order arrived from the Capitan Pacha for half a dozen sailors for the fleet, the unfortunate Greeks were sure to furnish the necessary quota; and those who were not torn from their families had to purchase their exemption with the last para they possessed.

It was on one of these occasions, that the myrmidons of the Aga entered the dwelling of a Greek family, who had but recently settled in the district. They were yet strangers in the village, and no one was acquainted with their history; various rumours ascribed to them different fortunes and stations in society,

but the prevailing report was, that Michelaki was a Fanariot by birth, had been a banker by profession, and a fugitive from the capital as a matter of course; that he had been rich and now was poor; had feasted with princes and now had not salt to his pilaw; had money dealings with Pachas, and was fortunate enough to escape an interview with the executioner. Whatever might have been his rank, the beauty of his wife was of that delicate cast which belongs not to the vulgar, and the dignity of her deportment accorded not with the wretchedness which surrounded her. The coarseness of her attire formed a contrast with the elegance of her movements, and concealed not the grace which at that period was deemed the peculiar possession of the Greeks of the Fanâal. She was sitting with a smiling infant in her arms, weeping over its little innocent features, when Achmet the Secretary of the Aga, and a number of soldiers, entered the apartment.

"Where is your husband, woman?" said the Secretary: "we wish to speak with him. You have no occasion to be alarmed, we merely want to hear the latest news from Stamboul,

knowing that he has been lately in the capital. Why do you weep? you have nothing to fear. Min Allah! God forbid !" All the attendants on the little man in authority doled out Min Allah! with due solemnity.

The terrified woman was too well acquainted with Turkish perfidy to hear the words of kindness without trembling; she had hardly power to reply that her husband was from home and would not return before evening.

"There is no hurry," said Achmet; "time is time, whether it be to-night or to-morrow, it is all one, Allah Karim! God is merciful! but let your good man call on the Aga when he does return; he is said to, be a Cateb of eminence, a clever writer, and our master has occasion for his services."

The party retired, but one of the young Arnaouts loitered at the door, and beckoning to the woman, whispered in her ear in her own language,"If your husband would not find himself in the fleet to-morrow, let him keep out of the way."

The terror which this intelligence caused may be easily imagined; the wretched woman

ran to apprize her husband of his danger, who was in the house of one of his heedless countrymen in the neighbourhood, solemnizing the festival of one of the innumerable Saints of the Greek calendar. He received the news with the apathy that characterizes the Greeks; he would trust, he said, in the protection of the Pania, the sweet Madonna, and he kissed her image as he spoke. "Fly, for Heaven's sake!" said his wife; but Michelaki felt no disposition to sacrifice his present comforts for any future considerations. He crossed himself devoutly with the effigy of his patron Saint, which like all religious Greeks he wore next his heart. "San Demitri," he cried, "never abandoned one of his faithful worshippers :" and then he endeavoured to establish his right to divine protection by cursing the enemies of the true religion: in the bitterness of his heart he ran through the whole vocabulary of Eastern maledictions, beginning with an imprecation on the mother of Mahomed, and ending with a curse on the beard of Suleiman. In short, he spent a considerable time in anathematizing the whole Moslem race, after the most approved form and fashion of

invective, but he made no effort to escape the persecution of his enemies. In spite of every remonstrance, he sat carousing with his countrymen, talking of the valour of Leonidas, Scanderbeg, Achilles, and other contemporary heroes, and drowning all future care in soulspiriting Cyprus.

As the eyes of the merry rayahs borrowed sparkles from the glass, one might have imagined that the Seven Champions of Christendom were assembled in a convivial Areopagus, rehearsing their astonishing achievements. But Michelaki vaunted exploits which bore down all competition; he had overreached Grand Viziers, who were called Locmans, for wisdom; he had led Pachas of three tails by the nose who had the ability to cheat Jews; he had slain fourteen Turks with his own hand in the last revolution in Roumelia; and he had seen the sweating pillar in the Mosque of San Sophia, and had even collected a small vial of the miraculous exudation which had the power of curing every mortal malady.

A merry little tailor asked Michelaki how long he had been afflicted with the chronic rheu