Have pity then;

Pity, Alcanor, one, who is torn from all
That's dear or venerable to her soul;
Restore me, then, restore me to my country,
Restore me to my father, prince, and prophet !
Alc. Is slavery dear then ? is fraud venerable ?
What country? a tumultuous wandering camp!

Pal. My country, sir, is not a single spot
Of such a mould, or fixed to such a clime;
No, 'tis the social circle of my friends,
The loved community, in which I'm linked,
And in whose welfare all my wishes centre.
Alc. Excellent maid! Then Mecca be thy

country.

Robbed of my children, would Palmira deign
To let me call her child, the toil I took
To make her destiny propitious to her,
Would lighten the rough burthen of my own:
But no; you scorn my country and my laws.
Pal. Can I be your's, when not my own? Your
bounties

Claim and share my gratitude-but Mahomet Claims right o'er me of parent, prince, and prophet.

Alc. Of parent, prince, and prophet! Heav'ns! that robber,

Who, a scaped felon, emulates a throne,
And, scoffer at all faiths, proclaims a new one !
Pal. Oh, cease, my lord! this blasphemous

abuse

Of one, whom millions with myself adore,
Does violence to my ear; such black profane-

ness

'Gainst Heaven's interpreter blots out remembrance

Of favours past, and nought succeeds but horror.
Alc. Oh superstition! thy pernicious rigours,
Inflexible to reason, truth, and nature,
Banish humanity the gentlest breasts.
Palmira, I lament to see thee plunged
So deep in error—

Pal. Do you then reject

My just petition? can Alcanor's goodness
Be deaf to suffering virtue?

Name but the ransom,

And Mahomet will treble what you ask.

Alc. There is no ransom Mahomet can offer, Proportioned to the prize. Trust me, Palmira, I cannot yield thee up. What! to a tyrant, Who wrongs thy youth, and mocks thy tender

heart

With vile illusions and fanatic terrors !

Enter PHARON.

What wouldst thou, Pharon?

Pha. From yon western gate,

Which opens on Moradia's fertile plains,

Mir. I pardon thee

Out of compassion to thy age and sufferings, And high regard for thy experienced valour, Heaven's great apostle offers thee in friendship A hand could crush thee, and I come commissioned

To name the terms of peace he deigns to tender.
Ale. He deigns to tender ! insolent impostor !
Dost thou not, Mirran, blush

To serve this wretch-this base of soul as birth ?
Mir. Mahomet's grandeur's in himself; he
shines not
With borrowed lustre.

Plunged in the night of prejudice, and bound
In fetters of hereditary faith,

My judgment slept; but when I found him born
To mould anew the prostrate universe,
I started from my dream, joined his career,
And shar'd his arduous and immortal labours.
Once, I must own, I was as blind as thou:
Then wake to glory, and be changed like me.
Alc. What death to honour, wakening to such
glory!

Pha. Oh, what a fall from virtue was that change!

Mir. Come, embrace our faith, reign with

Mahomet,

And, clothed in terrors, make the vulgar tremble. Alc. 'Tis Mahomet, and tyrants like to Ma

homet,

"Tis Mirvan, and apostates like to Mirvan,
I only would make tremble-Is it, say'st thou
Religion, that's the parent of this rapine,
This virulence and rage?-No; true religion
Is always mild, propitious and humane,
Plays not the tyrant, plants no faith in blood,
Nor bears destruction on her chariot-wheels;

Alc. Mirvan, that vile apostate!

Pha. In one hand

He holds a scimitar, the other bears

An olive branch, which to our chiefs he waves,

And builds her grandeur on the public good. Mir. Thou art turned Christian, sure! some straggling monk

Has taught thee these tame lessons→→

Alc. If the Christians

Hold principles like these, which reason dictates,
Which all our notions of the powers divine
Declare the social laws they meant for man,
And all the beauties and delights of nature
Bear witness to, the Christians may be right;
Thy sect cannot, who, nursed in blood and
slaughter,

Worship a cruel and revengeful being,
And draw him always with his thunder round him,
As ripe for the destruction of mankind.

Mir. If clemency delights thee, learn it here.
Though banished, by thy voice, his native city,
Though, by thy hand, robbed of his only son,
Mahomet pardons thee; nay, farther, begs
The hatred burning 'twixt you be extinguished,
With reconciliation's generous tear.

Alc. I know thy master's arts; his generous
tears,

Like the refreshing drops, that previous fall
To the wild outrage of o'erwhelming earthquakes,
Only forerun destruction;

Courage he has, not bravery;

For blood and havock are the sure attendants
On his victorious car.

Pha. Leagues he will make too

Alc. Like other grasping tyrants, till he eyes A lucky juncture to enlarge his bounds; Then he'll deride them, leap o'er every tie Of sacred guarantee, or sworn protection; And when the oppressed ally implores assistance, Beneath that mask invade the wished-for realms, And from pure friendship take them to himself. Mir. Mahomet fights Heaven's battles, bends the bow,

To spread Heaven's laws, and to subject to faith The iron neck of error.

Alc. Lust and ambition, Mirvan, are the springs Of all his actions; whilst, without one virtue, Dissimulation, like a flattering painter, Bedecks him with the colouring of them all : This is thy master's portrait-But no moreMy soul's inexorable, and my hate Inmortal as the cause from whence it sprang.

SCENE I-PALMIRA's apartment.

Alc. I'll meet thee there, and see whose voice is victor.

Come, Pharon, aid me to repulse this traitor;
To bear him with impunity amongst us
Is treason 'gainst ourselves- -Ye sacred powers,
My country's gods, that, for three thousand years,
Have reigned protectors of the tribe of Ishmael,
Oh! support my spirit

In that firm purpose it has always held !
To combat violence, fraud, and usurpation,
To pluck the spoil from the oppressors' jaws,
And keep my country, as I found it, free!

Enter PALMIRA. Pal. CEASE, cease, ye streaming instruments of woe,

From your ignoble toil-Take warmth, my heart! Collect thy scattered powers, and brave misfor

tune.

In vain the storm-tossed mariner repines;
Were he within to raise as great a tempest
As beats him from without, it would not smooth
One boisterous surge: impatience only throws
Discredit on mischance, and adds a shame
To our affliction.

[Exeunt.

Now Zaphna's here I am no more a captive,
Except to him: oh, blest captivity!

Zaph. Those smiles are dearer to my raptured
breast,

Sweeter those accents to my listening heart,
Than all Arabia's spices to the sense.

Pal. No wonder, that my soul was so elate, No wonder, that the cloud of grief gave way, When thou, my sun of comfort, wert so nigh, Zaph. Since that dire hour, when on Sabaria's strand

The barbarous foe deprived me of Palmira,
In what a gulph of horror and despair
Have thy imagined perils plunged my soul!
Stretched on expiring corses for a while
To the deaf stream I poured out my complaint,
And begged I might be numbered with the dead,
That strewed its banks then starting from
despair,

With rage I flew to Mahomet for vengeance;
He, for some high mysterious purpose, known
To heaven and him alone, at length dispatched
The valiant Mirvan to demand a truce:
Instant on wings of lightning I pursued him,
And entered as his hostage-fixed, Palmira,
Or to redeem, or die a captive with thee.
Pal. Heroic youth!

Zaph. But how have these barbarians
Treated my fair?

Pal. With high humanity.

I, in my victor, found a friend-Alcanor
Has made me feel captivity in nothing

But absence from my Zaphna and my friends.-
Zaph. I grieve a soul so generous is our foe:
But now, presented as an hostage to him,
His noble bearing and humanity
Made captive of my heart; I felt, methought,
A new affection lighted in my breast,

And wondered, whence the infant ardour sprang.
Pal. Yet generous as he is, not all my prayers,
Not all the tears I lavish at his feet,
Can move him to restore me-

Zaph. But he shall

Let the barbarian know he shall, Palmira;
The god of Mahomet, our divine protector,
Whose still triumphant standard I have borne
O'er piles of vanquished infidels—that power,
Which brought unnumbered battlements to earth,
Will humble Mecca too.

me,

Breathed such divine persuasion from my lips, As shook the reverend fathers- Sirs,' cried I, This favourite of high Heaven, who rules in battle,

Before whose footstool tributary kings 'Bow the anointed head, born here in Mecca, 'Asks but to be enrolled a senator,

And you refuse his prayer. Deluded sages! Although your conqueror, he requests no more 'Than one day's truce, pure pity to yourselves! 'To save you if he can; and you-Oh shame !— At this a general murmur spread around, Which seemed propitious to usZaph. Greatly carried!

Go on

Mir. Then straight the inflexible Alcanor Flew through the streets, assembling all the people

To bar our prophet. Thither too I fled,

Urged the same arguments, exhorted, threatened,
Till they unhinged the gates, and gave free passage
To Mahomet and his chiefs-In vain Alcanor,
And his disheartened party, strove to oppose him;
Serene and dauntless, through the gazing crowd,
With more than human majesty he moved,
Bearing the peaceful olive, whilst the truce
Was instantly proclaimed-

Pal. But where's the prophet?

Mir. Reclined in yonder grot, that joins the temple, Attended by his chiefs.

Zaph. There let us haste

SCENE II.-Changes to a spacious grotto. MAHOMET discovered, with the alcoran before him.

Mah. Glorious hypocrisy! What fools are they, Who, fraught with lustful or ambitious views, Wear not thy spacious mask-Thou, Alcoran! Hast won more battles, ta'en more cities for me, Than thrice my feeble numbers had atchieved, Without the succour of thy sacred impulse.

Enter HERCIDES, AMMON, and ALI.
Invincible supporters of our grandeur !
My faithful chiefs, Hercides, Ammon, Ali!
Go, and instruct this people in my name,
That faith may dawn, and, like a morning star,
Be herald to my rising:

Lead them to know and to adore my god;
But above all, to fear him-Lo, Palmira!
[Exeunt Hercides, &c.
Her angel-face, with unfeigned blushes spread,
Proclaims the purity, that dwells within.

ardour.

Brought up from tender infancy beneath
The shelter of thy sacred patronage,
Zaphna and I've been animated still

By the same sentiments: Alas, great prophet!

I have had enough of wretchedness-to languish
A prisoner here, far both from him and you;
Grudge me not then the ray of consolation
His presence beamed, nor cloud my dawning
hope

Of rising freedom and felicity.

Mah. Palmira, 'tis enough; I read thy heart; Be not alarmed; though burdened with the cares Of thrones and altars, still my guardian eye Will watch o'er thee as o'er the universe. Follow my generals, Zaphna. Fair Palmira, Retire, and pay your powerful vows to Heaven, And dread no wrongs but from Alcanor.

Mirvan

[Zaphna and Palmira go out separately.

Attend thou here 'Tis time, my trusty soldier,
My long-tried friend, to lay unfolded to thee
The close resolves and councils of my heart.
The tedious length of a precarious siege
May damp the present ardour of my troops,
And check me in the height of my career.
Let us not give deluded mortals leisure
By reason to disperse the mystic gloom
We have cast about us-Prepossession, friend,
Reigns monarch of the million-Mecca's crowd
Gaze at my rapid victories, and think
Some awful power directs my arm to conquest;
But whilst our friends once more renew their ef-
forts

To win the wavering people to our interest,

Mah. Yes, they love each other—

Mir. Well-what crime?

Mah. What crime! dost say?-Learn all my frailty, then

My life's a combat: keen austerity

Subjects my nature to abstemious bearings:
I have banished from my lips that traitorous li-
quor,

That either works to practises of outrage,
Or melts the manly breast to woman's weakness;
Or on the burning sands or desert rocks
With thee I bear the inclemency of climates,
Freeze at the pole, or scorch beneath the line.
For all these toils love only can retaliate,
The only consolation or reward,
Fruit of my labours, idol of my incense,
And sole divinity, that I adore;

Know then, that I prefer this young Palmira
To all the ripened beauties, that attend me;
Dwell on her accents, dote upon her smiles,
And am not mine but her's. Now judge, my friend,
How vast the jealous transports of thy master,
When at his feet he daily hears this charmer
Avow a foreign love, and, insolent,

Give Mahomet a rival!

Mir. How! and Mahomet Not instantly revenge

Mah. Ah! should he not?

But better to detest him know him better:
Learn, then, that both my rival and my love
Sprang from the loins of this audacious traitor.
Mir. Alcanor!

Mah. Is their father; old Hercides,
To whose sage institution I commit
My captive infants, late revealed it to me-
Perdition! I myself light up their flame,
And fed it, till I set myself on fire.

Well, means must be employed; but see, the father;

He comes this way, and launches from his eye
Malignant sparks of enmity and rage.
Mirvan, see all ta'en care of; let Hercides,
With his escort, beset yon gate; bid Ali
Make proper disposition round the temple;
This done, return, and render me account
Of what success we meet with 'mongst the people:
Then, Mirvan, we'll determine or to loose,
Or bridle in our vengeance, as its suits.

Enter ALCANOR.

[Exit Mirvan.

3 Մ

since Heaven,

For some high end, decrees our future union. Alc. I blush not for myself, but thee, thou tyrant!

For thee, bad man! who comest, with serpentguile,

To sow dissention in the realms of peace;
Thy very name sets families at variance,
'Twixt son and father bursts the bonds of nature,
And scares endearment from the nuptial pillow!
Even truce with thee is a new stratagem.
And is it, insolent dissembler! thus
Thou comest, to give the sons of Mecca peace,
And me an unknown god?

Mah. Were I to answer any but Alcanor, That unknown god should speak in thunder for

me;

But here, with thee, I'd parley as a man.

Alc. What canst thou say? what urge in thy defence?

What right hast thou received to plant new faiths, Or lay a claim to royalty and priesthood?

Mah. The right, that a resolved and towering spirit

Has o'er the grovelling instinct of the vulgar.— Alc. Patience, good Heavens! have I not known thee, Mahomet,

When void of wealth, inheritance, or fame,
Ranked with the lowest of the low at Mecca?
Mah. Dost thou not know, thou haughty fee-
ble man,

That the low insect, lurking in the grass,
And the imperial eagle, which aloft
Ploughs the etherial plain, are both alike
In the Eternal eye!-Mortals are equal:
It is not birth, magnificence, or power,
But virtue only, makes the difference 'twixt them.
Alc. What sacred truth from what polluted
lips!
[Aside.
Mah. By virtue's ardent pinions borne on high,
Heaven met my zeal, gave ine, in solemn charge,
Its sacred laws, then bade me on and publish.
Alc. And did Heaven bid thee on, and plun-

der too?

Mah. I do-Necessity-thy interest. Alc. Interest is thy god, Equity is mine. Propose the tie of this unnatural union ; Say, is it the loss of thy ill-fated son, Who, in the field, fell victim to my rage, Or the dear blood of my poor captive children, Shed by thy butchering hands?

Mah. Ay, 'tis thy children.

Mark me, then, well, and learn the important se

If I must bear their chains, double the weight,
And I will kiss the hand, that puts them on;
Or, if my streaming blood must be the pur-
chase,

Drain every sluice and channel of my body,
My swelling veins will burst to give it passage.
Mah. I'll tell thee, then-renounce thy pagan
faith,
Abolish thy vain gods, and-
Alc. Ha!

Mah. Nay, more,
Surrender Mecca to me, quit this temple,
Assist me to impose upon the world,
Thunder my Koran to the gazing crowd,
Proclaim me for their prophet and their king,
And be a glorious patron of credulity
To Korah's stubborn tribe. These terms per-
formed,

Thy son shall be restored, and Mahomet's self Will deign to wed thy daughter.

Alc. Hear me, Mahomet

I am a father, and this bosom boasts
A heart as tender as e'er parent bore.
After a fifteen years of anguish for them,
Once more to view my children, clasp them to

me,

And die in their embraces-melting thought! But were I doomed or to enslave my country, And help to spread black error o'er the earth, Or to behold these blood-embrued hands Deprive me of them both-Know me, then, Mahomet,