in Athens.

Neleus and his Ionians are founding cities in Asia; whilst Oryntheus the youngest, and the child of my Salatis, disowned by his Grecian brothers, stands before you, ready to devote himself for the king, to whom he now vows fealty. No longer does he own proud Athens for his country: his beloved mother with her latest breath bequeathed him to my care, and he is to me as the child whom I have lost. As servant of the great Mycerinus, this youth, unappalled by the fatal prophecy, would seek the Lybian Oracle, bear to the monarch's feet the answer of the God, and then in triumph claim his promised boon." Heedless of the warning aspect of the astrologers, sounds of approval floated through the hall; and on a signal from the throne, Uchoreus, touching the Greek with the jewelled image suspended from his neck, named him as the appointed messenger to the Oasis of Ammon.

A hundred changes of raiment, gems and gold, were bestowed upon him; and with a numerous escort bearing various gifts for the god, in a few days he quitted Memphis for the desert, the sun of hope leading him fondly on, and gilding with its rays the dark prophecy which hung over him.

For fifteen days the people mourned Latona's fatal words, when rising from their grief, with renovated joy they commenced their preparations for the grandest

festival of the year. The moonless night was employed in bringing by torchlight to the Temple of Serapis the

most beautiful stuffs, with which the ground was covered; in keeping silver lamps constantly fed with incense, burning before the statue of the god, and in throwing flowers into the deep basin, from the centre of which rose the pillar that marked the increase of the Nile: planted in the bed of the river, this pillar towered to the roof of the temple, and bore on its polished shaft the numbers that told the height of the inundation. day, victims were sacrificed, and their entrails consulted in all the temples of Memphis; and offerings were laid before the gods, by the high born maids of Egypt; for on the third day, that day when the Nile attained the greatest height, was his chosen bride to be declared.

By

The moon rose bright, and its dawn greeted the ambassadors' return from Butus. The answer of the Oracle again spread consternation through the land.—It said, that the will of the gods was to afflict all Egypt for thrice fifty years, in order to purge it from its sins. Therefore, as Mycerinus was careful of his country's peace, the inscrutable decrees of fate permitted him to reign over it but seven years, when his death would again reduce the nation to slavery and despair. With heavy hearts the afflicted people assembled in the temple of Serapis, where the veiled and trembling maids awaited their fate. Many were the prayers put up by those who coveted the high, but dear-bought honour; but more were breathed from lips that loved not the cold kiss of the impatient wave; from hearts that shrunk

from their dark resting-place within its bosom. Among these last was the young Nementhis, who had ceased not to weep or pray since she had first been made acquainted with the misfortunes hanging over her father.

She was now standing in the temple undistinguished from a thousand other virgins of the land, who, in the glorious light of the morning sun, robed in white, with long veils embroidered in hieroglyphics depending from their lotus crowns, were waiting to place their small papyrus scrolls in the vase of fate. The priests chanted a low hymn, while the customary victim was led before the altar; the chief priest, laying his aged hands on the beast of sacrifice, loaded it with imprecations, whilst every voice joined in loud prayer to the gods, entreating them to cast upon the head of that victim all the calamities which so sorely threatened the land. It was then slaughtered, and the blood having been caught in a golden cup, and sprinkled on the porphyry vase which stood alone in the centre of the vast building, the priests resumed their chant. One by one each trembling maid advanced; then making the circuit of the vase, threw into it her scroll. The ceremony was long-there were many of the fair and noble standing in that temple with palpitating hearts! At length the lots were all thrown in, and a golden veil spread over the vase. The rays of the sun turned cold and pale, and a silent awe struck the assembled multitude, as four of the priests left the altar, each armed

with a ponderous brazen club, and broke the vase to atoms: the glittering veil enveloped its ruins, covering all save the one small leaf, on which the name of the chosen bride was traced. Darker and darker grew the heavens as the chief priest, sorely dismayed, slowly advanced to raise the fatal scroll; he already held it in his hand, when the mysterious rite became complete. The affrighted priests and women sank on the ground uttering wild cries of horror, while the rest flew through the arcades of the temple, lighted only by the incense lamps before the shrine, into the darker streets without. Holding the unread scroll in his trembling hand, the venerable chief priest prophesied aloud; "Woe, woe!" he cried, "woe to the land of Egypt! the sun of her prosperity is hidden beneath a dark cloud cast o'er its brightness by the wrath of heaven!- Mourn, oh ye inhabitants of Memphis, the curse of the gods is on ye! Mourn, oh ye daughters of Egypt, the loved and the good shall be taken from ye!" His voice was lost in the lamentations of the multitude. But soon the portentous darkness began to yield to the reviving influence of the god of day; the cold, damp chill that had fallen on all, was dissipated by the returning radiance, and light and hope were renewed together. "Behold!" cried the aged priest, "behold the type of Egypt's fate: her sun of glory shall be dimmed but for a season! More bright, more cheering shall it shine again, when the curse of heaven shall have passed away! Praised

be the immortal gods!" He spoke, and through the mighty temple a thousand voices echoed, "Praised be the immortal gods!"

The hot blast of the desert was tempered in its course by the verdant and flower-enamelled pastures of the Oasis of Ammon; and the burning rays of the noonday sun were intercepted by its dense and ever sheltering palm groves. The Egyptians and their Grecian leader slept through the sultry hours beneath the awnings of their tents, dreaming of the trackless waste of sand they had so slowly traversed, to renew at their awakening the joy with which they had arrived at this blooming paradise, the bourne of their pilgrimage. Guarded from the intolerable heat, the patient camels at length reposed after their toilsome march, crouching in the deep shade of the date and fig trees, and snuffing the cool fragrance of the rippling streams, that wandered through bowers of clustering fruit trees and plants of aromatic sweetness. No living object was seen to stir throughout the happy spot, except the grey swallow which sought with drooping wing her cool nest amongst the pillars of the temple; and the small green bird of the desert, whose glittering plumage glanced amid the dark stems of the Doum palm-tree. All was hushed, save the murmur of the sacred fountain of the sun, which gushed from the bosom of the earth, throwing its icy waters far into the sultry air, as though they sprang to meet their tutelary god.