AKBAR THE WISE AND THE JUST. 63 



leaders, assembled on the plain, where numerous tents 

 of different sizes and colours proclaimed the spot the 

 emperor had chosen to receive the assembly. At the 

 back of these there was an enclosure with a large 

 pavilion, the interior of which no man had been 

 allowed to obtain even a passing glimpse of. Hither 

 Akbar, his court, and the people proceeded, and 

 whilst the emperor seated himself on the throne, the 

 people had time to look round and wonder at the scores 

 of columns they saw before them ; each seemed to 

 have been made of a different description of wood, 

 stone, or metal, and iiuich to their surprise, at the 

 opposite side of the enclosure, a large number of blind 

 men were stationed. Presently the trusty minister 

 stepped forward, and after an eloquent rehearsal of his 

 great master's high qualities and benevolent inten- 

 tions, he explained that they would now have an 

 opportunity of judging of his wisdom by the practical 

 answer to their question as to which was the only true 

 religion. You have before you, he continued, now 

 addressing the blind meu, one hundred columns, each 

 one of a different material. You, my blind friends, 

 are likewise one hundred in number, and the Emperor, 

 wishing you well, gives you permission to get hold each 

 •of one of these columns, and the one who has hit upon 

 the golden column shall be allowed to retain it as 



