He accordingly paid a visit to his daughter; and after she had enjoyed the high honour of kissing his foot, and he had graciously signified to her his Imperial permission that she should seat herself upon the cushions piled on the floor near him; he condescendingly explained to her the utter uselessness of jewels which she never wore, and suggested the expediency of her disposing of them, and adding the interest of the sum that they would produce to her present income. The Princess listened in respectful silence; and then ventured to doubt whether a purchaser could be found for the diamonds of a Sultan’s daughter. This difficulty was, however, instantly overcome, by an offer, on the part of his Sublime Highness, to become himself that purchaser. And the consent of the Princess having been obtained, and the price to be paid decided on, the principal remained in the Imperial Treasury, whence the interest was to be drawn; and the jewels, thus, in point of fact, obtained for a per centage on their value, were carried off in triumph by the court jewellers, to be reset for the younger Princess! Nor was this all—for, when the Pashas declared the amount of their offerings, the money was paid on the instant, and these very diamonds given in exchange, fashioned into such forms as best suited the taste and convenience of their new owner. Thus were things situated when the baffled Seraskier withdrew from the Imperial Presence, to drag his beloved ducats from their snug resting-place in his strong box, and to scatter them among the money-changing Franks. Many of the Pashas had not yet come forward with their gifts, and he had still breathing time for a shrewd stroke. It is the fashion at the Sublime Court for each noble to announce the amount of the present which he purposes to make; and the declaration generally exceeds the actual value of the offering by fifty or a thousand piastres. The Seraskier accordingly collected these declarations, and having so done, he addressed a courtly circular to the tardy (in this case too tardy!) Pashas, informing them that his Sublime Highness Mahmoud “The Powerful,” the Light of the World, and Brother of the Sun, had so overwhelmed his intended son-in-law, Mohammed Saïd Pasha, with the brightness of his munificence, that he had rained diamonds upon him, and overstrown his path with precious stones; and, such being the case, he, the Seraskier, acting as his adopted father and counsellor, had suggested to him the expediency of proposing to those Pashas who had not yet honoured him with their gifts, to make them in the current coin of the Empire, rather than in diamonds which could not, under the circumstances, avail him any thing. The suggestion was a command; the wily Seraskier held the list of names and offerings; and each Pasha was under the necessity of coming forward, and paying to the treasurer of the Seraskier the actual sum in money which he had specified!