University of Virginia Library

ACT II.

SCENE I.

SCENE, Palmira's Apartment.
PALMIRA DISCOVER'D.
PALMIRA.
Cease, cease ye streaming Instruments of Woe
From your ignoble Toil—Take Warmth, my Heart;
Collect thy scatter'd Powers, and brave Misfortune.
In vain the Storm-tost Mariner repines;
Were he within to raise as great a Tempest,
As beats him from without, it would not smooth
One boist'rous Surge: Impatience only throws
Discredit on Mischance, and adds a Shame
To our Affliction.
Enter ZAPHNA.
Hah! All gracious Heav'n!
Thou, Zaphna! is it thou? What pitying Angel
Guided thy Steps to these Abodes of Bondage?

Zaph.
Thou Sov'reign of my Soul, and all its Powers;
Object of ev'ry Fear and ev'ry Wish;
Friend, Sister, Love, Companion, all that's dear!
Do I once more behold thee, my Palmira?
O, I will set it down the whitest Hour
That Zaphna e'er was blest with—

Pal.
Say, my Hero—
Are my Ills ended then? They are, they are:
Now Zaphna's here I am no more a Captive,
Except to him; O blest Captivity!

Zaph.
Those Smiles are dearer to my raptur'd Breast,
Sweeter those Accents to my list'ning Heart,
Than all Arabia's Spices to the Sense.

Pal.
No Wonder that my Soul was so elate,
No wonder that the Cloud of Grief gave way,
When thou, my Sun of Comfort, wert so nigh.

Zaph.
Since that dire Hour, when on Sabaria's Strand,
The barb'rous Foe depriv'd me of Palmira,
In what a Gulph of Horror and Despair
Have thy imagin'd Perils plung'd my Soul!
Stretch'd on expiring Coarses, for a while
To the deaf Stream I pour'd out my Complaint,
And beg'd I might be number'd with the Dead,
That strow'd its Banks—Then starting from Despair,
With Rage I flew to Mahomet for Vengeance:
He, for some high mysterious Purpose known,
To Heav'n and Him alone, at length dispatch'd
The valiant Mirvan to demand a Truce.
Instant on Wings of Lightning I pursu'd him,
No Order had—no Leave obtain'd—pursu'd him,
And enter'd as his Hostage—fix'd, Palmira,
Or to redeem, or die a Captive with thee.

Pal.
Heroic Youth!

Zaph.
But how have these Barbarians
Treated my Fair?

Pal.
With high Humanity:
I, in my Victor, found a Friend.—Alcanor
Has made me feel Captivity in Nothing,
But Absence from my Zaphna, and my Friends.—

Zaph.
I grieve a Soul so gen'rous is our Foe.
But now presented as an Hostage to him,
His noble Bearing and Humanity
Made Captive of my Heart; I felt, methought,
A new Affection lighted in my Breast,
And wonder'd whence the infant Ardor sprang.

Pal.
Yet, gen'rous as he is, not all my Prayers,
Not all the Tears I lavish at his Feet,
Can move him to restore me—

Zaph.
But he shall—
Let the Barbarian know he shall, Palmira.
The God of Mahomet, our Divine Protector,
Whose still triumphant Standard I have born
O'er Piles of vanquish'd Infidels—That Power,
Which brought unnumber'd Battlements to Earth,
Will humble Mecca too.
Enter MIRVAN.
Well noble Mirvan,
Do my Palmira's Chains sit loose upon her?
Say, is it Freedom? This presumptuous Senate—

Mir.
Has granted all we ask'd, all we could wish.—
The Truce obtain'd, the Gates to Mahomet
Flew open—

Zaph.
Mahomet in Mecca! say'st thou?
Once more in Mecca!

Pal.
Transport, bid him welcome!

Zaph.
Thy Suffrings then are o'er, the Ebb is past,
And a full Tide of Hope flows in upon us.

Mir.
The Spirit of our Prophet, that inspir'd me,
Breath'd such divine Persuasion from my Lips,
As shook the reverend Fathers.—Sirs, cried I,
This Fav'rite of high Heav'n, who rules in Battle,
Before whose Footstool tributary Kings
Bow the anointed Head, born here in Mecca,
Asks but to be enroll'd a Senator,
And you refuse his Pray'r. Deluded Sages!
Although your Conquerer, he requests no more
Than one Day's Truce, pure Pity to your selves!
To save you, if he can, and you—O Shame!—
At this a gen'ral Murmur spread around,
Which seem'd propitious to us—

Zaph.
Greatly carried!
Go on—

Mir.
Then straight th'inflexible Alcanor
Flew through the Streets, assembling all the People,
To bar our Prophet. Thither too I fled,
Urg'd the same Arguments, exhorted, threatned,
'Till they unhing'd the Gates, and gave free Passage
To Mahomet and his Chiefs—In vain Alcanor,
And his dishearten'd Party, strove t'oppose him;
Serene and dauntless through the gazing Crowd,
With more than human Majesty he mov'd,
Bearing the peaceful Olive, whilst the Truce
Was instantly Proclaim'd—

Pal.
But where's the Prophet?

Mir.
Reclin'd in yonder Grott that joins the Temple,
Attended by his Chiefs.

Zaph.
There let us haste
With duteous Step, and bow our selves before him.

[Exeunt.
SCENE changes to a spacious Grotto.
MAHOMET with the Alcoran before him.
HERCIDES, AMMON, ALI, &c. attending at a Distance.
Mah.
Glorious Hypocrisy! What Fools are they,
Who, fraught with lustful or ambitious Views,
Wear not thy specious Mask—Thou, Alcoran!
Hast won more Battles, ta'en more Cities for me
Than thrice my feeble Numbers had atchiev'd,
Without the Succour of thy sacred Impulse.
[Coming forward.]
Invincible Supporters of our Grandeur!
My faithful Chiefs, Hercides, Ammon, Ali!
Go and instruct this People in my Name;
That Faith may Dawn, and, like a Morning-Star,
Be Herald to My Rising.
Lead them to know, and to adore My God;
But above all to Fear him—Lo Palmira!
[Exeunt Hercides, &c.
Her Angel-Face, with unfeign'd Blushes spread,
Proclaims the Purity that dwells within.
Enter MIRVAN, ZAPHNA, and PALMIRA.
[To Palmira.]
The Hand of War was ne'er before so barbarous,
Never bore from me half so rich a Spoil
As thee, my Fair.

Pal.
Joy to my Heav'nly Guardian!
Joy to the World that Mahomet's in Mecca!

Mah.
My Child, let me embrace thee—How's this, Zaphna!
Thou here!—

Zaph.
[Kneeling.]
My Father, Chief, and holy Pontiff!
The God that thou'rt inspir'd by, march'd before me.
Ready, for thee, to wade through Seas of Danger,
Or cope with Death itself, I hither hasten'd
To yield myself an Hostage, and with Zeal
Prevent thy Order.

Mah.
'Twas not well, rash Boy:
He that does more than I command him, errs
As much as he who faulters in his Duty,
And is not for my Purpose—I obey
My God—implicitly obey thou Me.

Pal.
Pardon, my gracious Lord, his well-meant Ardor.
Brought up from tender Infancy beneath
The Shelter of thy sacred Patronage,
Zaphna and I've been animated still
By the same Sentiments: Alas, great Prophet,
I've had enough of Wretchedness,—To languish
A Prisoner here, far both from him and you:
Grudge me not then the Ray of Consolation
His Presence beam'd, nor cloud my dawning Hope
Of rising Freedom and Felicity.

Mah.
Palmira, 'tis enough, I read thy Heart—
Be not alarm'd; tho' burden'd with the Cares
Of Thrones and Altars, still my Guardian Eye
Will watch o'er thee, as o'er the Universe.
Follow my Generals, Zaphna: Fair Palmira,
Retire, and pay your powerful Vows to Heav'n,
And dread no Wrongs but from Alcanor.
[Zaphna and Palmira go out separately.
Mirvan—
Attend thou here—'Tis time, my trusty Soldier,
My long-try'd Friend, to lay unfolded to thee
The close Resolves and Councils of my Heart.
The tedious Length of a precarious Siege
May damp the present Ardor of my Troops,
And check me in the Height of my Career.
Let us not give deluded Mortals leisure,
By Reason to disperse the mystick Gloom
We've cast about us.—Prepossession, Friend,
Reigns Monarch of the Million—Mecca's Crowd
Gaze at my rapid Victories, and think
Some awful Power directs my Arm to Conquest.
But whilst our Friends once more renew their Efforts,
To win the wav'ring People to our Interest,
What think'st thou, say, of Zaphna and Palmira?

Mir.
As of thy most resign'd and faithful Vassals.

Mah.
O! Mirvan, they're the deadliest of my Foes.

Mir.
How!

Mah.
Yes, they love each other—

Mir.
Well—What Crime—

Mah.
What Crime, dost say?—Learn all my Frailty, then—
My Life's a Combat, keen Austerity
Subjects my Nature to abstemious Bearings.
I've banish'd from my Lips that trait'rous Liquor,
That either works to Practices of Outrage,
Or melts the Manly Breast to Woman Weakness;
Or on the burning Sands, or desert Rocks,
With thee I bear th'Inclemency of Climates,
Freeze at the Pole, or scorch beneath the Line:
For all these Toils Love only can retaliate,
The only Consolation or Reward!
Fruit of my Labours, Idol of my Incense,
And sole Divinity that I adore.
Know then, that I prefer this young Palmira
To all the ripen'd Beauties that attend me;
Dwell on her Accents, doat upon her Smiles,
And am not Mine but Her's: Now judge, my Friend,
How vast the jealous Transports of thy Master,
When at his Feet he daily hears this Charmer
Avow a foreign Love, and, insolent!
Give Mahomet a Rival?

Mir.
How! and Mahomet
Not instantly revenge!—

Mah.
Ay, should he not?
But better to detest him, know him better:
Learn then, that both my Rival, and my Love,
Sprang from the Loins of this audacious Tyrant.

Mir.
Alcanor!—

Mah.
Is their Father; old Hercides,
To whose sage Institution I commit
My Captive Infants, late reveal'd it to me—
Perdition! I myself light up their Flame,
And fed it till I set myself on Fire.
Well, means must be employ'd; but see, the Father:
He comes this way, and launches from his Eye
Malignant Sparks of Enmity and Rage.
Mirvan, see all ta'en care of; let Hercides,
With his Escorte, beset yon Gate; bid Ali
Make proper Disposition round the Temple;
This done, return, and render me Account
Of what Success we meet with 'mongst the People:
Then, Mirvan, we'll determine or to loose,
Or bridle in our Vengeance, as it suits.

[Exit Mirvan.
Enter ALCANOR.
Mah.
Why dost thou start, Alcanor? Whence that Horror?
Is then my Sight so baneful to thee?

Alc.
Heav'ns!
Must I then bear this? Must I meet in Mecca,
On Terms of Peace, this Spoiler of the Earth?

Mah.
Approach, old Man, without a Blush, since Heaven
For some high End, decrees our future Union.

Alc.
I blush not for myself, but thee, thou Tyrant;
For thee, bad Man! who com'st with Serpent-guile
To sow Dissention in the Realms of Peace;
Thy very Name sets Families at Variance,
'Twixt Son and Father, bursts the Bonds of Nature,
And scares Endearment from the Nuptial Pillow;
Ev'n Truce, with thee is a new Stratagem
For leave to plunge the Dagger in our Hearts.
And is it, insolent Dissembler! thus
Thou com'st to give the Sons of Mecca Peace,
And me an unknown God?—

Mah.
Were I to answer any but Alcanor,
That unknown God should speak in Thunder for me:
But here with thee I'd parley as a Man.

Alc.
What can'st thou say? What urge in thy Defence?
That like a hunger-stung and rav'nous Wolf
Prowling for Prey, thou traversest the World,
Seizing on all that comes within thy Grasp.

Mah.
Each Nation of the Peopled Globe by turns
Have soar'd to Triumph, and immortal Fame;
At length Arabia's happy Hour is come.
Her gen'rous Sons too long, alas! unknown,
Have suffer'd all their Glory to lie buried:
New Days, by Vict'ry mark'd, at length proceed,
And Mecca's now the destin'd Seat of Power.

Alc.
Power is a Curse when in a Tyrant's Hands,
But in a Bigot Tyrant's—treble Curse.

Mah.
Behold from North to South the ravag'd Globe
Lie Desolate, a waste of crumbled Empires.
Persia still bleeding, and her Throne revers'd,
India yok'd to Slav'ry, Egypt spoil'd,
And Constantine's late Grandeur now no more.
Behold the well-built Roman Empire mouldring
On ev'ry Side; whilst, ruining beneath
Its own enormous Weight, its scatter'd Members,
Like Branches from the Parent-Tree lopt off,
Lie dead and wither'd—On this Wreck of Nations
Let lov'd Arabia rise: A new Religion,
New Laws, new Ties, and a new God are wanting,
To rouse the slumb'ring World to Deeds of Glory.

Alc.
To Deeds of Rapine, Bloodshed, and Imposture!

Mah.
Minos in Crete; in Asia, Zoroaster;
At Egypt fam'd Osiris; and in Latium
The pious Numa, gave those barb'rous People
Their ineffective Laws; I'm therefore come,
After a thousand annual Suns, to banish
Their crude Impostures, and unite all Nations
Under one Faith and Sovereign—

Alc.
At thy Nod, then,
The Face of the Creation must be chang'd.
By Menaces and Carnage, modest Thou!
Would'st force all Mortals to believe alike:
What right hast thou receiv'd to plant new Faiths,
Or lay a Claim to Royalty and Priesthood?

Mah.
The Right that a resolv'd and tow'ring Spirit
Has o'er the grov'ling Instinct of the Vulgar—

Alc.
Patience good Heav'ns! Have I not known thee, Mahomet,
When void of Wealth, Inheritance, or Fame,
Rank'd with the lowest of the Low at Mecca?

Mah.
Dost thou not know, superb, yet feeble Man!
That the low Insect lurking in the Grass
And the imperial Eagle which aloft
Ploughs the etherial Plain, are both alike
In the eternal Eye—Mortals are equal.
It is not Birth, Magnificence, or Pow'r,
But Virtue only makes the Difference 'twixt them.

Alc.
[Apart.]
What sacred Truth, from what polluted Lips!

Mah.
By Virtue's ardent Pinions bore on high
Heav'n met my Zeal, gave me in solemn Charge
Its sacred Laws, then bade me On and Publish.

Alc.
And did Heav'n bid thee On and Plunder too?

Mah.
My Law is active, and inflames the Soul
With Thirst of Glory: What can thy dumb Gods?
What Laurels spring beneath their sooty Altars?
Thy slothful Sect disgrace the Human-kind,
Enervate lifeless Images of Men!
Mine bear th'intrepid Soul; my Faith makes Heroes.

Alc.
Go preach these Doctrines at Medina, where,
By prostrate Wretches thou art rais'd to Homage.

Mah.
Hear me; thy Mecca trembles at my Name:
If therefore thou woud'st save thyself or City,
Embrace my profer'd Friendship—What, to Day,
I thus Solicit, I'll Command To-morrow.

Alc.
Contract with thee a Friendship! frontless Man!
Know'st thou a God can work that Miracle?

Mah.
I do—Necessity. Thy Interest.

Alc.
Interest is thy God, Equity is mine.
Propose the Tie of this unnatural Union;
Say, is't the loss of thy ill-fated Son,
Who in the Field fell Victim to my Rage,
Or the dear Blood of my poor Captive Children,
Shed by thy butchering Hands?

Mah.
Ay, 'tis thy Children.
Mark me then well, and learn th'important Secret
Which I'm sole Master of—Thy Children live.

Alc.
Live!

Mah.
Yes—both live—

Alc.
What say'st thou? both?

Mah.
Ay, both.

Alc.
And dost thou not beguile me?

Mah.
No, old Man.

Alc.
Propitious Heavens! say, Mahomet, for now,
Methinks I could hold endless Converse with thee,
Say what's their Portion? Liberty, or Bondage?—

Mah.
Bred in my Camp, and tutor'd in my Law,
They wait upon my Will.

Alc.
And hast thou ne'er
Let loose thy Vengeance on them? never wrung 'em
With Shackles, Rack, or Scourge? Ne'er thought of me,
And then—

Mah.
No, I disdain'd to punish them
For Injuries done by thee—Hear then, Alcanor;
I hold the Balance of their Destinies,
And now it's on the Turn—their Lives, or Deaths—
'Tis thine to say which shall preponderate.

Alc.
Mine! Can I save them? Name the mighty Ransom—
If I must bear their Chains, double the Weight,
And I will kiss the Hand that puts them on:
Or if my streaming Blood must be the Purchase,
Drain ev'ry Sluice and Channel of my Body,
My swelling Veins will burst to give it Passage.

Mah.
I'll tell thee then—Renounce thy Pagan Faith;
Abolish thy vain Gods, and—

Alc.
Hah!

Mah.
Nay more,
Surrender Mecca to me, quit this Temple,
Assist me to impose upon the World,
Thunder my Koran to the gazing Crowd,
Proclaim me for their Prophet, and their King,
And be a glorious Pattern of Credulity
To Korah's stubborn Tribe. These Terms perform'd,
Thy Son shall be restor'd, and Mah'met's self
Will deign to wed thy Daughter.

Alc.
Hear me, Mahomet,
I am a Father, and this Bosom boasts
A Heart as tender as e'er Parent bore.
After a fifteen Years of Anguish for them,
Once more to view my Children, clasp 'em to me,
And die in their Embraces! melting Thought!
But were I doom'd, or to enslave my Country,
And help to spread black Error o'er the Earth;
Or to behold those Blood-embrued Hands,
Deprive me of 'em both—Know me then, Mahomet,
I'd not admit a Doubt to cloud my Choice—
[Looking earnestly at Mahomet for some time before he speaks.
Farewel.

[Exit Alcanor.
Mah.
Why, fare thee well then—Churlish Dotard!
Inexorable Fool! Now, by my Arms,
I will have great Revenge; I'll meet thy Scorn
With treble Retribution.
Enter MIRVAN.
Well, my Mirvan,
What say'st thou to it now?

Mir.
Why, that Alcanor,
Or We must fall.

Mah.
Fall then th'obdurate Rebel!

Mir.
The Truce expires To-morrow, when Alcanor
Again is Mecca's Master, and has-vow'd
Destruction on thy Head; The Senate too
Have pass'd thy Doom.

Mah.
Those Heart-chill'd, paltry Bablers,
Plac'd on the Bench of Sloth, with ease can Nod,
And Vote a Man to Death; why don't the Cowards
Stand me in yonder Plain?—With half their Numbers
I drove 'em headlong to their Walls for Shelter;
And he was deem'd the wisest Senator,
That enter'd first the Gate; but now they think
They've got me in the Toil, their Spirits mount,
And they could prove most valorous Assassins.—
Well, this I like—I always ow'd my Greatness
To Opposition; had I not met Struggle
I'd been Obscure—enough—perish Alcanor!
He marbl'd up, the pliant Populace,
Those Dupes of Novelty, will bend before us
Like Osiers to a Hurricane.—

Mir.
No Time
Is to be lost;

Mah.
But for a proper Arm?
For, howsoever irksome, we must save
Appearances, and mask it with the Vulgar.

Mir.
True, my sage Chief.—What think'st thou then of Zaphna?

Mah.
Of Zaphna, say'st thou!

Mir.
Yes, Alcanor's Hostage—
He can in private do thee Vengeance on him.
Thy other Fav'rites of maturer Age,
And more discreetly zealous, would not risk it:
Youth is the Stock, whence grafted Superstition
Shoots with unbounded Vigour. He's a Slave
To thy despotick Faith, and urg'd by thee,
However mild his Nature may appear,
Howe'er humane and noble is his Spirit,
Or strong his Reason, where allow'd to reason,
He would, for Heaven's sake, martyr half Mankind.

Mah.
The Brother of Palmira!

Mir.
Yes, that Brother,
The only Son of thy outrageous Foe,
And the incestuous Rival of thy Love.

Mah.
I hate the Stripling, loath his very Name:
The Manes of my Son too cries for Vengeance
On the curst Sire; but then, thou know'st my Love,
Know'st from whose Blood she sprang; this staggers, Mirvan.
And yet I'm here surrounded with a Gulph
Ready to swallow me; come too, in quest
Of Altars and a Throne—What must be done?—
My warring Passions, like contending Clouds,
When fraught with Thunder's fatal Fuel, burst
Upon themselves, and rend me with the Shock.
And shall enervating, contagious Love,
Hag my aspiring Spirit, sink me down
To Woman's Shackles, make a Lap-thing of me?
Glory: that must not be! Ambition still,
And great Revenge, impetuous urge their Claims,
And must be notic'd. Mirvan, sound this Youth:
Touch not at once upon the startling Purpose,
But make due Preparation.

Mir.
I'll attack him
With all the Forces of Enthusiasm:
There lies our Strength.

Mah.
First then, a solemn Vow
To act whatever Heav'n by me enjoins him.
Next, Omens, Dreams, and Visions may be pleaded:
Hints too of black Designs by this Alcanor
Upon Palmira's Virtue, and his Life.—
But to the Proof—Be now propitious, Fortune,
Then Love, Ambition, Vengeance, jointly triumph.