country from China to Phoenicia, into Samarkand and the Trans-Oxiana and even to cities in Turkestan, there must be a vast organization for this minute surveillance of his entire administration, and the mere receiving of reports would not leave much surplus time on the hands of the Sultan, but Nizam ul Mulk was relentless. For the end was not yet. Even to the regulation of the royal habits went this admonitor, calm and unafraid. The monarch must be strict with himself, he declared, limiting indulgence in the cup that cheers and avoiding all suggestion of frivolity. His was the duty of setting a fitting example in all things, not least of which were the matter of fasting, of religious devotions, not neglecting the important duty of almsgiving. Making due allowance for the partiality of the oriental chroniclers, it is still evident that the government was both wise and successful, and that the example of Malek Shah and his extraordinary vizier influenced powerfully the minor princes and governors of their time, with the result that the people flourished and were well content. Above all every one could feel himself secure in his person and his possessions and, at the time when security of either was the last thing to be found in .Europe, and the very pilgrims to Rome were plundered both in the coming and the going, a man could travel throughout the Sultan's broad dominions and never need to worry about himself or his belongings. As for the latter, a cunning law put the responsibility directly up to the inhabitants of the com