were met by fome Turkish veffels, who, after an obftinate resistance from the Venetians, boarded them, loaded them with irons, and carried them prisoners to Tunis. There they were exposed in the market-place in their chains, in order to be fold as flaves.

At laft a Turk came to the market, who seemed to be a man of fuperior rank, and after looking over the prifoners, with an expreffion of compaffion, he fixed his eyes upon young Francisco, and asked the captain what was the price of that young captive. The captain_ replied, that he would not part with him for lefs than five hundred pieces of gold. The Turk confidered that as a very extraordinary price, fince he had feen him fell others, that exceeded him in ftrength and vigour, for less than a fifth part of that money.

"That is true," replied the captain, "but he shall either fetch me a price that will repay me the damage he has occafioned me, or he shall labour all the reft of his life at the oar." The Turk asked him, what damage he could have done him more than the reft of the crew. "It was he," replied the captain, "who animated the Chriftians to make a defperate refiftance, and thereby proved the deftruction of many of my braveft feamen. We three times boarded them with a fury that feemed invincible, and each time did that youth attack us with a cool and determined oppofition; fo that we were obliged to give up the conteft, till other fhips came up to our affiftance. I will therefore have that price for him, or I will punish him for life."

The Turk now furveyed young Francifco more attentively than before; and the young man, who had hitherto fixed his eyes in fullen filence on the ground, at length raised them up; but he had no fooner beheld the person who was talking to the captain, than, in a loud voice, he uttered the name of Hamet. The Turk, ftruck with astonishment, furveyed him for a moment, and then caught him in his arms.

After a moment's pause, the generous Hamet lifted up his hands to Heaven, and thanked his God, who had

put

put it in his power to fhew his gratitude; but words cannot express his feelings, when he found that both father and fon were flaves. Suffice it to fay, that he inftantly bought their freedom, and conducted them to his magnificent houfe in the city.

They had here full leifure to difcourfe on the strange viciffitudes of fortune, when Hamet told his Venetian friends, that after their generofity had procured him liberty, he became an officer in the Turkish army, and happening to be fortunate in all his enterprises, he had been gradually promoted, till he arrived at the dignity of bashaw of Tunis. That in this fituation, he found the greatest consolation in alleviating the misfortunes of the Chriftian prisoners, and always attended the fales of those unhappy flaves, to procure liberty to a certain number of them. "And gracious Allah," added he, "has this day put it in my power, in some measure, to return the duties of gratitude."

They continued fome days with Hamet, who did every thing in his power to amuse and divert them; but as he found their defire was to return to their own country, he told them, that he would not wish to detain them against their wishes, and that they fhould embark the next day in a fhip bound for Venice, which would be furnished with a paffport to carry them safe there.

The next day he difmiffed them with every mark of tenderness and affection, and ordered a party of his own guards to attend them to the veffel. They had no fooner got on board, than they found, to their inexpreffible furprise and joy, that they were in the very fhip in which they had been taken, and that, by the generofity of Hamet, not only the fhip, but even the whole crew, were redeemed and reftored to freedom. Francifco and his son, after a quick paffage, arrived in their own country, where they lived beloved and refpected, and endeavoured to convince every one they knew, how great were the viciffitudes of fortune, and that God never fuffers humanity and generofity to go unrewarded, here or hereafter.

On

On the Respect paid by the Lacedæmonians and Athenians to Old Age.

T happened at Athens, during a public reprefenta

in

monwealth, that an old gentleman came too late for a place fuitable to his age and quality. Many of the young gentlemen, who obferved the difficulty and confufion he was in, made figns to him that they would accommodate him if he came where they fat: The good man buftled through the crowd accordingly; but when he came to the feat to which he was invited, the jeft was, to fit close and expose him, as he stood out of countenance, to the whole audience. The frolic went round all the Athenian benches. But, on those occafions, there were also particular places affigned for foreigners: When the good man fkulked towards the boxes appointed for the Lacedæmonians, that honeft people, more virtuous than polite, rose up all to a man, and, with the greateft refpect, received him among them. The Athenians, being fuddenly touched with a fenfe of the Spartan virtue, and their own degeneracy, gave a thunder of applaufe; and the old man cried out, "The Athenians understand what is good, but the Lacedæmonians practise it."

Parental

THE

Parental Affection.

HE white bear of Greenland and Spitzbergen is confiderably larger than the brown bear of Europe, or the black bear of North America. This animal lives. upon fifh and feals, and is not only feen upon land in the countries bordering upon the North-Pole, but often on floats of ice, feveral leagues at fea. The following relation is extracted from the " Journal of a Voyage, for making Difcoveries towards the North-Pole."

Early in the morning, the man at the mast-head gavè notice that three bears were making their way very fast over the ice, and that they were directing their courfe towards the fhip. They had, without queftion, been invited by the scent of the blubber of a fea-horse, killed a few days before, which the men had fet on fire, and which was burning on the ice at the time of their approach. They proved to be a fhe-bear and her two cubs; but the cubs were nearly as large as the dam. They ran eagerly to the fire, and drew out from the flames part of the flesh of the fea-horfe that remained unconsumed, and ate it voraciously. The crew from the fhip threw great lumps of the flesh of the fea-horse, which they had ftill left, upon the ice, which the old bear fetched away fingly, laid every lump before her cubs as the brought it, and, dividing it, gave each a fhare, referving but a small portion to herself. As she was fetching away the laft piece, they levelled their muskets at the cubs, and fhot them both dead; and in her retreat they wounded the dam, but not mortally. It would have drawn tears of pity from any but unfeeling minds, to have marked the affectionate concern expreffed by this poor beaft, in the last moments of her expiring young. Though fhe was forely wounded, and could but just crawl to the place where they lay, the carried the lump of flesh fhe had taken away, as the

P

had

had done others before, tore it in pieces, and laid it down before them; and when she saw that they refused to eat, the laid her paws firft upon one, and then upon the other, and endeavoured to raise them up: all this while it was pitiful to hear her moan. When the found she could not stir them, she went off, and when .fhe had gotten at some distance, looked back and moaned; and that not availing her to entice them away, the returned, and fmelling round them, began to lick their wounds. She went off a fecond time, as before; and having crawled a few paces, looked again behind her, and for fome time ftood moaning. But ftill her cubs not rifing to follow her, the returned to them again, and, with signs of inexpreffible fondness, went round one, and round the other, pawing them and moaning. Finding at last that they were cold and lifeless, the raised her head towards the fhip, and groaned a curfe upon the murderers; which they returned with a volley of musket balls. She fell between her cubs, and died, licking their wounds.

Can you admire the maternal affection of the bear, and not feel in your heart the warmest emotions of gratitude for the ftronger and more permanent tenderness you have fo long experienced from your parents?

The