she loved a craven slave, a base impostor, a vile renegade, a villainous
dealer in drugs and charms? Oh! no, no, no! if only for her sake, her
sweet, sweet sake, my end shall be like my great life. As the sun I
rose, like him I set. Still the world is warm with my bright fame, and
my last hour shall not disgrace my noon, stormy indeed, but glorious!’
Honain took the torch from the niche, and advanced to the grate. It
was not fastened: he drew it gently open, and led forward a veiled and
female figure. The veiled and female figure threw herself at the feet of
Alroy, who seemed lost to what was passing. A soft lip pressed his hand.
He started, his chains clanked.
‘Alroy!’ softly murmured the kneeling female.
‘What voice is that?’ wildly exclaimed the Prince of the Captivity. ‘It
falls upon my ear like long-forgotten music. I’ll not believe it. No!
I’ll not believe it. Art thou Schirene?’
‘I am that wretched thing they called thy bride.’
‘Oh! this indeed is torture! What impalement can equal this sharp
moment? Look not on me, let not our eyes meet! They have met before,
like to the confluence of two shining rivers blending in one great
stream of rushing light. Bear off that torch, sir. Let impenetrable
darkness cover our darker fortunes.’
‘Alroy.’
‘She speaks again. Is she mad, as I am, that thus she plays with agony?’
‘Sire,’ said Honain advancing, and laying his hand gently on the arm of
the captive, ‘I pray thee moderate this passion. Thou hast some faithful
friends here, who would fain commune in calmness for thy lasting
welfare.’
‘Welfare! He mocks me.’
‘I beseech, thee, Sire, be calm. If, indeed, I speak unto that great
Alroy whom all men fear and still may fear, I pray remember, ‘tis not
in palaces or in the battle-field alone that the heroic soul can conquer
and command. Scenes like these are the great proof of a superior soul.
While we live, our body is a temple where our genius pours forth its
godlike inspiration, and while the altar is not overthrown, the deity
may still work marvels. Then rouse thyself, great Sire; bethink thee
that, a Caliph or a captive, there is no man within this breathing world
like to Alroy. Shall such a being fall without a struggle, like some
poor felon, who has naught to trust to but the dull shuffling accident
of Chance? I, too, am a prophet, and I feel thou still wilt conquer.’
‘Give me my sceptre, then, give me the sceptre! I speak to the wrong
brother! It was not thou, it was not thou that gavest it me.’
‘Gain it once more. The Lord deserted David for a time; still he
pardoned him, and still he died a king.’
‘A woman worked his fall.’
‘But thee a woman raises. This great Princess, has she not suffered too?
Yet her spirit is still unbroken. List to her counsel: it is deep and
fond.’
‘So was our love.’
‘And is, my Alroy!’ exclaimed the Princess. ‘Be calm, I pray thee! For
my sake be calm; I am calm for thine. Thou hast listened to all Honain
has told thee, that wise man, my Alroy, who never erred.
‘Tis but a word he counsels, an empty word, a most unmeaning form. But
speak it, and thou art free, and Alroy and Schirene may blend again
their glorious careers and lives of sweet fruition. Dost thou not
remember when, walking in the garden of our joy, and palled with empire,
how often hast thou sighed for some sweet isle unknown to man, where
thou mightst pass thy days with no companion but my faithful self, and
no adventures but our constant loves? O my beloved, that life may still
be thine! And dost thou falter? Dost call thyself forlorn with such
fidelity, and deem thyself a wretch, when Paradise with all its
beauteous gates but woos thy entrance? Oh! no, no, no, no! thou hast
forgot Schirene: I fear me much, thy over-fond Schirene, who doats upon
thy image in thy chains more than she did when those sweet hands of
thine were bound with gems and played with her bright locks!’
‘She speaks of another world. I do remember something. Who has sent this
music to a dungeon? My spirit softens with her melting words. My
eyes are moist. I weep! ‘Tis pleasant. Sorrow is joy compared with my
despair. I never thought to shed a tear again. My brain is cooler.’
‘Weep, weep, I pray thee weep; but let me kiss away thy tears, my soul!
Didst think thy Schirene had deserted thee? Ah! that was it that made
my bird so sad. It shall be free, and fly in a sweet sky, and feed on
flowers with its faithful mate. Ah me! I am once more happy with my boy.
There was no misery but thy absence, sweet! Methinks this dungeon is our
bright kiosk! Is that the sunbeam, or thy smile, my love, that makes the
walls so joyful?’
‘Did I smile? I’ll not believe it.’
‘Indeed you did. Ah! see he smiles again. Why this is freedom! There is
no such thing as sorrow. Tis a lie to frighten fools!’
‘Why, Honain, what’s this? ‘Twould seem I am really joyful. There’s
inspiration in her very breath. I am another being. Nay! waste not
kisses on those ugly fetters.’
‘Methinks they are gold.’
They were silent. Schirene drew Alroy to his rough seat, and gently
placing herself on his knees, threw her arms round his neck, and buried
her face in his breast. After a few minutes she raised her head, and
whispered in his ear in irresistible accents of sweet exultation, ‘We
shall be free to-morrow!’
‘To-morrow! is the trial so near?’ exclaimed the captive, with an
agitated voice and changing countenance. ‘To-morrow!’ He threw Schirene
aside somewhat hastily, and sprang from his seat. ‘To-morrow! would it
were over! To-morrow! Methinks there is within that single word the fate
of ages! Shall it be said to-morrow that Alroy---- Hah! what art thou
that risest now before me? Dread, mighty spirit, thou hast come in time
to save me from perdition. Take me to thy bosom, ‘tis not stabbed. They
did not stab thee. Thou seest me here communing with thy murderers. What
then? I am innocent. Ask them, dread ghost, and call upon their fiendish
souls to say I am pure. They would make me dark as themselves, but shall
not.’
‘Honain, Honain!’ exclaimed the Princess in a terrible whisper as she
flew to the Physician. ‘He is wild again. Calm him, calm him. Mark! how
he stands with his extended arms, and fixed vacant eyes, muttering most
awful words! My spirit fails me. It is too fearful.’
The Physician advanced and stood by the side of Alroy, but in vain
attempted to catch his attention. He ventured to touch his arm. The
Prince started, turned round, and recognising him, exclaimed in a
shrieking voice, ‘Off, fratricide!’
Honain recoiled, pale and quivering. Schirene sprang to his arm. ‘What
said he, Honain? Thou dost not speak. I never saw thee pale before. Art
thou, too, mad?’
‘Would I were!’
‘All men are growing wild. I am sure he said something. I pray thee tell
me what was it?’
‘Ask him.’
‘I dare not. Tell me, tell me, Honain!’
‘That I dare not.’
‘Was it a word?’
‘Ay! a word to wake the dead. Let us begone.’
‘Without our end? Coward! I’ll speak to him. My own Alroy,’ sweetly
whispered the Princess, as she advanced before him.
‘What, has the fox left the tigress! Is’t so, eh? Are there no
judgments? Are the innocent only haunted? I am innocent! I did not
strangle thee! He said rightly, “Beware, beware! they who did this may
do even feller deeds.” And here they are quick at their damned work.
Thy body suffered, great Jabaster, but me they would strangle body and
soul!’
The Princess shrieked, and fell into the arms of the advancing Honain,
who bore her out of the dungeon.
After the fall of Hamadan, Bostenay and Miriam had been carried
prisoners to Bagdad. Through the interference of Honain, their
imprisonment had been exempted from the usual hardships, but they
were still confined to their chambers in the citadel. Hitherto all the
endeavours of Miriam to visit her brother had been fruitless. Honain
was the only person to whom she could apply for assistance, and he, in
answer to her importunities, only regretted his want of power to aid
her. In vain had she attempted, by the offer of some remaining jewels,
to secure the co-operation of her guards, with whom her loveliness and
the softness of her manners had already ingratiated her. She had not
succeeded even in communicating with Alroy. But after the unsuccessful
mission of Honain to the dungeon, the late Vizier visited the sister of
the captive, and, breaking to her with delicate skill the intelligence
of the impending catastrophe, he announced that he had at length
succeeded in obtaining for her the desired permission to visit her
brother; and, while she shuddered at the proximity of an event for
which she had long attempted to prepare herself, Honain, with some
modifications, whispered the means by which he flattered himself that it
might yet be averted. Miriam listened to him in silence, nor could
he, with all his consummate art, succeed in extracting from her the
slightest indication of her own opinion as to their expediency. They
parted, Honain as sanguine as the wicked ever are.
As Miriam dreaded, both for herself and for Alroy, the shock of an
unexpected meeting, she availed herself of the influence of Honain
to send Caleb to her brother, to prepare him for her presence, and to
consult him as to the desirable moment. Caleb found his late master
lying exhausted on the floor of his dungeon. At first he would not speak
or even raise his head, nor did he for a long time apparently recognise
the faithful retainer of his uncle. But at length he grew milder, and
when he fully comprehended who the messenger was, and the object of his
mission, he at first seemed altogether disinclined to see his sister,
but in the end postponed their meeting for the present, and, pleading
great exhaustion, fixed for that sad interview the first hour of dawn.
The venerable Bostenay had scarcely ever spoken since the fall of his
nephew; indeed it was but too evident that his faculties, even if they
had not entirely deserted him, were at least greatly impaired. He never
quitted his couch; he took no notice of what occurred. He evinced no
curiosity, scarcely any feeling. If indeed he occasionally did mutter an
observation, it was generally of an irritable character, nor truly did
he appear satisfied if anyone approached him, save Miriam, from
whom alone he would accept the scanty viands which he ever appeared
disinclined to touch. But his devoted niece, amid all her harrowing
affliction, could ever spare to the protector of her youth a placid
countenance, a watchful eye, a gentle voice, and a ready hand. Her
religion and her virtue, the strength of her faith, and the inspiration
of her innocence, supported this pure and hapless lady amid all her
undeserved and unparalleled sorrows.
It was long past midnight; the young widow of Abner reposed upon a couch
in a soft slumber. The amiable Beruna and the beautiful Bathsheba, the
curtains drawn, watched the progress of the night.
‘Shall I wake her?’ said the beautiful Bathsheba. ‘Methinks the stars
are paler! She bade me rouse her long before the dawn.’
‘Her sleep is too benign! Let us not wake her,’ replied the amiable
Beruna. ‘We rouse her only to sorrow.’
‘May her dreams at least be happy;’ rejoined the beautiful Bathsheba.
‘She sleeps tranquilly, as a flower.’
‘The veil has fallen from her head,’ said the amiable Beruna. ‘I will
replace it lightly on her brow. Is that well, my Bathsheba?’
‘It is well, sweet Beruna. Her face shrouded by the shawl is like a
pearl in its shell. See! she moves!’
‘Bathsheba!’
‘I am here, sweet lady.’
‘Is it near dawn?’
‘Not yet, sweet lady; it is yet night. It is long past the noon of
night, sweet lady; methinks I scent the rising breath of morn; but still
‘tis night, and the young moon shines like a sickle in the heavenly
field, amid the starry harvest.’
‘Beruna, gentle girl, give me thy arm. I’ll rise.’
The maidens advanced, and gently raising their mistress, supported her
to the window.
‘Since our calamities,’ said Miriam, ‘I have never enjoyed such tranquil
slumber. My dreams were slight, but soothing. I saw him, but he smiled.
Have I slept long, sweet girls? Ye are very watchful.’
‘Dear lady, let me bring thy shawl. The air is fresh----’
‘But sweet; I thank thee, no. My brow is not so cool as to need a
covering. ‘Tis a fair night!’
Miriam gazed upon the wide prospect of the moonlit capital. The elevated
position of the citadel afforded an extensive view of the mighty groups
of buildings-each in itself a city, broken only by some vast and hooded
cupola, the tall, slender, white minarets of the mosques, or the black
and spiral form of some lonely cypress--through which the rushing
Tigris, flooded with light, sent forth its broad and brilliant torrent.
All was silent; not a single boat floated on the fleet river, not a
solitary voice broke the stillness of slumbering millions. She gazed
and, as she gazed, she could not refrain from contrasting the present
scene, which seemed the sepulchre of all the passions of our race,
with the unrivalled excitement of that stirring spectacle which Bagdad
exhibited on the celebration of the marriage of Alroy. How different
then, too, was her position from her present, and how happy! The only
sister of a devoted brother, the lord and conqueror of Asia, the bride
of his most victorious captain, one worthy of all her virtues, and whose
youthful valour had encircled her brow with a diadem. To Miriam, exalted
station had brought neither cares nor crimes. It had, as it were, only
rendered her charity universal, and her benevolence omnipotent. She
could not accuse herself, this blessed woman--she could not accuse
herself, even in this searching hour of self-knowledge--she could not
accuse herself, with all her meekness, and modesty, and humility, of
having for a moment forgotten her dependence on her God, or her duty to
her neighbour.
But when her thoughts recurred to that being from whom they were indeed
scarcely ever absent; and when she remembered him, and all his life,
and all the thousand incidents of his youth, mysteries to the world, and
known only to her, but which were indeed the prescience of his fame, and
thought of all his surpassing qualities and all his sweet affection,
his unrivalled glory and his impending fate, the tears, in silent agony,
forced their way down her pale and pensive cheek. She bowed her head
upon Bathsheba’s shoulder, and sweet Beruna pressed her quivering hand.
The moon set, the stars grew white and ghastly, and vanished one by one.
Over the distant plain of the Tigris, the scene of the marriage pomp,
the dark purple horizon shivered into a rich streak of white and orange.
The solemn strain of the Muezzin sounded from the minarets. Some one
knocked at the door. It was Caleb.
‘I am ready,’ said Miriam; and for a moment she covered her face with
her right hand. ‘Think of me, sweet maidens; pray for me!’
Leaning on Caleb, and lighted by a gaoler, bearing torches, Miriam
descended the damp and broken stairs that led to the dungeon. She
faltered as she arrived at the grate. She stopped, and leant against the
cold and gloomy wall. The gaoler and Caleb preceded her. She heard the
voice of Alroy. It was firm and sweet. Its accents reassured her. Caleb
came forth with a torch, and held it to her feet; and, as he bent down,
he said, ‘My lord bade me beg you to be of good heart, for he is.’
The gaoler, having stuck his torch in the niche, withdrew. Miriam
desired Caleb to stay without. Then, summoning up all her energies, she
entered the dreadful abode. Alroy was standing to receive her. The
light fell full upon his countenance. It smiled. Miriam could no longer
restrain herself. She ran forward, and pressed him to her heart.
‘O, my best, my long beloved,’ whispered Alroy; ‘such a meeting indeed
leads captivity captive!’
But the sister could not speak. She leant her head upon his shoulder,
and closed her eyes, that she might not weep.
‘Courage, dear heart; courage, courage!’ whispered the captive. ‘Indeed
I am happy!’
‘My brother, my brother!’
‘Had we met yesterday, you would have found me perhaps a little vexed.
But to-day I am myself again. Since I crossed the Tigris, I know not
that I have felt such self-content. I have had sweet dreams, dear
Miriam, full of solace. And, more than dreams, the Lord has pardoned me,
I truly think.’
‘O, my brother! your words are full of comfort; for, indeed, I too have
dreamed, and dreamed of consolation. My spirit, since our fall, has
never been more tranquil.’
‘Indeed I am happy.’
‘Say so again, my David; let me hear again these words of solace!’
‘Indeed, ‘tis very true, my faithful friend. It is not spoken in
kind mockery to make you joyous. For know, last eve, whether the Lord
repented of his wrath, or whether some dreadful trials, of which I will
not speak, and wish not to remember, had made atonement for my manifold
sins, but so it was, that, about the time my angel Miriam sent her
soothing message, a feeling of repose came over me, such as I long have
coveted. Anon, I fell into a slumber, deep and sweet, and, instead of
those wild and whirling images that of late have darted from my brain
when it should rest, glimpses of empire and conspiracy, snatches of
fierce wars and mocking loves, I stood beside our native fountain’s
brink, and gathered flowers with my earliest friend. As I placed the
fragrant captives in your flowing locks, there came Jabaster, that
great, injured man, no longer stern and awful, but with benignant
looks, and full of love. And he said, “David, the Lord hath marked thy
faithfulness, in spite of the darkness of thy dungeon.” So he vanished.
He spoke, my sister, of some strange temptations by heavenly aid
withstood. No more of that. I awoke. And lo! I heard my name still
called. Full of my morning dream, I thought it was you, and I answered,
“Dear sister, art thou here?” But no one answered; and then, reflecting,
my memory recognised those thrilling tones that summoned Alroy in
Jabaster’s cave.’ ‘The Daughter of the Voice?’ ‘Even that sacred
messenger. I am full of faith. The Lord hath pardoned me. Be sure of
that.’
‘I cannot doubt it, David. You have done great things for Israel; no one
in these latter days has risen like you. If you have fallen, you were
young, and strangely tempted.’
‘Yet Israel, Israel! Did I not feel a worthier leader will yet arise, my
heart would crack. I have betrayed my country!’
‘Oh no, no, no! You have shown what we can do and shall do. Your memory
alone is inspiration. A great career, although baulked of its end, is
still a landmark of human energy. Failure, when sublime, is not without
its purpose. Great deeds are great legacies, and work with wondrous
usury. By what Man has done, we learn what Man can do; and gauge the
power and prospects of our race.’
‘Alas! there is no one to guard my name. ‘Twill be reviled; or worse,
‘twill be forgotten.’
‘Never! the memory of great actions never dies. The sun of glory, though
awhile obscured, will shine at last. And so, sweet brother, perchance
some poet, in some distant age, within whose veins our sacred blood may
flow, his fancy fired with the national theme, may strike his harp to
Alroy’s wild career, and consecrate a name too long forgotten?’
‘May love make thee a prophetess!’ exclaimed Alroy, as he bent down his
head and embraced her. ‘Do not tarry,’ he whispered. ‘‘Tis better that
we should part in this firm mood.’
She sprang from him, she clasped her hands. ‘We will not part,’ she
exclaimed, with energy; ‘I will die with thee.’
‘Blessed girl, be calm! Do not unman me.’
‘I am calm. See! I do not weep. Not a tear, not a tear. They are all in
my heart.’
‘Go, go, my Miriam, angel of light. Tarry no longer; I pray thee go. I
would not think of the past. Let all my mind be centred in the present.
Thy presence calls back our bygone days, and softens me too much. My
duty to my uncle. Go, dear one, go!’
‘And leave thee, leave thee to----Oh! my David, thou hast seen, thou
hast heard----Honain?’
‘No more; let not that accursed name profane those holy lips. Raise not
the demon in me.’
‘I am silent. Yet ‘tis madness! Oh! my brother, thou hast a fearful
trial.’
‘The God of Israel is my refuge. He saved our fathers in the fiery
furnace. He will save me.’
‘I am full of faith. I pray thee let me stay.’
‘I would be silent; I would be alone. I cannot speak, Miriam. I ask one
favour, the last and dearest, from her who has never had a thought but
for my wishes; blessed being, leave me.’
‘I go. O Alroy, farewell! Let me kiss you. Again, once more! Let me
kneel and bless you. Brother, beloved brother, great and glorious
brother, I am worthy of you: I will not weep. I am prouder in this dread
moment of your love than all your foes can be of their hard triumph!’
Beruna and Bathsheba received their mistress when she returned to her
chamber. They marked her desolate air. She was silent, pale, and cold.
They bore her to her couch, whereon she sat with a most listless and
unmeaning look; her quivering lips parted, her eyes fixed upon the
ground in vacant abstraction, and her arms languidly folded before
her. Beruna stole behind her, and supported her back with pillows, and
Bathsheba, unnoticed, wiped the slight foam from her mouth. Thus Miriam
remained for several hours, her faithful maidens in vain watching for
any indication of her self-consciousness.
Suddenly a trumpet sounded.
‘What is that?’ exclaimed Miriam, in a shrill voice, and looking up with
a distracted glance.
Neither of them answered, since they were aware that it betokened the
going forth of Alroy to his trial.
Miriam remained in the same posture, and with the same expression of
wild inquiry. Another trumpet sounded, and after that a shout of the
people. Then she raised up her arms to heaven, and bowed her head, and
died.
‘Has the second trumpet sounded?’
‘To be sure: run, run for a good place. Where is Abdallah?’
‘Selling sherbet in the square. We shall find him. Has Alroy come
forth?’
‘Yes! he goes the other way. We shall be too late. Only think of
Abdallah selling sherbet!’
‘Father, let me go?’
‘You will be in the way; you are too young; you will see nothing. Little
boys should stay at home.’
‘No, they should not. I will go. You can put me on your shoulders.’
‘Where is Ibrahim? Where is Ali? We must all keep together. We shall
have to fight for it. I wish Abdallah were here. Only think of his
selling sherbet!’
‘Keep straight forward. That is right. It is no use going that way. The
bazaar is shut. There is Fakreddin, there is Osman Effendi. He has got a
new page.’
‘So he has, I declare; and a very pretty boy too.’
‘Father, will they impale Alroy alive?’
‘I am sure I do not know. Never ask questions, my dear. Little boys
never should.’
‘Yes, they should. I hope they will impale him alive. I shall be so
disappointed if they do not.’
‘Keep to the left. Dash through the Butchers’ bazaar: that is open. All
right, all right. Did you push me, sir?’
‘Suppose I did push you, sir, what then, sir?’
‘Come along, don’t quarrel. That is a Karasmian. They think they are to
do what they like. We are five to one, to be sure, but still there is
nothing like peace and quiet. I wish Abdallah were here with his stout
shoulders. Only think of his selling sherbet!’
The Square of the Grand Mosque, the same spot where Jabaster met Abidan
by appointment, was the destined scene of the pretended trial of Alroy.
Thither by break of day the sight-loving thousands of the capital had
repaired. In the centre of the square, a large circle was described by
a crimson cord, and guarded by Karasmian soldiers. Around this the
swelling multitude pressed like the gathering waves of ocean, but,
whenever the tide set in with too great an impulse, the savage
Karasmians appeased the ungovernable element by raising their
battle-axes, and brutally breaking the crowns and belabouring the
shoulders of their nearest victims. As the morning advanced, the
terraces of the surrounding houses, covered with awnings, were crowded
with spectators. All Bagdad was astir. Since the marriage of Alroy,
there had never been such a merry morn as the day of his impalement.
At one end of the circle was erected a magnificent throne. Half way
between the throne and the other end of the circle, but further back,
stood a company of negro eunuchs, hideous to behold, who, clothed in
white, and armed with various instruments of torture, surrounded the
enormous stakes, tall, thin, and sharp, that were prepared for the final
ceremony.
The flourish of trumpets, the clash of cymbals, and the wild beat of the
tambour, announced the arrival of Alp Arslan from the Serail. An avenue
to the circle had been preserved through the multitude. The royal
procession might be traced as it wound through the populace, by the
sparkling and undulating line of plumes of honour, and the dazzling
forms of the waving streamers, on which were inscribed the names of
Allah and the Prophet. Suddenly, amid the bursts of music, and
the shouts of the spectators, many of whom on the terraces humbled
themselves on their knees, Alp Arslan mounted the throne, around which
ranged themselves his chief captains, and a deputation of the Mullahs,
and Imams, and Cadis, and other principal personages of the city.
The King of Karasmé was tall in stature, and somewhat meagre in form. He
was fair, or rather sandy-coloured, with a red beard, and blue eyes,
and a flat nose. The moment he was seated, a trumpet was heard in the
distance from an opposite quarter, and it was soon understood throughout
the assembly that the great captive was about to appear.
A band of Karasmian guards first entered the circle, and ranged
themselves round the cord, with their backs to the spectators. After
them came fifty of the principal Hebrew prisoners, with their hands
bound behind them, but evidently more for form than security. To these
succeeded a small covered wagon drawn by mules, and surrounded by
guards, from which was led forth, his legs relieved from their manacles,
but his hands still in heavy chains, David Alroy!
A universal buzz of blended sympathy, and wonder, and fear, and triumph
arose, throughout the whole assembly. Each man involuntarily stirred.
The vast populace moved to and fro in agitation. His garments soiled and
tattered, his head bare, and his long locks drawn off his forehead, pale
and thin, but still unsubdued, the late conqueror and Caliph of Bagdad
threw around a calm and imperial glance upon those who were but recently
his slaves.
The trumpets again sounded, order was called, and a crier announced that
his Highness Alp Arslan, the mighty Sovereign of Karasmé, their Lord,
Protector, and King, and avenger of Allah and the Prophet, against all
rebellious and evil-minded Jews and Giaours, was about to speak. There
was a deep and universal silence, and then sounded a voice high as the
eagle’s in a storm.
‘David Alroy!’ said his conqueror, ‘you are brought hither this day
neither for trial nor for judgment. Captured in arms against your
rightful sovereign, you are of course prepared, like other rebels, for
your doom. Such a crime alone deserves the most avenging punishments.
What then do you merit, who are loaded with a thousand infamies, who
have blasphemed Allah and the Prophet, and, by the practice of magic
arts and the aid of the infernal powers, have broken the peace of
kingdoms, occasioned infinite bloodshed, outraged all law, religion, and
decency, misled the minds of your deluded votaries, and especially by a
direct compact with Eblis, by horrible spells and infamous incantations,
captivated the senses of an illustrious Princess, heretofore famous for
the practice of every virtue, and a descendant of the Prophet himself.
‘Behold these stakes of palm-wood, sharper than a lance! The most
terrible retribution that human ingenuity has devised for the guilty
awaits you. But your crimes baffle all human vengeance. Look forward
for your satisfactory reward to those infernal powers by whose dark
co-operation you have occasioned such disasters. Your punishment is
public, that all men may know that the guilty never escape, and that,
if your heart be visited by the slightest degree of compunction for
your numerous victims, you may this day, by the frank confession of the
irresistible means by which you seduced them, exonerate your victims
from the painful and ignominious end with which, through your influence
they are now threatened. Mark, O assembled people, the infinite mercy
of the Vicegerent of Allah! He allows the wretched man to confess his
infamy, and to save by his confession, his unfortunate victims. I have
said it. Glory to Allah!’
And the people shouted, ‘He has said it, he has said it! Glory to Allah!
He is great, he is great! and Mahomed is his prophet!’
‘Am I to speak?’ enquired Alroy, when the tumult had subsided. The
melody of his voice commanded universal attention.
Alp Arslan nodded his head in approbation.
‘King of Karasmé! I stand here accused of many crimes. Now hear my
answers. ‘Tis said I am a rebel. My answer is, I am a Prince as thou
art, of a sacred race, and far more ancient. I owe fealty to no one but
to my God, and if I have broken that I am yet to learn that Alp Arslan
is the avenger of His power. As for thy God and Prophet, I know not
them, though they acknowledge mine. ‘Tis well understood in every
polity, my people stand apart from other nations, and ever will, in
spite of suffering. So much for blasphemy; I am true to a deep faith
of ancient days, which even the sacred writings of thy race still
reverence. For the arts magical I practised, and the communion with
infernal powers ‘tis said I held, know, King, I raised the standard of
my faith by the direct commandment of my God, the great Creator of the
universe. What need of magic, then? What need of paltering with petty
fiends, when backed by His omnipotence? My magic was His inspiration.
Need I prove why, with such aid, my people crowded round me? The time
will come when from out our ancient seed, a worthier chief will rise,
not to be quelled even by thee, Sire.
‘For that unhappy Princess of whom something was said (with no great
mercy, as it seemed to me), that lady is my wife, my willing wife; the
daughter of a Caliph, still my wife, although your stakes may make her
soon a widow. I stand not here to account for female fancies. Believe
me, Sire, she gave her beauty to my raptured arms with no persuasions
but such as became a soldier and a king. It may seem strange to thee
upon thy throne that the flower of Asia should be plucked by one so vile
as I am. Remember, the accidents of Fortune are most strange. I was not
always what I am. We have met before. There was a day, and that too
not long since, when, but for the treachery of some knaves I mark here,
Fortune seemed half inclined to reverse our fates. Had I conquered, I
trust I should have shown more mercy.’
The King of Karasmé was the most passionate of men. He had made a speech
according to the advice and instructions of his councillors, who had
assured him that the tone he adopted would induce Alroy to confess all
that he required, and especially to vindicate the reputation of the
Princess Schirene, who had already contrived to persuade Alp Arslan that
she was the most injured of her sex. The King of Karasmé stamped thrice
on the platform of his throne, and exclaimed with great fire, ‘By my
beard, ye have deceived me! The dog has confessed nothing!’
All the councillors and chief captains, and the Mullahs, and the
Imams, and the Cadis, and the principal personages of the city were
in consternation. They immediately consulted together, and, after much
disputation, agreed that, before they proceeded to extremities, it was
expedient to prove what the prisoner would not confess. A venerable
Sheikh, clothed in flowing robes of green, with a long white beard,
and a turban like the tower of Babel, then rose. His sacred reputation
procured silence while he himself delivered a long prayer, supplicating
Allah and the Prophet to confound all blaspheming Jews and Giaours, and
to pour forth words of truth from the mouths of religious men. And
then the venerable Sheikh summoned all witnesses against David Alroy.
Immediately advanced Kisloch the Kourd, to whom, being placed in an
eminent position, the Cadi of Bagdad drawing forth a scroll from his
velvet bag, read a deposition, wherein the worthy Kisloch stated that he
first became acquainted with the prisoner, David Alroy, in some ruins in
the desert, the haunt of banditti, of whom Alroy was the chief; that
he, Kisloch, was a reputable merchant, and that his caravan had been
plundered by these robbers, and he himself captured; that, on the second
night of his imprisonment, Alroy appeared to him in the likeness of a
lion, and on the third, of a bull with fiery eyes; that he was in the
habit of constantly transforming himself; that he frequently raised
spirits; that, at length, on one terrible night, Eblis himself came in
great procession, and presented Alroy with the sceptre of Solomon Ben
Daoud; and that the next day Alroy raised his standard, and soon after
massacred Hassan Subah and his Seljuks, by the visible aid of many
terrible demons.
Calidas the Indian, the Guebre, and the Negro, and a few congenial
spirits, were not eclipsed in the satisfactory character of their
evidence by the luminous testimony of Kisloch the Kourd. The
irresistible career of the Hebrew conqueror was undeniably accounted
for, and the honour of Moslem arms and the purity of Moslem faith were
established in their pristine glory and all their unsullied reputation.
David Alroy was proved to be a child of Eblis, a sorcerer, and a dealer
in charms and magical poisons. The people listened with horror and with
indignation. They would have burst through the guards and torn him in
pieces, had not they been afraid of the Karasmian battle-axes. So they
consoled themselves with the prospect of his approaching tortures.
The Cadi of Bagdad bowed himself before the King of Karasmé, and
whispered at a respectful distance in the royal ear. The trumpets
sounded, the criers enjoined silence, and the royal lips again moved.
‘Hear, O ye people, and be wise. The chief Cadi is about to read
the deposition of the royal Princess Schirene, chief victim of the
sorcerer.’
And the deposition was read, which stated that David Alroy possessed,
and wore next to his heart, a talisman, given him by Eblis, the virtue
of which was so great that, if once it were pressed to the heart of any
woman, she was no longer mistress of her will. Such had been the unhappy
fate of the daughter of the Commander of the Faithful.
‘Is it so written?’ enquired the captive.
‘It is so written,’ replied the Cadi, ‘and bears the imperial signature
of the Princess.’
‘It is a forgery.’
The King of Karasmé started from his throne, and in his rage nearly
descended its steps. His face was like scarlet, his beard was like a
flame. A favourite minister ventured gently to restrain the royal robe.
‘Kill the dog on the spot,’ muttered the King of Karasmé.
‘The Princess is herself here,’ said the Cadi, ‘to bear witness to the
spells of which she was a victim, but from which, by the power of Allah
and the Prophet, she is now released.’
Alroy started!
‘Advance, royal Princess,’ said the Cadi, ‘and, if the deposition thou
hast heard be indeed true, condescend to hold up the imperial hand that
adorned it with thy signature.’
A band of eunuchs near the throne gave way; a female figure veiled to
her feet appeared. She held up her hand amid the breathless agitation of
the whole assembly; the ranks of the eunuchs again closed; a shriek was
heard, and the veiled figure disappeared.
‘I am ready for thy tortures, King,’ said Alroy, in a tone of deep
depression. His firmness appeared to have deserted him. His eyes were
cast upon the ground. Apparently he was buried in profound thought, or
had delivered himself up to despair.
‘Prepare the stakes,’ said Alp Arslan.
An involuntary, but universal, shudder might be distinguished through
the whole assembly.
A slave advanced and offered Alroy a scroll. He recognised the Nubian
who belonged to Honain. His former minister informed him that he was
at hand, that the terms he offered in the dungeon might even yet be
granted; that if Alroy would, as he doubted not, as he entreated him,
accept them, he was to place the scroll in his bosom, but that if
he were still inexorable, still madly determined on a horrible and
ignominious end, he was to tear the scroll and throw it in to the arena.
Instantly Alroy took the scroll, and with great energy tore it into a
thousand pieces. A puff of wind carried the fragments far and wide.
The mob fought for these last memorials of David Alroy, and this little
incident occasioned a great confusion.
In the meantime the negroes prepared the instruments of torture and of
death.
‘The obstinacy of this Jewish dog makes me mad,’ said the King of
Karasmé to his courtiers. ‘I will hold some parley with him before he
dies.’ The favourite minister entreated his sovereign to be content;
but the royal beard grew so red, and the royal eyes flashed forth such
terrible sparks of fire, that even the favourite minister at length gave
way.
The trumpet sounded, the criers called silence, and the voice of Alp
Arslan was again heard.
‘Thou dog, dost see what is preparing for thee? Dost know what awaits
thee in the halls of thy master Eblis? Can a Jew be influenced even by
false pride? Is not life sweet? Is it not better to be my slipper-bearer
than to be impaled?’
‘Magnanimous Alp Arslan,’ replied Alroy in a tone of undisguised
contempt; ‘thinkest thou that any torture can be equal to the
recollection that I have been conquered by thee?’
‘By my beard, he mocks me!’ exclaimed the Karasmian monarch, ‘he defies
me! Touch not my robe. I will parley with him. Ye see no farther than a
hooded hawk, ye sons of a blind mother. This is a sorcerer; he hath yet
some master spell; he will yet save himself. He will fly into the air,
or sink into the earth. He laughs at our tortures.’ The King of Karasmé
precipitately descended the steps of his throne, followed by his
favourite minister, and his councillors, and chief captains, and the
Cadis, and the Mullahs, and the Imams, and the principal personages of
the city.
‘Sorcerer!’ exclaimed Alp Arslan, ‘insolent sorcerer! base son of a base
mother! dog of dogs! dost thou defy us? Does thy master Eblis whisper
hope? Dost thou laugh at our punishments? Wilt thou fly into the
air? wilt thou sink into the earth? eh, eh? Is it so, is it so?’ The
breathless monarch ceased, from the exhaustion of passion. He tore his
beard out by the roots, he stamped with uncontrollable rage.
‘Thou art wiser than thy councillors, royal Arslan; I do defy thee.
My master, although not Eblis, has not deserted me. I laugh at thy
punishments. Thy tortures I despise. I shall both sink into the earth
and mount into the air. Art thou answered?’
‘By my beard,’ exclaimed the enraged Arslan, ‘I am answered. Let Eblis
save thee if he can;’ and the King of Karasmé, the most famous master
of the sabre in Asia, drew his blade like lightning from its sheath,
and took off the head of Alroy at a stroke. It fell, and, as it fell, a
smile of triumphant derision seemed to play upon the dying features
of the hero, and to ask of his enemies, ‘Where now are all your
tortures?’[82]
NOTES TO ALROY.
[Footnote 1: page 4.--_We shall yet see an ass mount a ladder_.--Hebrew
proverb.]
[Footnote 2: page 12.--Our walls are hung with flowers you love. It is
the custom of the Hebrews in many of their festivals, especially in
the feast of the Tabernacle, to hang the walls of their chambers with
garlands of flowers.]
[Footnote 3: page 13.--_The traditionary tomb of Esther and Mordecai_.
‘I accompanied the priest through the town over much ruin and rubbish
to an enclosed piece of ground, rather more elevated than any in its
immediate vicinity. In the centre was the Jewish tomb-a square building
of brick, of a mosque-like form, with a rather elongated dome at the
top. The door is in the ancient sepulchral fashion of the country, very
small, consisting of a single stone of great thickness, and turning on
its own pivots from one side. Its key is always in possession of
the eldest of the Jews resident at Hamadan. Within the tomb are two
sarcophagi, made of a very dark wood, carved with great intricacy of
pattern and richness of twisted ornament, with a line of inscription in
Hebrew,’ &c.--_Sir R. K. Porter’s Travels in Persia, vol. ii. p. 107_.]
[Footnote 4: page 16.--_A marble fountain, the richly-carved cupola
supported by twisted columns_. The vast magnificence and elaborate
fancy of the tombs and fountains is a remarkable feature of Oriental
architecture. The Eastern nations devote to these structures the richest
and the most durable materials. While the palaces of Asiatic monarchs
are in general built only of wood, painted in fresco, the rarest marbles
are dedicated to the sepulchre and the spring, which are often richly
gilt, and adorned even with precious stones.]
[Footnote 5: page 17.--_The chorus of our maidens._ It is still the
custom for the women in the East to repair at sunset in company to
the fountain for their supply of water. In Egypt, you may observe at
twilight the women descending the banks of the Nile in procession from
every town and village. Their graceful drapery, their long veils not
concealing their flashing eyes, and the classical forms of their vases,
render this a most picturesque and agreeable spectacle.]
[Footnote 6: page 24.--I describe the salty deserts of Persia, a
locality which my tale required; but I have ventured to introduce here,
and in the subsequent pages, the principal characteristics of the great
Arabian deserts: the mirage, the simoom, the gazelle, the oasis.]
[Footnote 7: page 28.--_Jackals and marten-cat._ At nightfall,
especially in Asia Minor, the lonely horseman will often meet the
jackals on their evening prowl. Their moaning is often heard during the
night. I remember, when becalmed off Troy, the most singular screams
were heard at intervals throughout the night, from a forest on the
opposite shore, which a Greek sailor assured me proceeded from a
marten-cat, which had probably found the carcass of some horse.]
[Footnote 8: page 30. Elburz, or Elborus, the highest range of the
Caucasus.]
[Footnote 9: page 31.--_A circular and brazen table, sculptured with
strange characters and mysterious figures; near it was a couch on which
lay several volumes._ A cabalistic table, perhaps a zodiac. The
books were doubtless _Sepher Happeliah_, the Book of Wonders; _Sepher
Hakkaneh_, the Book of the Pen; and _Sepher Habbahir_, the Book of
Light. This last unfolds the most sublime mysteries.]
[Footnote 10: page 32.--_Answered the Cabalist._ ‘Simeon ben Jochai,
who flourished in the second century, and was a disciple of Akibha, is
called by the Jews the Prince of the Cabalists. After the suppression of
the sedition in which his master had been so unsuccessful, he concealed
himself in a cave, where, according to the Jewish historians, he
received revelations, which he after-wards delivered to his disciples,
and which they carefully preserved in the book called Sohar. His master,
Akibha, who lived soon after the destruction of Jerusalem, was the
author of the famous book Jezirah, quoted by the Jews as of Divine
authority. When Akibha was far advanced in life, appeared the famous
impostor Barchochebas, who, under the character of the Messiah, promised
to deliver his countrymen from the power of the Emperor Adrian. Akibha
espoused his cause, and afforded him the protection and support of his
name, and an army of two hundred thousand men repaired to his standard.
The Romans at first slighted the insurrection; but when they found the
insurgents spread slaughter and rapine wherever they came, they sent out
a military force against them. At. first, the issue of the contest
was doubtful. The Messiah himself was not taken until the end of four
years.’--Enfield, _Philosophy of the Jews_, vol. ii.
‘Two methods of instruction were in use among the Jews; the one public,
or _exoteric_; the other secret, or esoteric. The exoteric doctrine was
that which was openly taught the people from the law of Moses and the
traditions of the fathers. The esoteric was that which treated of the
mysteries of the Divine nature, and other sublime subjects, and was
known by the name of the Cabala. The latter was, after the manner of the
Pythagorean and Egyptian mysteries, taught only to certain persons,
who were bound, under the most solemn anathema, not to divulge it.
Concerning the miraculous origin and preservation of the Cabala, the
Jews relate many marvellous tales. They derive these mysteries from
Adam, and assert that, while the first man was in Paradise, the angel
Rasiel brought him a book from heaven, which contained the doctrines
of heavenly wisdom, and that, when Adam received this book, angels came
down to him to learn its contents, but that he refused to admit them to
the knowledge of sacred things entrusted to him alone; that, after the
Fall, this book was taken back into heaven; that, after many prayers
and tears, God restored it to Adam, from whom it passed to Seth. In the
degenerate age before the flood this book was lost, and the mysteries it
contained almost forgotten; but they were restored by special revelation
to Abraham, who committed them to writing in the book _Jezirah.’--Vide
Enfield, vol. ii. p. 219_.
‘The Hebrew word _Cabala,’_ says Dom Calmet, ‘signifies tradition, and
the Rabbins, who are named Cabalists, apply themselves principally to
the combination of certain words, numbers, and letters, by the means of
which they boasted they could reveal the future, and penetrate the
sense of the most difficult passages of Scripture. This science does not
appear to have any fixed principles, but depends upon certain ancient
traditions, whence its name Cabala. The Cabalists have a great number of
names which they style sacred, by means of which they raise spirits, and
affect to obtain supernatural intelligence.’--See Calmet, Art. _Cabala_.
‘We spake before,’ says Lightfoot, ‘of the commonness of Magick among
them, one singular means whereby they kept their own in delusion, and
whereby they affronted ours. The general expectation of the nation of
Messias coming when he did had this double and contrary effect, that it
forwarded those that belonged to God to believe and receive the Gospel;
and those that did not, it gave encouragement to some to take upon
them they were Christ or some great prophet, and to others it gave some
persuasion to be deluded by them. These deceivers dealt most of them
with Magick, and that cheat ended not when Jerusalem ended, though one
would have thought that had been a fair term of not further expecting
Messias; but since the people were willing to be deceived by such
expectation, there rose up deluders still that were willing to deceive
them.’--Lightfoot, vol. ii. p. 371.
For many curious details of the Cabalistic Magic, Vide Basnage, vol. v.
p. 384, &c.]
[Footnote 11: page 34.--_Read the stars no longer_. ‘The modern Jews,’
says Basnage, ‘have a great idea of the influence of the stars.’ Vol.
iv. p. 454. But astrology was most prevalent among the Babylonian
Rabbins, of whom Jabaster was one. Living in the ancient land of the
Chaldeans, these sacred sages imbibed a taste for the mystic lore of
their predecessors. The stars moved, and formed letters and lines, when
consulted by any of the highly-initiated of the Cabalists. This they
styled the Celestial Alphabet.]
[Footnote 12: page 38.--__The Daughter of the Voice. ‘Both the Talmudick
and the latter Rabbins,’ says Lightfoot, ‘make frequent mention of _Bath
Kol, or Filia Vocis_, or an echoing voice which served under the Second
Temple for their utmost refuge of revelation. For when Urim and Thummim,
the oracle, was ceased, and prophecy was decayed and gone, they had,
as they say, certain strange and extraordinary voices upon certain
extraordinary occasions, which were their warnings and advertisements
in some special matters. Infinite instances of this might be adduced, if
they might be believed. Now here it may be questioned why they called
it _Bath Kol, the daughter of a voice,_ and not a voice itself? If the
strictness of the Hebrew word Bath be to be stood upon, which always it
is not, it may be answered, that it is called The Daughter of a Voice
in relation to the oracles of Urim and Thummim. For whereas that was a
voice given from off the mercy-seat, within the vail, and this, upon the
decay of that oracle, came as it were in its place, it might not
unfitly or improperly be called a _daughter_, or successor of that
voice.’--Lightfoot, vol. i. pp. 485, 486. Consult also the learned
Doctor, vol. ii. pp. 128, 129: ‘It was used for a testimony from heaven,
but was indeed performed by magic art.’]
[Footnote 13: page 44.--_The walls and turrets of an extensive city_.
In Persia, and the countries of the Tigris and Euphrates, the traveller
sometimes arrives at deserted cities of great magnificence and
antiquity. Such, for instance, is the city of Anneh. I suppose Alroy to
have entered one of the deserted capitals of the Seleucidae. They are in
general the haunt of bandits.]
[Footnote 14: page 49.--_Punctured his arm._ From a story told by an
Arab.]
[Footnote 15: page 52.--_The pilgrim could no longer sustain himself._
An endeavor to paint the simoom.]
[Footnote 16: page 54.--_By the holy stone._ The Caaba.--The Caaba is
the same to the Mahomedan as the Holy Sepulchre to the Christian. It is
the most unseemly, but the most sacred, part of the mosque at Mecca, and
is a small, square stone building.]
[Footnote 17: page 56.--_I am a Hakim;_ i.e. Physician, an almost sacred
character in the East. As all Englishmen travel with medicine-chests,
the Turks are not be wondered at for considering us physicians.]
[Footnote 18: page 57.--_Threw their wanton jerreeds in the air_. The
Persians are more famous for throwing the jerreed than any other nation.
A Persian gentleman, while riding quietly by your side, will suddenly
dash off at full gallop, then suddenly check his horse, and take a long
aim with his lance with admirable precision. I should doubt, however,
whether he could hurl a lance a greater distance or with greater force
and effect than a Nubian, who will fix a mark at sixty yards with his
javelin.]
[Footnote 19: page 58.--_Some pounded coffee._ The origin of the use of
coffee is obscure; but there is great reason to believe that it had not
been introduced in the time of Alroy. When we consider that the life of
an Oriental at the present day mainly consists in drinking coffee and
smoking tobacco, we cannot refrain from asking ourselves, ‘What did
he do before either of these comparatively modern inventions was
discovered?’ For a long time, I was inclined to suspect that tobacco
might have been in use in Asia before it was introduced into Europe; but
a passage in old Sandys, in which he mentions the wretched tobacco smoke
in Turkey, and accounts for it by that country being supplied with ‘the
dregs of our markets,’ demonstrates that, in his time, there was no
native growth in Asia. Yet the choicest tobaccos are now grown on the
coast of Syria, the real Levant. But did the Asiatics smoke any other
plant or substance before tobacco? In Syria, at the present day, they
smoke a plant called _timbac_; the Chinese smoke opium; the artificial
preparations for the hookah are known to all Indians. I believe,
however, that these are all refinements, and for this reason, that
in the classic writers, who were as well acquainted with the Oriental
nations as ourselves, we find no allusion to the practice of smoking.
The anachronism of the pipe I have not therefore ventured to commit, and
that of coffee will, I trust, be pardoned.]
[Footnote 20: page 58.--_Wilder gestures of the dancing girls._ These
dancing girls abound throughout Asia. The most famous are the Almeh of
Egypt, and the Nautch of India. These last are a caste, the first only a
profession.]
[Footnote 21: page 64.--_For thee the bastinado_. The bastinado is the
common punishment of the East, and an effective and dreaded one. It is
administered on the soles of the feet, the instrument a long cane or
palm-branch. Public executions are very-rare.]
[Footnote 22: page 73.--_A door of tortoise-shell and mother-of-pearl_.
This elegant mode of inlay is common in Oriental palaces, and may be
observed also in Alhambra, at Granada.]
[Footnote 23: page 74.--_A vaulted, circular, and highly embossed roof,
of purple, scarlet, and gold._ In the very first style of Saracenic
architecture. See the Hall of the Ambassadors in Alhambra, and many
other chambers in that exquisite creation.]
[Footnote 24: page 74.--_Nubian eunuchs dressed in rich habits of
scarlet and gold._ Thus the guard of Nubian eunuchs of the present Pacha
of Egypt, Mehemet Ali, or rather Caliph, a title which he wishes to
assume. They ride upon white horses.]
[Footnote 25: page 74.--_A quadrangular court of roses._ So in Alhambra,
‘The Court of Myrtles,’ leading to the Court of Columns, wherein is the
famous Fountain of Lions.]
[Footnote 26: page 75.--_An Abyssinian giant._ A giant is still a common
appendage to an Oriental court even at the present day. See a very
amusing story in the picturesque ‘Persian Sketches’ of that famous
elchee, Sir John Malcolm.]
[Footnote 27: page 75.--_Surrounded by figures of every rare quadruped._
‘The hall of audience,’ says Gibbon, from Cardonne, speaking of the
magnificence of the Saracens of Cordova, ‘was encrusted with gold and
pearls, and a great basin in the centre was surrounded with the curious
and costly figures of birds and quadrupeds.’-_Decline and Fall_, vol. x.
p. 39.]
[Footnote 28: page 76.--_A tree of gold and silver._ ‘Among the other
spectacles of rare and stupendous luxury was a tree of gold and silver,
spreading into eighteen large branches, on which, and on the lesser
boughs, sat a variety of birds made of the same precious metals, as
well as the leaves of the tree. While the machinery effected spontaneous
motions, the several birds warbled their natural harmony.’-_Gibbon,_
vol. x. p. 38, from Abulfeda, describing the court of the Caliphs of
Bagdad in the decline of their power.]
[Footnote 29: page 76.--_Four hundred men led as many white bloodhounds,
with collars of gold and rubies_. I have somewhere read of an Indian or
Persian monarch whose coursing was conducted in this gorgeous style: if
I remember right, it was Mahmoud the Gaznevide.]
[Footnote 30: page 76.--_A steed marked on its forehead with a star._
The sacred steed of Solorhon.]
[Footnote 31: page 78.--_Instead of water, each basin was replenished
with the purest quicksilver._ ‘In a lofty pavilion of the gardens, one
of those basins and fountains so delightful in a sultry climate,
was replenished, not with water, but with the purest quicksilver.’
--_Gibbon_, vol. x, from Cardonne.]
[Footnote 32: page 78.-_Playing with a rosary of pearls and emeralds_.
Moslems of rank are never without the rosary, sometimes of amber and
rare woods, sometimes of jewels. The most esteemed is of that peculiar
substance called Mecca wood.]
[Footnote 33: page 78.--_The diamond hilt of a small poniard._ The
insignia of a royal female.]
[Footnote 34: page 83.--_You have been at Paris_. Paris was known to the
Orientals at this time as a city of considerable luxury and importance.
The Embassy from Haroun Alraschid to Charlemagne, at an earlier date, is
of course recollected.]
[Footnote 35: page 90.--_At length beheld the lost capital of his
fathers._ The finest view of Jerusalem is from the Mount of Olives. It
is little altered since the period when David Alroy is supposed to have
gazed upon it, but it is enriched by the splendid Mosque of Omar, built
by the Moslem conquerors on the supposed site of the temple, and which,
with its gardens, and arcades, and courts, and fountains, may fairly be
described as the most imposing of Moslem fanes. I endeavoured to enter
it at the hazard of my life. I was detected, and surrounded by a crowd
of turbaned fanatics, and escaped with difficulty; but I saw enough
to feel that minute inspection would not belie the general character I
formed of it from the Mount of Olives. I caught a glorious glimpse of
splendid courts, and light aify gates of Saracenic triumph, flights of
noble steps, long arcades, and interior gardens, where silver fountains
spouted their tall streams amid the taller cypresses.]
[Footnote 36: page 91.--_Entered Jerusalem by the gate of Zion_. The
gate of Zion still remains, and from it you descend into the valley of
Siloah.]
[Footnote 37: page 94.-_ King Pirgandicus._ According to a Talmudical
story, however, of which I find a note, this monarch was not a Hebrew
but a Gentile, and a very wicked one. He once invited eleven famous
doctors of the holy nation to supper. They were received in the most
magnificent style, and were then invited, under pain of death, either
to eat pork, to accept a pagan mistress, or to drink wine consecrated
to idols. After long consultation, the doctors, in great tribulation,
agreed to save their heads by accepting the last alternative, since
the first and second were forbidden by Moses, and the last only by the
Rabbins. The King assented, the doctors drank the impure wine, and,
as it was exceedingly good, drank freely. The wine, as will sometimes
happen, created a terrible appetite; the table was covered with dishes,
and the doctors, heated by the grape, were not sufficiently careful of
what they partook. In short, the wicked King Pirgandicus contrived that
they should sup off pork, and being carried from the table quite tipsy,
each of the eleven had the mortification of finding himself next morning
in the arms of a pagan mistress. In the course of the year all the
eleven died sudden deaths, and this visitation occurred to them, not
because they had violated the law of Moses, but because they believed
that the precepts of the Rabbins could be outraged with more impunity
than the Word of God.]
[Footnote 38: page 94.--_And conquered Julius Cæsar._ This classic hero
often figures in the erratic pages of the Talmud.]
[Footnote 39: page 94.--_The Tombs of the Kings._ The present pilgrim to
Jerusalem will have less trouble than Alroy in discovering the Tombs of
the Kings, though he probably would not as easily obtain the sceptre of
Solomon. The tombs that bear this title are of the time of the Asmonean
princes, and of a more ambitious character than any other of the
remains. An open court, about fifty feet in breadth, and extremely
deep, is excavated out of the rock. One side is formed by a portico, the
frieze of which is sculptured in a good Syro-Greek style. There is no
grand portal; you crawl into the tombs by a small opening on one of
the sides. There are a few small chambers with niches, recesses, and
sarcophagi, some sculptured in the same flowing style as the frieze.
This is the most important monument at Jerusalem; and Dr. Clarke,
who has lavished wonder and admiration on the tombs of Zachariah and
Absalom, has declared the Tombs of the Kings to be one of the marvellous
productions of antiquity.]
[Footnote 40: Page 95.--‘_Rabbi Hillel_ was one of the most celebrated
among the Jewish Doctors, both for birth, learning, rule, and children.
He was of the seed of David by his mother’s side, being of the posterity
of Shephatiah, the son of Abital, David’s wife. He was brought up in
Babel, from whence he came up to Jerusalem at forty years old, and there
studied the law forty years more under Shemaiah and Abtalion, and after
them he was President of the Sanhedrim forty years more. The beginning
of his Presidency is generally conceded upon to have been just one
hundred ‘years before the Temple was destroyed; by which account he
began eight-and-twenty years before our Saviour was born, and died
when he was about twelve years old. He is renowned for his fourscore
scholars.’--_Lightfoot,_ vol. ii. p. 2008.
The great rival of Hillel was Shammai. Their controversies, and the
fierceness of their partisans, are a principal feature of Rabbinical
history. They were the same as the Scotists and Thomists. At last
the Bath Kol interfered, and decided for Hillel, but in a spirit of
conciliatory dexterity. The Bath Kol came forth and spake thus: ‘The
words both of the one party and the other are the words of the living
God, but the certain decision of the matter is according to the decrees
of the school of Hillel. And henceforth, whoever shall transgress the
decrees of the school of Hillel is punishable with death.’]
[Footnote 41: page 97.--_A number of small, square, low chambers._ These
excavated cemeteries, which abound in Palestine and Egypt, were often
converted into places of worship by the Jews and early Christians.
Sandys thus describes the Synagogue at Jerusalem in his time.]
[Footnote 42: page 08.--_Their heads mystically covered._ The Hebrews
cover their heads during their prayers with a sacred shawl.]
[Footnote 43: page 98.--_Expounded the law to the congregation of the
people._ The custom, I believe, even to the present day, among the
Hebrews, a remnant of their old academies, once so famous.]
[Footnote 44: page 99.--_The Valley of Jehoshaphat and the Tomb of
Absalom._ In the Vale of Jehoshaphat, among many other tombs, are two
of considerable size, and which, although of a corrupt Grecian
architecture, are dignified by the titles of the tombs of Zachariah and
Absalom.]
[Footnote 45: page 101.--_The scanty rill of Siloah._ The sublime Siloah
is now a muddy rill; you descend by steps to the fountain which is its
source, and which is covered with an arch. Here the blind man received
his sight; and, singular enough, to this very day the healing reputation
of its waters prevails, and summons to its brink all those neighbouring
Arabs who suffer from the ophthalmic affections not uncommon in this
part of the world.]
[Footnote 46: page 102.--_Several isolated tombs of considerable size_.
There are no remains of ancient Jerusalem, or the ancient Jews. Some
tombs there are which may be ascribed to the Asmonean princes; but all
the monuments of David, Solomon, and their long posterity, have utterly
disappeared.]
[Footnote 47: page 103.--_Are cut strange characters and unearthly
forms_. As at Benihassan, and many other of the sculptured catacombs of
Egypt.]
[Footnote 48: page 104.--_A crowd of bats rushed forward and
extinguished his torch._ In entering the Temple of Dendara, our torches
were extinguished by a crowd of bats.]
[Footnote 49: page 104.--_The gallery was of great extent, with a
gradual declination._ So in the great Egyptian tombs.]
[Footnote 50: page 105.--_The Afrite, for it was one of those dread
beings._ Beings of a monstrous form, the most terrible of all the orders
of the Dives.]
[Footnote 51: page 106.--_An avenue of colossal lions of red granite._
An avenue of Sphinxes more than a mile in length connected the quarters
of Luxoor and Carnak in Egyptian Thebes. Its fragments remain. Many
other avenues of Sphinxes and lion-headed Kings may be observed in
various parts of Upper Egypt.]
[Footnote 52: page 107.--_A stupendous portal, cut out of the solid
rock, four hundred feet in height, and supported by clusters of colossal
Caryatides._ See the great rock temple of Ipsambul in Lower Nubia. The
sitting colossi are nearly seventy feet in height. But there is a Torso
of a statue of Rameses the Second at Thebes, vulgarly called the great
Memnon, which measures upwards of sixty feet round the shoulders.]
[Footnote 53: page 109.--_Fifty steps of ivory, and each step guarded by
golden lions._ See 1st Kings, chap. x. 18-20.]
[Footnote 54: page 120.--_Crossed the desert on a swift dromedary_. The
difference between a camel and a dromedary is the difference between a
hack and a thorough-bred horse. There is no other.]
[Footnote 55: page 121.--_That celestial alphabet known to the true
Cabalist_. See Note 11.]
[Footnote 56: page 133.--_The last of the Seljuks had expired._ The
Orientals are famous for their massacres: that of the Mamlouks by
the present Pacha of Egypt, and of the Janissaries of the Sultan, are
notorious. But one of the most terrible, and effected under the most
difficult and dangerous circumstances, was the massacre of the Albanian
Beys by the Grand Vizir, in the autumn of 1830. I was in Albania at the
time.]
[Footnote 57: page 136.--_ The minarets were illumined._ So, I remember,
at Constantinople, at the commencement of 1831 at the departure of the
Mecca caravan, and also at the annual fast of Ramadan.]
[Footnote 58: page 138.--_One asking alms with a wire run through his
cheek._ Not uncommon. These Dervishes frequent the bazaars.]
[Footnote 59: page 142.--_One hundred thousand warriors were now
assembled._ In countries where the whole population is armed, a vast
military force is soon assembled. Barchochebas was speedily at the head
of two hundred thousand fighting men, and held the Romans long in check
under one of their most powerful emperors.]
[Footnote 60: page 143.--_Some high-capped Tatar with despatches._ I
have availed myself of a familiar character in Oriental life, but
the use of a Tatar as a courier in the time of Alroy is, I fear, an
anachronism.]
[Footnote 61: page 144.--_Each day some warlike Atabek, at the head
of his armed train, poured into the capital of the caliphs._ I was
at Yanina, the capital of Albania, when the Grand Vizir summoned the
chieftains of the country, and I was struck by their magnificent arrays
each day pouring into the city.]
[Footnote 62: page 153.--_It is the Sabbath etc_. ‘They began their
Sabbath from sunset, and the same time of day they ended it.’--Talm.
Hierosolym. in _Sheveith_, fol. 33, col. I. The eve of the Sabbath,
or the day before, was called the day of the preparation for the
Sabbath.--Luke xxiii. 54.
‘And from the time of the evening sacrifice and forward, they began to
fit themselves for the Sabbath, and to cease from their works, so as
not to go to the barber, not to sit in judgment, &c.; nay, thenceforward
they would not set things on working, which, being set a-work, would
complete their business of themselves, unless it would be completed
before the Sabbath came--_as wool was not put to dye, unless it
could take colour while it was yet day! &c._--Talm. in Sab., par. I;
Lightfoot, vol. i. p. 218.
‘Towards sunsetting, when the Sabbath was now approaching, they lighted
up the Sabbath lamp. Men and women were bound to have a lamp lighted
up in their houses on the Sabbath, though they were never so poor--nay,
though they were forced to go a-begging for oil for this purpose; and
the lighting up of this lamp was a part of making the Sabbath a
delight; and women were especially commanded to look to this
business.’--Maimonides in Sab. par. 36.]
[Footnote 63: page 156.--_The presence of the robes of honour_. These
are ever carried in procession, and their number denotes the rank and
quality of the chief, or of the individual to whom they are offered.]
[Footnote 64: page 158.--_Pressed it to his lips, and placed it in his
vest._ The elegant mode in which the Orientals receive presents.]
[Footnote 65: page 164.--A cap of transparent pink porcelain, studded with pearls.
Thus a great Turk, who afforded me hospitality, was accustomed to drink
his coffee.]
[Footnote 66: page 168.--_Slippers powdered with pearls_. The slippers
in the East form a very fanciful portion of the costume. It is not
uncommon to see them thus adorned and beautifully embroidered. In
precious embroidery and enamelling the Turkish artists are unrivalled.]
[Footnote 67: page 185.--_The policy of the son of Kareah. Vide_
Jeremiah, chap. xlii.]
[Footnote 68: page 191.--_The inviting gestures and the voluptuous grace
of the dancing girls of Egypt._ A sculptor might find fine studies in
the Egyptian Almeh.]
[Footnote 69: page 194.--_Six choice steeds sumptuously
caparisoned._ Led horses always precede a great man. I think there were
usually twelve before the Sultan when he went to Mosque, which he did in
public every Friday.]
[Footnote 70: page 194.--_Six Damascus sabres of unrivalled temper._
But sabres are not to be found at Damascus, any more than cheeses at
Stilton, or oranges at Malta. The art of watering the blade is, however,
practised, I believe, in Persia. A fine Damascus blade will fetch fifty
or even one hundred guineas English.]
[Footnote 71: page 195.--_Roses from Rocnabad_. A river in Persia famous
for its bowery banks of roses.]
[Footnote 72: page 195.--_Screens made of the feather of a roc._ The
screens and fans in the East, made of the plumage of rare birds with
jewelled handles, are very gorgeous.]
[Footnote 73: page 196.--_A tremulous aigrette of brilliants._ Worn only
by persons of the highest rank. The Sultan presented Lord Nelson after
the battle of the Nile with an aigrette of diamonds.]
[Footnote 74: page 211.--_ To send him the whole of the next course._
These compliments from the tables of the great are not uncommon in
the East. When at the head-quarters of the Grand Vizir at Yanina, his
Highness sent to myself and my travelling companions a course from his
table, singers and dancing girls.]
[Footnote 75: page 212.--_The golden wine of Mount Lebanon_. A most
delicious wine, from its colour, brilliancy, and rare flavour, justly
meriting this title, is made on Lebanon; but it will not, unfortunately,
bear exportation, and even materially suffers in the voyage from the
coast to Alexandria.]
[Footnote 76: page 221.--_And the company of gardeners_. These gardeners
of the Serail form a very efficient body of police.]
[Footnote 77: page 226.--Alroy retired to the bath. The bath is a
principal scene of Oriental life. Here the Asiatics pass a great portion
of their day. The bath consists of a long suite of chambers of various
temperatures, in which the different processes of the elaborate ceremony
are performed.]
[Footnote 78: page 232.--_We are the watchers of the moon._ The feast of
the New Moon is one of the most important festivals of the Hebrews.
‘Our year,’ says the learned author of the ‘Rites and Ceremonies,’ ‘is
divided into twelve lunar months, some of which consist of twenty-nine,
others of thirty days, which difference is occasioned by the various
appearance of the new moon, in point of time: for if it appeared on the
30th day, the 29th was the last day of the precedent month; but if it
did not appear till the 31st day, the 30th was the last day, and the
31st the first of the subsequent month; and that was an intercalary
moon, of all which take the following account.
‘Our nation heretofore, not only observing the rules of some fixed
calculation, also celebrated the feast of the New Moon, according to
the phasis or first appearance of the moon, which was done in compliance
with God’s command, as our received traditions inform us.
‘Hence it came to pass that the first appearance was not to be
determined only by rules of art, but also by the testimony of such
persons as deposed before the Sanhedrim, or Great Senate, that they had
seen the New Moon. So a committee of three were appointed from among the
said Sanhedrim to receive the deposition of the parties aforesaid,
who, after having calculated what time the moon might possibly appear,
despatched some persons _into high and mountainous places, to observe
and give their evidence accordingly, concerning the first appearance of
the moon._
‘As soon as the new moon was either consecrated or appointed to be
observed, notice was given by the Sanhedrim to the rest of the nation
what day had been fixed for the New Moon, or first day of the month,
because that was to be the rule and measure according to which they were
obliged to keep their feasts and fasts in every month respectively.
‘This notice was given to them in time of peace, _by firing of beacons,
set up for that purpose,_ which was looked upon as the readiest way
of communication, but, in time of war, when all places were full of
enemies, who made use of beacons to amuse our nation with, it was
thought fit to discontinue it.’]
[Footnote 79: page 263.--_The women chatted at the fountain_. The bath
and the fountain are the favourite scenes of feminine conversation.]
[Footnote 80: page 264.--_Playing chess._ On the walls of the palace of
Amenoph the Second, called Medeenet Abuh, at Egyptian Thebes, the King
is represented playing chess with the Queen. This monarch reigned long
before the Trojan war.]
[Footnote 81: page 272.--_Impaled._ A friend of mine witnessed this
horrible punishment in Upper Egypt. The victim was a man who had
secretly murdered nine persons. He held an official post, and invited
travellers and pilgrims to his house, whom he regularly disposed of
and plundered. I regret that I have mislaid his MS. account of the
ceremony.]
[Footnote 82: page 299.--In the _Germen Davidis of Gants_, translated
into Latin by Vorstius, Lug. 1654, is an extract from a Hebrew MS.
containing an account of Alroy. I subjoin a translation of a passage
respecting his death.
R. Maimonides deposes: That the Sultan asked him whether he were the
Messiah, and that he answered him, “I am”; and that then the monarch
inquired of him what sign he had. To this he replied that they might cut
off his head and that he would return to life. Then the King commanded
that his head should be cut off, and he died, having said previously
to the monarch that the latter should not lack in his life the most
grievous torments.
Seven years before the incident quoted above, the Israelites had serious
troubles on account of a son of Belial who called himself the Messiah,
so that the tetrarch and the princes were justly incensed against the
Jews, to such an extent, indeed, that they sent to the latter to inquire
whether they desired the reign of the Messiah. The name of this accursed
troubler was David El-David, _alias_ Alroy, who hailed from the city
of Omadia, where were gathered about a thousand rich, honest, happy and
decently-living families, whose tabernacle was the principal resort
of those that dwelt in the neighbourhood of the river Sabbathion; and
around them were gathered more than a hundred minor tabernacles.
This city was on the border of the region of Media, and the dialect
used there was the Targum. Thence to the region of Golan is a journey
of fifty days. It is under the rule of Persia, to which it pays a
heavy tribute every fifteen years, and one golden talent in addition.
Moreover, this man David El-David was educated under the Prince of the
Chaldean captivity, in the care of the eminent Scholiarch, in the city
of Bagdad, who was preeminently wise in the Talmud and in all foreign
sciences, as well as in all books of divination, magic, and Chaldean
lore; This David El-David, out of the boldness and arrogance of his
heart, lifted his hand against the ruling powers, and collected those
Jews who dwelt in the neighbourhood of Mount Chophtan, seducing them to
follow him into battle against all the neighbouring peoples. He showed
them signs-of what value they knew not: there were men, indeed, who
supported him on account of his magic art and of certain things to be
done; others said that his great power came from the hand of God. Those
who flocked to him called him the Messiah, lauding and extolling him.
In another epoch of Persian history a certain Jew arose, calling himself
the Messiah, and prospered greatly. A large part of the Israelitish
population believed in him. But when the King indeed heard of all this
pretender’s power, and that he proposed to join battle with him, he sent
to the Jews who lived thereabouts and notified them that unless they
deserted this man, and came oui; from all association with him, they
certainly should be slain, every one of them, with the sword, and
afterward the children and the women should perish. Then the whole
population of Israel assembled, and argued with this man, and threw
themselves down before him on the ground, strongly supplicating him,
with clamour and tears, to depart from them. Why, indeed, should he
put them and others in danger? Had not the King already sworn that they
should perish by the sword, and wherefore should he bring affliction
upon all the Jewish inhabitants of Persia? Responding, he said: “I have
come to serve you, and ye will not have me. Whom do ye fear? Who dares
stand in front of me, and what doth this Persian King that he dare not
oppose me and my sword?” The Jews asked him what sign he had that he
was the Messiah. He answered: “My mission prospers: the Messiah needs no
other sign.” They answered that many had acted likewise, and that none
had reached success. Then he drove them forth from his face with superb
indignation.]