munity where they happened to be, so that the traveler might deposit them anywhere in perfect confidence that every man would protect them. In the rare case that they disappeared the cost of their replacement was put directly upon the dwellers in the vicinage. In the matter of improvements, also, both aesthetic and material, great strides were made. Scholars, poets and philosophers were not only encouraged to come to court, but Nizam ul Mulk made every possible effort to attract them,- and brought some from Constantinople to translate the Greek classics into Arabic. Every kind of talent was encouraged, and — most marvelous of all — all opinions were tolerated, the enlightened vizier being quoted as saying that fanaticism was more dangerous to the State than diversity of opinions, a theory upheld in our own day in London, where the firebrands may explode to their hearts* content all over Hyde Park. Nizam ul Mulk erected splendid colleges and libraries at his own expense, and Malek Shah was no less munificent, and these were all handsomely supported. Altogether a most efficient administration, one which Signor Mussolini might cite as illustrating the benefits of a benevolent despotism. To be sure, there was always plenty of bloodshed along with the blessings of peace. War was by no means in disrepute, and the modern idea that the sword should be converted into a ploughshare would have been received with astonishment and even indignation at the court of Malek Shah. The hero of the