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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Almoran and Hamet, by John Hawkesworth
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: Almoran and Hamet
+
+Author: John Hawkesworth
+
+Release Date: November 10, 2004  [eBook #14013]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALMORAN AND HAMET***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Jonathan Ingram, Leah Moser, and the Project Gutenberg
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+
+
+
+ALMORAN AND HAMET
+
+An Oriental Tale in Two Volumes
+
+by
+
+JOHN HAWKESWORTH
+
+MDCCLXI
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+VOLUME FIRST
+
+
+
+
+TO THE KING
+
+
+SIR,
+
+Amidst the congratulations and praises of a free, a joyful, and now
+united people, people, who are ambitious to express their duty and
+their wishes in their various classes; I think myself happy to have YOUR
+MAJESTY'S most gracious permission to approach You, and, after the
+manner of the people whose character I have assumed, to bring an humble
+offering in my hand.
+
+As some part of my subject led me to consider the advantages of our
+excellent constitution in comparison of others; my thoughts were
+naturally turned to YOUR MAJESTY, as its warmest friend and most
+powerful protector: and as the whole is intended, to recommend the
+practice of virtue, as the means of happiness; to whom could I address
+it with so much propriety, as to a PRINCE, who illustrates and enforces
+the precepts of the moralist by his life.
+
+I am,
+  May it please Your MAJESTY,
+      Your MAJESTY'S
+    Most faithful, most obliged,
+      And most obedient
+        Subject and Servant,
+
+John Hawkesworth.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. I.
+
+
+Who is he among the children of the earth, that repines at the power of
+the wicked? and who is he, that would change the lot of the righteous?
+He, who has appointed to each his portion, is God; the Omniscient and
+the Almighty, who fills eternity, and whose existence is from Himself!
+but he who murmurs, is man; who yesterday was not, and who to-morrow
+shall be forgotten: let him listen in silence to the voice of knowlege,
+and hide the blushes of confusion in the dust.
+
+Solyman, the mighty and the wife, who, in the one hundred and second
+year of the Hegyra, sat upon the throne of Persia, had two sons, ALMORAN
+and HAMET, and they were twins. ALMORAN was the first born, but Solyman
+divided his affection equally between them: they were both lodged in the
+same part of the seraglio, both were attended by the same servants, and
+both received instructions from the same teacher.
+
+One of the first things that ALMORAN learnt, was the prerogative of his
+birth; and he was taught very early to set a high value upon it, by the
+terms in which those about him expressed their sense of the power, the
+splendor, and the delights of royalty. As his mind gradually opened, he
+naturally considered these as the objects of universal define, and the
+means of supreme felicity: he was often reminded, that the time was
+coming, when the sole possession of sovereign power would enable him to
+fulfil all his wishes, to determine the fate of dependent nations with a
+nod, and dispense life and death, and happiness and misery, at his will:
+he was flattered by those who hoped to draw wealth and dignity from his
+favour; and interest prompted all who approached him, to administer to
+his pleasures with a zeal and assiduity, which had the appearance of
+reverence to his merit, and affection to his person.
+
+HAMET, on the contrary, soon became sensible of a subordinate station:
+he was not, indeed, neglected; but he was not much caressed. When the
+gratification of HAMET came in competition with that of ALMORAN, he was
+always obliged to give it up, except when Solyman interposed: his mind
+was, therefore, naturally led to seek for happiness in objects very
+different from those which had fixed the attention of ALMORAN. As he
+knew not to how narrow a sphere caprice or jealousy might confine him,
+he considered what pleasures were least dependent upon external
+advantages; and as the first popular commotion which mould happen after
+his brother's accession to the throne, might probably cost him his life,
+he was very inquisitive about the state into which his spirit would be
+dismissed by the Angel of Death, and very diligent to do whatever might
+secure him a share of the permanent and unchangeable felicity of
+Paradise.
+
+This difference in the situation of ALMORAN and HAMET, produced great
+dissimilarity in their dispositions, habits, and characters; to which,
+perhaps, nature might also in some degree contribute. ALMORAN was
+haughty, vain, and voluptuous; HAMET was gentle, courteous, and
+temperate: ALMORAN was volatile, impetuous, and irascible; HAMET was
+thoughtful, patient, and forbearing. Upon the heart of HAMET also were
+written the instructions of the Prophet; to his mind futurity was
+present by habitual anticipation; his pleasure, his pain, his hopes, and
+his fears, were perpetually referred to the Invisible and Almighty
+Father of Life, by sentiments of gratitude or resignation, complacency
+or confidence; so that his devotion was not periodical but constant.
+
+But the views of ALMORAN were terminated by nearer objects: his mind was
+perpetually busied in the anticipation of pleasures and honours, which
+he supposed to be neither uncertain nor remote; these excited his
+hopes, with a power sufficient to fix his attention; he did not look
+beyond them for other objects, nor enquire how enjoyments more distant
+were to be acquired; and as he supposed these to be already secured to
+him by his birth, there was nothing he was solicitous to obtain as the
+reward of merit, nor any thing that he considered himself to possess as
+the bounty of Heaven. If the sublime and disinterested rectitude that
+produces and rewards itself, dwells indeed with man, it dwelt not with
+ALMORAN: with respect to God, therefore, he was not impressed with a
+sense either of duty or dependence; he felt neither reverence nor love,
+gratitude nor resignation: in abstaining from evil, he was not
+intentionally good; he practised the externals of morality without
+virtue, and performed the rituals of devotion without piety.
+
+Such were ALMORAN and HAMET, when Solyman their father, full of days and
+full of honour, slept in peace the sleep of death. With this event they
+were immediately acquainted. The emotions of ALMORAN were such as it was
+impossible to conceal: the joy that he felt in secret was so great, that
+the mere dread of disappointment for a moment suspended his belief of
+what he heard: when his fears and his doubts gave way, his cheeks were
+suffused with sudden blushes, and his eyes sparkled with exultation and
+impatience: he looked eagerly about him, as if in haste to act; yet his
+looks were embarrassed, and his gestures irresolute, because he knew
+not what to do: he uttered some incoherent sentences, which discovered
+at once the joy that he felt, and his sense of its impropriety; and his
+whole deportment expressed the utmost tumult and perturbation of mind.
+
+Upon HAMET, the death of his father produced a very different effect: as
+soon as he heard it, his lips trembled and his countenance grew pale; he
+flood motionless a moment, like a pilgrim transfixed by lightning in the
+desert; he then smote his breast, and looking upward, his eyes by
+degrees overflowed with tears, and they fell, like dew distilling from
+the mountain, in a calm and silent shower. As his grief was thus mingled
+with devotion, his mind in a short time recovered its tranquillity,
+though not its chearfulness, and he desired to be conducted to his
+brother.
+
+He found him surrounded by the lords of his court, his eye still
+restless and ardent, and his deportment elate and assuming. HAMET
+pressed hastily through the circle, and prostrated himself before him:
+ALMORAN received the homage with a tumultuous pleasure; but at length
+raised him from the ground, and assured him of his protection, though
+without any expressions either of kindness or of sorrow: 'HAMET,' says
+he, 'if I have no cause to complain of you as a subject, you shall have
+no cause to complain of me as a king.' HAMET, whose heart was again
+pierced by the cold and distant behaviour of his brother, suppressed the
+sigh that struggled in his bosom, and secretly wiped away the tear that
+started to his eye: he retired, with his looks fixed upon the ground, to
+a remote corner of the apartment; and though his heart yearned to
+embrace his brother, his modest diffidence restrained him from intruding
+upon the king.
+
+In this situation were ALMORAN and HAMET, when OMAR entered the
+apartment. OMAR, upon whose head the hand of time became heavy, had from
+his youth acquainted himself with wisdom: to him nature had revealed
+herself in the silence of the night, when his lamp was burning alone,
+and his eyes only were open: to him was known the power of the Seal of
+Solomon; and to him the knowlege of things invisible had been revealed.
+Nor was the virtue of OMAR inferior to his knowlege; his heart was a
+fountain of good, which though it flowed through innumerable streams was
+never dry: yet was the virtue of OMAR cloathed with humility; and he was
+still pressing nearer to perfection, by a devotion which though elevated
+was rational, and though regular was warm. From the council of OMAR,
+Solyman had derived glory and strength; and to him he had committed the
+education of his children.
+
+When he entered the apartment, the croud, touched at once with reverence
+and love, drew back; every eye was cast downward, and every tongue was
+silent. The full of days approached the king, and kneeling before him he
+put into his hand a sealed paper: the king received it with impatience,
+seeing it superscribed with the hand of his father; and OMAR looking
+round, and perceiving HAMET, beckoned him to come forward. HAMET, whose
+obedience to OMAR had been so long habitual that it was now almost
+spontaneous, instantly drew near, though with a flow and irresolute
+pace; and ALMORAN, having broken the seal of the paper, began to read it
+to himself, with a look that expressed the utmost anxiety and
+impatience. OMAR kept his eye fixed upon him, and soon perceived that
+his countenance was disfigured by confusion and trouble, and that he
+seemed preparing to put up the paper in his bosom: he then produced
+another paper from under his robe, and gave it to HAMET: 'This,' says
+he, is a copy of the will of Solyman, your father; the original is in
+the hand of ALMORAN: read it, and you will find that he has bequeathed
+his kingdom between you.'
+
+The eyes of all present were now turned upon HAMET, who stood silent and
+motionless with amazement, but was soon roused to attention by the
+homage that was paid him. In the mean time, ALMORAN'S confusion
+increased every moment: his disappointment was aggravated by the sudden
+attention of those who were present to his brother; and his jealousy
+made him think himself neglected, while those acts of duty were
+performed to HAMET, which were now known to be his right, and which he
+had himself received before him.
+
+HAMET, however, regarded but little what so much excited the envy of
+ALMORAN; his mind was employed upon superior objects, and agitated by
+nobler passions: the coldness of his brother's behaviour, though it had
+grieved had not quenched his affection; and as he was now no longer
+restrained by the deference due from a subject to his king, he ran to
+him, and catching him to his breast attempted to speak; but his heart
+was too full, and he could express his affection and joy only by his
+tears. ALMORAN rather suffered than received the embrace; and after a
+few ceremonies, to which neither of them could much attend, they retired
+to separate apartments.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. II.
+
+
+When ALMORAN was alone, he immediately locked the door; and throwing
+himself upon a sofa in an agony of vexation and disapointment, of which
+he was unwilling there should be any witness, he revolved in his mind
+all the pleasures and honours of supreme dominion which had now suddenly
+been snatched from him, with a degree of anguish and regret, not
+proportioned to their real, but their imaginary value. Of future good,
+that which we obtain is found to be less than our expectations; but that
+of which we are disappointed, we suppose would have been more: thus do
+the children of hope extract evil, both from what they gain, and from
+what they lose. But ALMORAN, after the first tumult of his mind had
+subsided, began to consider as well what was left him, as what had been
+taken away. He was still without a superior, though he had an equal; he
+was still a king, though he did not govern alone: and with respect to
+every individual in his dominions, except one, his will would now be a
+law; though with respect to the public, the concurrence of his brother
+would be necessary to give it force. 'Let me then,' says he, 'make the
+most of the power that is now put into my hand, and wait till some
+favourable opportunity shall offer to increase it. Let me dissemble my
+jealousy and disappointment, that I may not alarm suspicion, or put the
+virtues of HAMET upon their guard against me; and let me contrive to
+give our joint administration such a form, as may best favour my
+design.'
+
+Such were the reflections, with which ALMORAN soothed the anguish of his
+mind; while HAMET was busied in speculations of a very different kind.
+If he was pleased at reflecting, that he was raised from a subject to a
+prince; he was pleased still more, when he considered his elevation as a
+test of his father's affection to his person, and approbation of his
+conduct: he was also delighted with the thought, that his brother was
+associated with him in the arduous talk which he was now called to
+perform. 'If I had been appointed to govern alone,' said he, 'I should
+have had no equal; and he who has no equal, though he may have faithful
+servants, can have no friend: there cannot be that union of interests,
+that equal participation of good, that unrestrained intercourse of mind,
+and that mutual dependence, which constitutes the pure and exalted
+happiness of friendship. With ALMORAN, I shall share the supreme delight
+of wresting the innocent and the helpless from the iron hand of
+oppression; of animating merit by reward, and restraining the unworthy
+by fear: I shall share, with ALMORAN, the pleasures of governing a
+numerous, a powerful, and a happy people; pleasures which, however
+great, are, like all others, increased by participation.'
+
+While HAMET was thus enjoying the happiness, which his virtue derived
+from the same source, from which the vices of ALMORAN had filled his
+breast with anguish and discontent; OMAR was contriving in what manner
+their joint government could best be carried into execution.
+
+He knew that Solyman, having considered the dispositions of his sons,
+was of opinion, that if they had been blended in one person, they would
+have produced a character more fit to govern in his stead, than either
+of them alone: ALMORAN, he thought, was too volatile and warm; but he
+suspected, that HAMET would sink into inactivity for want of spirit: he
+feared alike ALMORAN'S love of enterprize, and HAMET'S fondness for
+retirement: he observed, in HAMET, a placid easiness of temper, which
+might suffer the reins of government to lie too loose; and, in ALMORAN,
+a quickness of resentment, and jealousy of command, which might hold
+them too tight: he hoped, therefore, that by leaving them a joint
+dominion, he should blend their dispositions, at least in their effects,
+in every act of government that should take place; or that, however they
+should agree to administer their government, the public would derive
+benefit from the virtues of both, without danger of suffering from their
+imperfections, as their imperfections would only operate against each
+other, while, in whatever was right, their minds would naturally concur,
+as the coincidence of rectitude with rectitude is necessary and eternal.
+But he did not consider, that different dispositions operating
+separately upon two different wills, would appear in effects very unlike
+those, which they would concur to produce in one: that two wills, under
+the direction of dispositions so different, would seldom be brought to
+coincide; and that more mischiefs would probably arise from the contest,
+than from the imperfections of either alone.
+
+But Solyman had so long applauded himself for his project before he
+revealed it to OMAR, that OMAR found him too much displeased with any
+objection, to consider its weight: and knowing that peculiar notions are
+more rarely given up, than opinions received from others, and made our
+own only by adoption, he at length acquiesced, lest he should by farther
+opposition lose his influence, which on other occasions he might still
+employ to the advantage of the public; and took a solemn oath, that he
+would, as far as was in his power, see the will carried into execution.
+
+To this, indeed, he consented without much reluctance, as he had little
+less reason to fear the sole government of ALMORAN, than a joint
+administration; and if a struggle for superiority should happen, he
+hoped the virtues HAMET would obtain the suffrages of the people in his
+favour, and establish him upon the throne alone. But as change is itself
+an evil, and as changes in government are seldom produced without great
+confusion and calamity, he applied himself to consider in what manner
+the government of ALMORAN and HAMET could be administered, so as most
+effectually to blend their characters in their administration, and
+prevent the conduct of one from exciting jealousy in the other.
+
+After much thought, he determined that a system of laws should be
+prepared, which the sons of Solyman should examine and alter till they
+perfectly approved, and to which they should then give the sanction of
+their joint authority: that when any addition or alteration should be
+thought necessary, it should be made in the same manner; and that when
+any insuperable difference of sentiment happened, either in this or in
+any act of prerogative independent of the laws for regulating the
+manners of the people, the kings should refer it to some person of
+approved integrity and wisdom, and abide by his determination. OMAR
+easily foresaw, that when the opinion of ALMORAN and HAMET should
+differ, the opinion of ALMORAN would be established; for there were many
+causes that would render ALMORAN inflexible, and HAMET yielding: ALMORAN
+was naturally confident and assuming, HAMET diffident and modest;
+ALMORAN was impatient of contradiction, HAMET was attentive to
+argument, and felicitous only for the discovery of truth. ALMORAN also
+conceived, that by the will of his father, he had suffered wrong; HAMET,
+that he had received a favour: ALMORAN, therefore, was disposed to
+resent the first appearance of opposition; and HAMET, on the contrary,
+to acquiesce, as in his share of government, whatever it might be, he
+had more than was his right by birth, and his brother had less. Thus,
+therefore, the will of ALMORAN would probably predominate in the state:
+but as the same cause which conferred this superiority, would often
+prevent contention, OMAR considered it, upon the whole, rather as good
+than evil.
+
+When he had prepared his plan, therefore, he sent a copy of it, by
+different messengers at the same time, both to ALMORAN and HAMET,
+inclosed in a letter, in which he exprest his sense of obligation to
+their father, and his zeal and affection for them: he mentioned the
+promise he had made, to devote himself to their service; and the oath he
+had taken, to propose whatever he thought might facilitate the
+accomplishment of their father's design, with honour to them and
+happiness to their people: these motives, which he could not resist
+without impiety, he hoped would absolve him from presumption; and
+trusting in the rectitude of his intentions, he left the issue to God.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. III.
+
+
+The receipt of this letter threw ALMORAN into another agony of
+indignation: he felt again the loss of his prerogative; the offer of
+advice he disdained as an insult, to which he had been injuriously
+subjected by the will of his father; and he was disposed to reject
+whatever was suggested by OMAR, even before his proposal was known. With
+this temper of mind he began to read, and at every paragraph took new
+offence; he determined, however, not to admit OMAR to the honour of a
+conference upon the subject, but to settle a plan of government with his
+brother, without the least regard to his advice.
+
+A supercilious attention to minute formalities, is a certain indication
+of a little mind, conscious to the want of innate dignity, and
+felicitous to derive from others what it cannot supply to itself: as the
+scrupulous exaction of every trifling tribute discovers the weakness of
+the tyrant, who fears his claim should be disputed; while the prince,
+who is conscious of superior and indisputable power, and knows that the
+states he has subjugated do not dare to revolt, scarce enquires whether
+such testimonies of allegiance are given or not.
+
+Thus, the jealousy of ALMORAN already enslaved him to the punctilios of
+state; and the most trifling circumstances involved him in perplexity,
+or fired him with resentment: the friendship and fidelity of OMAR stung
+him with rage, as insolent and intrusive; and though it determined him
+to an immediate interview with his brother, yet he was embarrassed how
+to procure it. At first he rose, and was about to go to him; but he
+stopped short with disdain, upon reflecting, that it was an act of
+condescension which might be deemed an acknowledgement of superiority:
+he then thought of sending for HAMET to come to him; but this he feared
+might provoke him, as implying a denial of his equality: at length he
+determined to propose a meeting in the chamber of council, and was just
+dispatching an officer with the message, when HAMET entered the
+apartment.
+
+The countenance of HAMET was flushed with joy, and his heart was warmed
+with the pleasing sensations of affection and confidence, by the same
+letter, from which ALMORAN had extracted the bitterness of jealousy and
+resentment, and as he had no idea that an act of courtesy to his brother
+could derogate from his own dignity or importance, he indulged the
+honest impatience of his heart to communicate the pleasure with which it
+overflowed: he was, indeed, somewhat disappointed, to find no traces of
+satisfaction in the countenance of ALMORAN, when he saw the same paper
+in his hand, which had impressed so much upon his own.
+
+He waited some time after the first salutations, without mentioning the
+scheme of government he was come to concert; because having observed
+that ALMORAN was embarrassed and displeased, he expected that he would
+communicate the cause, and pleased himself with the hope that he might
+remove it: finding, however, that this expectation was disappointed, he
+addressed him to this effect:
+
+'How happy are we, my dear brother, in the wisdom and fidelity, of OMAR!
+how excellent is the system of government that he has proposed! how easy
+and honourable will it be to us that govern, and how advantageous to the
+people that obey!'
+
+'The advantages,' said ALMORAN, 'which you seem to have discovered, are
+not evident to me: tell me, then, what you imagine they are, and I will
+afterwards give you my opinion.'
+
+'By establishing a system of laws as the rule of government,' said
+HAMET, 'many evils will be avoided, and many benefits procured. If the
+law is the will only of the sovereign, it can never certainly be known
+to the people: many, therefore, may violate that rule of right, which
+the hand of the Almighty has written upon the living tablets of the
+heart, in the presumptuous hope, that it will not subject them to
+punishment; and those, by whom that rule is fulfilled, will not enjoy
+that consciousness of security, which they would derive from the
+protection of a prescribed law, which they have never broken. Neither
+will those who are inclined to do evil, be equally restrained by the
+fear of punishment; if neither the offence is ascertained, nor the
+punishment prescribed. One motive to probity, therefore, will be
+wanting; which ought to be supplied, as well for the sake of those who
+may be tempted to offend, as of those who may suffer by the offence.
+Besides, he who governs not by a written and a public law, must either
+administer that government in person, or by others: if in person, he
+will sink under a labour which no man is able to sustain; and if by
+others, the inferiority of their rank must subject them to temptations
+which it cannot be hoped they will always resist, and to prejudices
+which it will perhaps be impossible for them to surmount. But to
+administer government by a law which ascertains the offence, and directs
+the punishment, integrity alone will be sufficient; and as the
+perversion of justice will in this case be notorious, and depend not
+upon opinion but fact, it will seldom be practised, because it will be
+easily punished.'
+
+ALMORAN, who had heard the opinions of HAMET with impatience and scorn,
+now started from his feat with a proud and contemptuous aspect: he first
+glanced his eyes upon his brother; and then looking disdainfully
+downward, he threw back his robe, and stretching out his hand from him,
+'Shall the son of Solyman,' said he, 'upon whose will the fate of
+nations was suspended, whose smiles and frowns were alone the criterions
+of right and wrong, before whom the voice of wisdom itself was silent,
+and the pride even of virtue humbled in the dust; shall the son of
+Solyman be harnessed, like a mule, in the trammels of law? shall he
+become a mere instrument to execute what others have devised? shall he
+only declare the determinations of a statute, and shall his ear be
+affronted by claims of right? It is the glory of a prince, to punish for
+what and whom he will; to be the sovereign, not only of property, but
+of life; and to govern alike without prescription or appeal.'
+
+HAMET, who was struck with astonishment at this declaration, and the
+vehemence with which it was uttered, after a short recollection made
+this reply: 'It is the glory of a prince, to govern others, as he is
+governed by Him, who is alone most merciful and almighty! It is his
+glory to prevent crimes, rather than to display his power in punishment;
+to diffuse happiness, rather than inforce subjection; and rather to
+animate with love, than depress by fear. Has not He that shall judge us,
+given us a rule of life by which we shall be judged? is not our reward
+and punishment already set before us? are not His promises and
+threatenings, motives to obedience? and have we not confidence and joy,
+when we have obeyed? To God, His own divine perfections are a law; and
+these He has transcribed as a law to us. Let us, then, govern, as we are
+governed; let us seek our happiness in the happiness that we bestow, and
+our honour in emulating the benevolence of Heaven.'
+
+As ALMORAN feared, that to proceed farther in this argument would too
+far disclose his sentiments, and put HAMET too much upon his guard; he
+determined for the present to dissemble: and as he perceived, that
+HAMET'S opinion, and an administration founded upon it, would render him
+extreamly popular, and at length possibly establish him alone; he was
+now felicitous only to withdraw him from public notice, and persuade him
+to leave the government, whatever form it should receive, to be
+administered by others: returning, therefore, to his seat, and assuming
+an appearance of complacence and tranquillity, with which he could not
+form his language perfectly to agree; 'Let us then,' said he, 'if a law
+must be set up in our stead, leave the law to be executed by our slaves:
+and as nothing will be left for us to do, that is worthy of us, let us
+devote ourselves to the pleasures of ease; and if there are any
+enjoyments peculiar to royalty, let us secure them as our only
+distinction from the multitude.'
+
+'Not so,' says HAMET; 'for there is yet much for a prince to do, after
+the best system of laws has been established: the government of a nation
+as a whole, the regulation and extent of its trade, the establishment of
+manufactories, the encouragement of genius, the application of the
+revenues, and whatever can improve the arts of peace, and secure
+superiority in war, is the proper object of a king's attention.
+
+'But in these,' said ALMORAN, 'it will be difficult for two minds to
+concur; let us, then, agree to leave these also to the care of some
+other, whom we can continue as long as we approve, and displace when we
+approve no longer: we shall, by this expedient, be able to avert the
+odium of any unpopular measure; and by the sacrifice of a slave, we can
+always satisfy the people, and silence public discontent.'
+
+'To trust implicitly to another,' says HAMET, 'is to give up a
+prerogative, which is at once our highest duty and interest to keep; it
+is to betray our trust, and to sacrifice our honour to another. The
+prince, who leaves the government of his people implicitly to a subject,
+leaves it to one, who has many more temptations to betray their interest
+than himself: a vicegerent is in a subordinate station; he has,
+therefore, much to rear, and much to hope: he may also acquire the power
+of obtaining what he hopes, and averting what he rears, at the public
+expence; he may stand in need of dependents, and may be able no
+otherwise to procure them, than by conniving at the fraud or the
+violence which they commit: he may receive, in bribes, an equivalent for
+his share, as an individual, in the public prosperity; for his interest
+is not essentially connected with that of the state; he has a separate
+interest; but the interest of the state, and of the king, are one: he
+may even be corrupted to betray the councils, and give up the interests
+of the nation, to a foreign power; but this is impossible to the king;
+for nothing equivalent to what he would give up, could be offered him.
+But as a king has not equal temptations to do wrong, neither is he
+equally exposed to opposition, when he does right: the measures of a
+substitute are frequently opposed, merely from interest; because the
+leader of a faction against him, hopes, that if he can remove him by
+popular clamour, he shall succeed to his power; but it can be no man's
+interest to oppose the measures of a king, if his measures are good,
+because no man can hope to supplant him. Are not these the precepts of
+the Prophet, whose wisdom was from above?'--"Let not the eye of
+expectation be raised to another, for that which thyself only should
+bestow: suffer not thy own shadow to obscure thee; nor be content to
+derive that glory, which it is thy prerogative to impart."
+
+'But is the prince,' said ALMORAN, always the wisest man in his
+dominions? Can we not find, in another, abilities and experience, which
+we do not possess? and is it not the duty of him who presides in the
+ship, to, place the helm in that hand which can best steer it?'
+
+'A prince,' said HAMET, 'who sincerely intends the good of his people,
+can scarce fail to effect it; all the wisdom of the nation will be at
+once turned to that object: whatever is his principal aim, will be that
+of all who are admitted to his council; for to concur with his
+principal aim, must be the surest recommendation to his favour. Let us,
+then, hear others; but let us act ourselves.'
+
+As ALMORAN now perceived, that the longer this conversation continued,
+the more he should be embarrassed; he put an end to it, by appearing to
+acquiesce in what HAMET had proposed. HAMET withdrew, charmed with the
+candour and flexibility which he imagined he had discovered in his
+brother; and not without some exultation in his own rhetoric, which, he
+supposed had gained no inconsiderable victory. ALMORAN, in the mean
+time, applauded himself for having thus far practised the arts of
+dissimulation with success; fortified himself in the resolutions he had
+before taken; and conceived new malevolence and jealousy against HAMET.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IV.
+
+
+While HAMET was exulting in his conquest, and his heart was overflowing
+at once with self-complacency, and affection to his brother; he was
+told, that OMAR was waiting without, and desired admittance. HAMET
+ordered that he should be immediately introduced; and when OMAR entered,
+and would have prostrated himself before him, he catched him in his arms
+in a transport of affection and esteem; and having ordered that none
+should interrupt them, compelled him to sit down on a sofa.
+
+He then related, with all the joy of a youthful and an ardent mind, the
+conversation he had had with ALMORAN, intermixed with expressions of
+the highest praise and the most cordial esteem. OMAR was not without
+suspicion, that the sentiments which ALMORAN had first expressed with
+such vehemence of passion, were still predominant in his mind: but of
+these suspicions he did not give the least hint to HAMET; not only
+because to communicate suspicions is to accuse without proof, but
+because he did not think himself at liberty to make an ill report of
+another, though he knew it to be true. He approved the sentiments of
+HAMET, as they had indeed been infused by his own instructions; and some
+precepts and cautions were now added, which the accession of HAMET to a
+share of the imperial power made particularly necessary.
+
+'Remember,' said OMAR, 'that the most effectual way of promoting virtue,
+is to prevent occasions of vice. There are, perhaps, particular
+situations, in which human virtue has always failed: at least,
+temptation often repeated, and long continued, has seldom been finally
+resisted. In a government so constituted as to leave the people exposed
+to perpetual seduction, by opportunities of dissolute pleasure or
+iniquitous gain, the multiplication of penal laws will only tend to
+depopulate the kingdom, and disgrace the state; to devote to the
+scymitar and the bow-string, those who might have been useful to
+society, and to leave the rest dissolute turbulent and factious. If the
+streets not only abound with women, who inflame the passenger by their
+appearance, their gesture, and their solicitations; but with houses, in
+which every desire which they kindle may be gratified with secrecy and
+convenience; it is in vain that "the feet of the prostitute go down to
+death, and that her steps take hold on hell:" what then can be hoped
+from any punishment, which the laws of man can superadd to disease and
+want, to rottenness and perdition? If you permit opium to be publickly
+sold at a low rate; it will be folly to hope, that the dread of
+punishment will render idleness and drunkenness strangers to the poor.
+If a tax is so collected, as to leave opportunities to procure the
+commodity, without paying it; the hope of gain will always surmount the
+fear of punishment. If, when the veteran has served you at the risque of
+life, you withold his hire; it will be in vain to threaten usury and
+extortion with imprisonment and fines. If, in your armies, you suffer it
+to be any man's interest, rather to preserve the life of a horse than a
+man; be assured, that your own sword is drawn for your enemy: for there
+will always be some, in whom interest is stronger than humanity and
+honour. Put no man's interest, therefore, in the ballance against his
+duty; nor hope that good can often be produced, but by preventing
+opportunities of evil.'
+
+To these precepts of OMAR, HAMET listened as to the instructions of a
+father; and having promised to keep them as the treasure of life, he
+dismissed him from his presence. The heart of HAMET was now expanded
+with the most pleasing expectations; but ALMORAN was pining with
+solicitude, jealousy, and distrust: he took every opportunity to avoid
+both OMAR and HAMET; but HAMET still retained his confidence, and OMAR
+his suspicions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. V.
+
+
+In the mean time, the system of government was established which had
+been proposed by OMAR, and in which HAMET concurred from principle, and
+ALMORAN from policy. The views of ALMORAN terminated in the
+gratification of his own appetites and passions; those of HAMET, in the
+discharge of his duty: HAMET, therefore, was indefatigable in the
+business of the state; and as his sense of honour, and his love of the
+public, made this the employment of his choice, it was to him the
+perpetual source of a generous and sublime felicity. ALMORAN also was
+equally diligent, but from another motive: he was actuated, not by love
+of the public, but by jealousy of his brother; he performed his task as
+the drudge of necessity, with reluctance and ill will; so that to him it
+produced pain and anxiety, weariness and impatience.
+
+To atone for this waste of time, he determined to crowd all that
+remained with delight: his gardens were an epitome of all nature, and on
+his palace were exhausted all the treasures of art; his seraglio was
+filled with beauties of every nation, and his table supplied with
+dainties from the remotest corners of his dominions. In the songs that
+were repeated in his presence, he listened at once to the voice of
+adulation and music; he breathed the perfumes of Arabia, and he tasted
+the forbidden pleasure of wine. But as every appetite is soon satiated
+by excess, his eagerness to accumulate pleasure deprived him of
+enjoyment. Among the variety of beauty that surrounded him, the passion,
+which, to be luxurious, must be delicate and refined, was degraded to a
+mere instinct, and exhausted in endless dissipation; the caress was
+unendeared by a consciousness of reciprocal delight, and was immediately
+succeeded by indifference or disgust. By the dainties that perpetually
+urged him to intemperance, that appetite, which alone could make even
+dainties tasteful, was destroyed. The splendor of his palace and the
+beauty of his gardens, became at length so familiar to his eye, that
+they were frequently before him, without being seen. Even flattery and
+music lost their power, by too frequent a repetition: and the broken
+slumbers of the night, and the languor of the morning, were more than
+equivalent to the transient hilarity that was inspired by wine. Thus
+passed the time of ALMORAN, divided between painful labours which he did
+not dare to shun, and the search of pleasure which he could never find.
+
+HAMET, on the contrary, did not seek pleasure, but pleasure seemed to
+seek him: he had a perpetual complacence and serenity of mind, which
+rendered him constantly susceptible of pleasing impressions; every thing
+that was prepared to refresh or entertain him in his seasons of
+retirement and relaxation, added something to the delight which was
+continually springing in his breast, when he reviewed the past, or
+looked forward to the future. Thus, the pleasures of sense were
+heightened by those of his mind, and the pleasures of the mind by those
+of sense: he had, indeed, as yet no wise; for as yet no woman had fixed
+his attention, or determined his choice.
+
+Among the ambassadors whom the monarchs of Asia sent to congratulate the
+sons of Solyman upon their accession to the throne, there was a native
+of Circassia, whose name was Abdallah. Abdallah had only one child, a
+daughter, in whom all his happiness and affection centered; he was
+unwilling to leave her behind, and therefore brought her to the court of
+Persia. Her mother died while she was yet an infant; she was now in the
+sixteenth year of her age, and her name was ALMEIDA. She was beautiful
+as the daughters of Paradise, and gentle as the breezes of the spring;
+her mind was without stain, and her manners were without art.
+
+She was lodged with her father in a palace that joined to the gardens of
+the seraglio; and it happened that a lamp which had one night been left
+burning in a lower apartment, by some accident set fire to the net-work
+of cotton that surrounded a sopha, and the whole room was soon after in
+a flame. ALMORAN, who had been passing the afternoon in riot and
+debauchery, had been removed from his banquetting room asleep; but HAMET
+was still in his closet, where he had been regulating some papers that
+were to be used the next day. The windows of this room opened towards
+the inner apartments of the house in which Abdallah resided; and HAMET,
+having by accident looked that way, was alarmed by the appearance of an
+unusual light, and starting up to see whence it proceeded, he discovered
+what had happened.
+
+Having hastily ordered the guard of the night to assist in quenching the
+flame, and removing the furniture, he ran himself into the garden. As
+soon as he was come up to the house, he was alarmed by the shrieks of a
+female voice; and the next moment, ALMEIDA appeared at the window of an
+apartment directly over that which was on fire. ALMEIDA he had till now
+never seen, nor did he so much as know that Abdallah had a daughter: but
+though her person was unknown, he was strongly interested in her danger,
+and called out to her to throw herself into his arms. At the sound of
+his voice she ran back into the room, such is the force of inviolate
+modesty, though the smoke was then rising in curling spires from the
+windows: she was, however, soon driven back; and part of the floor at
+the same instant giving way, she wrapt her veil round her, and leaped
+into the garden. HAMET caught her in his arms; but though he broke her
+fall, he sunk down with her weight: he did not, however, quit his
+charge, but perceiving she had fainted, he made haste with her into his
+apartment, to afford her such assistance as he could procure.
+
+She was covered only with the light and loose robe in which she slept,
+and her veil had dropped off by the way. The moment he entered his
+closet, the light discovered to him such beauty as before he had never
+seen: she now began to revive; and before her senses returned, she
+pressed the prince with an involuntary embrace, which he returned by
+straining her closer to his breast, in a tumult of delight, confusion,
+and anxiety, which he could scarce sustain. As he still held her in his
+arms, and gazed silently upon her, she opened her eyes, and instantly
+relinquishing her hold, shrieked out, and threw herself from him. As
+there were no women nearer than that wing of the palace in which his
+brother resided, and as he had many reasons not to leave her in their
+charge; he was in the utmost perplexity what to do. He assured her, in
+some hasty and incoherent words, of her security; he told her, that she
+was in the royal palace, and that he who had conveyed her thither was
+HAMET. The habitual reverence of sovereign power, now surmounted all
+other passions in the bosom of ALMEIDA: she was instantly covered with
+new confusion; and hiding her face with her hands, threw herself at his
+feet: he raised her with a trepidation almost equal to her own, and
+endeavoured to sooth her into confidence and tranquillity.
+
+Hitherto her memory had been wholly suspended by violent passions, which
+had crowded upon her in a rapid and uninterrupted succession, and the
+first gleam of recollection threw her into a new agony; and having been
+silent a few moments, she suddenly smote her hands together, and
+bursting into tears, cried out, 'Abdallah! my father! my father!'--HAMET
+not only knew but felt all the meaning of the exclamation, and
+immediately ran again into the garden: he had advanced but a few paces,
+before he discerned an old man sitting upon the ground, and looking
+upward in silent anguish, as if he had exhausted the power of complaint.
+HAMET, upon a nearer approach, perceived by the light of the flame that
+it was Abdallah; and instantly calling him by his name, told him, that
+his daughter was safe. At the name of his daughter, Abdallah suddenly
+started up, as if he had been roused by the voice of an angel from the
+sleep of death: HAMET again repeated, that his daughter was in safety;
+and Abdallah looking wistfully at him, knew him to be the king. He was
+then struck with an awe that restrained him from enquiry: but HAMET
+directing him where he might find her, went forward, that he might not
+lessen the pleasure of their interview, nor restrain the first
+transports of duty and affection by his presence. He soon met with other
+fugitives from the fire, which had opened a communication between the
+gardens and the street; and among them some women belonging to ALMEIDA,
+whom, he conducted himself to their mistress. He immediately allotted to
+her and to her father, an apartment in his division of the palace; and
+the fire being now nearly extinguished, he retired to rest.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VI.
+
+
+Though the night was far advanced, yet the eyes of HAMET were strangers
+to sleep: his fancy incessantly repeated the events that had just
+happened; the image of ALMEIDA was ever before him; and his breast
+throbbed with a disquietude, which, though it prevented rest, he did not
+wish to lose.
+
+ALMORAN, in the mean time, was slumbering away the effects of his
+intemperance; and in the morning, when he was told what had happened, he
+expressed no passion but curiosity: he went hastily into the garden;
+but when he had gazed upon the ruins, and enquired how the fire began,
+and what it had consumed, he thought of it no more.
+
+But HAMET suffered nothing that regarded himself, to exclude others from
+his attention: he went again to the ruins, not to gratify his curiosity,
+but to see what might yet be done to alleviate the misery of the
+sufferers, and secure for their use what had been preserved from the
+flames. He found that no life had been lost, but that many persons had
+been hurt; to these he sent the physicians of his own houshold: and
+having rewarded those who had assisted them in their distress, not
+forgetting even the soldiers who had only fulfilled his own orders, he
+returned, and applied himself to dispatch the public business in the
+chamber of council, with the same patient and diligent attention as if
+nothing had happened. He had, indeed, ordered enquiry to be made after
+ALMEIDA; and when he returned to his apartment, he found Abdallah
+waiting to express his gratitude for the obligations he had received.
+
+HAMET accepted his acknowledgements with a peculiar pleasure, for they
+had some connexion with ALMEIDA; after whom he again enquired, with an
+ardour uncommon even to the benevolence of HAMET. When all his questions
+had been asked and answered, he appeared still unwilling to dismiss
+Abdallah, though he seemed at a loss how to detain him; he wanted to
+know, whether his daughter had yet received an offer of marriage, though
+he was unwilling to discover his desire by a direct enquiry: but he soon
+found, that nothing could be known, which was not directly asked, from a
+man whom reverence and humility kept silent before him, except when
+something was said which amounted to a command to speak. At length,
+however, he said, not without some hesitation, 'Is there no one,
+Abdallah, who will thank me for the preservation of thy daughter, with a
+zeal equal to thy own?' 'Yes,' replied Abdallah, 'that daughter whom
+thou hast preserved.' This reply, though it was unexpected was pleasing:
+for HAMET was not only gratified to hear, that ALMEIDA had expressed
+herself warmly in his behalf, at least as a benefactor; but he judged,
+that if any man had been interested in her life as a lover, the answer
+which Abdallah had given him would not so readily have occurred to his
+mind.
+
+As this reflection kept HAMET a few moments silent, Abdallah withdrew;
+and HAMET, as he observed some marks of haste and confusion in his
+countenance, was unwilling longer to continue him in a situation, which
+he had now reason to think gave him pain. But Abdallah, who had
+conceived a sudden thought that HAMET'S question was an indirect
+reproach of ALMEIDA, for not having herself solicited admission to his
+presence; went in haste to her apartment, and ordered her immediately
+to make ready to attend him to the king.
+
+ALMEIDA, from whose mind the image of HAMET had not been absent a moment
+since she first saw him, received this order with a mixture of pain and
+pleasure; of wishes, hopes, and apprehensions, that filled her bosom
+with emotion, and covered her face with blushes. She had not courage to
+ask the reason of the command, which she instantly prepared to obey; but
+the tenderness of Abdallah, who perceived and pitied her distress,
+anticipated her wish. In a short time, therefore, he returned to the
+chamber of presence, and having received permission, he entered with
+ALMEIDA in his hand. HAMET rose in haste to receive her, with a glow of
+pleasure and impatience in his countenance; and having raised her from
+the ground, supported her in his arms, waiting to hear her voice; but
+though she made many attempts, she could not speak. HAMET, who knew not
+to what he owed this sudden and unexpected interview, which, though he
+wished, he could contrive no means to obtain; imagined that ALMEIDA had
+some request, and therefore urged her tenderly to make it: but as she
+still remained silent, he looked at Abdallah, as expecting to hear it
+from him. 'We have no wish,' said Abdallah, 'but to atone for our
+offence; nor any request, but that my lord would now accept the thanks
+of ALMEIDA for the life which he has preserved, and impute the delay,
+not to ingratitude, but inadvertence: let me now take her back, as thy
+gift; and let the light of thy favour be upon us.' 'Take her then,' said
+HAMET; 'for I would give her only to thee.'
+
+These words of HAMET did not escape the notice either of Abdallah or
+ALMEIDA; but neither of them mentioned their conjectures to the other.
+ALMEIDA, who was inclined to judge of HAMET'S situation by her own, and
+who recollected many little incidents, known only to herself, which
+favoured her wishes; indulged the hope, that she should again hear of
+HAMET, with more confidence than her father; nor were her expectations
+disappointed. HAMET reflected with pleasure, that he had prepared the
+way for a more explicit declaration; and as his impatience increased
+with his passion every hour, he sent for Abdallah the next morning, and
+told him, that he wished to be more acquainted with his daughter, with a
+view to make her his wife: 'As neither you nor your daughter are my
+subjects,' says HAMET, 'I cannot command you; and if you were, upon this
+occasion I would not. I do not want a slave, but a friend; not merely a
+woman, but a wife. If I find ALMEIDA such as my fancy has feigned her;
+if her mind corresponds with her form; and if I have reason to think,
+that she can give her heart to HAMET, and not merely her hand to the
+king; I shall be happy.' To this declaration, Abdallah replied with
+expressions of the profoundest submission and gratitude; and HAMET
+dismissed him, to prepare ALMEIDA to receive him in the afternoon of the
+same day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VII.
+
+
+As eight moons only had passed since the death of Solyman, and as the
+reverence of HAMET for the memory of his father would not suffer him to
+marry till the year should be completed; he determined not to mention
+ALMEIDA to his brother, till the time when he could marry her was near.
+The fierce and haughty deportment of ALMORAN had now left HAMET no room
+to doubt of his character: and though he had no apprehension that he
+would make any attempts upon ALMEIDA, after she should be his wife; yet
+he did not know how much might justly be feared from his passion, if he
+should see her and become enamoured of her, while she was yet a virgin
+in the house of her father.
+
+ALMEIDA had not only unsullied purity of mind, but principles of refined
+and exalted virtue; and as the life of HAMET was an example of all that
+was either great or good, Abdallah felt no anxiety upon leaving them
+together, except what arose from his fears, that his daughter would not
+be able to secure the conquest she had made.
+
+As it was impossible for HAMET to have such an acquaintance with ALMEIDA
+as he desired, till he could enter into conversation with her upon terms
+of equality; it was his first care to sooth her into confidence and
+familiarity, and by degrees he succeeded: he soon found, in the free
+intercourse of mind with mind, which he established instead of the
+implicit submission which only ecchoed his own voice, how little of the
+pleasure that women were formed to give can be enjoyed, when they are
+considered merely as slaves to a tyrant's will, the passive subjects of
+transient dalliance and casual enjoyment. The pleasure which he took in
+the youthful beauty of ALMEIDA, was now endeared, exalted, and refined,
+by the tender sensibility of her heart, and by the reflexion of his own
+felicity from her eyes: when he admired the gracefulness of her motion,
+the elegance of her figure, the symmetry of her features, and the bloom
+of her complexion, he considered them as the decorations only of a
+mind, capable of mixing with his own in the most exquisite delight, of
+reciprocating all his ideas, and catching new pleasure from his
+pleasure. Desire was no longer appetite; it was imagination, it was
+reason; it included remembrance of the past, and anticipation of the
+future; and its object was not the sex, but ALMEIDA.
+
+As HAMET never witheld any pleasure that it was in his power to impart,
+he soon acquainted Abdallah, that he waited only for a proper time to
+place ALMEIDA upon the throne; but that he had some reasons for keeping
+a resolution, which he thought himself obliged to communicate to him,
+concealed from others.
+
+It happened, however, that some of the women who attended upon ALMEIDA,
+met with some female slaves belonging to the seraglio of ALMORAN, at the
+public baths, and related to them all the particulars of ALMEIDA'S
+preservation by HAMET; that he had first conveyed her to his own
+apartments, and had since been frequently with her in that which he had
+assigned her in his palace: they were also lavish in the praise of her
+beauty, and free in their conjectures what might be the issue of her
+intercourse with HAMET.
+
+Thus the situation of HAMET and ALMEIDA became the subject of
+conversation in the seraglio of ALMORAN, who learnt it himself in a
+short time from one of his women.
+
+He had hitherto professed great affection for HAMET, and HAMET was
+deceived by his professions: for notwithstanding the irregularities of
+his life, he did not think him capable of concealed malice; or of
+offering injury to another, except when he was urged by impetuous
+passions to immediate pleasure. As there was, therefore, an appearance
+of mutual affection between them, ALMORAN, though the report of
+ALMEIDA'S beauty had fired his imagination and fixed him in a resolution
+to see her, did not think proper to attempt it without asking HAMET'S
+consent, and being introduced by his order; as he made no doubt of there
+being a connexion between them which would make him resent a contrary
+conduct.
+
+He took an opportunity, therefore, when they were alone in a summer
+pavilion that was built on a lake behind the palace, to reproach him,
+with an air of mirth, for having concealed a beauty near his apartments,
+though he pretended to have no seraglio. HAMET instantly discovered his
+surprize and emotion by a blush, which the next moment left his
+countenance paler than the light clouds that pass by night over the
+moon. ALMORAN took no notice of his confusion; but that he might more
+effectually conceal his sentiments and prevent suspicion, he suddenly
+adverted to another subject, while HAMET was hesitating what to reply.
+By this artifice HAMET was deceived; and concluded, that whatever
+ALMORAN had heard of ALMEIDA, had passed slightly over his mind, and
+was remembered but by chance; he, therefore, quickly recovered that ease
+and chearfulness, which always distinguished his conversation.
+
+ALMORAN observing the success of his artifice, soon after, as if by a
+sudden and casual recollection, again mentioned the lady; and told him,
+he would congratulate Abdallah upon having resigned her to his bed. As
+HAMET could not bear to think of ALMORAN'S mentioning ALMEIDA to her
+father as his mistress, he replied, that he had no such intimacy with
+ALMEIDA as he supposed; and that he had so high an opinion of her
+virtue, as to believe, that if he should propose it she would not
+consent. The imagination of ALMORAN caught new fire from beauties which
+he found were yet unenjoyed, and virtue which stamped them with superior
+value by rendering them more difficult of access; and as HAMET had
+renounced a connection with her as a mistress, he wanted only to know
+whether he intended her for a wife.
+
+This secret he was contriving to discover, when HAMET, having reflected,
+that if he concealed this particular, ALMORAN might think himself at
+liberty to make what attempts he should think fit upon ALMEIDA, without
+being accountable to him, or giving him just cause of offence, put an
+end to his doubts, by telling him, he had such a design; but that it
+would be some time before he should carry it into execution. This
+declaration increased ALMORAN'S impatience: still, however, he concealed
+his interest in the conversation, which he now suffered to drop.
+
+He parted from his brother, without any farther mention of ALMEIDA but
+while he was yet near him, turned hastily back, and, as if merely to
+gratify his curiosity, told him with a smile, that he must indulge him
+with a fight of his Circassian; and desired he might accompany him in
+his next visit, or at some more convenient time: with this request,
+HAMET, as he knew, not how to refuse it, complied; but it filled his
+mind with anxiety and trouble.
+
+He went immediately to ALMEIDA, and told her all that had happened; and
+as she saw that he was net without apprehensions of mischief from his
+brother's visit, she gently reproached him for doubting the fidelity of
+her affection, as she supposed no power could be exerted by ALMORAN to
+injure him, who in power was his equal. HAMET, in a transport of
+tenderness, assured her that he doubted neither her constancy nor her
+love: but as to interrupt the comfort of her mind, would only double his
+own distress, he did not tell her whence his apprehensions proceeded;
+nor indeed had they any determinate object, but arose in general from
+the character of his brother, and the probability of his becoming a
+competitor, for what was essential to the happiness of his life.
+
+But if the happiness of HAMET was lessened, the infelicity of ALMORAN
+was increased. All the enjoyments that were in his power he neglected,
+his attention being wholly fixed upon that which was beyond his reach;
+he was impatient to see the beauty, who had taken intire possession of
+his mind; and the probability that he would be obliged to resign her to
+HAMET, tormented him with jealousy, envy, and indignation.
+
+HAMET, however, did not long delay to fulfil his promise to his brother;
+but having prepared ALMEIDA to receive him, he conducted him to her
+apartment. The idea which ALMORAN had formed in his imagination, was
+exceeded by the reality, and his passion was proportionably increased;
+yet he found means not only to conceal it from HAMET, but from ALMEIDA,
+by affecting an air of levity and merriment, which is not less
+incompatible with the pleasures than the pains of love. After they had
+been regaled with coffee and sherbet, they parted; and HAMET
+congratulated himself, that his apprehensions of finding in ALMORAN a
+rival for ALMEIDA'S love, were now at an end.
+
+But ALMORAN, whose passions were become more violent by restraint, was
+in a state of mind little better than distraction: one moment he
+determined to seize upon the person of ALMEIDA in the night, and secrete
+her in some place accessible only to himself; and the next to
+assassinate his brother, that he might at once destroy a rival both in
+empire and in love. But these designs were no sooner formed by his
+wishes, than they were rejected by his fears: he was not ignorant, that
+in any contest between him and HAMET, the voice of the public would be
+against him; especially in a contest, in which it would appear, that
+HAMET had suffered wrong.
+
+Many other projects, equally rash, violent, and injurious, were by turns
+conceived and rejected: and he came at last to no other determination,
+than still carefully to conceal his passion, till he should think of
+some expedient to gratify it; lest HAMET should have a just reason for
+refusing to let him see the lady again, and remove her to some place
+which he might never be able to discover.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. VIII.
+
+
+In the mean time, OMAR, to whom HAMET had from time to time disclosed
+the minutest particulars of his situation and design, kept his eye
+almost continually upon ALMORAN; and observed him with an attention and
+sagacity, which it was difficult either to elude or deceive. He
+perceived, that he was more than usual restless and turbulent; that in
+the presence of HAMET he frequently changed countenance; that his
+behaviour was artificial and inconsistent, frequently shifting from
+gloomy discontent and furious agitation, to forced laughter and noisy
+merriment. He had also remarked, that he seemed most discomposed after
+he had been with HAMET to ALMEIDA, which happened generally once in a
+week; that he was become fond of solitude, and was absent several days
+together from the apartment of his women.
+
+OMAR, who from this conduct of ALMORAN had begun to suspect his
+principles, determined to introduce such topics of discourse, as might
+lead him to discover the state of his mind; and enable him to enforce
+and confirm the principles he had taught him, by new proofs and
+illustrations.
+
+ALMORAN, who, since the death of his father, had nothing to apprehend
+from the discovery of sentiments which before he had been careful to
+conceal; now urged his objections against religion, when OMAR gave him
+opportunity, without reserve. 'You tell me,' says he, 'of beings that
+are immortal, because they are immaterial; beings which do not consist
+of parts, and which, therefore, can admit no solution, the only natural
+cause of corruption and decay: but that which is not material, can have
+no extension; and what has no extension, possesses no space; and of such
+beings, the mind itself, which you pretend to be such a being, has no
+conception.'
+
+'If the mind,' says OMAR, 'can perceive that there is in itself any
+single, property of such a being, it has irrefragable evidence that it
+is such a being; though its mode of existence, as distinct from matter,
+cannot now be comprehended.' 'And what property of such a being,' said
+ALMORAN, 'does the mind of man perceive in itself?' 'That of _acting_,
+said OMAR, 'without _motion_. You have no idea, that a material
+substance can act, but in proportion as it moves: yet to _think_, is to
+_act_; and with the idea of thinking, the idea of motion is never
+connected: on the contrary, we always conceive the mind to be fixed, in
+proportion to the degree of ardour and intenseness with which the power
+of thinking is exerted. Now, if that which is material cannot act
+without motion; and if man is conscious, that to think, is to act and
+not to move; it follows, that there is, in man, somewhat that is not
+matter; somewhat that has no extension, and that possesses no space;
+somewhat which, having no contexture or parts that can be dissolved or
+separated, is exempted from all the natural causes of decay.'
+
+OMAR paused; and ALMORAN having stood some moments without reply, he
+seized this opportunity to impress him with an awful sense of the power
+and presence of the Supreme and Eternal Being, from whom his own
+existence was derived: 'Let us remember,' said he, 'that to every act of
+this immaterial and immortal part, the Father of spirits, from whom it
+proceeds, is present: when I behold the busy multitudes that crowd the
+metropolis of Persia, in the persuit of business and projects infinitely
+complicated and various; and consider that every idea which passes over
+their minds, every conclusion, and every purpose, with all that they
+remember of the past, and all that they imagine of the future, is at
+once known to the Almighty, who without labour or confusion weighs every
+thought of every mind in His balance, and reserves it to the day of
+retribution; my follies cover me with confusion, and my soul is humbled
+in the dust.'
+
+ALMORAN, though he appeared to listen with attention, and offered
+nothing against the reasoning of OMAR, yet secretly despised it as
+sophistry; which cunning only had rendered specious; and which he was
+unable to confute, merely because it was subtil, and not because it was
+true: he had been led, by his passions, first to love, and then to adopt
+different opinions; and as every man is inclined to judge of others by
+himself, he doubted, whether the principles which OMAR had thus laboured
+to establish; were believed even by OMAR himself.
+
+Thus was the mind of ALMORAN to the instructions of OMAR, as a rock
+slightly covered with earth, is to the waters of heaven: the craggs are
+left bare by the rain that washes them; and the same showers that
+fertilize the field can only discover the sterility of the rock.
+
+OMAR, however, did not yet disclose his suspicions to HAMET, because he
+did not yet see that it could answer any purpose. To remove ALMEIDA from
+her apartment, would be to shew a distrust, for which there would not
+appear to be any cause; and to refuse ALMORAN access to her when he
+desired it, might precipitate such measures as he might meditate, and
+engage him in some desperate attempt: he, therefore, contented himself
+with advising HAMET, to conceal the time of his marriage till the
+evening before he intended it should take place, without assigning the
+reason on which his advice was founded.
+
+To the council of OMAR, HAMET was implicitly obedient, as to the
+revelations of the Prophet; but, like his instructions, it was neglected
+by ALMORAN, who became every moment more wretched. He had a graceful
+person, and a vigorous mind; he was in the bloom of youth, and had a
+constitution that promised him length of days; he had power which
+princes were emulous to obey, and wealth by which whatever could
+administer to luxury might be bought, for every passion, and every
+appetite, it was easy for him to procure a perpetual succession of new
+objects: yet was ALMORAN, not only without enjoyment, but without peace;
+he was by turns pining with discontent, and raving with indignation; his
+vices had extracted bitter from every sweet; and having exhausted
+nature for delight in vain, he was repining at the bounds in which he
+was confined, and regretting the want of other powers as the cause of
+his misery.
+
+Thus the year of mourning for Solyman was compleated, without any act of
+violence on the part of ALMORAN, or of caution on the part of HAMET: but
+on the evening of the last day, HAMET, having secretly prepared every
+thing for performing the solemnity in a private manner, acquainted
+ALMORAN by a letter, which OMAR, undertook to deliver, that he should
+celebrate his marriage on the morrow. ALMORAN, who never doubted but he
+should have notice of this event much longer before it was to happen,
+read the letter with a perturbation that it was impossible to conceal:
+he was alone in his private apartment, and taking his eye hastily from
+the paper, he crushed it together in his hand, and thrusting it into his
+bosom, turned from OMAR without speaking; and OMAR, thinking himself
+dismissed, withdrew.
+
+The passions which ALMORAN could no longer suppress, now burst out, in a
+torrent of exclamation: 'Am I then, said he, 'blasted for ever with a
+double curse, divided empire and disappointed love! What is dominion, if
+it is not possessed alone? and what is power, which the dread of rival
+power perpetually controuls? Is it for me to listen in silence to the
+wrangling of slaves, that I may at last apportion to them what, with a
+clamorous insolence, they demand as their due! as well may the sun
+linger in his course, and the world mourn in darkness for the day, that
+the glow-worm may still be seen to glimmer upon, the earth, and the
+owls and bats that haunt the sepulchres of the dead enjoy a longer
+night. Yet this have I done, because this has been done by HAMET: and my
+heart sickens in vain with the desire of beauty, because my power
+extends not to ALMEIDA. With dominion undivided and ALMEIDA, I should be
+ALMORAN; but without them, I am less than nothing.'
+
+OMAR, who, before he has passed the pavilion, heard a sound which he
+knew to be the voice of ALMORAN, returned hastily to the chamber in
+which he left him, believing he had withdrawn too soon, and that the
+king, as he knew no other was present, was speaking to him: he soon drew
+near enough to hear what was said; and while he was standing torpid in
+suspense, dreading to be discovered, and not knowing how to retire,
+ALMORAN turned about.
+
+At first, both stood motionless with confusion and amazement; bus
+ALMORAN'S pride soon surmounted his other passions, and his disdain of
+OMAR gave his guilt the firmness of virtue.
+
+'It is true,' said he, 'that thou hast stolen the secret of my heart;
+but do not think, that I fear it should be known: though my poignard
+could take it back with thy life; I leave it with thee. To reproach, or
+curse thee, would do thee honour, and lift thee into an importance which
+otherwise thou canst never reach.' ALMORAN then turned from him with a
+contemptuous frown: but OMAR caught him by the robe; and prostrating
+himself upon the ground, intreated to be heard. His importunity at
+length prevailed; and he attempted to exculpate himself, from the charge
+of having insiduously intruded upon the privacy of his prince, but
+ALMORAN sternly interrupted him: 'And what art thou,' said he, 'that I
+should care, whether thou art innocent or guilty?' 'If not for my
+sake,' said OMAR, 'listen for thy own; and though my duty is despised,
+let my affection be heard. That thou art not happy, I know; and I now
+know the cause. Let my lord pardon the presumption of his slave: he that
+seeks to satisfy all his wishes, must be wretched; he only can be happy,
+by whom some are suppressed.' At these words ALMORAN snatched his robe
+from the hand of OMAR, and spurned him in a transport of rage and
+indignation: 'The suppression of desire,' said he, 'is such happiness,
+as that of the deaf who do not remember to have heard. If it is virtue,
+know, that, as virtue, I despise it; for though it may secure the
+obedience of the slave, it can only degrade the prerogative of a prince.
+I cast off all restraint, as I do thee: begone, therefore, to HAMET, and
+see me no more.'
+
+OMAR obeyed without reply; and ALMORAN being again alone, the conflict
+in his mind was renewed with greater violence than before. He felt all
+that he had disguised to OMAR, with the keenest sensibility; and
+anticipated the effects of his detection, with unutterable anguish and
+regret. He walked backward and forward with a hasty but interrupted
+pace; sometimes stopping short, and pressing his hand hard upon his
+brow; and sometimes by violent gestures showing the agitation of his
+mind: he sometimes stood silent with his eyes, fixed upon, the ground,
+and his arms folded together; and sometimes a sudden agony of thought
+forced him into loud and tumultuous exclamations: he cursed the
+impotence of mind that had suffered his thoughts to escape from him
+unawares; without reflecting that he was even then repeating the folly;
+and while he felt himself the victim of vice, he could not suppress his
+contempt of virtue: 'If I must perish,' said he, 'I will at least perish
+unsubdued: I will quench no wish that nature kindles in my bosom; nor
+shall my lips utter any prayer, but for new powers to feed the flame.'
+
+As he uttered this expression, he felt the palace shake; he heard a
+rushing, like a blast in the desart; and a being of more than human
+appearance stood before him. ALMORAN, though he was terrified, was not
+humbled; and he stood expecting the event, whether evil or good, rather
+with obduracy than courage.
+
+'Thou seest,' says the Appearance, 'a Genius, whom the daring purpose of
+thy mind has convoked from the middle region, where he was appointed to
+wait the signal; and who is now permitted to act in concert with thy
+will. Is not this the language of thy heart?--"Whatever pleasure I can
+snatch from the hand of time, as he passes by me, I will secure for
+myself: my passions shall be strong, that my enjoyments may be great;
+for what is the portion allotted to man, but the joyful madness that
+prolongs the hours of festivity, the fierce delight that is extorted
+from injury by revenge, and the sweet succession of varied pleasures
+which the wish that is ever changing prepares for love?"'
+
+'Whatever thou art,' said ALMORAN, 'whose voice has thus disclosed the
+secret of my soul, accept my homage; for I will worship thee: and be
+thou henceforth my wisdom and my strength.'
+
+'Arise,' said the Genius, 'for therefore am I sent. To thy own powers,
+mine shall be superadded: and if, as weak only, thou hast been wretched;
+henceforth thou shalt be happy. Take no thought for to-morrow;
+to-morrow, my power shall be employed in thy behalf. Be not affrighted
+at any prodigy; but put thy confidence in me.' While he was yet speaking
+and the eyes of ALMORAN were fixed upon him, a cloud gathered round him;
+and the next moment dissolving again into air, he disappeared.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. IX
+
+
+ALMORAN, when he recovered from his astonishment, and had reflected upon
+the prodigy, determined to wait the issue, and refer all his hopes to
+the interposition of the Genius, without attempting any thing to retard
+the marriage; at which he resolved to be present, that he might improve
+any supernatural event which might be produced in his favour.
+
+HAMET, in the mean time, was anticipating the morrow with a mixture of
+anxiety and pleasure; and though he had no reason to think any thing
+could prevent his marriage, yet he wished it was over, with an
+impatience that was considerably increased by fear.
+
+Though the anticipation of the great event that was now so near, kept
+him waking the greatest part of the night, yet he rose early in the
+morning; and while he waited till ALMEIDA should be ready to see him, he
+was told that OMAR was without, and desired admittance. When he came in,
+HAMET, who always watched his countenance as a mariner the stars of
+heaven, perceived that it was obscured with perplexity and grief. 'Tell
+me,' said HAMET, 'whence is the sorrow that I discover in thy face?' 'I
+am sorrowful,' said OMAR, 'not for myself, but for thee.' At these words
+HAMET stept backward, and fixed his eyes upon OMAR, without power to
+speak. 'Consider, said OMAR, 'that thou art not a man only, but a
+prince: consider also, that immortality is before thee; and that thy
+felicity, during the endless ages of immortality, depends upon thyself:
+fear not, therefore, what thou canst suffer from others; the evil and
+the good of life are transient as the morning dew, and over these only
+the hand of others can prevail.'
+
+HAMET, whose attachment to life was strong, and whose expectations of
+immediate enjoyment were high, did not feel the force of what OMAR had
+said, though he assented to its truth. 'Tell me,' said he, 'at once,
+what thou fearest for me; deliver me from the torments of suspense, and
+trust my own fortitude to save me from despair.' 'Know then,' said OMAR,
+'that thou art hated by ALMORAN, and that he loves ALMEIDA.' At this
+declaration, the astonishment of HAMET was equal to his concern; and he
+was in doubt whether to believe or disbelieve what he heard: but the
+moment he recollected the wisdom and integrity of OMAR, his doubts were
+at an end; and having recovered from his surprize, he was about to make
+such enquiries as might gratify the anxious and tumultuous curiosity
+which was excited in his breast, when OMAR, lifting up his hand, and
+beginning again to speak, HAMET remained silent.
+
+'Thou knowest,' said OMAR, 'that when my checks were yet ruddy with
+youth, and my limbs were braced by vigour, that mine eye was guided to
+knowledge by the lamp that is kindled at midnight, and much of what is
+hidden in the innermost recesses of nature, was discovered to me: my
+prayer ascended in secret to Him, with whom there is wisdom from
+everlasting to everlasting, and He illuminated my darkness with His
+light. I know, by such sensations as the world either feels not at all,
+or feels unnoticed without knowledge of their use, when the powers that
+are invisible are permitted to mingle in the walks of men; and well I
+know, that some being, who is more than mortal, has joined with ALMORAN
+against thee, since the veil of night was last spread upon the earth.'
+
+HAMET, whose blood was chilled with horror, and whose nerves were no
+longer obedient to his will, after several ineffectual attempts to
+speak, looked up at OMAR; and striking his hand upon his breast, cried
+out, in an earnest, but faultering voice, 'What shall I do?' 'Thou must
+do,' said OMAR, 'that which is RIGHT. Let not thy foot be drawn by any
+allurement, or driven by any terror, from the path of virtue. While thou
+art there, thou art in safety: and though the world should unite against
+thee, by the united world thou canst not be hurt.'
+
+'But what friendly power,' said HAMET, 'shall guard even the path of
+virtue from grief and pain; from the silent shaft of disappointed love,
+or the sounding scourge of outrageous jealousy? These, surely, have
+overtaken the foot of perseverance; and by these, though I should
+persevere, may my feet be overtaken.' 'What thou sayest,' replied OMAR,
+'is true; and it is true also, that the tempest which roots up the
+forest, is driven over the mountain with unabated rage: but from the
+mountain, what can it take more than the vegetable dust, which the hand
+of nature has scattered upon the moss that covers it? As the dust is to
+the mountain, so is all that the storms of life can take from virtue, to
+the sum of good which the Omnipotent has appointed for its reward.'
+HAMET, whose eye now expressed a kind of doubtful confidence, a hope
+that was repressed by fear, remained still silent; and OMAR, perceiving
+the state of his mind, proceeded to fortify it by new precepts: 'If
+heaven,' said he, 'should vanish like a vapour, and this firm orb of
+earth should crumble into dust, the virtuous mind would stand unmoved
+amidst the ruins of nature: for He, who has appointed the heavens and
+the earth to fail, has said to virtue, "Fear not; for thou canst neither
+perish, nor be wretched." Call up thy strength, therefore, to the fight
+in which thou art sure of conquest: do thou only that which is RIGHT,
+and leave the event to Heaven.'
+
+HAMET, in this conference with OMAR, having gradually recovered his
+fortitude; and the time being now near, when he was to conduct ALMEIDA
+to the court of the palace, where the marriage ceremony was to be
+performed; they parted with mutual benedictions, each recommending the
+other to the protection of the Most High.
+
+At the appointed hour, the princes of the court being assembled, the
+mufti and the imans being ready, and ALMORAN seated upon his throne;
+HAMET and ALMEIDA came forward, and were placed one on the right hand,
+and the other on the left. The mufti was then advancing, to hear and to
+record the mutual promise which was to unite them; ALMORAN was
+execrating the appearance of the Genius, as a delusive dream, in all the
+tumults of anguish and despair; and HAMET began to hope, that the
+suspicions of OMAR had been ill founded; when a stroke of thunder shook
+the palace to its foundations, and a cloud rose from the ground, like a
+thick smoke, between HAMET and ALMEIDA.
+
+ALMORAN, who was inspired with new confidence and hope, by that which
+had struck the rest of the assembly with terror, started from his seat
+with an ardent and furious look; and at the same moment, a voice, that
+issued from the cloud, pronounced with a loud but hollow tone,
+
+  'Fate has decreed, to ALMORAN, ALMEIDA.'
+
+At these words, ALMORAN rushed forward, and placing himself by the side
+of ALMEIDA, the cloud disappeared; and he cried out, 'Let me now
+proclaim to the world the secret, which to this moment I have hidden in
+my bosom: I love ALMEIDA. The being who alone knew my love, has now by
+miracle approved it. Let his decree be accomplished.' He then commanded
+that the ceremony should proceed; and seizing the hand of the lady,
+began to repeat that part of it which was to have been repeated by
+HAMET. But ALMEIDA instantly drew her hand from him in an agony of
+distress; and HAMET, who till then had stood motionless with amazement
+and horror, started from his trance, and springing forward rushed
+between them. ALMORAN turned fiercely upon him; but HAMET, who having
+been warned by OMAR, knew the prodigy to be effected by some evil being
+whom it was virtue to resist, laid his hand upon his scymitar, and, with
+a frown of indignation and defiance, commanded him to stand off: 'I now
+know thee,' said he, 'as a man; and, therefore, as a brother I know thee
+not.'
+
+ALMORAN reflecting, that the foundation of this reproach was unknown to
+all who were present, and that to them he would therefore appear to be
+injured; looked round with an affected smile of wonder and compassion,
+as appealing to them from a charge that was thus fiercely and
+injuriously brought against him, and imputing it to the violence of
+sudden passions by which truth and reason were overborne. The eye of
+HAMET at once detected the artifice, which he disdained to expose; he,
+therefore, commanded the guard that attended to carry off ALMEIDA to her
+apartment. The guard was preparing to obey, when ALMORAN, who thought he
+had now such an opportunity to get her into his own power as would never
+return, ordered them to see her safely lodged in his own seraglio.
+
+The men, who thus received opposite commands from persons to whom they
+owed equal obedience, stood still in suspense, not knowing which to
+prefer: ALMORAN then reproached them with want of obedience, not to him,
+but to God, appealing to the prodigy for the justification of his claim.
+HAMET, on the contrary, repeated his order, with a look and emphasis
+scarce less commanding than the thunder and the voice. But the priests
+interposing in favour of ALMORAN, upon presumption that his right had
+been decided by a superior power; the guard rushed between HAMET and
+ALMEIDA, and with looks that expressed the utmost reluctance and regret,
+attempted to separate their hands, which were clasped in each other. She
+was affrighted at the violence, but yet more at the apprehension of what
+was to follow; she, therefore, turned her eyes upon HAMET, conjuring
+him not to leave her, in a tone of tenderness and distress which it is
+impossible to describe: he replied with a vehemence that was worthy of
+his passion, 'I will not leave thee,' and immediately drew his sabre. At
+the same moment they forced her from him; and a party having interposed
+to cover those that were carrying her off, HAMET lifted up his weapon to
+force his passage through them; but was prevented by OMAR, who, having
+pressed through the crowd, presented himself before him. 'Stop me not,'
+said HAMET, 'it is for ALMEIDA.' 'If thou wouldst save ALMEIDA,' said
+OMAR, 'and thyself, do that only which is RIGHT. What have these done
+who oppose thee, more than they ought? and what end can their
+destruction answer, but to stain thy hands with unavailing murder? Thou
+canst only take the life of a few faithful slaves, who will not lift up
+their hands against thee: thou canst not rescue ALMEIDA from thy
+brother; but thou canst preserve thyself from guilt.'
+
+These words of OMAR suspended the rage of HAMET, like a charm; and
+returning his scymitar into its sheath, 'Let me then,' said he, 'suffer,
+and be guiltless. It is true, that against these ranks my single arm
+must be ineffectual; but if my wrongs can rouse a nation to repress the
+tyranny, that will shortly extend over it the injuries that now reach
+only to me, justice shall be done to HAMET.' Then turning to ALMORAN,
+'Henceforth,' said he, 'the kingdom shall be mine or thine. To govern in
+concert with thee, is to associate with the powers of hell. The beings
+that are superior to evil, are the friends of HAMET; and if these are
+thy enemies, what shall be thy defence?' ALMORAN replied only by a
+contemptuous smile; and the assembly being dismissed he retired to his
+apartment: and HAMET and OMAR went out to the people, who had gathered
+in an incredible multitude about the palace.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. X.
+
+
+A rumour of what had happened within had reached them, which some
+believed, and some doubted: but when they saw OMAR and HAMET return
+together, and observed that their looks were full of resentment and
+trouble, they became silent with attention in a moment; which OMAR
+observing, addressed them with an eloquence of which they had often
+acknowledged the force, and of which they never repented the effect.
+
+He told them the tender connexion between HAMET and ALMEIDA, and
+disclosed the subtil hypocrisy of ALMORAN: he expatiated upon the folly
+of supposing, that the power that was supreme in goodness and truth,
+should command a violation of vows that had been mutually interchanged,
+and often repeated; and devote to ALMORAN the beauties, which could only
+be voluntarily surrendered to HAMET. They heard him with a vacant
+countenance of surprize and wonder; and while he waited for their reply,
+they agreed among themselves, that no man could avoid the destiny that
+was written upon his head; and that if ALMEIDA had thus been taken from
+HAMET, and given to ALMORAN, it was an event that by an unchangeable
+decree was appointed to happen; and that, therefore, it was their duty
+to acquiesce. OMAR then beckoned with his hand for audience a second
+time, and told them, that ALMORAN had not only practised the arts of
+sorcery to deprive HAMET of ALMEIDA, but that he meditated a design to
+usurp the sole dominion, and deprive him of the share of the government
+to which he had a right by the will of Solyman his father. This also
+they heard with the same sentiments of wonder and acquiescence: If it is
+decreed, said they, that ALMORAN shall be king alone, who can prevent
+it? and if it is not, who can bring it to pass? 'But know ye not,' said
+OMAR, 'that when the end is appointed, the means are appointed also. If
+it is decreed that one of you shall this night die by poison, is it not
+decreed also that he shall drink it?'
+
+The crowd now gazed upon each other, without reply, for some minutes:
+and at last they only said, that no effort of theirs could change the
+universal appointment of all things; that if ALMORAN was to be king
+alone, he would be so notwithstanding all opposition; and that if he was
+not to be king alone, no attempt of his own, however supported, could
+make him so. 'I will not,' said OMAR, 'contradict your opinion; I will
+only tell you what I have heard, and leave you to, suffer the calamities
+which threaten you, with a fortitude and resignation that are suitable
+to your principles; having no consolation to offer you, but that HAMET,
+whose destiny it was not to make you happy, will suffer with you the
+evils, that neither he nor you could prevent: the mournful comfort of
+this fellowship, he will not be denied; for he loves you too well, to
+wish even to be happy alone.' The crowd fixed their eyes upon HAMET, for
+whom their affection was now strongly moved, with looks of much greater
+intelligence and sensibility; a confused murmur, like the fall of the
+pebbles upon the beach when the surge retires from the shore, expressed
+their gratitude to HAMET, and their apprehensions for themselves.
+
+OMAR waited till they were again silent, and then improved the advantage
+he had gained. 'ALMORAN,' said he, 'considers you as the slaves of his
+power; HAMET as the objects of his benevolence: your lives and your
+properties, in the opinion of ALMORAN, are below his notice; but HAMET
+considers his own interest as connected with yours. When ALMORAN,
+therefore, shall be unchecked by the influence of HAMET; he will leave
+you to the mercy of some delegated tyrant, whose whole power will be
+exerted to oppress you, that he may enrich himself.'
+
+A new fire was now kindled in their eyes, and their cheeks glowed with
+indignation at the wrongs that threatened them; they were no longer
+disposed to act upon the principles of fatality, as they had perversely
+understood them; and they argued at once like reasonable and free
+beings, whose actions were in their choice, and who had no doubt but
+that their actions would produce adequate effects. They recollected that
+OMAR had, in the reign of Solyman, often rescued them from such
+oppression, as now threatened them; and that the power of HAMET had
+since interposed in their behalf, when ALMORAN would have stretched his
+prerogative to their hurt, or have left them a prey to the farmer of a
+tax. 'Shall HAMET,' said they, 'be deprived of the power, that he
+employs only for our benefit; and shall it center in ALMORAN, who will
+abuse it to our ruin? Shall we rather support ALMORAN in the wrong he
+has done to HAMET, than HAMET to obtain justice of ALMORAN? HAMET is
+our king; let him command us, and we will obey.' This was uttered with a
+shout that ecchoed from the mountains beyond the city, and continued
+near a full hour. In the mean time, the multitude was increasing every
+moment; and the troops that lay in and near the city, having taken arms,
+fell in with the stream: they were secretly attached to HAMET, under
+whose eye they had been formed, and of whose bounty they had often
+partaken; and their fear being removed by the general cry, which left
+them no room to apprehend an opposition in favour of ALMORAN, they were
+now at full liberty to follow their inclinations.
+
+In the mean time, ALMORAN, who had retired to the innermost court of the
+palace, had heard the tumult, and was alarmed for his safety: he ran
+from room to room, confused and terrified, without attempting or
+directing any thing either for his defence or escape, yet he sent every
+moment to know the state of the insurrection, and to what end its force
+would be directed.
+
+Among those whom accident rather than choice had attached to the
+interest of ALMORAN, were Osmyn and Caled: they were both distinguished
+by his favour; and each had conceived hopes that, if he should possess
+the throne alone, he would delegate his authority to him. ALMORAN now
+ordered them to take the command of the troops, that were appointed to
+attend his person as their peculiar duty, with as many others as had not
+declared for HAMET, and to secure all the avenues that led to his
+seraglio.
+
+OMAR and HAMET were now on horseback, and had begun to form the troops
+that had joined them, and as many others as were armed, which were
+before mingled together in a confused multitude. An account of this was
+brought to ALMORAN by Osmyn; and threw him into a perturbation and
+perplexity, that disgraced his character, and confounded his attendants.
+He urged Osmyn, in whom he most confided, to dispatch, without giving
+him any orders to execute; then turning from him, he uttered, in a low
+and inarticulate voice, the most passionate exclamations of distress and
+terror, being struck with the thought that his guard might betray him:
+when he recollected himself, and perceived that Osmyn was still present,
+he burst into a rage, and snatching out his poignard, he swore by the
+soul of the Prophet, that if he did not instantly attempt something, he
+would stab him to the heart. Osmyn drew back trembling and confused; but
+having yet received no orders, he would have spoken, but ALMORAN drove
+him from his presence with menaces and execrations.
+
+The moment that Osmyn left him, his rage subsided in his fears, and his
+fears were mingled with remorse: 'Which way soever I turn,' said he, 'I
+see myself surrounded by destruction. I have incensed Osmyn by
+unreasonable displeasure, and causeless menaces. He must regard me at
+once with abhorrence and contempt: and it is impossible, but he should
+revolt to HAMET.'
+
+In this agony, the terrors of futurity rushed upon his mind with all
+their force; and he darted as if at the bite of a scorpion: 'To me,'
+said he, 'death, that now approaches, will be but the beginning of
+sorrow. I shall be cut off at once from enjoyment, and from hope; and
+the dreadful moment is now at hand.' While he was speaking, the palace
+again shook, and he stood again in the presence of the Genius.
+
+'ALMORAN,' said the inhabitant of the unapparent world, 'the evil which
+thou fearest, shall not be upon thee. Make haste, and shew thyself from
+the gallery to the people, and the tumult of faction shall be still
+before thee: tell them, that their rebellion is not against thee only,
+but against Him by whom thou reignest: appeal boldly to that power for a
+confirmation of thy words, and rely for the attesting sign upon me.'
+ALMORAN, who had stooped with his face to the ground, now looked upward,
+and found himself alone: he hasted, therefore, to follow the directions
+he had received; and hope was again kindled in his bosom.
+
+Osmyn, in the mean time, made a proper disposition of the troops now
+under his command; and had directed a select company to remain near the
+person of the king, that they might at least make good his retreat.
+While he was waiting at his post, and revolving in his mind the total
+disappointment of his hopes, and considering what he should do if HAMET
+should establish himself alone, he was joined by Caled.
+
+Caled had a secret enmity against Osmyn, as his rival in the favour of
+ALMORAN; but as he had concealed his own pretensions from Osmyn, Osmyn
+had no ill will against Caled. As they were now likely to be involved
+in one common calamity, by the ruin of the prince whose party they had
+espoused; Caled's enmity subsided, and the indifference of Osmyn was
+warmed into kindness: mutual distress produced mutual confidence; and
+Caled, after condoling with Osmyn on their present hopeless situation,
+proposed that they should draw off their forces, and revolt to HAMET.
+This proposition Osmyn rejected, not only from principle, but from
+interest: 'Now we have accepted of a trust,' said he, 'we ought not to
+betray it. If we had gone over to HAMET, when he first declared against
+his brother, he would have received us with joy, and probably have
+rewarded our service; but I know, that his virtue will abhor us for
+treachery, though practised in his favour: treachery, under the dominion
+of HAMET, will not only cover us with dishonour, but will probably
+devote us to death.'
+
+In this reasoning, Caled could not but acquiesce; he felt himself
+secretly but forcibly reproved, by the superior virtue of Osmyn: and
+while he regretted his having made a proposal, which had been rejected
+not only as imprudent but infamous; he concluded, that Osmyn would ever
+after suspect and despise him; and he, therefore, from a new cause,
+conceived new enmity against him. They parted, however, without any
+appearance of suspicion or disgust; and, in a short time, they were in
+circumstances very different from their expectations.
+
+
+
+
+
+VOLUME SECOND
+
+
+
+CHAP. XI.
+
+
+ALMORAN had now reached the gallery; and when the multitude saw him,
+they shouted as in triumph, and demanded that he should surrender.
+HAMET, who also perceived him at a distance, and was unwilling that any
+violence should be offered to his person, pressed forward, and when he
+was come near, commanded silence. At this moment ALMORAN, with a loud
+voice, reproached them with impiety and folly; and appealing to the
+power, whom in his person they had offended, the air suddenly grew dark,
+a flood of lightning descended from the sky, and a peal of thunder was
+articulated into these words:
+
+  Divided sway, the God who reigns alone
+  Abhors; and gives to ALMORAN the throne.
+
+The multitude stood aghast at the prodigy; and hiding their faces with
+their hands, every one departed in silence and confusion, and HAMET and
+OMAR were left alone. OMAR was taken by some of the soldiers who had
+adhered to ALMORAN, but HAMET made his escape.
+
+ALMORAN, whose wishes were thus far accomplished by the intervention of
+a power superior to his own, exulted in the anticipation of that
+happiness which he now supposed to be secured; and was fortified in his
+opinion, that he had been wretched only because he had been weak, and
+that to multiply and not to suppress his wishes was the way to acquire
+felicity.
+
+As he was returning from the gallery, he was met by Osmyn and Caled, who
+had heard the supernatural declaration in his behalf, and learned its
+effects. ALMORAN, in that hasty flow of unbounded but capricious favour,
+which, in contracted minds, is the effect only of unexpected good
+fortune, raised Osmyn from his feet to his bosom: 'As in the trial,'
+said he, 'thou hast been faithful, I now invest thee with a superior
+trust. The toils of state shall from this moment devolve upon thee; and
+from this moment, the delights of empire unallayed shall be mine: I will
+recline at ease, remote from every eye but those that reflect my own
+felicity; the felicity that I shall taste in secret, surrounded by the
+smiles of beauty, and the gaities of youth. Like heaven, I will reign
+unseen; and like heaven, though unseen, I will be adored.' Osmyn
+received this delegation of power with a tumultuous pleasure, that was
+expressed only by silence and confusion. ALMORAN remarked it; and
+exulting in the pride of power, he suddenly changed his aspect, and
+regarding Osmyn, who was yet blushing, and whose eyes were swimming in
+tears of gratitude, with a stern and ardent countenance; 'Let me,
+however,' said he, 'warn thee to be watchful in thy trust: beware, that
+no rude commotion violate my peace by thy fault; lest my anger sweep
+thee in a moment to destruction.' He then directed his eye to Caled:
+'And thou too,' said he, 'hast been faithful; be thou next in honour and
+in power to Osmyn. Guard both of you my paradise from dread and care;
+fulfill the duty that I have assigned you, and live.'
+
+He was then informed by a messenger, that HAMET had escaped, and that
+OMAR was taken. As he now despised the power both of HAMET and OMAR, he
+expressed neither concern nor anger that HAMET had fled; but he ordered
+OMAR to be brought before him.
+
+When OMAR appeared bound and disarmed, he regarded him with a smile of
+insult and derision; and asked him, what he had now to hope. 'I have,
+indeed,' said OMAR, 'much less to hope, than thou hast to fear.' 'Thy
+insolence,' said ALMORAN, 'is equal to thy folly: what power on earth is
+there, that I should fear?' 'Thy own,' said OMAR. 'I have not leisure
+now,' replied ALMORAN, 'to hear the paradoxes of thy philosophy
+explained: but to shew thee, that I fear not thy power, thou shalt live.
+I will leave thee to hopeless regret; to wiles that have been scorned
+and defeated; to the unheeded petulance of dotage; to the fondness that
+is repayed with neglect; to restless wishes, to credulous hopes, and to
+derided command: to the slow and complicated torture of despised old
+age; and that, when thou shalt long have abhorred thy being, shall
+destroy it.' 'The misery,' said OMAR, 'which thou hast menaced, it is
+not in thy power to inflict. As thou hast taken from me all that I
+possessed by the bounty of thy father, it is true that I am poor; it is
+true also, that my knees are now feeble, and bend with the weight of
+years that is upon me. I am, as thou art, a man; and therefore I have
+erred: but I have still kept the narrow path in view with a faithful
+vigilance, and to that I have soon returned: the past, therefore, I do
+not regret; and the future I have no cause to fear. In Him who is most
+merciful, I have hope; and in that hope even how I rejoice before thee.
+My portion in the present hour, is adversity: but I receive it, not only
+with humility, but thankfulness; for I know, that whatever is ordained
+is best.'
+
+ALMORAN, in whose heart there were no traces of OMAR'S virtue, and
+therefore no foundation for his confidence; sustained himself against
+their force, by treating them as hypocrisy and affectation: 'I know,'
+says he, 'that thou hast long learned to eccho the specious and pompous
+sounds, by which hypocrites conceal their wretchedness, and excite the
+admiration of folly and the contempt of wisdom: yet thy walk, in this
+place, shall be still unrestrained. Here the splendor of my felicity
+shall fill thy heart with envy, and cover thy face with confusion; and
+from thee shall the world be instructed, that the enemies of ALMORAN can
+move no passion in his breast but contempt, and that most to punish them
+is to permit them to live.'
+
+OMAR, whose eye had till now been fixed upon the ground, regarded
+ALMORAN with a calm but steady countenance: 'Here then,' said he, 'will
+I follow thee, constant as thy shadow; tho', as thy shadow, unnoticed or
+neglected: here shall mine eye watch those evils, that were appointed
+from everlasting to attend upon guilt: and here shall my voice warn thee
+of their approach. From thy breast may they be averted by righteousness!
+for without this, though all the worlds that roll above thee should, to
+aid thee, unite all their power, that power can aid thee only to be
+wretched.'
+
+ALMORAN, in all the pride of gratified ambition, invested with dominion
+that had no limits, and allied with powers that were more than mortal;
+was overawed by this address, and his countenance grew pale. But the
+next moment, disdaining to be thus controuled by the voice of a slave,
+his cheeks were suffused with the blushes of indignation: he turned from
+OMAR, in scorn, anger, and confusion, without reply; and OMAR departed
+with the calm dignity of a benevolent and superior being, to whom the
+smiles and frowns of terrestrial tyranny were alike indifferent, and in
+whom abhorrence of the turpitude of vice was mingled with companion for
+its folly.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XII.
+
+
+In the mean time, ALMEIDA, who had been conveyed to an apartment in
+ALMORAN'S seraglio, and delivered to the care of those who attended upon
+his women, suffered all that grief and terror could inflict upon a
+generous, a tender, and a delicate mind; yet in this complicated
+distress, her attention was principally fixed upon HAMET. The
+disappointment of his hope, and the violation of his right, were the
+chief objects of her regret and her fears, in all that had already
+happened, and in all that was still to come; every insult that might be
+offered to herself, she considered as an injury to him. Yet the
+thoughts of all that he might suffer in her person, gave way to her
+apprehensions of what might befall him in his own: in his situation,
+every calamity that her imagination could conceive, was possible; her
+thoughts were, therefore, bewildered amidst an endless variety of
+dreadful images, which started up before them which way soever they were
+turned; and it was impossible that she could gain any certain
+intelligence of his fate, as the splendid prison in which she was now
+confined, was surrounded by mutes and eunuchs, of whom nothing could be
+learned, or in whole report no confidence could be placed.
+
+While her mind was in this state of agitation and distress, she
+perceived the door open, and the next moment ALMORAN entered the
+apartment. When she saw him, she turned from him with a look of
+unutterable anguish; and hiding her face in her veil, she burst into
+tears. The tyrant was moved with her distress; for unfeeling obduracy is
+the vice only of the old, whose sensibility has been worn away by the
+habitual perpetration of reiterated wrongs.
+
+He approached her with looks of kindness, and his voice was
+involuntarily modulated to pity; she was, however, too much absorbed in
+her own sorrows, to reply. He gazed upon her with tenderness and
+admiration; and taking her hand into his own, he pressed it ardently to
+his bosom: his compassion soon kindled into desire, and from soothing
+her distress, he began to solicit her love. This instantly roused her
+attention, and resentment now suspended her grief: she turned from him
+with a firm and haughty step, and instead of answering his professions,
+reproached him with her wrongs. ALMORAN, that he might at once address
+her virtue and her passions, observed, that though he had loved her from
+the first moment he had seen her, yet he had concealed his passion even
+from her, till it had received the sanction of an invisible and superior
+power; that he came, therefore, the messenger of heaven; and that he
+offered her unrivalled empire and everlasting love. To this she
+answered only by an impatient and fond enquiry after HAMET. 'Think not
+of HAMET,' said ALMORAN; 'for why should he who is rejected of Heaven,
+be still the favorite of ALMEIDA?' 'If thy hand,' said ALMEIDA, 'could
+quench in everlasting darkness, that vital spark of intellectual fire,
+which the word of the Almighty has kindled in my breast to burn for
+ever, then might ALMEIDA cease to think of HAMET; but while that shall
+live, whatever form it shall inhabit, or in whatever world it shall
+reside, his image shall be for ever present, and to him shall my love be
+for ever true.' This glowing declaration of her love for HAMET, was
+immediately succeeded by a tender anxiety for his safety; and a sudden
+reflection upon the probability of his death, and the danger of his
+situation if alive, threw her again into tears.
+
+ALMORAN, whom the ardour and impetuosity of her passions kept sometimes
+silent, and sometimes threw into confusion, again attempted to sooth and
+comfort her: she often urged him to tell her what was become of his
+brother, and he as often evaded the question. As she was about to renew
+her enquiry, and reflected that it had already been often made, and had
+not yet been answered, she thought that ALMORAN had already put him to
+death: this threw her into a new agony, of which he did not immediately
+discover the cause; but as he soon learned it from her reproaches and
+exclamations, he perceived that he could not hope to be heard, while she
+was in doubt about the safety of HAMET. In order, therefore, to sooth
+her mind, and prevent its being longer possessed with an image that
+excluded every other; he assumed a look of concern and astonishment at
+the imputation of a crime, which was at once so horrid and so
+unnecessary. After a solemn deprecation of such enormous guilt, he
+observed, that as it was now impossible for HAMET to succeed as his
+rival, either in empire or in love, without the breach of a command,
+which he knew his virtue would implicitly obey; he had no motive either
+to desire his death, or to restrain his liberty: 'His walk' says he, 'is
+still uncircumscribed in Persia, and except this chamber, there is no
+part of the palace to which he is not admitted.'
+
+To this declaration ALMEIDA listened, as to the music of paradise; and
+it suspended for a-while every passion, but her love: the sudden ease of
+her mind made her regardless of all about her, and she had in this
+interval suffered ALMORAN to remove her veil, without reflecting upon
+what he was doing. The moment she recollected herself, she made a gentle
+effort to recover it, with some confusion, but without anger. The
+pleasure that was expressed in her eyes, the blush that glowed upon her
+cheek, and the contest about the veil, which to an amorous imagination
+had an air of dalliance, concurred to heighten the passion of ALMORAN
+almost to phrensy: she perceived her danger in his looks, and her
+spirits instantly took the alarm. He seized her hand, and gazing
+ardently upon her, he conjured her, with a tone and emphasis that
+strongly expressed the tumultuous vehemence of his wishes, that she
+would renounce the rites which had been forbidden above, and that she
+would receive him to whom by miracle she had been alloted.
+
+ALMEIDA, whom the manner and voice of ALMORAN had terrified into
+silence, answered him at first only with a look that expressed aversion
+and disdain, overawed by fear. 'Wilt thou not,' said ALMORAN, 'fulfill
+the decrees of Heaven? I conjure thee, 'by Heaven, to answer.' From
+this solemn reference to Heaven, ALMEIDA derived new fortitude: she
+instantly recollected, that she stood in the presence of Him, by whose
+permission only every other power, whether visible or invisible, can
+dispense evil or good: 'Urge no more,' said she, 'as the decree of
+Heaven, that which is inconsistent with Divine perfection. Can He in
+whose hand my heart is, command me to wed the man whom he has not
+enabled me to love? Can the Pure, the Just, the Merciful, have ordained
+that I should suffer embraces which I loath, and violate vows which His
+laws permitted me to make? Can He have ordained a perfidious, a
+loveless, and a joyless prostitution? What if a thousand prodigies
+should concur to enforce it a thousand times, the deed itself would be a
+stronger proof that those prodigies were the works of darkness, than
+those prodigies that the deed was commanded by the Father of light.'
+
+ALMORAN, whose hopes were now blasted to the root, who perceived that
+the virtue of ALMEIDA could neither be deceived nor overborne; that she
+at once contemned his power, and abhorred his love; gave way to all the
+furies of his mind, which now slumbered no more: his countenance
+expressed at once anger, indignation, and despair; his gesture became
+furious, and his voice was lost in menaces and execrations. ALMEIDA
+beheld him with an earnest yet steady countenance, till he vowed to
+revenge the indignity he had suffered, upon HAMET. At the name of HAMET,
+her fortitude forsook her; the pride of virtue gave way to the softness
+of love; her cheeks became pale, her lips trembled, and taking hold of
+the robe of ALMORAN, she threw herself at his feet. His fury was it
+first suspended by hope and expectation; but when from her words, which
+grief and terror had rendered scarce articulate, he could learn only
+that she was pleading for HAMET, he burst from her in an extasy of rage,
+and forcing his robe from her hand, with a violence that dragged her
+after it, he rushed out of the chamber, and left her prostrate upon the
+ground.
+
+As he passed through the gallery with a hasty and disordered pace, he
+was seen by OMAR; who knowing that he was returned from an interview
+with ALMEIDA, and conjecturing from his appearance what had happened,
+judged that he ought not to neglect this opportunity to warn him once
+more of the delusive phantoms, which, under the appearance of pleasure,
+were leading him to destruction: he, therefore, followed him
+unperceived, till he had reached the apartment in which he had been used
+to retire alone, and heard again the loud and tumultuous exclamations,
+which were wrung, from his heart by the anguish of disappointment: 'What
+have I gained,' said he, 'by absolute dominion! The slave who, secluded
+from the gales of life and from the light of heaven toils without hope
+in the darkness of the mine, riots in the delights of paradise compared
+with me. By the caprice of one woman, I am robbed not only of enjoyment
+but of peace, and condemned for ever to the torment of unsatisfied
+desire.'
+
+OMAR, who was impatient to apprize him that he was not alone, and to
+prevent his disclosing sentiments which he wished to conceal, now threw
+himself upon the ground at his feet. 'Presumptuous slave!' said ALMORAN,
+'from whence, and wherefore art thou come?' 'I am come,' said OMAR, 'to
+tell thee that not the caprice of a woman, but the wishes of ALMORAN,
+have made ALMORAN wretched.' The king, slung with the reproach, drew
+back, and with a furious look laid his hand upon his poignard; but was
+immediately restrained from drawing it, by his pride. 'I am come,' said
+OMAR, 'to repeat that truth, upon which, great as thou art, thy fate is
+suspended. Thy power extends not to the mind of another; exert it,
+therefore, upon thy own: suppress the wishes, which thou canst not
+fulfill, and secure the happiness that is within thy reach.'
+
+ALMORAN, who could bear no longer to hear the precepts which he
+disdained to practice, sternly commanded OMAR to depart: 'Be gone,' said
+he, 'lest I crush thee like a noisome reptile, which men cannot but
+abhor, though it is too contemptible to be feared.' 'I go,' said OMAR,
+'that my warning voice may yet again recall thee to the path of wisdom
+and of peace, if yet again I shall behold thee while it is to be found.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XIII.
+
+
+ALMORAN was now left alone; and throwing himself upon a sofa, he sat
+some time motionless and silent, as if all his faculties had been
+suspended in the stupefaction of despair. He revolved in his mind the
+wishes that had been gratified, and the happiness of which he had been
+disappointed: 'I desired,' said he, 'the pomp and power of undivided
+dominion; and HAMET was driven from the throne which he shared with me,
+by a voice from heaven: I desired to break off his marriage with
+ALMEIDA; and it was broken off by a prodigy, when no human power could
+have accomplished my desire. It was my wish also to have the person of
+ALMEIDA in my power, and this wish also has been gratified; yet I am
+still wretched. But I am wretched, only because the means have not been
+adequate to the end: what I have hitherto obtained, I have not desired
+for itself; and of that, for which I desired it, I am not possessed: I
+am, therefore, still wretched, because I am weak. With the soul of
+ALMORAN, I should have the form of HAMET: then my wishes would indeed be
+filled; then would ALMEIDA bless me with consenting beauty, and the
+splendor of my power should distinguish only the intervals of my love;
+my enjoyments would then be certain and permanent, neither blasted by
+disappointment, nor withered by satiety.' When he had uttered these
+reflections with the utmost vehemence and agitation, his face was again
+obscured by gloom and despair; his posture was again fixed; and he was
+falling back into his former state of silent abstraction, when he was
+suddenly roused by the appearance of the Genius, the sincerity of whose
+friendship he began to distrust.
+
+'ALMORAN,' said the Genius, 'if thou art not yet happy, know that my
+powers are not yet exhausted: fear me not, but let thine ear be
+attentive to my voice.' The Genius then stretched out his hand towards
+him, in which there was an emerald of great lustre, cut into a figure
+that had four and twenty sides, on each of which was engraven a
+different letter. 'Thou seest,' said he, 'this talisman: on each side of
+it is engraven one of those mysterious characters, of which are formed
+all the words of all the languages that are spoken by angels, genii, and
+men. This shall enable thee to change thy figure: and what, under the
+form of ALMORAN, thou canst not accomplish; thou shalt still be able to
+effect, if it can be effected by thee, in the form of any other. Point
+only to the letters that compose the name of him whose appearance thou
+wouldst assume, and it is done. Remember only, that upon him, whose
+appearance thou shalt assume, thine shall be imprest, till thou
+restorest his own. Hide the charm in thy bosom, and avail thyself of
+its power.' ALMORAN received the talisman in a transport of gratitude
+and joy, and the Genius immediately disappeared.
+
+The use of this talisman was so obvious, that it was impossible to
+overlook it. ALMORAN instantly conceived the design with which it was
+given, and determined instantly to put it in execution: 'I will now,'
+said he, 'assume the figure of HAMET; and my love, in all its ardour,
+shall be returned by ALMEIDA.' As his fancy kindled at the anticipation
+of his happiness, he stood musing in a pleasing suspense, and indulged
+himself in the contemplation of the several gradations, by which he
+would ascend to the summit of his wishes.
+
+Just at this moment, Osmyn, whom he had commanded to attend him at this
+hour, approached his apartment: ALMORAN was roused by the sound of his
+foot, and supposed it to be OMAR, who had again intruded upon his
+privacy; he was enraged at the interruption which had broken a series of
+imaginations so flattering and luxurious; he snatched out his poignard,
+and lifting up his arm for the stroke, hastily turned round to have
+stabbed him; but seeing Osmyn, he discovered his mistake just in time to
+prevent the blow.
+
+Osmyn, who was not conscious of any crime, nor indeed of any act that
+could have given occasion of offence; started back terrified and
+amazed, and stood trembling in suspense whether to remain or to
+withdraw. ALMORAN, in the mean time, sheathed the instrument of death,
+and bid him fear nothing, for he should not be hurt. He then turned
+about; and putting, his hand to his forehead, stood again, silent in a
+musing posture: he recollected, that if he assumed the figure of HAMET,
+it was necessary he should give orders for HAMET to be admitted to
+ALMEIDA, as he would otherwise be excluded by the delegates of his own
+authority; turning, therefore, to Osmyn, 'Remember,' said he, 'that
+whenever HAMET shall return, it is my command, that he be admitted to
+ALMEIDA.'
+
+Osmyn; who was pleased with an opportunity of recommending himself to
+ALMORAN, by praising an act of generous virtue which he supposed him now
+to exert in favour of his brother, received the command with a look,
+that expressed not only approbation but joy: 'Let the sword of
+destruction,' said he, 'be the guard of the tyrant; the strength of my
+lord shall be the bonds of love: those, who honour thee as ALMORAN,
+shall rejoice in thee as the friend of HAMET.' To ALMORAN, who was
+conscious to no kindness for his brother, the praise of Osmyn was a
+reproach: he was offended at the joy which he saw kindled in his
+countenance, by a command to shew favour to HAMET; and was fired with
+sudden rage at that condemnation of his real conduct, which was implied
+by an encomium on the generosity of which he assumed the appearance for
+a malevolent and perfidious purpose: his brow was contracted, his lip
+quivered, and the hilt of his dagger was again grasped in his hand.
+Osmyn was again overwhelmed with terror and confusion; he had again
+offended, but knew not his offence. In the mean time, ALMORAN
+recollecting that to express displeasure against Osmyn was to betray his
+own secret, endeavoured to suppress his anger; but his anger was
+succeeded by remorse, regret, and disappointment. The anguish of his
+mind broke out in imperfect murmurs: 'What I am, said, he, 'is, to this
+wretch, the object not only of hatred but of scorn; and he commends
+only what I am not, in what to him I would seem to be.
+
+These sounds, which, tho' not articulate, were yet uttered with great
+emotion, were still mistaken by Osmyn for the overflowings of capricious
+and causeless anger: 'My life,' says he to himself, 'is even now
+suspended in a doubtful balance. Whenever I approach this tyrant, I
+tread the borders of destruction: like a hood-winked wretch, who is left
+to wander near the brink of a precipice, I know my danger; but which way
+soever I turn, I know not whether I shall incur or avoid it.'
+
+In these reflections, did the reign and the slave pass those moments in
+which the sovereign intended to render the slave subservient to his
+pleasure or his security, and the slave intended to express a zeal which
+he really felt, and a homage which his heart had already paid. Osmyn was
+at length, however, dismissed with an assurance, that all was well; and
+ALMORAN was again left to reflect with anguish upon the past, to regret
+the present, and to anticipate the future with solicitude, anxiety, and
+perturbation.
+
+He was, however, determined to assume the figure of his brother, by the
+talisman which had been put into his power by the Genius: but just as he
+was about to form the spell, he recollected, that by the same act he
+would impress his own likeness upon HAMET who would consequently be
+invested with his power, and might use it to his destruction. This held
+him some time in suspense: but reflecting that HAMET might not, perhaps,
+be apprized of his advantage, till it was too late to improve it; that
+he was now a fugitive, and probably alone, leaving Persia behind him
+with all the speed he could make; and that, at the worst, if he should
+be still near, if he should know the transformation as soon as it should
+be made, and should instantly take the most effectual measures to
+improve it; yet as he could dissolve the charm in a moment, whenever it
+should be necessary for his safety, no formidable danger could be
+incurred by the experiment, to which he, therefore, proceeded without
+delay.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XIV.
+
+
+In the mean time, HAMET, to whom his own safety was of no importance but
+for the sake of ALMEIDA, resolved, if possible, to conceal himself near
+the city. Having, therefore, reached the confines of the desert, by
+which it was bounded on the east, he quitted his horse, and determined
+to remain there till the multitude was dispersed; and the darkness of
+the evening might conceal his return, when in less than an hour he could
+reach the palace.
+
+He sat down at the foot of the mountain Kabessed, without considering,
+that in this place he was most likely to be found, as those who travel
+the desert seldom fail to enter the cave that winds its way under the
+mountain, to drink of the water that issues there from a clear and
+copious spring.
+
+He reviewed the scenes of the day that was now nearly passed, with a
+mixture of astonishment and distress, to which no description can be
+equal The sudden and amazing change that a few hours had made in his
+situation, appeared like a wild and distressful dream, from which he
+almost doubted whether he should not wake to the power and the felicity
+that he had lost. He sat some time bewildered in the hurry and
+multiplicity of his thoughts, and at length burst out into passionate
+exclamations: 'What,' says he, 'and where am I? Am I, indeed, HAMET;
+that son of Solyman who divided the dominion of Persia with his brother,
+and who possessed the love of ALMEIDA alone? Dreadful vicissitude! I am
+now an outcast, friendless and forlorn; without an associate, and
+without a dwelling: for me the cup of adversity overflows, and the last
+dregs of sorrow have been wrung out for my portion: the powers not only
+of the earth, but of the air, have combined against me; and how can I
+stand alone before them? But is there no power that will interpose in my
+behalf? If He, who is supreme, is good, I shall not perish. But
+wherefore am I thus? Why should the desires of vice be accomplished by
+superior powers; and why should superior powers be permitted to
+disappoint the expectations of virtue? Yet let me not rashly question
+the ways of Him, in whose balance the world is weighed: by Him, every
+evil is rendered subservient to good; and by His wisdom, the happiness
+of the whole is secured. Yet I am but a part only, and for a part only I
+can feel. To me, what is that goodness of which I do not partake? In my
+cup the gall is unmixed; and have I not, therefore, a right to complain?
+But what have I said? Let not the gloom that surrounds me, hide from me
+the prospect of immortality. Shall not eternity atone for time?
+Eternity, to which the duration of ages is but as an atom to a world!
+Shall I not, when this momentary separation is past, again meet ALMEIDA
+to part no more? and shall not a purer flame than burns upon the earth,
+unite us? Even at this moment, her mind, which not the frauds of sorcery
+can taint or alienate, is mine: that pleasure which she reserved for me,
+cannot be taken by force; it is in the consent alone that it subsists;
+and from the joy that she feels, and from that only, proceeds the joy
+she can bestow.'
+
+With these reflections he soothed the anguish of his mind, till the
+dreadful moment arrived, in which the power of the talisman took place,
+and the figure of ALMORAN was changed into that of HAMET, and the
+figure of HAMET into that of ALMORAN.
+
+At the moment of transformation, HAMET was seized with a sudden languor,
+and his faculties were suspended as by the stroke of death. When he
+recovered, his limbs still trembled, and his lips were parched with
+thirst: he rose, therefore, and entering the cavern, at the mouth of
+which he had been sitting, he stooped over the well to drink; but
+glancing his eyes upon the water, he saw, with astonishment and horror,
+that it reflected, not his own countenance, but that of his brother. He
+started back from the prodigy; and supporting himself against the side
+of the rock, he stood some time like a statue, without the power of
+recollection: but at length the thought suddenly rushed into his mind,
+that the same sorcery which had suspended his marriage, and driven him
+from the throne was still practised against him; and that the change of
+his figure to that of ALMORAN, was the effect of ALMORAN'S having
+assumed his likeness, to obtain, in this disguise, whatever ALMEIDA
+could bestow. This thought, like a whirlwind of the desert, totally
+subverted his mind; his fortitude was borne down, and his hopes were
+rooted up; no principles remained to regulate his conduct, but all was
+phrensy, confusion, and despair. He rushed out of the cave with a
+furious and distracted look; and went in haste towards the city, without
+having formed any design, or considered any consequence that might
+follow.
+
+The shadows of the mountains were now lengthened by the declining sun;
+and the approach of evening had invited OMAR to meditate in a grove,
+that was adjacent to the gardens of the palace. From this place he was
+seen at some distance by HAMET, who came up to him with a hasty and
+disordered pace; and OMAR drew back with a cold and distant reverence,
+which the power and the character of ALMORAN concurred to excite. HAMET,
+not reflecting upon the cause of this behaviour, was offended, and
+reproached him with the want of that friendship he had so often
+professed: the vehemence, of his expression and demeanor, suited well
+with the appearance of ALMORAN; and OMAR, as the best proof of that
+friendship which had been impeached, took this opportunity to repeat his
+admonitions in the behalf of HAMET: 'What ever evil,' said he, 'thou
+canst bring upon HAMET, will be doubled to thyself: to his virtues, the
+Power that fills infinitude is a friend, and he can be afflicted only
+till they are perfect; but thy sufferings will be the punishment of
+vice, and as long as thou are vicious they must increase.
+
+HAMET, who instantly recollected for whom he was mistaken, and the
+anguish of whose mind was for a moment suspended by this testimony of
+esteem and kindness, which could not possibly be feigned, and which was
+paid him at the risque of life, when it could not be known that he
+received it; ran forward to embrace the hoary sage, who had been the
+guide of his youth, and cried out, in a voice that was broken by
+contending passions, 'The face is the face of ALMORAN, but the heart is
+the heart of HAMET.'
+
+OMAR was struck dumb with astonishment; and HAMET, who was impatient to
+be longer mistaken, related all the circumstances of his transformation,
+and reminded him of some particulars which could be known only to
+themselves: 'Canst thou not yet believe,' said he, 'that I am HAMET?
+when thou hast this day seen me banished from my kingdom; when thou hast
+now met me a fugitive returning from the desert; and when I learnt from
+thee, since the sun was risen which is not yet set, that more than
+mortal powers were combined against me.' 'I now believe,' said OMAR,
+'that thou, indeed, art HAMET.' 'Stay me not then,' said HAMET; 'but
+come with me to revenge.' 'Beware,' said OMAR, 'lest thou endanger the
+loss of more than empire and ALMEIDA.' 'If not to revenge,' said HAMET,'
+I may at least be permitted to punish.' 'Thy mind,' says OMAR, 'is now
+in such a state, that to punish the crimes by which thou hast been
+wronged, will dip thee in the guilt of blood. Why else are we forbidden
+to take vengeance for ourselves? and why is it reserved as the
+prerogative of the Most High? In Him, and in Him alone, it is goodness
+guided by wisdom: He approves the means, only as necessary to the end;
+He wounds only to heal, and destroys only to save; He has complacence,
+not in the evil, but in the good only which it is appointed to produce.
+Remember, therefore, that he, to whom the punishment of another is
+sweet; though his act may be just with respect to others, with respect
+to himself it is a deed of darkness, and abhorred by the Almighty.'
+HAMET, who had stood abstracted in the contemplation of the new injury
+he had suffered, while OMAR was persuading him not to revenge it,
+started from his posture in all the wildness of distraction; and
+bursting away from OMAR, with an ardent and furious look hasted toward
+the palace, and was soon out of sight.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XV.
+
+
+In the mean time, ALMORAN, after having effected the transformation, was
+met, as he was going to the apartment of ALMEIDA, by Osmyn. Osmyn had
+already experienced the misery of dependent greatness, that kept him
+continually under the eye of a capricious tyrant, whose temper was
+various as the gales of summer, and whose anger was sudden as the bolt
+of heaven; whose purpose and passions were dark and impetuous as the
+midnight storm, and at whose command death was inevitable as the
+approach of time. When he saw ALMORAN, therefore, in the likeness of
+HAMET, he felt a secret desire to apprize him of his situation, and
+offer him his friendship.
+
+ALMORAN, who with the form assumed the manners of HAMET, addressed Osmyn
+with a mild though mournful countenance: 'At length,' said he, 'the will
+of ALMORAN alone is law; does it permit me to hold a private rank in
+this place, without molestation?' 'It permits,' said Osmyn, 'yet more;
+he has commanded, that you should have admittance to ALMEIDA.' ALMORAN,
+whose vanity betrayed him to flatter his own power in the person of
+HAMET, replied with a smile: 'I know, that ALMORAN, who presides like a
+God in silent and distant state, reveals the secrets of his will to
+thee; I know that thou art'--'I am,' said Osmyn, 'of all thou seest,
+most wretched.' At this declaration, ALMORAN turned short, and fixed his
+eyes upon Osmyn with a look of surprize and anger: 'Does not the favour
+of ALMORAN,' said he, 'whose smile is power, and wealth, and honour,
+shine upon thee?' 'My lord,' said Osmyn, 'I know so well the severity of
+thy virtue, that if I should, even for thy sake, become perfidious to
+thy brother'--ALMORAN, who was unable to preserve the character of HAMET
+with propriety, interrupted him with a fierce and haughty tone: 'How!'
+said he, 'perfidious to my brother! to ALMORAN perfidious!'
+
+Osmyn, who had now gone too far to recede, and who still saw before him
+the figure of HAMET, proceeded in his purpose: 'I knew,' said he, 'that
+in thy judgment I should be condemned; and yet, the preservation of life
+is the strongest principle of nature, and the love of virtue is her
+proudest boast.' 'Explain thyself,' said ALMORAN, 'for I cannot
+comprehend thee.' 'I mean,' said Osmyn, 'that he, whose life depends
+upon the caprice of a tyrant, is like the wretch whose sentence is
+already pronounced; and who, if the wind does but rush by his dungeon,
+imagines that it is the bow-string and the mute.' 'Fear not,' said
+ALMORAN, who now affected to be again calm; 'be still faithful, and thou
+shalt still be safe.' 'Alas!' said Osmyn, there is no diligence, no
+toil, no faith, that can secure the slave from the sudden phrensy of
+passion, from, the causeless rage either of drunkenness or lust. I am
+that slave; the slave of a tyrant whom I hate.' The confusion of ALMORAN
+was now too great to be concealed, and he stood silent with rage, fear,
+and indignation. Osmyn, supposing that his wonder suspended his belief
+of what he had heard, confirmed his declaration by an oath.
+
+Whoever thou art, to whose mind ALMORAN, the mighty and the proud, is
+present; before whom, the lord of absolute dominion stands trembling and
+rebuked; who seest the possessor of power by which nature is controuled,
+pale and silent with anguish and disappointment: if, in the fury of thy
+wrath, thou hast aggravated weakness into guilt; if thou hast chilled
+the glow of affection, when it flushed the cheek in thy presence, with
+the frown of displeasure, or repressed the ardour of friendship with
+indifference or neglect; now, let thy heart smite thee: for, in thy
+folly, thou hast cast away that gem, which is the light of life; which
+power can never seize, and which gold can never buy!
+
+The tyrant fell at once from his pride, like a star from Heaven; and
+Osmyn, still addressing him as HAMET, at once increased his misery and
+his fears: 'O,' said he, 'that the throne of Persia was thine! then
+should innocence enjoy her birth-right of peace, and hope should bid
+honest industry look upward. There is not one to whom ALMORAN has
+delegated power, nor one on whom his transient favour has bestowed any
+gift, who does not already feel his heart throb with the pangs of boding
+terror. Nor is there one who, if he did not fear the displeasure of the
+invisible power by whom the throne has been given to thy brother, would
+not immediately revolt to thee.'
+
+ALMORAN, who had hitherto remained silent, now burst into a passionate
+exclamation of self pity: 'What can I do?' said he; 'and whither can I
+turn?' Osmyn, who mistook the cause of his distress, and supposed that
+he deplored only his want of power to avail himself of the general
+disposition in his favour, endeavoured to fortify his mind against
+despair: 'Your state,' said he, 'indeed is distressful, but not
+hopeless.' The king who, though addressed as, HAMET, was still betrayed
+by his confusion to answer as ALMORAN, smote his breast, and replied in
+an agony, 'It is hopeless!' Osmyn remarked his emotion and despair,
+with, a concern and astonishment that ALMORAN observed, and at once
+recollected his situation. He endeavoured to retract such expressions of
+trouble and despondency, as did not suit the character he hid assumed;
+and telling Osmyn that he thanked him for his friendship; and would
+improve the advantages it offered him, he directed him to acquaint the
+eunuchs that they were to admit him to ALMEIDA. When he was left alone;
+his doubts and perplexity held him long in suspense; a thousand
+expedients occurred to his mind by turns, and by turns were rejected.
+
+His first thought was to put Osmyn to death: but he considered; that by
+this he would gain no advantage, as he would be in equal danger from
+whoever should succeed him: he considered also, that against Osmyn he
+was upon his guard; and that he might at any time learn, from him,
+whatever design might be formed in favour of HAMET, by assuming HAMET'S
+appearance: that he would thus be the confident of every secret, in
+which his own safety was concerned; and might disconcert the best
+contrived project at the very moment of its execution, when it would be
+too late for other measures to be taken: he determined, therefore, to
+let Osmyn live; at least, till it became more necessary to cut him off.
+Having in some degree soothed and fortified his mind by these
+reflections, he entered the apartment of ALMEIDA.
+
+His hope was not founded upon a design to marry her under the appearance
+of HAMET; for that would be impossible, as the ceremony must have been
+performed by the priests who supposed the marriage with HAMET to have
+been forbidden by a divine command; and who, therefore, would not have
+consented, even supposing they would otherwise have ventured, at the
+request of HAMET, to perform a ceremony which they knew would be
+displeasing to ALMORAN: but he hoped to take advantage of her tenderness
+for his brother, and the particular circumstances of her situation,
+which made the solemnities of marriage impossible, to seduce her to
+gratify his desires, without the sanction which alone rendered the
+gratification of them lawful: if he succeeded in this design, he had
+reason to expert, either that his love would be extinguished by
+enjoyment; or that, if he should still desire to marry ALMEIDA, he
+might, by disclosing to her the artifice by which he had effected his
+purpose, prevail upon her to consent, as her connexion with HAMET, the
+chief obstacle to her marriage with him, would then be broken for ever;
+and as she might, perhaps, wish to sanctify the pleasure which she might
+be not unwilling to repeat, or at least to make that lawful which it
+would not be in her power to prevent.
+
+In this disposition, and with this design, he was admitted to ALMEIDA;
+who, without suspicion of her danger, was exposed to the severest trial,
+in which every passion concurred to oppose her virtue: she was solicited
+by all the powers of subtilty and desire, under the appearance of a
+lover whose tenderness and fidelity had been long tried, and whose
+passion she returned with equal constancy and ardour; and she was thus
+solicited, when the rites which alone could consecrate their union, were
+impossible, and were rendered impossible by the guilty designs of a
+rival, in whose power she was, and from whom no other expedient offered
+her a deliverance. Thus deceived and betrayed, she received him with an
+excess of tenderness and joy, which flattered all his hopes, and for a
+moment suspended his misery. She enquired, with a fond and gentle
+solicitude, by what means he had gained admittance, and how he had
+provided for his retreat. He received and returned her caresses with a
+vehemence, in which, to less partial eyes, desire would have been more
+apparent than love; and in the tumult of his passion, he almost
+neglected her enquiries: finding, however, that she would be answered,
+he told her, that being by the permission of ALMORAN admitted to every
+part of the palace, except that of the women, he had found means to
+bribe the eunuch who kept the door; who was not in danger of detection,
+because ALMORAN, wearied with the tumult and fatigue of the day, had
+retired to sleep, and given order to be called at a certain hour. She
+then complained of the felicitations to which she was exposed, expressed
+her dread of the consequences she had reason to expect from some sudden
+sally of the tyrant's rage, and related with tears the brutal outrage
+she had suffered when he last left her. 'Though I abhorred him,' said
+she, 'I yet kneeled before him for thee. Let me bend in reverence to
+that Power, at whose look the whirlwinds are silent, and the seas are
+calm, that his fury has hitherto been restrained from hurting thee!'
+
+At these words, the face of ALMORAN was again covered with the blushes
+of confusion: to be still beloved only as HAMET, and as ALMORAN to be
+still hated; to be thus reproached without anger, and wounded by those
+who knew not that they struck him; was a species of misery peculiar to
+himself, and had been incurred only by the acquisition of new powers,
+which he had requested and received as necessary to obtain that
+felicity, which the parsimony of nature had placed beyond his reach. His
+emotions, however, as by ALMEIDA they were supposed to be the emotions
+of HAMET, she imputed to a different cause: 'As Heaven,' says she, 'has
+preserved thee from death; so has it, for thy sake, preserved me from
+violation.' ALMORAN, whose passion had in this interval again surmounted
+his remorse, gazed eagerly upon her, and catching her to his bosom; 'Let
+us at least,' says he, 'secure the happiness that is now offered; let
+not these inestimable moments pass by us unimproved; but to shew that we
+deserve them, let them be devoted to love.' 'Let us then,' said ALMEIDA,
+'escape together.' 'To escape with thee,' said: ALMORAN, 'is impossible.
+I shall retire, and, like the shaft of Arabia, leave no mark behind, me;
+but the flight of ALMEIDA will at once be traced to him by whom I was
+admitted, and I shall thus retaliate his friendship with destruction.'
+'Let him then,' said ALMEIDA, 'be the partner of our flight.' 'Urge it
+not now,' said ALMORAN; 'but trust to my prudence and my love, to select
+some hour that will be more favourable to our purpose. And yet,' said
+he, 'even then, we shall, as now, sigh in vain for the completion of our
+wishes: by whom shall our hands be joined, when in the opinion of the
+priests it has been forbidden from above?' 'Save thyself then,' said
+ALMEIDA, and leave me to my fate.' 'Not so,' said ALMORAN. 'What else,'
+replied ALMEIDA, 'is in our power?' 'It is in our power,' said ALMORAN,
+'to seize that joy, to which a public form can give us no new claim; for
+the public form can only declare that right by which I claim it now.'
+
+As they were now reclining upon a sofa, he threw his arm round her; but
+she suddenly sprung up, and burst from him: the tear started to her eye,
+and she gazed upon him with an earnest but yet tender look: 'Is it?'
+says she--'No sure, it is not the voice of HAMET!' 'O! yes,' said
+ALMORAN, 'what other voice should call thee to cancel at once the wrongs
+of HAMET and ALMEIDA; to secure the treasures of thy love from the hand
+of the robber; to hide, the joys, which if now we lose we may lose for
+ever, in the sacred and inviolable stores of the past, and place them
+beyond the power not of ALMORAN only but of fate?' With this wild
+effusion of desire, he caught her again to his breast, and finding no
+resistance his heart exulted in his success; but the next moment, to the
+total disappointment of his hopes, he perceived that she had fainted in
+his arms. When she recovered, she once more disengaged herself from him,
+and turning away her face, she burst into tears. When her voice could be
+heard, she covered herself with her veil, and turning again towards him,
+'All but this,' said she, 'I had learnt to bear; and how has this been
+deserved by ALMEIDA of HAMET? You was my only solace in distress; and
+when the tears have stolen from my eyes in silence and in solitude, I
+thought on thee; I thought upon the chaste ardour of thy sacred
+friendship, which was softened, refined, and exalted into love. This was
+my hoarded treasure; and the thoughts of possessing this; soothed all my
+anguish with a miser's happiness, who, blest in the consciousness of
+hidden wealth, despises cold and hunger, and rejoices in the midst of
+all the miseries that make poverty dreadful: this was my last retreat;
+but I am now desolate and forlorn, and my soul looks round, with terror,
+for that refuge which it can never find.' 'Find that refuge,' said
+ALMORAN, 'in me.' 'Alas!' said ALMEIDA, 'can he afford me refuge from my
+sorrows, who, for the guilty pleasures of a transient moment, would
+forever sully the purity of my mind, and aggravate misfortune by the
+consciousness of guilt?'
+
+As ALMORAN now perceived, that it was impossible, by any importunity, to
+induce her to violate her principles; he had nothing more to attempt,
+but to subvert them. 'When,' said he, 'shall ALMEIDA awake, and these
+dreams of folly and superstition vanish? That only is virtue, by which
+happiness is produced; and whatever produces happiness, is therefore
+virtue; and the forms, and words and rites, which priests have pretended
+to be required by Heaven, are the fraudful arts only by which they
+govern mankind.'
+
+ALMEIDA, by this impious insult, was roused from grief to indignation:
+'As thou hast now dared,' said she, 'to deride the laws, which thou
+wouldst first have broken; so hast thou broken for ever the tender
+bonds, by which my soul was united to thine. Such as I fondly believed
+thee, thou art not; and what thou art, I have never loved. I have loved
+a delusive phantom only, which, while I strove to grasp it, has vanished
+from me.' ALMORAN attempted to reply; but on such a subject, neither her
+virtue nor her wisdom would permit debate. 'That prodigy,' said she,
+'which I thought was the sleight of cunning, or the work of sorcery, I
+now revere as the voice of Heaven; which, as it knew thy heart, has in
+mercy saved me from thy arms. To the will of Heaven shall my will be
+obedient; and my voice also shall pronounce, to ALMORAN ALMEIDA.'
+
+ALMORAN, whose whole soul was now suspended in attention, conceived new
+hopes of success; and foresaw the certain accomplishment of his purpose,
+though by an effect directly contrary to that which he had laboured to
+produce. Thus to have incurred the hatred of ALMEIDA in the form of
+HAMET, was more fortunate than to have taken advantage of her love; the
+path that led to his wishes was now clear and open; and his marriage
+with ALMEIDA in his own person, waited only till he could resume it. He,
+therefore, instead of soothing, provoked her resentment: 'If thou hast
+loved a phantom,' said he, 'which existed only in imagination; on such a
+phantom my love also has been fixed: thou hast, indeed, only the form of
+what I called ALMEIDA; my love thou hast rejected, because thou hast
+never loved; the object of thy passion was not HAMET, but a throne; and
+thou hast made the observance of rituals, in which folly only can
+suppose there is good or ill, a pretence to violate thy faith, that thou
+mayst still gratify thy ambition.'
+
+To this injurious reproach, ALMEIDA made no reply; and ALMORAN
+immediately quitted her apartment, that he might reassume his own
+figure, take advantage of the disposition which, under the appearance
+of HAMET, he had produced in favour of himself: But Osmyn, who supposing
+him to be HAMET, had intercepted and detained him as he was going to
+ALMEIDA, now intercepted him a second time at his return, having placed
+himself near the door of the apartment for that purpose.
+
+Osmyn was by no means satisfied with the issue of their last interview:
+he had perceived a perturbation in the mind of ALMORAN, for which,
+imagining him to be HAMET, he could not account; and which seemed more
+extraordinary upon a review, than when it happened; he, therefore, again
+entered into conversation with him, in which he farther disclosed his
+sentiments and designs. ALMORAN, notwithstanding the impatience natural
+to his temper and situation, was thus long detained listening to Osmyn,
+by the united influence of his curiosity and his fears; his enquiries
+still alarmed him with new terrors, by discovering new objects of
+distrust, and new instances of disaffection: still, however, he
+resolved, not yet to remove Osmyn from his post, that he might give no
+alarm by any appearance of suspicion, and consequently learn with more
+ease; and detect with more certainty, any project that might be formed
+against him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XVI.
+
+
+ALMEIDA, as soon as she was left alone, began to review the scene that
+had just past; and was every moment affected with new wonder, grief, and
+resentment. She now deplored her own misfortune; and now conceived a
+design to punish the author of it, from whose face she supposed the hand
+of adversity had torn the mask under which he had deceived her: it
+appeared to her very easy, to take a severe revenge upon HAMET for the
+indignity which she supposed he had offered her, by complaining of it
+to ALMORAN; and telling him, that he had gained admittance to her by
+bribing the eunuch who kept the door. The thought of thus giving him up,
+was one moment rejected, as arising from a vindictive spirit; and the
+next indulged, as an act of justice to ALMORAN, and a punishment due to
+the hypocrisy of HAMET: to the first she inclined, when her grief, which
+was still mingled with a tender remembrance of the man she loved, was
+predominant; and to the last, when her grief gave way to indignation.
+
+Thus are we inclined to consider the same action, either as a virtue, or
+a vice, by the influence of different passions, which prompt us either
+to perform or to avoid it. ALMEIDA, from deliberating whether she
+should accuse HAMET to ALMORAN, or conceal his fault, was led to
+consider what punishment he would either incur or escape in consequence
+of her determination; and the images that rushed into her mind, the
+moment this became the object of her thoughts, at once determined her to
+be silent: 'Could I bear to see,' said she, 'that hand, which has so
+often trembled with delight when it enfolded mine, convulsed and black!
+those eyes, that as often as they gazed upon me were dissolved in tears
+of tenderness and love, start from the sockets! and those lips that
+breathed the softest sighs of elegant desire, distorted and gasping in
+the convulsions of death!'
+
+From this image, her mind recoiled in an agony of terror and pity; her
+heart sunk within her; her limbs trembled she sunk down upon the sofa,
+and burst into tears.
+
+By this time, HAMET, on whose form the likeness of ALMORAN was still
+impressed, had reached the palace. He went instantly towards the
+apartment of the women. Instead of that chearful alacrity, that mixture
+of zeal and reverence and affection, which his eye had been used to find
+where-ever it was turned, he now observed confusion, anxiety and terror;
+whoever he met, made haste to prostrate themselves before him, and
+feared to look up till he was past. He went on, however, with a hasty
+pace; and coming up to the eunuch's guard, he said with an impatient
+tone; 'To ALMEIDA.' The slave immediately made way before him, and
+conducted him to the door of the apartment, which he would not otherwise
+have been able to find, and for which he could not directly enquire.
+
+When he entered, his countenance expressed all the passions that his
+situation had roused in his mind. He first looked sternly round him, to
+see whether ALMORAN was not present; and then fetching a deep sigh he
+turned his eyes, with a look of mournful tenderness, upon ALMEIDA. His
+first view was to discover, whether ALMORAN had already supplanted him;
+and for this purpose he collected the whole strength of his mind: he
+considered that he appeared now, not as HAMET, but as ALMORAN; and that
+he was to question ALMEIDA concerning ALMORAN, while she had mistaken
+him for HAMET; he was therefore to maintain the character, at whatever
+expence, till his doubts were resolved, and his fears either removed or
+confirmed: he was so firmly persuaded, that ALMORAN had been there
+before him, that he did not ask the question, but supposed the fact; he
+restrained alike both his tenderness and his fears; and looking
+earnestly upon ALMEIDA, who had risen up in his presence with blushes
+and confusion, 'To me,' says he, 'is ALMEIDA still cold? and has she
+lavished all her love upon HAMET?'
+
+At the name of HAMET, the blushes and confusion of ALMEIDA increased:
+her mind was still full of the images, which had risen from the thought
+of what HAMET might suffer, if ALMORAN should know that he had been with
+her; and though she feared that their interview was discovered, yet she
+hoped it might be only suspected, and in that case the removal or
+confirmation of the suspicions, on which the fate of HAMET depended,
+would devolve upon her.
+
+In this situation, she, who a few moments before doubted, whether she
+should not voluntarily give him up, when nothing more was necessary for
+his safety than to be silent; now determined, with whatever reluctance,
+to secure him, though it could not he done without dissimulation, and
+though it was probable that in this dissimulation she would be detected.
+Instead, therefore, of answering the question, she repeated it: 'On whom
+said my lord, on HAMET?' HAMET, whose suspicions were increased by the
+evasion, replied with great emotion, 'Aye, on HAMET; did he not this
+moment leave you?' 'Leave me this moment?' said ALMEIDA, with yet
+greater confusion, and deeper blushes. HAMET, in the impatience of his
+jealousy, concluded, that the passions which he saw expressed in her
+countenance, and which arose from the struggle between her regard to
+truth and her tenderness for HAMET, proceeded from the consciousness of
+what he had most reason to dread, and she to conceal, a breach of
+virtue, to which she had been betrayed by his own appearance united with
+the vices of his brother: he, therefore, drew back from her with a look
+of inexpressible anguish, and stood some time silent. She observed, that
+in his countenance there was more expression of trouble, than rage; she,
+therefore, hoped to divert him from persuing his enquiries, by at once
+removing his jealousy; which she supposed would be at an end, as soon as
+she should disclose the resolution she had taken in his favour.
+Addressing him, therefore, as ALMORAN, with a voice which though it was
+gentle and soothing, was yet mournful and tremulous; 'Do not turn from
+me,' said she, with those unfriendly and frowning looks; give me now
+that love which so lately you offered, and with all the future I will
+atone the past.'
+
+Upon HAMET, whose heart involuntarily answered to the voice of ALMEIDA,
+these words had irresistible and instantaneous force; but recollecting,
+in a moment, whose form he bore, and to whom they were addressed, they
+struck him with new astonishment, and increased the torments of his
+mind. Supposing what he at first feared had happened, and that ALMORAN
+had seduced her as HAMET; he could not account for her now addressing
+him, as ALMORAN, with words of favour and compliance: he, therefore,
+renewed his enquiries concerning himself, with apprehensions of a
+different kind. She, who was still solicitous to put an end to the
+enquiry, as well for the sake of HAMET, as to prevent her own
+embarrassment, replied with a sigh, 'Let not thy peace be interrupted by
+one thought of HAMET; for of HAMET ALMEIDA shall think no more.' HAMET,
+who, though he had fortified himself against whatever might have
+happened to her person, could not bear the alienation of her mind, cried
+our, with looks of distraction and a voice scarcely human, 'Not think of
+HAMET!' ALMEIDA, whose astonishment was every moment increasing,
+replied, with a tender and interesting enquiry, 'Is ALMORAN then
+offended, that ALMEIDA mould think of HAMET no more?' HAMET, being thus
+addressed by the name of his brother, again recollected his situation;
+and now first conceived the idea, that the alteration of ALMEIDA'S
+sentiments with respect to himself, might be the effect of some violence
+offered her by ALMORAN in his likeness; he, therefore, recurred to his
+first purpose, and determined, by a direct enquiry, to discover whether
+she had seen him under that appearance. This enquiry he urged with the
+utmost solemnity and ardour, in terms suitable to his present appearance
+and situation: 'Tell me,' said he, 'have these doors been open to HAMET?
+Has he obtained possession of that treasure, which, by the voice of
+Heaven, has been allotted to me?'
+
+To this double question, ALMEIDA answered by a single negative; and her
+answer, therefore, was both false and true: it was true that her person
+was still inviolate, and it was true also that HAMET had not been
+admitted to her; yet her denial of it was false, for she believed the
+contrary; ALMORAN only had been admitted, but she had received him as
+his brother. HAMET, however, was satisfied with the answer, and did not
+discover its fallacy. He looked up to Heaven, with an expression of
+gratitude and joy; and then turning to ALMEIDA, 'Swear then,' said he,
+'that thou hast granted to HAMET, no pledge of thy love which should be
+reserved for me.' ALMEIDA, who now thought nothing more than the
+asseveration necessary to quiet his mind, immediately complied: 'I
+swear,' said she, 'that to HAMET I have given nothing, which thou
+wouldst wish me to with-hold: the power that has devoted my person to
+thee, has disunited my heart from HAMET, whom I renounce in thy presence
+for ever.'
+
+HAMET, whose fortitude and recollection were again overborne, was thrown
+into an agitation of mind, which discovered itself by looks and gestures
+very different from those which ALMEIDA had expected, and overwhelmed
+her with new confusion and disappointment: that he, who had so lately
+solicited her love with all the vehemence of a desire impatient to be
+gratified, should now receive a declaration that she was ready to
+comply with marks of distress and anger, was a mystery which she could
+not solve. In the mean time, the struggle in his breast became every
+moment more violent: 'Where then,' said he, 'is the constancy which you
+vowed to HAMET; and for what instance of his love is he now forsaken?'
+
+ALMEIDA was now more embarrassed than before; she felt all the force of
+the reproof, supposing it to have been given by ALMORAN; and she could
+be justified only by relating the particular, which at the expence of
+her sincerity she had determined to conceal. ALMORAN was now exalted in
+her opinion, while his form was animated by the spirit of HAMET; as much
+as HAMET had been degraded, while his form was animated by the spirit
+of ALMORAN. In his resentment of her perfidy to his rival, though it
+favoured his fondest and most ardent wishes, there was an abhorrence of
+vice, and a generosity of mind, which she supposed to have been
+incompatible with his character. To his reproach, she could reply only
+by complaint; and could no otherwise evade his question, than by
+observing the inconsistency of his own behaviour: 'Your words,' said
+she, 'are daggers to my heart. You condemn me for a compliance with your
+own wishes; and for obedience to that voice, which you supposed to have
+revealed the will of Heaven. Has the caprice of desire already wandered
+to a new object? and do you now seek a pretence to refuse, when it is
+freely offered, what so lately you would have taken by force?'
+
+HAMET, who was now fired with resentment against ALMEIDA, whom yet he
+could not behold without desire; and who, at the same moment, was
+impatient to revenge his wrongs upon ALMORAN; was suddenly prompted to
+satisfy all his passions, by taking advantage of the wiles of ALMORAN,
+and the perfidy of ALMEIDA, to defeat the one and to punish the other.
+It was now in his power instantly to consummate his marriage, as a
+priest might be procured without a moment's delay, and as ALMEIDA'S
+consent was already given; he would then obtain the possession of her
+person, by the very act in which she perfidiously resigned it to his
+rival; to whom he would then leave the beauties he had already
+possessed, and cast from him in disdain, as united with a mind that he
+could never love. As his imagination was fired with the first conception
+of this design, he caught her to his breast with a fury, in which all
+the passions in all their rage were at once concentered: 'Let the
+priest,' said he, 'instantly unite us. Let us comprize, in one moment,
+in this instant, NOW, our whole of being, and exclude alike the future
+and the past!' Then grasping her still in his arms, he looked up to
+heaven: 'Ye powers,' said he, 'invisible but yet present, who mould my
+changing and unresisting form; prolong, but for one hour, that
+mysterious charm, that is now upon me, and I will be ever after
+subservient to your will!'
+
+ALMEIDA, who was terrified at the furious ardor of this unintelligible
+address, shrunk from his embrace, pale and trembling, without power to
+reply. HAMET gazed tenderly upon her; and recollecting the purity and
+tenderness with which he had loved her, his virtues suddenly recovered
+their force; he dismissed her from his embrace; and turning from her, he
+dropped in silence the tear that started to his eye, and expressed, in a
+low and faultering voice, the thoughts that rushed upon his mind: 'No,'
+said he; HAMET shall still disdain the joy, which is at once sordid and
+transient: in the breast of HAMET, lust shall not be the pander of
+revenge. Shall I, who have languished for the pure delight which can
+arise only from the interchange of soul with soul, and is endeared by
+mutual confidence and complacency; shall I snatch under this disguise,
+which belies my features and degrades my virtue, a casual possession of
+faithless beauty, which I despise and hate? Let this be the portion of
+those, that hate me without a cause; but let this be far from me!' At
+this thought, he felt a sudden elation of mind; and the conscious
+dignity of virtue, that in such a conflict was victorious, rendered him,
+in this glorious moment, superior to misfortune: his gesture became
+calm, and his countenance sedate; he considered the wrongs he suffered,
+not as a sufferer, but as a judge; and he determined at once to discover
+himself to ALMEIDA, and to reproach her with her crime. He remarked her
+confusion without pity, as the effect not of grief but of guilt; and
+fixing his eyes upon her, with the calm severity of a superior and
+offended being, 'Such,' said he, 'is the benevolence of the Almighty to
+the children of the dust, that our misfortunes are, like poisons,
+antidotes to each other.'
+
+ALMEIDA, whose faculties were now suspended by wonder and expectation,
+looked earnestly at him, but continued silent. 'Thy looks,' said HAMET,
+are full of wonder; but as yet thy wonder has no cause, in comparison
+of that which shall be revealed. Thou knowest the prodigy, which so
+lately parted HAMET and ALMEIDA: I am that HAMET, thou art that
+ALMEIDA.' ALMEIDA would now have interrupted him; but HAMET raised his
+voice, and demanded to be heard: 'At that moment,' said he, 'wretched as
+I am, the child of error and disobedience, my heart repined in secret at
+the destiny which had been written upon my head; for I then thought thee
+faithful and constant: but if our hands had been then united, I should
+have been more wretched than I am; for I now know that thou art fickle
+and false. To know thee, though it has pierced my soul with sorrow, has
+yet healed the wound which was inflicted when I lost thee: and though I
+am now compelled to wear the form of ALMORAN, whose vices are this
+moment disgracing mine, yet in the balance I shall be weighed as HAMET,
+and I shall suffer only as I am found wanting.'
+
+ALMEIDA, whose mind was now in a tumult that bordered upon distraction,
+bewildered in a labyrinth of doubt and wonder, and alike dreading the
+consequence of what she heard, whether it was false or true, was yet
+impatient to confute or confirm it; and as soon as she had recovered her
+speech, urged him for some token of the prodigy he asserted, which he
+might easily have given, by relating any of the incidents which
+themselves only could know. But just at this moment, ALMORAN, having at
+last disengaged himself from Osmyn, by whom he had been long detained,
+resumed his own figure: and while the eyes of ALMEIDA were fixed upon
+HAMET, his powers were suddenly taken from him, and restored in an
+instant; and she beheld the features of ALMORAN vanish, and gazed with
+astonishment upon his own: 'Thy features change!' said she, 'and thou
+indeed art HAMET.' 'The sudden trance,' said he, 'has restored me to
+myself; and from my wrongs where shalt thou be hidden?' This reproach
+was more than she could sustain, but he caught her as she was falling,
+and supported her in his arms. This incident renewed in a moment all the
+tenderness of his love: while he beheld her distress, and pressed her by
+the embrace that sustained her to his bosom, he forgot every injury
+which he supposed she had done him; and perceived her recover with a
+pleasure, that for a moment suspended the sense of his misfortunes.
+
+Her first reflection was upon the snare, in which she had been taken;
+and her first sensation was joy that she had escaped: she saw at once
+the whole complication of events that had deceived and distressed her;
+and nothing more was now necessary, than to explain them to HAMET;
+which, however, she could not do, without discovering the insincerity of
+her answers to the enquiries which he had made, while she mistook him
+for his brother: 'If in my heart,' says she, 'thou hast found any
+virtue, let it incline thee to pity the vice that is mingled with it: by
+the vice I have been ensnared, but I have been delivered by the virtue.
+ALMORAN, for now I know that it was not thee, ALMORAN, when he possessed
+thy form, was with me: he prophaned thy love, by attempts to supplant my
+virtue; I resisted his importunity, and escaped perdition; but the guilt
+of ALMORAN drew my resentment upon HAMET. I thought the vices which,
+under thy form, I discovered in his bosom, were thine; and in the
+anguish of grief, indignation, and disappointment, my heart renounced
+thee: yet, as I could not give thee up to death, I could not discover to
+ALMORAN the attempt which I imputed to thee; when you questioned me,
+therefore, as ALMORAN, I was betrayed to dissimulation, by the
+tenderness which still melted my heart for HAMET.' 'I believe thee,'
+said HAMET, catching her in a transport to his breast: 'I love thee for
+thy virtue; and may the pure and exalted beings, who are superior to the
+passions that now throb in my heart, forgive me, if I love thee also for
+thy fault. Yet, let the danger to which it betrayed thee, teach us still
+to walk in the strait path, and commit the keeping of our peace to the
+Almighty; for he that wanders in the maze of falsehood, shall pass by
+the good that he would meet, and shall meet the evil that he would shun.
+I also was tempted; but I was strengthened to resist: if I had used the
+power, which I derived from the arts that have been practised against
+me, to return evil for evil; if I had not disdained a secret and
+unavowed revenge, and the unhallowed pleasures of a brutal appetite; I
+might have possessed thee in the form of ALMORAN, and have wronged
+irreparably myself and thee: for how could I have been admitted, as
+HAMET, to the beauties which I had enjoyed as ALMORAN? and how couldst
+thou have given, to ALMORAN, what in reality had been appropriated by
+HAMET?'
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XVII.
+
+
+But while ALMEIDA and HAMET were thus congratulating each other upon the
+evils which they had escaped, they were threatened by others, which,
+however obvious, they had overlooked.
+
+ALMORAN, who was now exulting in the prospect of success that had
+exceeded his hopes, and who supposed the possession of ALMEIDA before
+the end of the next hour, was as certain as that the next hour would
+arrive, suddenly entered the apartment; but upon discovering HAMET, he
+started back astonished and disappointed. HAMET stood unmoved; and
+regarded him with a fixed and steady look, that at once reproached and
+confounded him. 'What treachery,' said ALMORAN, 'has been practised
+against me? What has brought thee to this place; and how hast thou
+gained admittance?' 'Against thy peace,' said HAMET, 'no treachery has
+been practised, but by thyself. By those arts in which thy vices have
+employed the powers of darkness, I have been brought hither; and by
+those arts I have gained admittance: thy form which they have imposed
+upon me, was my passport; and by the restoration of my own, I have
+detected and disappointed the fraud, which the double change was
+produced to execute. ALMEIDA, whom, as HAMET, thou couldst teach to
+hate thee, it is now impossible that, as ALMORAN, thou shouldst teach to
+love.'
+
+ALMEIDA, who perceived the storm to be gathering which the next moment
+would burst upon the head of HAMET, interposed between them, and
+addressed each of them by turns; urging HAMET to be silent, and
+conjuring ALMORAN to be merciful. ALMORAN, however, without regarding
+ALMEIDA, or making any reply to HAMET, struck the ground with his foot,
+and the messengers of death, to whom the signal was familiar, appeared
+at the door. ALMORAN then commanded them to seize his brother, with a
+countenance pale and livid, and a voice that was broken by rage. HAMET
+was still unmoved; but ALMEIDA threw herself at the feet of ALMORAN, and
+embracing his knees was about to speak, but he broke from her with
+sudden fury: 'If the world should sue,' said he, 'I would spurn it off.
+There is no pang that cunning can invent, which he shall not suffer: and
+when death at length shall disappoint my vengeance, his mangled limbs
+shall be cast out unburied, to feed the beasts of the desert and the
+fowls of heaven.' During this menace, ALMEIDA sunk down without signs of
+life; and HAMET struggling in vain for liberty to raise her from the
+ground, she was carried off by some women who were called to her
+assistance.
+
+In this awful crisis, HAMET, who felt his own fortitude give way, looked
+up, and though he conceived no words, a prayer ascended from his heart
+to heaven, and was accepted by Him, to whom our thoughts are known while
+they are yet afar off. For HAMET, the fountain of strength was opened
+from above; his eye sparkled with confidence, and his breast was dilated
+by hope. He commanded the guard that were leading him away to stop, and
+they implicitly obeyed; he then stretched out his hand towards ALMORAN,
+whose spirit was rebuked before him: 'Hear me,' said he, 'thou tyrant!
+for it is thy genius that speaks by my voice. What has been the fruit of
+all thy guilt, but accumulated misery? What joy hast thou derived from
+undivided empire? what joy from the prohibition of my marriage with
+ALMEIDA? what good from that power, which some evil daemon has added to
+thy own? what, at this moment, is thy portion, but rage and anguish,
+disappointment, and despair? Even I, whom thou seest the captive of thy
+power, whom thou hast wronged of empire, and yet more of love; even I am
+happy, in comparison of thee. I know that my sufferings, however
+multiplied, are short, for they shall end with life, and no life is
+long: then shall the everlasting ages commence; and through everlasting
+ages thy sufferings shall increase. The moment is now near, when thou
+shalt tread that line which alone is the path to heaven, the narrow
+path that is stretched over the pit, which smokes for ever, and for
+ever! When thine aking eye shall look forward to the end that is far
+distant, and when behind thou shalt find no retreat; when thy steps
+shall faulter, and thou shalt tremble at the depth beneath, which
+thought itself is not able to fathom; then shall the angel of
+distribution lift his inexorable hand against thee: from the irremeable
+way shall thy feet be smitten; thou shalt plunge in the burning flood;
+and though thou shalt live for ever, thou shalt rise no more.'
+
+As the words of HAMET struck ALMORAN with terror, and over-awed him by
+an influence which he could not surmount; HAMET was forced from his
+presence, before any other orders had been given about him, than were
+implied in the menace that was addressed to ALMEIDA: no violence,
+therefore, was yet offered him; but he was secured, till the king's
+pleasure should be known, in a dungeon not far from the palace, to which
+he was conducted by a subterraneous passage; and the door being closed
+upon him, he was left in silence, darkness, and solitude, such as may be
+imagined before the voice of the Almighty produced light and life.
+
+When ALMORAN was sufficiently recollected to consider his situation, he
+despaired of prevailing upon ALMEIDA to gratify his wishes, till her
+attachment to HAMET was irreparably broken; and he, therefore, resolved
+to put him to death. With this view, he repeated the signal, which
+convened the ministers of death to his presence; but the sound was lost
+in a peal of thunder that instantly followed it, and the Genius, from
+whom he received the talisman, again stood before him.
+
+'ALMORAN,' said the Genius, 'I am now compelled into thy presence by the
+command of a superior power; whom, if I should dare to disobey, the
+energy of his will might drive me, in a moment, beyond the limits of
+nature and the reach of thought, to spend eternity alone, without
+comfort, and without hope.' 'And what,' said ALMORAN, 'is the will of
+this mighty and tremendous being?' 'His will,' said the Genius, 'I will
+reveal to thee. Hitherto, thou hast been enabled to lift the rod of
+adversity against thy brother, by powers which nature has not entrusted
+to man: as these powers, and these only, have put him into thy hand,
+thou art forbidden to lift it against his life; if thou hadst prevailed
+against him by thy own power, thy own power would not have been
+restrained: to afflict him thou art still free; but thou art not
+permitted to destroy. At the moment, in which thou shalt conceive a
+thought to cut him off by violence, the punishment of thy disobedience
+shall commence, and the pangs of death shall be upon thee.' 'If then,'
+said ALMORAN, 'this awful power is the friend of HAMET; what yet
+remains, in the stores of thy wisdom, for me? 'Till he dies, I am at
+once precluded from peace, and safety, and enjoyment.' 'Look up,' said
+the Genius, 'for the iron hand of despair is not yet upon thee. Thou
+canst be happy, only by his death; and his life thou art forbidden to
+take away: yet mayst thou still arm him against himself; and if he dies
+by his own hand, thy wishes will be full.' 'O name,' said ALMORAN, 'but
+the means, and it shall this moment be accomplished!' 'Select,' said the
+Genius, 'some friend--'
+
+At the name of friend, ALMORAN started and looked round in despair. He
+recollected the perfidy of Osmyn; and he suspected that, from the same
+cause, all were perfidious: 'While HAMET has yet life,' said he, 'I
+fear the face of man, as of a savage that is prowling for his prey.'
+'Relinquish not yet thy hopes,' said the Genius; 'for one, in whom thou
+wilt joyfully confide, may be found. Let him secretly obtain admittance
+to HAMET, as if by stealth; let him profess an abhorrence of thy reign,
+and compassion for his misfortunes; let him pretend that the rack is
+even now preparing for him; that death is inevitable, but that torment
+may be avoided: let him then give him a poignard, as the instrument of
+deliverance; and, perhaps, his own hand may strike the blow, that shall
+give thee peace.' 'But who,' said ALMORAN, shall go upon this important
+errand?' 'Who,' replied the Genius, but thyself? Hast thou not the
+power to assume the form of whomsoever thou wouldst have sent?' 'I would
+have sent Osmyn,' said ALMORAN, 'but that I know him to be a traitor.'
+'Let the form of Osmyn then,' said the Genius, 'be thine. The shadows of
+the evening have now stretched themselves upon the earth: command Osmyn
+to attend thee alone in the grove, where Solyman, thy father, was used
+to meditate by night; and when thy form shall be impressed upon him, I
+will there seal his eyes in sleep, till the charm shall be broken; so
+shall no evil be attempted against thee, and the transformation shall be
+known only to thyself.'
+
+ALMORAN, whose breast was again illuminated by hope, was about to
+express his gratitude and joy; but the Genius suddenly disappeared. He
+began, therefore, immediately to follow the instructions that he had
+received: he commanded Osmyn to attend him in the grove, and forbad
+every other to approach; by the power of the talisman he assumed his
+appearance, and saw him sink down in the supernatural slumber before
+him: he then quitted the place, and prepared to visit HAMET in the
+prison.
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XVIII.
+
+
+The officer who commanded the guard that kept the gate of the prison,
+was Caled. He was now next in trust and power to Osmyn: but as he had
+proposed a revolt to HAMET, in which Osmyn had refused to concur, he
+knew that his life was now in his power; he dreaded lest, for some
+slight offence, or in some fit of causeless displeasure, he should
+disclose the secret to ALMORAN, who would then certainly condemn him to
+death. To secure this fatal secret, and put an end to his inquietude, he
+resolved, from the moment that ALMORAN was established upon the throne,
+to find some opportunity secretly to destroy Osmyn: in this resolution,
+he was confirmed by the enmity, which inferior minds never fail to
+conceive against that merit, which they cannot but envy without spirit
+to emulate, and by which they feel themselves disgraced without an
+effort to acquire equal honour; it was confirmed also by the hope which
+Caled had conceived, that, upon the death of Osmyn, he should succeed to
+his post: his apprehensions likewise were increased, by the gloom which
+he remarked in the countenance of Osmyn; and which not knowing that it
+arose from fear, he imputed to jealousy and malevolence.
+
+When ALMORAN, who had now assumed the appearance of Osmyn, had passed
+the subterranean avenue to the dungeon in which HAMET was confined, he
+was met by Caled; of whom he demanded admittance to the prince, and
+produced his own signet, as a testimony that he came with the authority
+of the king. As it was Caled's interest to secure the favour of Osmyn
+till an opportunity should offer to cut him off, he received him with
+every possible mark of respect and reverence; and when he was gone into
+the dungeon, he commanded a beverage to be prepared for him against he
+should return, in which such spices were infused, as might expel the
+malignity which, in that place, might be received with the breath of
+life; and taking himself the key of the prison, he waited at the door.
+
+When ALMORAN entered the dungeon, with a lamp which he had received from
+Caled, he found HAMET sitting upon the ground: his countenance was
+impressed with the characters of grief; but it retained no marks either
+of anger or fear. When he looked up, and saw the features of Osmyn, he
+judged that the mutes were behind him; and, therefore, rose up, to
+prepare himself for death. ALMORAN beheld his calmness and fortitude
+with the involuntary praise of admiration; yet persisted in his purpose
+without remorse. 'I am come,' said he, by the command of ALMORAN, to
+denounce that fate, the bitterness of which I will enable thee to
+avoid.' 'And what is there,' said HAMET, 'in my fortunes, that has
+prompted thee to the danger of this attempt?' 'The utmost that I can
+give thee,' said ALMORAN, 'I can give thee without danger to myself: but
+though I have been placed, by the hand of fortune, near the person of
+the tyrant, yet has my heart in secret been thy friend. If I am the
+messenger of evil, impute it to him only by whom it is devised. The rack
+is now preparing to receive thee; and every art of ingenious cruelty
+will be exhausted to protract and to increase the agonies of death.'
+'And what,' said HAMET, 'can thy friendship offer me?' 'I can offer
+thee,' said ALMORAN, 'that which will at once dismiss thee to those
+regions, where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary rest for
+ever.' He then produced the poignard from his bosom; and presenting it
+to HAMET, 'Take this,' said he, 'and sleep in peace.'
+
+HAMET, whose heart was touched with sudden joy at the sight of so
+unexpected a remedy for every evil, did not immediately reflect, that he
+was not at liberty to apply it: he snatched it in a transport from the
+hand of ALMORAN, and expressed his sense of the obligation by clasping
+him in his arms, and shedding the tears of gratitude in his breast. 'Be
+quick,' said ALMORAN: this moment I must leave thee; and in the next,
+perhaps, the messengers of destruction may bind thee to the rack. 'I
+will be quick,' said HAMET; 'and the sigh that shall last linger upon my
+lips, shall bless thee.' They then bid each other farewel: ALMORAN
+retired from the dungeon, and the door was again closed upon HAMET.
+
+Caled, who waited at the door till the supposed Osmyn should return,
+presented him with the beverage which he had prepared, of which he
+recounted the virtues; and ALMORAN received it with pleasure, and having
+eagerly drank it off, returned to the palace. As soon as he was alone,
+he resumed his own figure, and fate, with a confident and impatient
+expectation, that in a short time a messenger would be dispatched to
+acquaint him with the death of HAMET. HAMET, in the mean time, having
+grasped the dagger in his hand, and raised his arm for the blow, 'This,'
+said he, 'is my passport to the realms of peace, the immediate and only
+object of my hope!' But at these words, his mind instantly took the
+alarm: 'Let me reflect,' said he, 'a moment: from what can I derive hope
+in death?--from that patient and persevering virtue, and from that
+alone, by which we fulfill the task that is assigned us upon the earth.
+Is it not our duty, to suffer, as well as to act? If my own hand
+consigns me to the grave, what can it do but perpetuate that misery,
+which, by disobedience, I would shun? what can it do, but cut off my
+life and hope together?' With this reflection he threw the dagger from
+him; and stretching himself again upon the ground, resigned himself to
+the disposal of the Father of man, most Merciful and Almighty.
+
+ALMORAN, who had now resolved to send for the intelligence which he
+longed to hear, was dispatching a messenger to the prison, when he was
+told that Caled desired admittance to his presence. At the name of
+Caled, he started up in an extasy of joy; and not doubting but that
+HAMET was dead, he ordered him to be instantly admitted. When he came
+in, ALMORAN made no enquiry about HAMET, because he would not appear to
+expect the event, which yet he supposed he had brought about; he,
+therefore, asked him only upon what business he came. 'I come, my
+lord,' said he, 'to apprize thee of the treachery of Osmyn.' 'I know,'
+said ALMORAN, 'that Osmyn is a traitor; but of what dost thou accuse
+him? 'As I was but now,' said he, 'changing the guard which is set upon
+HAMET, Osmyn came up to the door of the prison, and producing the royal
+signet demanded admittance. As the command which I received, when he was
+delivered to my custody, was absolute, that no foot should enter, I
+doubted whether the token had not been obtained, by fraud, for some
+other purpose; yet, as he required admittance only, I complied: but that
+if any treachery had been contrived, I might detect it; and that no
+artifice might be practised to favour an escape; I waited myself at the
+door, and listening to their discourse I overheard the treason that I
+suspected.' 'What then,' said ALMORAN, 'didst thou hear?' 'A part of
+what was said,' replied Caled, 'escaped me: but I heard Osmyn, like a
+perfidious and presumptuous slave, call ALMORAN a tyrant; I heard him
+profess an inviolable friendship for HAMET, and assure him of
+deliverance. What were the means, I know not; but he talked of speed,
+and supposed that the effect was certain.'
+
+ALMORAN, though he was still impatient to hear of HAMET; and discovered,
+that if he was dead, his death was unknown to Caled; was yet
+notwithstanding rejoiced at what he heard: and as he knew what Caled
+told him to be true, as the conversation he related had passed between
+himself and HAMET, he exulted in the pleasing confidence that he had yet
+a friend; the glooms of suspicion, which had involved his mind, were
+dissipated, and his countenance brightened with complacency and joy. He
+had delayed to put Osmyn to death, only because he could appoint no man
+to succeed him, of whom his fears did not render him equally suspicious:
+but having now found, in Caled, a friend, whose fidelity had been
+approved when there had been no intention to try it; and being impatient
+to reward his zeal, and to invest his fidelity with that power, which
+would render his services most important; he took a ring from his own
+finger, and putting it upon that of Caled, 'Take this,' said he, 'as a
+pledge, that to-morrow Osmyn shall lose his head; and that, from this
+moment, thou art invested with his power.'
+
+Caled having, in the conversation between ALMORAN and HAMET, discerned
+indubitable treachery, which he imputed to Osmyn whose appearance
+ALMORAN had then assumed, eagerly seized the opportunity to destroy him;
+he, therefore, not trusting to the event of his accusation, had mingled
+poison in the bowl which he presented to ALMORAN when he came out from
+HAMET: this, however, at first he had resolved to conceal.
+
+In consequence of his accusation, he supposed Osmyn would be questioned
+upon the rack; he supposed also, that the accusation, as it was true,
+would be confirmed by his confession; that what ever he should then say
+to the prejudice of his accuser, would be disbelieved; and that when
+after a few hours the poison should take effect, no inquisition would be
+made into the death of a criminal, whom the bow-string or the scimitar
+would otherwise have been employed to destroy. But he now hoped to
+derive new merit from an act of zeal, which ALMORAN had approved before
+it was known, by condemning his rival to die, whose death he had already
+insured: 'May the wishes of my lord,' said he, 'be always anticipated;
+and may it be found, that whatever he ordains is already done: may he
+accept the zeal of his servant, whom he has delighted to honour; for,
+before the light of the morning shall return, the eyes of Osmyn shall
+close in everlasting darkness.'
+
+At these words, the countenance of ALMORAN changed; his cheeks became
+pale, and his lips trembled: 'What then,' said he, 'hast thou done?'
+Caled, who was terrified and astonished, threw himself upon the ground,
+and was unable to reply. ALMORAN, who now, by the utmost effort of his
+mind, restrained his confusion and his fear, that he might learn the
+truth from Caled without dissimulation or disguise, raised him from the
+ground and repeated his enquiry. 'If I have erred,' said Caled, 'impute
+it not: when I had detected the treachery of Osmyn, I was transported by
+my zeal for thee. For proof that he is guilty, I appeal now to himself;
+for he yet lives: but that he might not escape the hand of justice, I
+mingled, in the bowl I give him, the drugs of death.'
+
+At these words, ALMORAN, striking his hands together, looked upward in
+an agony of despair and horror, and fell back upon a sofa that was
+behind him. Caled, whose astonishment was equal to his disappointment
+and his fears, approached him with a trembling though hasty pace; but as
+he stooped to support him, ALMORAN suddenly drew his dagger and stabbed
+him to the heart; and repeated the blow with reproaches and execrations,
+till his strength failed him.
+
+In this dreadful moment, the Genius once more appeared before him; at
+the sight of whom he waved his hand, but was unable to speak. 'Nothing,'
+said the Genius, 'that has happened to ALMORAN, is hidden from me. Thy
+peace has been destroyed alike by the defection of Osmyn, and by the
+zeal of Caled: thy life may yet be preserved; but it can be preserved
+only by a charm, which HAMET must apply.' ALMORAN, who had raised his
+eyes, and conceived some languid hope, when he heard that he might yet
+live; cast them again down in despair, when he heard that he could
+receive life only from HAMET. 'From HAMET,' said he, 'I have already
+taken the power to save me; I have, by thy counsel, given him the
+instrument of death, which, by thy counsel also, I urged him to use: he
+received it with joy, and he is now doubtless numbered with the dead.'
+'HAMET,' said the Genius, 'is not dead; but from the fountain of virtue
+he drinks life and peace. If what I shall propose, he refuses to
+perform, not all the powers of earth, and sea, and air, if they should
+combine, can give thee life: but if he complies, the death, that is now
+suspended over thee, shall fall upon his head; and thy life shall be
+again delivered to the hand of time.' 'Make haste then,' said ALMORAN,
+'and I will here wait the event.' 'The event,' said the Genius, 'is not
+distant; and it is the last experiment which my power can make, either
+upon him or thee: when the star of the night, that is now near the
+horizon, shall set, I will be with him.'
+
+When ALMORAN was alone, he reflected, that every act of supernatural
+power which the Genius had enabled him to perform, had brought upon him
+some new calamity, though it always promised him some new advantage. As
+he would not impute this disappointment to the purposes for which he
+employed the power that he had received, he indulged a suspicion, that
+it proceeded from the perfidy of the Being by whom it was bestowed; in
+his mind, therefore, he thus reasoned with himself: 'The Genius, who has
+pretended to be the friend of ALMORAN, has been secretly in confederacy
+with HAMET: why else do I yet sigh in vain for ALMEIDA? and why else did
+not HAMET perish, when his life was in my power? By his counsel, I
+persuaded HAMET to destroy himself; and, in the very act, I was betrayed
+to drink the potion, by which I shall be destroyed: I have been led on,
+from misery to misery, by ineffectual expedients, and fallacious hopes.
+In this crisis of my fate, I will not trust, with implicit confidence,
+in another: I will be present at the interview of this powerful, but
+suspected Being, with HAMET; and who can tell, but that if I detect a
+fraud, I may be able to disappoint it: however powerful, he is not
+omniscient; I may, therefore, be present, unknown and unsuspected even
+by him, in a form that I can chuse by a thought, to which he cannot be
+conscious.'
+
+
+
+
+CHAP. XIX.
+
+
+In consequence of this resolution, ALMORAN, having commanded one of the
+soldiers of the guard that attended upon HAMET into an inner room of the
+palace, he ordered him to wait there till his return: then making fast
+the door, he assumed his figure, and went immediately to the dungeon;
+where producing his signet, he said, he had received orders from the
+king to remain with the prisoner, till the watch expired.
+
+As he entered without speaking, and without a light, HAMET continued
+stretched upon the ground, with his face towards the earth; and ALMORAN,
+having silently retired to a remote corner of the place, waited for the
+appearance of the Genius.
+
+The dawn of the morning now broke; and, in a few minutes, the prison
+shook, and the Genius appeared. He was visible by a lambent light that
+played around him; and HAMET starting from the ground, turned to the
+vision with reverence and wonder: but as the Omnipotent was ever present
+to his mind, to whom all beings in all worlds are obedient, and on whom
+alone he relied for protection, he was neither confused nor afraid.
+'HAMET,' said the Genius, 'the crisis of thy fate is near.' 'Who art
+thou,' said HAMET, and for what purpose art thou come?' 'I am,' replied
+the Genius, 'an inhabitant of the world above thee; and to the will of
+thy brother, my powers have been obedient: upon him they have not
+conferred happiness, but they have brought evil upon thee. It was my
+voice, that forbad thy marriage with ALMEIDA; and my voice, that decreed
+the throne to ALMORAN: I gave him the power to assume thy form; and, by
+me, the hand of oppression is now heavy upon thee. Yet I have not
+decreed, that he should be happy, nor that thou shouldst be wretched:
+darkness as yet rests upon my purpose; but my heart in secret is thy
+friend.' 'If thou art, indeed my friend,' said HAMET, 'deliver me from
+this prison; and preserve HAMET for ALMEIDA.' Thy deliverance,' said the
+Genius, must depend upon thyself. There is a charm, of which the power
+is great; but it is by thy will only, that this power can be exerted.'
+
+The Genius then held out towards him a scroll, on which the seal of
+seven powers was impressed. 'Take, said he, 'this scroll, in which the
+mysterious name of Orosmades is written. Invoke the spirits, that reside
+westward from the rising of the sun; and northward, in the regions of
+cold and darkness: then stretch out thy hand, and a lamp of sulphur,
+self kindled, shall burn before thee. In the fire of this lamp, consume
+that which I now give thee; and as the smoke, into which it changes,
+shall mix with the air, a mighty charm shall be formed, which shall
+defend thee from all mischief: from that instant no poison, however
+potent, can hurt thee; nor shall any prison confine: in one moment, thou
+shalt be restored to the throne, and to ALMEIDA; and the Angel of death,
+shall lay his hand upon thy brother; to whom, if I had confided this
+last best effort of my power, he would have secured the good to himself,
+and have transferred the evil to thee.'
+
+ALMORAN, who had listened unseen to this address of the Genius to HAMET,
+was now confirmed in his suspicions, that evil had been ultimately
+intended against him; and that he had been entangled in the toils of
+perfidy, while he believed himself to be assisted by the efforts of
+friendship: he was also convinced, that by the Genius he was not known
+to be present. HAMET, however, flood still doubtful, and ALMORAN was
+kept silent by his fears. 'Whoever thou art,' said HAMET, the condition
+of the advantages which thou hast offered me, is such as it is not
+lawful to fulfill: these horrid rites, and this commerce with unholy
+powers, are prohibited to mortals in the Law of life.' 'See thou to
+that,' said the Genius: 'Good and evil are before thee; that which I now
+offer thee, I will offer no more.'
+
+HAMET, who had not fortitude to give up at once the possibility of
+securing the advantages that had been offered, and who was seduced by
+human frailty to deliberate at least upon the choice; stretched out his
+hand, and receiving the scroll, the Genius instantly disappeared. That
+which had been proposed as a trial of his virtue, ALMORAN believed
+indeed to be an offer of advantage; he had no hope, therefore, but that
+HAMET would refuse the conditions, and that he should be able to obtain
+the talisman, and fulfill them himself: he judged that the mind of HAMET
+was in suspense, and was doubtful to which side it might finally
+incline; he, therefore, instantly assumed the voice and the person of
+OMAR, that by the influence of his council he might be able to turn the
+scale.
+
+When the change was effected, he called HAMET by his name; and HAMET,
+who knew the voice, answered him in a transport of joy and wonder: 'My
+friend,' said he, 'my father! in this dreary solitude, in this hour of
+trial, thou art welcome to my soul as liberty and life! Guide me to thee
+by thy voice; and tell while I hold thee to my bosom, how and wherefore
+thou art come?' 'Do not now ask me,' said ALMORAN: 'it is enough that I
+am here; and that I am permitted to warn thee of the precipice, on which
+thou standest. It is enough, that concealed in this darkness, I have
+overheard the specious guile, which some evil demon has practised upon
+thee.' 'Is it then certain,' said HAMET, 'that this being is evil?' 'Is
+not that being evil, said ALMORAN,' 'who proposes evil, as the condition
+of good?' 'Shall I then,' said HAMET, 'renounce my liberty and life? The
+rack is now ready; and, perhaps, the next moment, its tortures will be
+inevitable.' 'Let me ask thee then,' said ALMORAN, 'to preserve thy
+life, wilt thou destroy thy soul?' 'O! stay,' said HAMET--'Let me not be
+tried too far! Let the strength of Him who is Almighty, be manifest in
+my weakness!' HAMET then paused a few moments; but he was no longer in
+doubt: and ALMORAN, who disbelieved and despised the arguments, by which
+he intended to persuade him to renounce what, upon the same condition,
+he was impatient to secure for himself, conceived hopes that he should
+succeed; and those hopes were instantly confirmed.' 'Take then,' said
+HAMET, this unholy charm; and remove it far from me, as the sands of
+Alai from the trees of Oman; lest, in some dreadful hour, my virtue may
+fail me, and thy counsel may be wanting!' 'Give it me then,' said
+ALMORAN; and feeling for the hands of each other, he snatched it from
+him in an extasy of joy, and instantly resuming his own voice and
+figure, he cried out, 'At length I have prevailed: and life and love,
+dominion and revenge, are now at once in my hand!'
+
+HAMET heard and knew the voice of his brother, with astonishment; but it
+was too late to wish that he had withheld the charm, which his virtue
+would not permit him to use. 'Yet a few moments pass,' said ALMORAN, and
+thou art nothing.' HAMET, who doubted not of the power of the talisman,
+and knew that ALMORAN had no principles which would restrain him from
+using it to his destruction, resigned himself to death, with a sacred
+joy that he had escaped from guilt. ALMORAN then, with an elation of
+mind that sparkled in his eyes, and glowed upon his cheek, stretched out
+his hand, in which he held the scroll; and a lamp of burning sulphur was
+immediately suspended in the air before him: he held the mysterious
+writing in the flame; and as it began to burn, the place shook with
+reiterated thunder, of which every peal was more terrible and more
+loud. HAMET, wrapping his robe round him, cried out, 'In the Fountain
+of Life that flows for ever, let my life be mingled! Let me not be, as
+if I had never been; but still conscious of my being, let me still
+glorify Him from whom it is derived, and be still happy in his love!'
+
+ALMORAN, who was absorbed in the anticipation of his own felicity, heard
+the thunder without dread, as the proclamation of his triumph: 'Let thy
+hopes,' said he, 'be thy portion; and the pleasures that I have secured,
+shall be mine.' As he pronounced these words, he started as at a sudden
+pang; his eyes became fixed, and his posture immoveable; yet his senses
+still remained, and he perceived the Genius once more to stand before
+him. 'ALMORAN,' said he, 'to the last sounds which thou shalt hear, let
+thine ear be attentive! Of the spirits that rejoice to fulfill the
+purpose of the Almighty, I am one. To HAMET, and to ALMORAN, I have been
+commissioned from above: I have been appointed to perfect virtue, by
+adversity; and in the folly of her own projects, to entangle vice. The
+charm, which could be formed only by guilt, has power only to produce
+misery: of every good, which thou, ALMORAN, wouldst have secured by
+disobedience, the opposite evil is thy portion; and of every evil, which
+thou, HAMET, wast, by Obedience, willing to incur, the opposite good is
+bestowed upon thee. To thee, HAMET, are now given the throne of thy
+father, and ALMEIDA. And thou, ALMORAN, who, while I speak, art
+incorporating with the earth, shalt remain, through all generations, a
+memorial of the truths which thy life has taught!'
+
+At the words of the Genius, the earth trembled beneath, and above the
+walls of the prison disappeared: the figure of ALMORAN, which was
+hardened into stone, expanded by degrees; and a rock, by which his form
+and attitude are still rudely expressed, became at once a monument of
+his punishment and his guilt.
+
+Such are the events recorded by ACMET, the descendant of the Prophet,
+and the preacher of righteousness! for, to ACMET, that which passed in
+secret was revealed by the Angel of instruction, that the world might
+know, that, to the wicked, increase of power is increase of
+wretchedness; and that those who condemn the folly of an attempt to
+defeat the purpose of a Genius, might no longer hope to elude the
+appointment of the Most High.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALMORAN AND HAMET***
+
+
+******* This file should be named 14013.txt or 14013.zip *******
+
+
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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+
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+
+Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
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