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.