f their district, attested by a declaration of six
householders, that the forty days had elapsed. In the preceding century
(in 1498) an ordinance still more extraordinary had been issued. It was at
the coronation of Louis XII. when a great number of the nobles came to
Paris to take part in the ceremony. The provost, desiring to guard them
from the danger of infection, published an order that all persons of both
sexes, suffering under certain specified maladies, should quit the capital
in twenty-four hours, _under the penalty of being thrown into the river_!

THE LEGEND OF THE WEEPING CHAMBER.

From Household Words.

A strange story was once told me by a Levantine lady of my acquaintance,
which I shall endeavor to relate--as far as I am able with the necessary
abridgments--in her own words. The circumstances under which she told it
were peculiar. The family had just been disturbed by the visit of a
ghost--a real ghost, visible, if not palpable. She was not what may be
called superstitious; and though following with more or less assiduity the
practices of her religion, was afflicted now and then with a fit of
perfect materialism. I was surprised, therefore, to hear her relate, with
every appearance of profound faith, the following incidents:--

There is an old house in Beyrout, which, for many successive years, was
inhabited by a Christian family. It is of great extent, and was of yore
fitted for the dwelling of a prince. The family had, indeed, in
early-times been very rich; and almost fabulous accounts are current of
the wealth of its founder, Fadlallah Dahan. He was a merchant; the owner
of ships, the fitter-out of caravans. The regions of the East and of the
West had been visited by him; and, after undergoing as many dangers and
adventures as Sinbad, he had returned to spend the latter days of his life
in his native city. He built, accordingly, a magnificent dwelling, the
courts of which he adorned with marble fountains, and the chambers with
silk divans; and he was envied on account of his prosperity.

But, in the restlessness of his early years, he had omitted to marry, and
now found himself near the close of his career without an heir to inherit
his wealth and to perpetuate his name. This reflection often disturbed
him; yet he was unwilling to take a wife because he was old. Every now and
then, it is true, he saw men older than he, with fewer teeth and whiter
beards, taking