PERSONAL APPEARANCE OF THE LORD EDRIS, U. W. B., ETC.

He had a handsome physiognomy, of a brown com­plexion, large moustache and beard; his stature was tall and symmetrical, with strong bones and little flesh. He spoke slowly, but was mostly silent; when he walked he looked down, and was always meditating something. When he spoke he moved the forefinger; and being once asked how a good opinion may be acquired among people, he replied: ‘By dealing honestly and civilly with every­body.’ The following are some of his maxims: The greatest blessings are three in number, namely, meekness in the time of anger, liberality in the time of dearth, and pardon in a powerful position. He is wise who despises not three classes of men, namely, kings, scholars, and friends: for whosoever is impudent to sovereigns will injure his own income; who despises scholars has deteriorated his own faith; and whoever esteems lightly his friends pulls out the shrub of politeness by the roots. An intelli­gent man ought to covet wisdom; he must not lament in a general calamity; the higher his dignity becomes, the humbler he must be; he must not rail at a man’s faults, nor change at the increase of his own fortune. Call him not perfectly wise who is not perfectly abstinent, and con­sider him not adorned with science who possesses not sound sense. An ignorant man will appear small to the eye of discernment, though he may be great to the eyes of the world, but with the learned the contrary is the case. Who settles in a place where there is neither a powerful king nor a righteous judge, neither a skilled physician nor a running brook, has no regard for his own life. Riches make a stranger a citizen, and poverty makes a citizen a stranger, which sentiments has been versified by Shekh Sa’di as follows:

Verses: A rich man is not a stranger in mountain, desert or solitude—
Wherever he goes he pitches his tent and makes a sleeping-place;
Whilst he who is destitute of the goods of this world
Must be in his own country a stranger and unknown.*

There are many sayings of Edris concerning advice and philosophy, a few of which have been given here as specimens. (a)