MAHOMET: 
 
 A TRAGEDY , 
 
 IN FIVE ACTS. 
 
 Translated from the french of U. voltaire. 
 By the REV. JAMES MILLER. 
 
 As performed at the 
 
 AMERICAN THEATRES* 
 
 WITH REMARKS. 
 (first published in 1744.) 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 EUBLISHED BY D. LONGWORTBj 
 
 At the Dramatic Repository, 
 
 JShakspeare■ Gallery . 
 
 1809. 
 
REMARKS. 
 
 This tragedy is a translation from the french, 
 by the rev. James Miller, who possessed the living 
 of Upcerne, in Dorsetshire. He was a Very extra- 
 ordinary man—a political writer, who refused a 
 large bribe, to abandon his opinions, and favor min¬ 
 isters of state. 
 
 A second instance of political firmness is con¬ 
 nected with this drama. On its first representation, 
 on the Dublin stage, a few sentences in the part of 
 Alcanor, had such accidental allusion to some great 
 men, or man, then in power in that nation, that the 
 audience, enraptured upon the utterance, and will¬ 
 ing to show their own implication, encored those 
 lines with such unanimous vehemence, that the per¬ 
 former thought it his duty to repeat them, in com¬ 
 pliance with their desire. 
 
 The late mr. Sheridan, father of the author of 
 “ The School for Scandal,'* was, at that time, man¬ 
 ager of the theatre of Dublin, in which adventure, 
 all his property, all his hopes, were embarked ; yet, 
 he boldly censured the actor, who had yielded to 
 the command of the audience, and forbade a repe¬ 
 tition of any speech in the part of Alcanor, however 
 loudly it might be called for, on the following night. 
 
 Mr. Sheridan knew the predicament in which 
 he was placed * he knew the fury of an exasperated 
 audience in Ireland—he knew their power over all 
 his possessions ; yet, firm in his politics, he beheld, 
 on the next evening, his theatre totally demolished, 
 and his own life in danger, without revoking the 
 peremptory order he had issued. The passage 
 which caused this ferment, is the speech of Al- 
 canor. Act I*—Scene I.——“ If. ye powers di¬ 
 vine V* &c. 
 
4 
 
 REMARKS 
 
 But upon higher ground is this tragedy worthy 
 of note : it is, in the original, the production of 
 Voltaire—has deep interest—and some of the hap? 
 piest thoughts of that celebrated writer are here de¬ 
 livered by the renowned, or affecting personages 
 introduced; whilst tumultuous passions, of various 
 tendency, give energy to every sentence. 
 
 The action of this drama commences just a few 
 years after the foundation of the mahometan em¬ 
 pire ; and, as there are many allusions in the course 
 of the work to the preceding part of the impostor’s 
 life, a short detail from history, of previous events, 
 may enliven the reader’s memory, and increase his 
 attention to the scenes which follow. 
 
 Mahomet, the founder of a religion, which soon 
 became, and still continues to be, the prevailing re¬ 
 ligion of the East, was born in A. D. 570, at Mec- 
 pa, a city of Arabia. His parents were poor, and, 
 having both died jn his early age, the guardianship 
 of their orphan devolved on an uncle, who employ¬ 
 ed him to go with his caravans, from Mecca to 
 Damascus. 
 
 In this employment of camel-driver, MahOmet 
 continued till he was twenty-eight years of age, 
 when he married a rich widow. Whether riches 
 first inspired him with ambition, or ambition had 
 induced him to marry for wealth, has not been de¬ 
 termined; but, no sooner did he find himself ele¬ 
 vated above his original rank in society, than he 
 formed the mighty plan of subjugating the whole 
 eastern world to his dominion. 
 
 Mahomet, perhaps, falsely conceived, that impo¬ 
 sition was the basis, on which all governments 
 were built; and that, instead of being singular in 
 his conduct, he merely followed the examples of 
 
REMARKS 
 
 5 
 
 other lawgivers, when he became sanctified in ap¬ 
 pearance, and when he boldly spoke of prodigies, 
 by which he was invested with sovereign power 
 from heaven, both as a king and prophet. 
 
 Whatever were his notions of past events, he 
 formed an accurate judgment of the future-—he 
 foresaw that an impostor mierht be obeyed—adored; 
 —and that no extravagance of mystery or miracle, 
 
 . was too wonderful, or too ridiculous, for a people’s 
 ^ belief. 
 
 Though Mahomet was too illiterate to write his 
 own sacred laws in his divine book, the koran, he 
 possessed the knowledge to tell a surprising tale of 
 its being entrusted to his hands by an angel from 
 heavenwhich incredible occurrence had more 
 power in gaining him proselytes, than all the mor¬ 
 al precepts gathered from the jewish and Christian 
 ^ scriptures, with which the learned men whose ser¬ 
 vices he purchased, had adorned this work. 
 
 No sooner was the supposed prophet followed, 
 and his creed accepted by the poor and ignorant, 
 than, like most innovators, he was accused of prof¬ 
 anation, by the rich and the wise. To escape the 
 punishment of the enraged senate at Mecca, he 
 took refuge in Medina ; there, first established his 
 ! temporal, as well as his spiritual power, and taught, 
 that his doctrines were to be enforced by the sword* 
 
 Mecca, and all the jewish arabs, were the first 
 who experienced the cruel progress of the impos¬ 
 tor’s faith. In vanquishing all Arabia, twice he 
 besieged the city of his birth-place, some years e- 
 lapsing between the attacks. On his second as¬ 
 sault upon Mecca it is, that this tragedy opens, with 
 one of its first citizens and senators—Alcanor. 
 
 A 3, 
 
PROLOGUE, 
 
 To point what lengths credulity has run, 
 
 What counsels shaken and what states undone, 
 
 What hellish fury wings the enthusiast's rage, 
 
 Ana makes the troubled earth one tragic stage, 
 
 What blasphemies imposture dure advance, 
 
 And build what terrors on iveak ignorance. 
 
 How ft aud alone rage to religion binds, 
 st na makes a pandemonium of our minds ; 
 
 Our gallic ba> d, fired with these glorious views, 
 
 First to his crusade led the tragic muse. 
 
 Her power through France his charming numbers bore, 
 But France was deaf—-for all her priests were sore. 
 
 On english ground she makes a firmer stand. 
 
 And hopes to suffer by no hostile hand : 
 
 No clergy here usurp the free born mind. 
 
 Ordain dlo teach, and not enslave mankind ; 
 
 Religion here bids peisecution cease, 
 
 Without all order, and within all peace ; 
 
 T uth guards her happy pale with watchful care. 
 
 And frauds, though pious, find no entrance there. 
 
 Religion to be sacred must be free ; 
 
 Men will suspect—where bigots keep the key : 
 
 Hooded and train'd, like hawks the enthusiasts fly. 
 
 And the priests' victims in their pounces die: 
 
 Like whelps born blind, by mother church they're bred, j 
 Nor wake to sight to know themselves misled ; 
 Murder's the game and to the sport unprest , 
 
 Proud of the sin, and in the duty blest , 
 
 The layman’s but the blood hound of thepriest. 
 
 Whoe'er thou, art that dar'st such themes advance,. 
 
 To priest rid Spain repair, or slavish France, 
 
 For Juda's hire there do the devil's task. 
 
 And trick up slavery in religions mask ; 
 
 Mug and still free no surer nitons requires 
 
 %o sink their sottish souls and dump their martial fires. 
 
PROtOGUE 
 
 t 
 
 Britons! these numbers to yourselves you owe ; 
 
 Voltaire hath strength to shoot in Shakspeare's bow ; 
 Fame led him at his Hypocrene to drink, 
 
 And taught to write with nature as to think : 
 
 With englishfreedom english withe kneiv. 
 
 And from the ineihausted stream profusely drew : 
 Cherish the noble bard yourselves have made , 
 
 Nor let the frauds of France steal all our trade. 
 Now of each prize the winner has the wearing. 
 
 E'en send our english stage a privateering ; 
 
 With your commission we ll our sails unfoi'd, 
 
 And from their toads of dross import some gold 
 
DRAMATIS PERSONS. 
 
 Mahomet,. Mr. Rutherford; 
 
 Z«p*ma, ...... Master Payne 
 
 Alcanor, . Mr Tyler 
 
 Mirvan, . Mr. Robertson 
 
 All, Mr. TXarley 
 
 Pharon, .. Mr. Huntington 
 
 Htrcides, . Mr. Shafiter 
 
 Ainmon, . Mr. Doyle 
 
 Palmira, .. Mrs. Twain 
 
 SCENE...Mecca. 
 
 The passages marked thus (“). are omitted in 
 the representation. 
 
f 
 
 MAHOMET- 
 
 ACT I. 
 
 scene i —an afiartment in the temfile of Mecca : . 
 
 enter alcanor and tharon. 
 
 Jlc. Pharon, no moi’e—shall I 
 Fall prostrate to an arrogant impostor, 
 
 Homage, in Mecca, one I banish’d thence, 
 
 And incense the delusions of a rebel ? 
 
 ^ No ! blast Alcanor, righteous heaven, if e’er 
 This hand, yet free and uncontaminate, 
 
 Shall league with fraud, or adulate a tyrant! 
 
 Phar. August and sacred chief of Ishmael’s sen¬ 
 ate, 
 
 This zeal of thine, paternal as it is, 
 
 Is fatal now—our impotent resistance 
 * Controls not Mahomet’s unbounded progress, 
 
 But, without weak’ning, irritates the tyrant. 
 
 When once a citizen, you well condemn’d him 
 As an obscure seditious innovator ; 
 
 But now he is a conq’ror, prince, and pontiff, 
 Whilst nations, numberless, embrace his laws, 
 And pay him adoration—ev’n in Mecca 
 He boast? his proselytes. 
 
so 
 
 ■MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 Ale. Such proselytes 
 
 Are worthy of him—-low, untutor’d reptiles, 
 
 “ In whom sense only lives”—most credulous still 
 Of what is most incredible. 
 
 Phar. Be such 
 
 Disdain’d, my lord 1 but, mayn’t the pest spread 
 upwards, 
 
 And seize the head ?—say, is the senate sound ? 
 
 I fear some members of that rev’rend class 
 Are mark’d with the contagion, who, from views 
 Of higher pow’r and rank, 
 
 Worship this rising sun, and give a sanction 
 To his invasions. 
 
 Ale. If, ye pow’rs divine ! 
 
 Ye mark the movements of this nether world, 
 
 And bring them to account, crush, crush those vi¬ 
 pers, 
 
 Who, singled out by a community 
 
 To guard their rights, shall, for grasp of ore, 
 
 Or paltry office, sell them to the foe 1 
 
 Phar. Each honest citizen, I grant, is thine, 
 And, grateful for thy boundless blessings on them, 
 Would serve thee with their lives; but the approach 
 Of this usurper, to their very walls, 
 
 Strikes them with such a dread, that e’en these 
 Implore thee to accept his proffer’d peace. 
 
 Ale. Oh, people lost to wisdom, as to glory! 
 
 Go. bring in pomp, and serve upon your knees 
 This idol, that will brush you with its weight. 
 Mark, I abjure him! by his savage hand 
 My wife and children perish’d, whilst in vengeance, 
 I carrv’d carnage to his very tent; 
 
 Transfix’d to earth his only son, and wore 
 His trappings, as a trophy of my conquest. 
 
Act 2} stAjaoiiEf 41 
 
 This torch of comity, thus lighted ’twixt us, 
 
 The hand of time itself can ne’er extinguish. 
 
 Phar. Extinguish not, but smother for a while 
 Its fatal Same, and greatly sacrifice 
 Thy private sufferings to the public welfare. 
 
 “ Qh, say, Alcanor, vvert thou to behold 
 (As soon thou may’st) this famed metropolis 
 With foes begirt, behold its pining tenants 
 Prey on each other for the means of life, 
 
 Whilst lakes of blood and mountains of the slain 
 Putrify the air, 
 
 And sweep off* thousands with their pois’ndus 
 steams ; 
 
 Would thy slain children be avenged by this ? 
 
 Ale. No, Pharon, no ; I live not for myself 
 My wife and children lost, my country’s now 
 My family. 
 
 Phar. Then let not that be lost. 
 
 “ Ale. Tis lost by cowardice. 
 
 Phar. ,By rashness often.” 
 
 Ale. Pharon, desist. 
 
 Phar. My noble lord, I cannot, 
 
 Must not desist, will not, since you’re possess’d 
 Of means, to bring this insoleut invader 
 To any terms you’ll claim* 
 
 Ale. What means ? 
 
 Phar. Palmira, 
 
 That blooming fair, the flow’r of all his camp, 
 
 By thee borne off in our last skirmish with him, v 
 Seems the divine ambassadress of peace, 
 
 Sent to procure our safety. Mahomet 
 
 Has, by his heralds, thrice proposed her ransom. 
 
 And bade us fix the price. 
 
 Ak. I know it) Pharon : 
 
12 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Mtler 
 
 And wouldst thou, then, restore this noble treasure 
 To that barbarian ? “ wouldst thou for the frauds, 
 
 The deaths, the devastations, he brings on us 
 Enrich his ruffian hands with such a gem,” 
 
 And render beauty the reward of rapine ? 
 
 Nay, smile not, friend, u nor think that at these 
 years, 
 
 Well traveled in the winter of my days, 
 
 I entertain a thought tow’rds this young beauty 
 But what’s as pure as is the western gale 
 
 That breathes upon the uncropt violet-” 
 
 Phar. My lord- 
 
 Ale. This heart, by age and grief congeal’d, 
 
 Is no more sensible to love’s endearments, 
 
 Than are our barren rocks to morn’s sweet dew r 
 That, balmy, trickles down their rugged cheeks. 
 
 Phar. My noble chief, each masterpiece of nature 
 Commands involuntary homage from us. 
 
 Ale. I own a tenderness unfelt before, 
 
 A sympathetic grief with ardent wishes 
 To make her happy fill’d my widow’d bosom : 
 
 I dread her being in that monster’s power, 
 
 And burn to have her hate him like myself. 
 
 Twason this hour I, at her modest suit, 
 
 Promised her audience in my own pavilion. 
 
 Pharon, go thou mean-while and see the senate 
 Assembled straight—I’ll sound ’em as I ought. ' 
 [exeunt severally: 
 
 scene ii —mchanges to a room of state, 
 enter palmira. 
 
 Pal. What means this boding terror that usurps, 
 "fn spite o’ me, dominion o’er my heart, 
 
MAHOMET 
 
 4ctt\ 
 
 
 « Converting the sweet flower of new-blown hope 
 To deadly night-shade, pois’ning to my soul 
 The fountain of its bliss ?”—oh, holy prophet l 
 Shall I ne’er more attend thy sacred lessons ? 
 
 Oh, Zaphna, much-loved youth ! I feel for thee 
 As for myself—but hold, my final audit 
 Is now at hand—I tremble for th’ event 1 
 Here comes my judge—now liberty or bondage t 
 
 enter alcanor. 
 
 Ale . Palmira, whence those tears ? trust me, fair 
 maid ! 
 
 Thou art not fallen into barbarians’ hands ; 
 
 What Mecca can afford of pomp or pleasure, 
 
 To call attention from misfortune’s lap, 
 
 Demand and share it. 
 
 Pal. No, my generous victor 1 
 My suit’s for nothing Mecca can afford ; 
 
 Pris’ner these two long months beneath your roof 
 I’ve tasted such benignity and candor, 
 
 “ Whilst your own hands so labor’d to beguile 
 The anxious moments of captivity,” 
 
 That oft I’ve call’d my tears ingratitude. 
 
 Ale. If ought remains that’s in my power to 
 smooth 
 
 The rigor of your fate, and crown your wishes, 
 Why, twould fill 
 
 The furrows in my cheeks, and make old age 
 Put on its summer’s garb. 
 
 Pal. Thus low I bless thee. (kneeling) 
 
 It is on you, on you alone, Alcanor, 
 
 My whole of future happiness depends i 
 Have pity then; 
 
 B 
 
H 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 Pity, Alcanor, one who’s 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. 
 
 Ale. Is slav’ry dear then ? is fraud venerable ? 
 What country ? a tumultuous wand’ring camp l 
 Pal . My country, sir, is not a single spot 
 Of suefcua mould, or fix’d to such a clime ; 
 
 No, tis the social circle of my friends, 
 
 The loved community in which I’m link’d, 
 
 And in whose welfare all my wishes centre. 
 
 Ale. Excellent maid l then Mecca be thy coun¬ 
 try. 
 
 Robb’d 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. 
 Ale. Of parent, prince, and prophet I heavens 1 
 that robber 
 
 Who, a scaped felon, emulates a throne, 
 
 And scoffer at all faiths proclaims a new one I 
 Pal. Oh, cease my lord ; this blasphemous abuse. 
 On one whom millions with mvself adore 
 Does violence to my ear ; such black profaneness 
 Gainst heav’n’s interpreter blots out remembrance 
 Of favors past, and nought succeeds but horror. 
 
 Ale. Oh, superstition ! thy pernicious rigors. 
 Inflexible to reason, truth, and nature, 
 
 Banish humanity the gentlest breasts. 
 
Act /] MAHOMET 15 
 
 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 suff’ring virtue ? 
 
 Name but the ransom, 
 
 And Mahomet will treble what you ask. 
 
 Ale. There is no ransom Mahomet can offer 
 Proportion’d to the prize. “Trust me, Palmira* 
 
 I cannot yield thee up. What 1 to a tyrant 
 Who wrongs thy youth, and mocks thy tender heart 
 With vile illusions and fanatic terrors 1” 
 
 enter pharos. 
 
 What wouldst thou, Pharon ? 
 
 Pmr Torn yon western gate, 
 
 Which opens on Moradia’s fertile plains, 
 Mahomet’s gen’ral, Mirvan, hastes to greet thee. 
 Ale Mirvan, that vile apostate 1 
 Phar. In one hand 
 He holds a scimitar, the other bears 
 An olive branch, which to our chiefs he waves, 
 
 An emblem of his suit— a martial youth, 
 
 Zaphna by name, attends him for our hostage. 
 
 Pal. (apart) Zaphna I mysterious heaven I 
 Phar. Mirvan advances 
 This way, my lord, to render you his charge. 
 
 Ale. “ Mirvan, advance ! how dare the traitor see 
 me ?” 
 
 Palmira, thou retire—Pharon, be present. 
 
 [exit Palmira 
 
16 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Millar 
 
 enter mirvan. 
 
 After six years of infamous rebellion 
 Against thy native country, dost thou, Mirvan, 
 Again profane with thy detested presence 
 These sacred walls which once thy hands defended, 
 But thy bad heart has vilely since betray’d ? 
 
 Thou poor deserter of thy country’s gods, 
 
 Thou base invader of thy country’s rights* 
 
 What wouldst thou have with me ? 
 
 Mir. I’d pardon thee- 
 
 Out of compassion to thy age and suff’rings, 
 
 And high regard for thy experienced valor. 
 Heaven’s great apostle offers thee in friendship 
 A hand could crush thee, and I come commis¬ 
 sion’d 
 
 To name the terms of peace he deigns to tender. 
 
 Me. He deigns to tender I insolent impostor ! 
 Dost thou not, Mirvan, 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, 
 
 Mv judgment slept: but when I found him born 
 To mould anew the prostrate universe, 
 
 I started from my dream, join’d his career, 
 
 And shared his arduous and immortal labors. 
 
 Once, I must own, I was as blind as thou ; 
 
 Then wake to glory, and be changed like me. 
 
 .Me. What death to honor wak’ning to such glo» 
 
Jet 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 17 
 
 Phar. Oh, what a fall from virtue was that 
 
 change 
 
 Mir. Come, embrace our faith» reign with Ma¬ 
 homet, 
 
 And clothed in terrors make the vulgar tremble. 
 Ale. Tis Mahomet, and tyrants like to Mahomet, 
 Tis Mirvan, and apostates like to Mirvan, 
 
 I only would make tremble-w-Is it, say’st thou, 
 Religion that’s the parent qf this rapine, 
 
 This virulence and rage ?-rr-no ; true religion 
 Is always mild, propitious, and hum a ne, 
 
 Plays not the tyrant, plants no faith in blood, 
 
 “ Nor bears destruction on her chariot wheels,” 
 
 But stoops to polish, succor, and redress, 
 
 And builds her grandeur on the public good. 
 
 Mir. Thou art turn’d Christian sure 1 some 
 straggling monk 
 
 Has taught thee these tame lessons——- 
 Ale. 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 slaugh¬ 
 ter. 
 
 Worship a cruel and revengeful being, 
 
 And draw him always with his thunder round him 
 As ripe for the destruction of mankind.” 
 
 Mir, Jf clemency delights thee learn it here. 
 Though banish’d by thy voice his native cityy 
 Though by thy hand robb’d of his only son, 
 Mahomet pardons thee; nay farther, begs 
 The hatred burning twixt you be extinguished 
 B 2 
 
18 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 With reconciliation’s gen’rous tear* 
 
 Ale. I know thy master’s arts; his gen’rous tears, 
 Like the refreshing drops that previous fall 
 To the wild outrage of o’erwhelming earthquakes 
 Only fore-run destruction; 
 
 “ Courage he has, not bravery, 
 
 For blood and havoc are the sure attendants 
 On his victorious car.” 
 
 Phar. Leagues he will make too- 
 
 Ale . Like other grasping tyrants, till he eyes 
 A lucky juncture to enlarge his bounds, 
 
 Then he’ll deride ’em, leap o’er every tie 
 Of sacred guarantee or sworn protection, 
 
 And when th’ oppress’d ally implores assistance 
 Beneath that mask invade the wish’d 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. 
 
 Ale. Lust and ambition, Mirvan, are the springs 
 Of all his actions, whilst without one virtue 
 Dissimulation, like a flatt’ring painter, 
 
 Bedecks him with the coloring of them all: 
 
 This is the master-portrait—but no more- 
 
 My soul’s inexorable, and my hate 
 Immortal as the cause from whence it sprang. 
 
 Mir. What cause- 
 
 Ale. The difference between good and evil. 
 
 Mir. Thou talk’st to me, Alcanor, with an air 
 Of a stern judge, that from his dread tribunal 
 Intimidates the criminal beneath him: 
 
 Besume thy temper, act the minister, 
 
Act F\ 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 19 
 
 And treat with me aS with th’ ambassador 
 Of heaven’s apostle, and Arabia’s king. 
 
 Ale. Arabia’s king I what king! who crown’d 
 him l 
 
 Mir. Conquest—— 
 
 Whilst to the style of conq’ror and of monarch — 
 Patron of peace he’d add—.name then the price 
 Of peace and of Palmira—boundless treasures, 
 
 The spoils of vanquish’d monarchs, and the stores 
 Of rifled provinces, are thrown before thee. 
 
 Our troops with matchless ardor hasten hither 
 To lay in ruin this rebellious city ; 
 
 Stem then the rushing torrent: Mahomet 
 In person comes to claim a conference with thee 
 For this good purpose. 
 
 Ale. Who ! Mahomet! 
 
 Mir. Yes, he conjures thou’lt grant it. 
 
 Ale. Traitor ! were I sole ruler here in Mecca 
 
 I’d answer thee with chastisement- 
 
 Mir. Hot man ? 
 
 I pity thy false virtue—but farewell- 
 
 And since the senate share thy power in Mecca 
 To their serentr wisdoms I’ll appeal, \exit Mirvan 
 Ale. 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 powersj 
 
 My country’s gods, that for three thousand years 
 Have reign’d protectors of the tribe of Ishmael, 
 
 Oh ! support my spirit 
 
 In that firm purpose it has always held, 
 
 To combat violence, fraud, and usurpation;,- 
 
30 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 To pluck the spoil from the oppressor’s jaws, 
 
 And keep my country as I found it free. [exeunt 
 
 END OF THE FIRST ACT. 
 
 ACT II. 
 
 scene i— Palmira’s apartment, 
 enter palmira. 
 
 Pal. Cease, cease ye streaming instruments of 
 woe 
 
 From your ignoble toil—-take warmth, my heart! 
 Collect thy scatter’d powers, and brave misfortune. 
 In vain the storm-tost mariner repines ; 
 
 “ Were he within to raise as great a tempest 
 As beats him from without, it would not smooth 
 One boist’rous surge impatience only throws 
 Discredit on mischance, and adds a shame 
 To our affliction. 
 
 enter zaphna. 
 
 Ha ! all gracious heaven ! 
 
 Thou, Zaphna ! is it thou ? what pitying angel 
 Guided thy steps to these abodes of bondage ? 
 
 “ Zaph. Thou sov’reign of my soul and all its 
 powers, 
 
 Object of ev’ry fear and ev’ry wish, 
 
 Friend, sister, love, companion, all that’s dear !” 
 
 Do I once more behold thee, my Palmira ? 
 
 Oh, I will set it down the whitest hour 
 That Zaphna e’er was blest with ! 
 
MAHOME’f 
 
 r Jct 11] 
 
 31 
 
 “ Pal. Say, iny hero- 
 
 Are my ills ended then ? they are, they are : 
 
 Now Zaphna’s here I am no more a captive 
 Except to him : oh, ble6t captivity ! 
 
 Zajih. Those smiles are dearer to my raptur’d 
 breast, 
 
 Sweeter those accents to my list’ning heart, 
 Than^all Arabia’s spices to the sense.” 
 
 Pal. No wonder that my soul was so elate, 
 
 No wonder that the cloud of grief gave way, 
 
 W hen thou, my sun ot comfort, were so nigh. 
 Zaph. Since that dire hour, when on SabariaNs 
 strand 
 
 The barb’rous foe deprived me of Palmira, 
 
 In what a gulf of horror and despair 
 Have thy imagined perils plunged my soul! 
 Stretch’d on expiring corses for a while 
 To the deaf stream I pour’d out my complaint, 
 And begg’d I might be number’d 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 dispatch’d 
 The valiant Mirvan to demand a truce s 
 Instant on wings of lightning I pursued him, 
 
 And enter’d as his hostage—fix’d, Palmira, 
 
 Or to redeem or die a captive with thee. 
 
 Pal. Heroic youth ! 
 
 .Zafih. But how have these barbarians 
 Treated my fair ? 
 
 Pal. With high humanity. 
 
 I in my victor found a fi’ienri—Alcanor 
 Has made me feel captivity in nothing 
 But absence from my Zaphna and my friend?. 
 
n 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 {_MHkr 
 
 Zafili. I grieve a soul so generous in our ioe ; 
 
 But now presented as an hostage to him, 
 
 His noble bearing and humanity 
 
 Made captive of my heart ; I felt, methought, 
 
 A new affection lighted in my breast, 
 
 And wonder’d whence the infant ardor sprang. 
 
 Pal. Yet, gen’rous as he is, not all my prayers, 
 Not all the tears I lavish at his feet, 
 
 Can move him to restore me- 
 
 Zahk. 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 vanquish’d infidels—that power 
 Which brought unnumber'd battlements to earth, 
 Will humble Mecca too. 
 
 enter mirvan. 
 
 Well, noble Mirvan, 
 
 Do my Palmira's chains sit loose upon her; 
 
 Say, is-it freedom ? this presumptuous senate— 
 Mir. Has granted all we ask’d, all we could 
 wish— 
 
 The truce obtain’d, the gates to Mahomet 
 Flew open- 
 
 Zafih. Mahomet in Mecca say’st thou ? 
 
 Once more in Mecca 1 
 
 Pal. Transport! bid him welcome. 
 
 Zafih. Thy suff’rings then are o’er, the ebb is 
 past, 
 
 And a full tide of hope flows in upon us. 
 
 “ Mir. The spirit of our prophet that inspired 
 me 
 
 Breath’d such divine persuasion from my lips 
 
Act 17 ] 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 23 
 
 As shook the reverend fathers—sirs, cry’d I, 
 
 This fav’rite of high heaven, who ruies in battle, 
 Before whose footstool tributary kings 
 Bow the anointed head, born here in Mecca, 
 
 Asks but to be enroll’d a senator, 
 
 And you refuse his prayer. Deluded sages ! 
 Although your conq’ror he requests no more, 
 
 Than one day’s truce, pure pity to yourselves ! 
 
 To save you if he can, and you—oh, shame l 
 At this a gen’ral murmur spread a round, 
 
 Which seem’d propitious to us . 
 
 Zafili. Greatly carry’d i 
 Go on——- 
 
 Mir. Then straight th’ inflexible Alcanor 
 Flew through the streets, assembling all the people 
 To .bar our prophet. Thither too I fled, 
 
 Urg’d the same arguments, exhorted, threaten’d, 
 Till they unhing’d the gates, and gave free passage 
 To Mahomet and his chiefs—in vain Alcanor 
 And his disen hearten’d party, strove t’ oppose him ; 
 Serene and dauntless through the gazing crowd, 
 With more than human majesty he mov’d, 
 Bearing the peaceful olive, whilst the truce 
 
 Was instantly proclaim’d-” 
 
 Pal. But where’s the prophet ? 
 
 Mir. Reclin’d in yonder grot that joins the temple, 
 Attended by his chiefs. 
 
 Zaph. There let us haste 
 
 With duteous step, and bow ourselves before him. 
 
 [exeunt 
 
 scene ii —changes to a spacious grotto, mahomet 
 discovered with the alcoran before him. 
 
 Mali. Glorious hypocrisy! what fools are they 
 
n 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 W ho fraught with lustful or ambitious views 
 Wear not thy specious mask. Thou, alcoran ! 
 Hast won more battles, ta’en more cities for me_, 
 Than thrice my feeble numbers had achieved 
 Without the succor of thy sacred impulse. 
 
 enter hercides, ammon, and ali. 
 Invincible supporters of our grandeur ! 
 
 My faithful chiefs, Hercides, Ammon, Ali ,1 
 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 Her. HSfc. 
 
 Her angel-face, with unfeign’d blushes spread, 
 Proclaims the purity that dwells within. 
 
 enter mirvan, zaphna and palmira. 
 
 fto Palmira ) The hand of war was ne’er before S© 
 barbarous. 
 
 Never bore from me half so rich a spoil 
 As thee, my fair. 
 
 Pal. Joy to my heavenly guardian 1 
 Joy to the world that Mahomet’s in Mecca 1 
 
 Mah. My child, let me embrace thee-how’s 
 
 this, Zaphna 1 
 Thou here ! 
 
 Zaph. Ckneeling) My father, chief, and holy 
 pontiff! 
 
 The god that thou’rt inspir’d by march’d before 
 me. 
 
 ’Ready for thee to“ wade through seas of danger, 
 Or” cope with death itself, I hjthw hasten’d 
 
(Act IT] 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 25 
 
 To yield myself an hostage, and with zeal 
 Prevent thy order. 
 
 Mah. Twas not well, rash boy : 
 
 He that does more than I command him, erfs 
 As much as he who falters in his duty, 
 
 And is not for my purpose—I obey 
 My god—implicitly obey thou me. 
 
 Pal. Pardon, my gracious lord, his well-meant 
 ardor, 
 
 Brought up from tender infancy beneath 
 The shelter of thy sacred patronage, 
 
 Zaphna and I've been animated still 
 By the same sentiments : “ alas, great prophet! 
 I've had enough of wretchedness—to languish 
 A prisoner here, far both from him and you; 
 Grudge me not then the ray of consolation 
 His presence beam’d, nor cloud my dawning hope 
 Of rising freedom and felicity.” 
 
 Mah. Palmira, tis enough ; I read thy heart*-. 
 Be not alarm’d ; though burden’d with the cares 
 Of thrones and altars, still my guardian eye 
 Will watch o’er thee as o’er the universe. 
 
 Follow my generals, Zaphna. Fair Palmira, 
 Retire and pay your powerful vows to heaven, 
 
 And dread no wrongs but from Alcanor. 
 
 [Zaphna and Palmira go out separately 
 
 Mirvan-- 
 
 Attend thou here—.tis time, my trusty soldier, 
 
 My long-try’d friend, to lay unfolded to thee, 
 
 The close resolves and councils of my heart. 
 
 “ The tedious length of a precarious siege 
 May damp the present ardor of my troops.) 
 
 And check me in the height of my career. 
 
 Fet ns not give deluded mortals leisure 
 
 G 
 
26 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 TMiller 
 
 By reason to disperse the mystic gloom 
 We’ve cast about us”—prepossession, friend, 
 Reigns monarch of the million—Mecca’s crowd 
 Gaze at my rapid victories, and think 
 Some awful power directs my arm to conquest; 
 
 But whilst our friends once more renew their efforts 
 To win the wav’ring people to our interest, 
 
 What think’st thou, say, of Zaphna and Palmira ! 
 
 Mir. As of thy most resign’d and faithful vas¬ 
 sals. 
 
 Mah. Oh, Mirvan! they’re the deadliest of my 
 foes. 
 
 Mir. How ! 
 
 Mah. Yes, they love each other- 
 
 Mir. Weil—what crime ? 
 
 Mah. What crime ! dost say ?—learn all my 
 frailty then- 
 
 My life’s a combat j keen austerity 
 Subjects my nature to abstemious bearings : 
 
 “ I’ve banish’d from my lips that trait’rous liquor, 
 That Cither works to practices of outrage 
 Or melts the manly breast to woman’s weakness 
 Or on the burning sands or desert rocks 
 With thee I bear th’ inclemency of climates, 
 Freeze at the pole, or scorch beneath the line. 
 
 For all these toils love only can retaliate, 
 
 The only consolation or reward, 
 
 Fruit of my labors, idol of my incense, 
 
 And sole divinity that I adore ; 
 
 Know then that I prefer this young Palmira 
 To all the ripen’d beauties that attend me, 
 
 Dwell on her accents, dote upon her smiles, 
 
 And am not mine but her’s. Nc3w judge, my friend, 
 How vast the jealous transports of thy master, 
 
Act JI] 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 27 
 
 When at his feet he daily hears his charmer 
 Avow a foreign love, and, insolent, 
 
 Give Mahomet a rival I 
 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 audacibus tyrant. 
 Mir. Alcanor! 
 
 Mah. Is their father : old Hercides, 
 
 To whose sage institution I commit 
 My captive infants, late reveal’d it to me— 
 Perdition l 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 albta’en caretof; 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 
 Qr bridle in our vengeance as it suits. 
 
 [exit Mirvan 
 
 enter alcanor. 
 
 Mah. Why dost thou start, Alcanor ? whence 
 that horror! 
 
 <£ Is then my sight so baneful to thee ? 
 
 Ale. Heavens ! 
 
 Must I then bear this ? must I meet in Mecca, 
 
MAHOMET 
 
 \MMe» 
 
 28 
 
 On erms of peace, this spoiler of the earth ? 
 
 Mah. ” Approach, old man, without a blush, 
 since heaven 
 
 Tor some high end decrees our future union. 
 
 Ale. I blush not for myself, but thee, thou 
 tyrant; 
 
 For thee, bad man 1 who com’st with serpent-guilo 
 To sow dissention in the realms of peace ; 
 
 Thy very name sets families at variance, 
 
 ’Twixt son and father bursts the bonds oi nature. 
 And scares endearment from the nuptial pillow ? 
 
 « Ev’n truce with thee is a new stratagem.” 
 
 And is it, insolent dissembler 1 thus 
 
 Thou com’st to give the sons of Mecca peace, 
 
 And me an unknown god ? 
 
 Mah. Were I to answer any but Alcanor, 
 
 That unknown god should speak in thunder foE. 
 me, 
 
 But here with thee Pd parley as a man. 
 
 Ale. What canst thou say, what urge in thy de«- 
 fence ? 
 
 What right hast thou received to plant new faiths, 
 Qr lay a claim to royalty and priesthood ? 
 
 Mah. The right that a resolv’d and tow’ring 
 spirit 
 
 Has o’er the grov’ling instinct of the vulgar———. 
 Ale. Patience, good heavens 1 have I not known, 
 thee, Mahomet, 
 
 When void of wealth, inheritance or fame, 
 
 Bank’d with the lowest of the low at Mecca ? 
 
 Mah. Dost thou not know, thou haughty feeble 
 man, 
 
 That the low insect, lurking in the grass, 
 
 And the imperial eagle, which aloft 
 
Act II] 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 %9 
 
 Ploughs the ethereal plain, are both alike 
 In the eternal eye—' 4 mortals are equal: 
 
 It.is not birth, magnificence, or power, 
 
 But virtue only makes the difference ’twixt therm’* 
 Ale. (apart) What sacred truth from what pol¬ 
 luted lips 1 
 
 « Mah. By virtue’s ardent pinions borne on high 
 Heaven met my zeal, gave me in solemn charge 
 Its sacred laws, then bade me on and publish. 
 
 Ale. And did heaven bid thee on and plunder 
 too ? 
 
 Mah. My law is active, and inflames the soul 
 With thirst of glory. What can thy dumb gods ? 
 What laurels spring beneath their sooty altars ? 
 Thy slothful sect disgrace the human kind, 
 Enervate lifeless images of men ! 
 
 Mine bear the intrepid soul; my faith makes he-? 
 roes. 
 
 Ale. Go preach these doctrines at Medina, where 
 By prostrate wretches thou art rais’d to homage.’* 
 Mah. Hear me ; thy Mecca trembles at my 
 name ; 
 
 If therefore thou wouldst save thyself or city, 
 
 Embrace my proffered friendship-what to-day 
 
 I thus solicit I’ll command to-morrow. 
 
 Ale. Contract with thee a friendship ! frontless 
 man I 
 
 Know’st thou a god can work that miracle ? 
 
 Mah. I do-——necessity——thy interest. 
 
 Ale. 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 dear the blood of my poor captive children^ 
 
 C 2 
 
50 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [•Miller* 
 
 Shed by thy butchering hands ? 
 
 Mah. Ay, tis thy children. 
 
 Mark me then well, and learn th’ 1 important secret 
 
 Which I’m sole master of-thy children live. 
 
 Ale. Live 1 
 
 Mah. Yes-both live—- 
 
 Ale. What say’st thou ? both ! 
 
 Mah. Ay, both. 
 
 Ale. And dost thou not beguile me l 
 Mah. No, old man. 
 
 Ale. Propitious heav’ns! say, Mahomet, for 
 now 
 
 Methinks I could hold endless converse with thee, 
 Say what’s their portion, liberty or bondage ? 
 
 Mah. Bred in my camp, and tutor’d in my law, 
 J hold the balance of their destinies, 
 
 And now tis on the turn—■—their lives or deaths-s- 
 Tis thine to say which shall preponderate. 
 
 Ale. Mine ! can I save them ■ name the mighty 
 ransom- 
 
 If I must bear their chains double the weight 
 And I will kiss the hand that puts them on ; 
 
 Or if my streaming blood must be the purchase, 
 Drain ev’ry sluice and channel of my body, 
 
 My swelling veins will burst to give it passage. 
 
 Mah. I’ll tell thee then—.renounce thy pagan, 
 faith, 
 
 Abolish thy vain gods, and- 
 
 Ale. Ha ! 
 
 Mah. Nav, 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, 
 
Act II] 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 31 
 
 And be a glorious pattern of credulity 
 To Korah’s stubborn tribe. These terms per¬ 
 form’d 
 
 Thy son shall be restor’d, and Mahomet’s self 
 Will deign to wed thy daughter. 
 
 Ale. 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 doom’d 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, Ma¬ 
 homet, 
 
 I’d not admit a doubt to cloud my choice- 
 
 ("looking earnestly at Mahomet for some time before 
 he speaks) 
 
 Farewell. [exit Alcanov 
 
 Mah. Why, fare thee well then, churlish do¬ 
 tard ! 
 
 Inexorable fool 1 now by my arms 
 I will have great revenge ; I’ll meet thy scortr 
 With treble retribution. 
 
 enter mirvan. 
 
 Well, my Mirvan, 
 
 What say’st thou to it now ? 
 
 Mer. Why, that Alcanor 
 Or we must fall. 
 
 Mah. Fall then the obdurate rebel! 
 
 Mer. The truce expires to-morrow, when Al¬ 
 canor 
 
32 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 Again is Mecca’s master, and has vow’d - 
 Destruction on thy head : the senate too 
 Have pass’d thy doom. 
 
 Mah. Those heart-chill’d paltry babblers, 
 
 Plac’d on the bench of sloth, with ease can nod 
 And vo tp' a man to death ; why dont the cowards 
 Stand me in yonder plain ? with half their num¬ 
 bers 
 
 I drove them headlong to their walls for shelter, 
 
 “ And he was deem’d the wisest senator 
 That enter’d first the gate ; but now they think 
 They’ve got me in the toil their spirit mounts, 
 And they could prove most valorous assassins— 
 Well, this 1 like—I atways ow’d my greatness 
 To opposition ; had T not met with struggles, 
 
 I’d been obscure—” enough—perish Alcanor ! 
 
 He marbled up the pliant populace, 
 
 Those dupes of novelty will bend before us 
 
 Like osiers to a hurricane- 
 
 Mir. No time 
 Is to be lost. 
 
 Mah. But for a proper arm ; 
 
 “ For, however irksome, we must save 
 Appearances, and mask it with the vulgar.” 
 
 Mir. “True, my sage chief—” what think’st 
 thou of Zaphna ? 
 
 Mah. Of Zaphna, say’st thou ! 
 
 Mir. Yes, Alcanor’s hostage—-- 
 
 He'can in private do the vengeance on him: 
 
 “ Thy other fav’rites of maturer age, 
 
 And more discreetly zealous, would not risk it: 
 Youth is the stock whence grafted superstition 
 Shoots with unbounded vigor.” He’s a slave 
 To thy despotic faith, and urg’d by thee, 
 
. jet ir\ 
 
 MAHQMF.«F 
 
 ss 
 
 . However mild his nature may appear, 
 
 Howe’er humane and noble in his spirit, 
 
 Or strong his reason, where allow’d to reason, 
 
 He would for heaven’s sake martyr half mankind. 
 Mah. The brother of Palmira ! 
 
 Mir. Yes, that brother, 
 
 The only son of thy outrageous foe. 
 
 And the incestuous rival of thy love. 
 
 Mah. I hate the strippling, loathe his very 
 name; 
 
 The manes of my son too cries for vengeance 
 On the curs’d sire; but then thou know’st my love, 
 Know’st from w hose blood she sprang ; this stag¬ 
 gers, Mirvan ; 
 
 And yet I’m here surrounded with a gulf 
 Ready to swallow me ; come too in quest 
 Of altars and a throne—what must be done 1 
 My warring passions, like contending clouds 
 When fraught with thunder’s fatal fuel, burst 
 Upon themselves, and rend me with the shock. 
 
 “ And shall enervating contagious love 
 
 Hag my aspiring spirit, sink me down 
 
 To woman’s shackles, make a lapthing of me ? 
 
 Glory I that must not be! ambition still 
 
 And great revenge impetuous urge their claims, 
 
 And must be notic’d.” Mirvan sound this youth j- 
 
 Touch not at once upon the startling purpose* 
 
 But make due preparation. 
 
 Mir. I’ll attack him 
 With all the forces of enthusiasm ; 
 
 There lies our strength 
 
 Mah. First then, a solemn vow 
 | To act whatever heaven by me enjoins him ; 
 
 | omens, dreams, and visions, may be pleaded $ 
 
34 
 
 MAHO^FT 
 
 [Miller 
 
 Hints top of black designs by this Alcanor 
 
 Upon Palmira’s virtue and his life- 
 
 But to the proof — be now propitious, fortune, 
 Then love, ambition, vengeance, jointly triumph. 
 
 END OF THE SECOND ACT. 
 
 ACT III. 
 
 scene \~-*a grand apartment, 
 enter zaphna and palmira. 
 
 Zaph. Alcanor claim a private conference with i 
 us! 
 
 What has he to unfold ? 
 
 Pal. I tremble, Zaphna. 
 
 Zafih. Time press’d too, did he say ? 
 
 Pal He did ; then cast 
 A look so piercing on me it o’erwhelm’d 
 My face with deep confusion ; this he mark’d. 
 
 Then starting left me. 
 
 Zafih. (aside) Ha ! this gives me fear 
 That Mirvun’s jealousies are too well grounded ; 
 But I must not distract her tender bosom 
 With visionary terrors. (to Palmira ) Both in 
 private ? 
 
 Pal. In private both. 
 
 Zafih. Her virtue and my life ! (apartJ 
 It cannot be so reverend a form 
 Could ne’er be pander to such black devices . 
 
 Pal. But let us shun it, Zaphna j much I fear. 
 
Act ///] 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 35 
 
 Alcanor has deceiv’d us : dread the treachery 
 Of this blood-thirsty senate. Trust me, Zaphna, 
 They’ve sworn the extirpation of our faith, 
 
 Nor care by what vile means- 
 
 Zafih. My soul’s best treasure, 
 
 For whose security my ev’ry thought 
 Is up in arms, regardless of my own ; 
 
 Shun thou Alcanor’s presence 1 this hour, Palmi¬ 
 ra, 
 
 Mirvan, by order of our royal pontiff, 
 
 Prepares to solemnize some act of worship 
 Of a more hallow’d and mysterious kind 
 Than will admit of vulgar eye ; myself 
 Alone am honor’d to assist. 
 
 Pal. Alone ! 
 
 Zafih. Yes, to devote myself by solemn vow 
 For some great act, of which my fair’s the prize. 
 Pal. What act?, 
 
 Zafih. No matter, since my loved Palmira 
 
 Shall be the glorious recompense- 
 
 Pal Oh, Zaphna ! 
 
 Methinks 1 do not like this secret vow. 
 
 Why must I not he present ! were I with thee, 
 
 I should not be so anxious ; 
 
 For trust me, Zaphna, my affection for thee 
 Is of that pure disinterested nature, 
 
 So free from passion’s taint, I’ve no one wish 
 To have thee more than thus, have thee my friend, 
 Share thy loved converge, war upon thy welfare, 
 And view thee with a sister’s spotless eye. 
 
 Zafih. Angelic excellence ! 
 
 Pal. And let me tell thee 
 This Mirvan, this fierce Mirvan gives me terrors ; 
 So far from tend’ring consolation to me, 
 
36 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 His theme is blood and slaughter. As I met him 
 His eyes flamed fury, whilst in dubious phrase 
 He thus bespoke me—the destroying angel 
 Must be let loose—Palmira, heaven ordains 
 Some glorious deed for thee, yet hid in darkness | 
 Leant an implicit rev’rence for its will ; 
 
 And above all I warn thee fear for Zaphna. 
 
 Zaph. What could he mean ? can I believe, Al- 
 canor, 
 
 Thy fair deportment but a treacherous mask ? 
 
 Yet spite of all the rage that ought to fire me 
 Against this rebel to our faith and prophet 
 I’ve held me happy in his friendship, 
 
 And bondage wore the livery of choice. 
 
 Pal. How has heaven fraught our love-link’d 
 hearts, my Zaphna, 
 
 With the same thoughts, aversions, and desires 1 
 But for thy safety and our dread religion, 
 
 That thunders hatred to all infidels, 
 
 With great remorse I should accuse Alcanor. 
 Zaph. Let us shake off this vain remorse, Pal¬ 
 mira, 
 
 Resign ourselves to heaven and act its pleasure. 
 The hour is come that I must pledge my vow : 
 Doubt not but the Supreme, who claims this ser¬ 
 vice, 
 
 Will prove propitious to our chaste endearments. 
 Farewell, my love l I fly to gain the summit 
 Of earth’s felicity—to gain Palmira. [exit 
 
 Pal. Where’er I turn me here tis all suspicion. 
 « What means this vow ? Mirvan, I like thee not t 
 Alcanor too distracts my tim’rous breast: 
 
 Ev’n Mahomet’s self I dread, whilst I invoke him.” 
 Like one benighted midst a place of tombs 
 
Act 7 / 1 ] 
 
 TvlAKOMR-fc 
 
 *?• 
 
 I gaze around me, start at ev’ry motion, 
 
 And seem hemm’d in by visionary spectres. 
 All-righteous Power, whom trembling I adore, 
 And blindly follow, oh, deliver me 
 Prom these heart-rending terrors !-—ha 1 who ? s 
 here ? 
 
 enter mahomet. 
 
 Tis he ! tis Mahomet himself! kind heav’n 
 Has sent him to my aid—my gracious lord J’ 
 Protect the dear, dear idol of my soul; 
 
 Save Zaphna ; guard him from- 
 
 Mah. From what!—why Zaphna ? 
 
 Whence this vain terror ? is he not with us ? 
 
 Pal. Oh sir, you double now my apprehensions t ! 
 Those broken accents and that eager look 
 Show you have anguish smoth-ring at the heart, 
 And prove for once that Mahomet’s a mortal. 
 Mah. (aside) Ha ! 1 shall turn a traitor to my¬ 
 self— 
 
 O, woman ! woman ! hear me ; ought I not 
 To be enraged at thy profane attachment ? 
 
 How could thy breast, without the keenest stingy 
 Harbor one thought not dictated by me ? 
 
 Is that young mind I took such toil to form 
 Turn’d an ingrate and infidel at once? 
 
 Away, rebellious maid- 
 
 Pal. What dost thou say, 
 
 My royal lord ? thus prostrate at your feet 
 Let me implore forgiveness, if in aught 
 I have offended : talk not to me thus; 
 
 A frown from thee, my lather and my kitf'g, 
 
 Is death to poor Palmira. Say then, Mahomet^ 
 Didst thou notin this very place permit him. 
 
38 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 To render me his vows ? 
 
 Mah. (apart) “ His vows ! perdition !” 
 
 How the soft trait’ress racks me !—rise, Palmi¬ 
 ra— 
 
 (Apart) Down, rebel love ! I must be calm--■» 
 
 come hither; 
 
 Beware, rash maid, of such imprudent steps, 
 They lead to guilt. What wild pernicious errors 
 Mayn’t the heart yield to if not greatly watch’d ! 
 
 Pal. In loving Zaphna sure it cannot err ; 
 
 « There’s nothing wild, nothing pernicious—.— 
 Mah. How 1 
 
 This theme delights you- 
 
 Pal. I must own it does. 
 
 Ifes, my great master, for I still have thought 
 That heaven itself approved of my affection, 
 
 And gave a sanction to our mutual ardors. 
 
 Can what was virtue once be now a crime ? 
 
 Can I be guilty- 
 
 Mah. Yes—towards me you are-- 
 
 You, nursed from infancy beneath my eye, 
 
 Child of my care, and pupil of my faith, 
 
 You, whom my partial fondness still distinguish’d 
 From all the captive youths that graced my tri¬ 
 umphs, 
 
 And you, who now without my leave permit 
 A slave to bear thee from my sight for ever. 
 
 Pal. No, we both live, nay more, would die for 
 thee: 
 
 And oh, my lord! if all that earth can offer 
 Of grandeur, opulence, or pleasure, e’er 
 Shall make me deaf to gratitude’s demands, 
 
 ;VI,ay Zaphna*s self be evidence against me, 
 
 And plead for double vengeance on my treach¬ 
 ery.” 
 
Jet III] 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 39 
 
 Mah. (apart) Zaphna again ! furies! I shall 
 relapse ! 
 
 And make her witness of my weakness. 
 
 Pal. Sir ! 
 
 What sudden start of passion arms that eye ? 
 Mah. Oh, nothing s pray retire a while: take 
 courage ; 
 
 I’m not at all displeased : twas but to sound 
 The depth of thy young heart. I praise thy 
 choice ; 
 
 Trust then thy dearest interest to my bosom : 
 But now your fate depends on your obedience. 
 
 If 1 haye been a guardian to your youth, 
 
 If all my lavish bounties past weigh aught, 
 Deserve the future blessings which await you. 
 Howe’er the voice of heaven dispose of Zaphna, 
 Confirm him in the path where duty leads, 
 
 That he may keep his vow, and merit thee. 
 
 Pal. Distrust hiiu not, my sov 7 ,reign ; noble 
 Zaphna 
 
 Disdains to lag in love or gloryis cause, 
 
 Mah. Enough of words— 
 
 Pal. As boldly I’ve avow’d 
 The love I bear that hero at your feet, 
 
 I’ll now to him, and fire his gen’rous breast 
 To prove the duty he has sworn to thee. 
 
 [exit Palmira 
 
 Mah. (alone) “ Confusion ! must I, spite o’ me 
 be made 
 
 The confidant of her incestuous passion ?” 
 
 What could I say? such sweet simplicity 
 Cured down my rage, and innocently wing’d 
 fhe arrow through my heart. And shall I bear 
 this? 
 
MAHOMET 
 
 IMilter 
 
 4$ 
 
 Be made the sport of cursed Alcanor’s house i 
 Check’d in my rapid progress by the fire, 
 Supplanted in my love by this rash hoy, 
 
 And made a gentle pander to the daughter? 
 Perdition on the whole detested race! 
 
 enter mikvax. 
 
 Mir. Now, Mahomet’s the time to seize oh- 
 Mecca, 
 
 Crush this Alcanor, and enjoy Palmira. 
 
 This night the old enthusiast offers incense 
 To his vain gods in sacred Caafio : 
 
 Zaphna, who flames with zeal for heaven and theg, 
 May be won o’er to seize that lucky moment. 
 
 Mah. He shall; it must be so; he’s born to act 
 The glorious crime : and let him be at once 
 The instrument and victim of the murder. 
 
 My law, my love, my vengeance, my own safety, 
 Have doom’d it so—but Mirvan, dost thou think' 
 His youthful courage, nursed in superstition* 
 
 Can e er be work'd- 
 
 Mir. I tell thee, Mahomet, 
 
 He’s tutor’d to accomplish thy design. 
 
 Palm’.ra too, who thinks thy will is heaven’s, 
 
 Will nerve his arm to execute thy pleasure. 
 
 “ Love and enthusiasm blind her youth : 
 
 They’re still most zealous who’re most igno*. 
 rant." 
 
 Mah. Didst thou engage him by a solemn vow?‘ 
 Mir. I did, with all th enthusiastic pomp 
 Thy law enjoins ; then gave him as from thee,- 
 A consecrated sword to act thy will. 
 
 Qh, he is burning with religious fury {, 
 
Jet ///] MAHOMET 
 
 Mali. But hold, he comes- 
 
 enter zaphna. 
 
 Child of that awful and tremendous power 
 Whose laws I publish, whose behests proclaim, 
 Listen whilst I unfold his sacred will; 
 
 Tis thine to vindicate his ways to man, 
 
 Tis thine his injur’d worship to avenge. 
 
 Zafih . Thou lord of nations, delegate of heaves, 
 Sent to shed day o’er the benighted world, 
 
 Oh, say in what can Zaphna prove his duty ! 
 Instruct me how a frail eartli-prison’d mortal 
 Can or avenge or vindicate a god. 
 
 Ma.fi. By thy weak arm he deigns to prove his 
 cause, 
 
 And launch his vengeance on blaspheming rebels;. 
 Zafih. What glorious action, what illustrious 
 danger 
 
 Does that supreme, whose image thou, demand.? 
 Place me, oh, place me 1 in the front of battle 
 Gainst odds innumerable ; try me there i 
 Or, if a single combat claim my might, 
 
 The stoutest arab may step forth and see 
 If Zaphna fail to greet him as he ought. 
 
 Mali Oh, greatly said, my son ; tis inspiration 1 
 But heed me : tis not by a glaring act 
 Of human, valor heaven has will’d to prove thee ; 
 This infidels themselves may boast, when led 
 By ostentation, rage, or brute-like rashness. 
 
 To do whate’er heaven gives in sacred charge* 
 Nor .dare to sound its fathomless decrees* 
 
 This, and this only’s meritorious zeal. 
 
 Attend, adore, obey ; thou shalt be arm’d 
 By death’s remorseless angel which awaits me 
 D 2 
 
42 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Millet* 
 
 Zafih, Speak out, pronounce ; what victim must 
 I offer l 
 
 What tyrant sacrifice? whose blood requir’st 
 thou ■ 
 
 Mali, The blood of a detested infidel, 
 
 A murderer, a foe to heaven and me, 
 
 A wretch who slew my child, blasphemes my go(J,' 
 And. like a huge colossus, beats a world 
 Of impious opposition to my faith': 
 
 The blood of curst Alcanor. 
 
 Zafih. I ! Alcanor 1 
 
 Mah. What! dost thou hesitate ! rash youtljy 
 beware ; 
 
 He that deliberates is sacrilegious. 
 
 Far, far from me be these audacious mortals, 
 Who for themselves would impiously judge, 
 
 Or see with their own eyes ; who dares to thinly 
 Was never born a proselyte for me. 
 
 Know who I am ; know' on this very spot 
 I’ve charg’d thee with the just decree of heaven* 
 And when that heaven requires of thee no more 
 Than the bare off’ring of its deadliest foe, 
 
 Nay, thy foe too, and mine, why dost thou balance^ 
 As thy own father were the victim claim’d! 
 
 Go, vile idolator i false mussulman ! 
 
 Go seek another master, a new faith. 
 
 Zafih. Oh, Mahomet 1 
 
 Mch Just when the prize is ready, 
 
 When fair Palmira’s destin’d to thy arms— 
 But what’s Palmira ? or what’s heaven to theej 
 Thou poor weak rebel to thy faith and love 1 
 Go serve and cringe to our detested foe. 
 
 Zafih Oh, pardon, Mahomet! methinks I 
 The oracle of heaven—dt shall be dong, ^ 
 
Act II% 
 
 fd A HOMES? 
 
 
 Mah. Obey then, strike, and for his impious 
 blood, 
 
 Palmira’s charms and paradise be thine. 
 
 aside to Mirvan^ Mirvan, attend him close* 
 and let thy eyes 
 
 Be fix’d on ev’ry movement of his soul ” [ exeunt 
 Zafih. (alone) Soft let me think—this duty 
 wears the face 
 
 Of something more than monstrous—pardon 
 heaven 1 y 
 
 To sacrifice an innocent old man,. 
 
 M eigh’d down with age, unsuccor’d and unarm’d 
 
 When I am hostage fqr his safety too I- 
 
 No matter, heaven has chose me for the duty j. 
 My vow is past and must be straight fulfill’d. 
 
 Ye stem relentless ministers of wrath, 
 
 Spirits of vengeance 1 by whose ruthless hands 
 The haughty tyrants of the earth have bled, 
 
 Come to my succor, to my flaming zeal 
 Join your determin’d courage ; 
 
 And thou, angel 
 
 Of Mahomet, extirminating angel! 
 
 That mow’st down nations to prepare his passage, 
 Support my falt’riiur will, harden my heart, 
 
 Lest nature, pity, plead Alcanor’s cause. 
 
 And wrest the dagger from me. 
 
 Hah ! who comes here ? 
 
 ”enter alcanor. 
 
 Ale. Whence, Zaphna, that deep gloom, 
 
 That, like a blasting mildew on the ear 
 Of promis’d harvest, blackens o’er thy visage ? 
 Grieve not that here, through form, thou art con- 
 
- 
 
 44 / i^AHOisfET (Miller 
 
 I hold thee not as hostage but as friend, 
 
 And make thy safety partner with my own. 
 
 Zaph, (apart) And make my safety partner 
 with thy own! 
 
 Ale. The bloody carnage, by this truce suspend^ 
 ed 
 
 For a few moments, like a torrent check’d 
 In its full flow, will, with redoubled strength, 
 
 Bear all before it-- 
 
 In this imperiding scene of public horror 
 Be then, dear youth ! these mansions thy asylum t 
 I’ll be thy hostage now, and with my life 
 Will answer that no mischief shall befal thee. 
 
 I know not why, but thou art precious to me. 
 
 Zaph. Heaven, duty, gratitude, humanity 1 
 ( apart) 
 
 What didst thou say, Alcanor ? didst thou say 
 That thy own roof should shield me from the tem¬ 
 pest ? 
 
 That thy own life stood hostage for my safety ? 
 Ale. Why thus amaz’d at my compassion for 
 thee ? 
 
 I am a man myself, and that’s enough 
 To make me feel the woes of other men, 
 
 And labour to redress ’em- 
 
 Zaph. (apart. ) What melody these accents 
 make! 
 
 « And. whilst my own religion spurs to murder, 
 His precepts of humanity prevail. 
 
 (to Alcanor ) Can then a foe to Mahomet’s sacred 
 law 
 
 Be virtue’s friend ? 
 
 Ale. Thouknow'st but little, Zaphna, 
 
 If thou dost think true virtue is confin’d 
 
 
Jet Til] 
 
 MAHOMRIE 
 
 4.5 
 
 To climes or systems ; no, it flows spontaneous, 
 Like lifers warm stream throughout the whole crea¬ 
 tion, 
 
 And beats the pulse of ev’ry healthful heart. 
 
 How canst thou, Zaphna, worship for thy god, 
 
 A being, claiming cruelty and murders 
 
 From his adorers ? such is thy master’s god-• 
 
 Zaph. (apart) Oh, my relenting soul ! tbou’rf 
 almost thaw’d 
 
 From thy resolve—I pray you, sir, no more. 
 
 Peace, reason, peace i 
 
 Ale. (apart,) The more I view him, talk with 
 him, observe 
 
 His understanding tow’ring ’bove his age, 
 
 His candor, which e en bigotry can’t smother, 
 
 The more my breast takes interest in his welfare. 
 £to Zaphna ) Zaphna, come near—I oft have, 
 thought to ask thee 
 
 To whom thou ow’st thy birth, whose generous 
 blood 
 
 dwells thy young veins and mantles at thy heart. 
 Zafih. That dwells in darkness ; no one friendly 
 beam 
 
 E’er gave me glimpse from whom I am descended. 
 The camp of godlike Mahomet has been 
 My cradle and my country, whilst of all 
 His captive infants no one more has shar’d 
 The sunshine of his clemency and care. 
 
 Ale■ I do not blame thy gratitude young man ; 
 But why was Mahomet thy benefactor ? 
 
 Why was not I ? I envy him that glory. 
 
 Why then this impious man has been a father. 
 Alike to thee and to the fair Palmira. 
 
 " Ztxph. Oh! 
 
46 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [MiUtr 
 
 Ale. What’s the cause, my Zaphna, of that sigh, 
 And all that language of a smother’d anguish ? 
 Why didst thou snatch away thy cordial eye 
 That shone on me before ? 
 
 Zaph. (afiart) Oh, my torn heart! 
 
 Palmira’s name revives the racking thought 
 Of my near blunted purpose. 
 
 Ale. Come, my friend ; 
 
 The floodgates of destruction soon thrown ope 
 'Will pour in ruin on that curse of nations. 
 
 If I can save but thee and fair Palmira 
 From this o’erflowing tide, let all the rest 
 Of his abandon'd minions be the victims 
 For your deliverance—I must save your blood. 
 Zafih. (apart) Just heaven 1 and is’t not I must 
 shed his blood ? 
 
 Ale. Nay, tremble if thou dar’st to hesitate. 
 Follow me straight. 
 
 enter pharon. 
 
 Phar. Alcanor, read that letter, 
 
 Put in my hands this moment by an arab 
 With utmost stealth, and air bespeaking somewhat 
 Of high importance. 
 
 Ale. (reads) Whence is this Hercides! 
 Cautious, my eyes t be sure you’re not mistaken 
 In what you here insinuate. Gracious heav’n ! 
 Will then thy providence at length o’er rule 
 My wayward fate, and by one matchless blessing 
 Sweeten the sufferings of a threescore years ! 
 
 (after looking for some time earnestly at Zaphna) 
 Follow me. 
 
 Zaph. Thee 1 but Mahomet-,- 
 
 Ale. Thy life 
 
 And all its future bliss dwells on this moment. 
 Follow, I say. [exeunt Alcanor and Pharon 
 
Act II£] MAHOMET 47 
 
 enter mikvan and his attendants hastily on the 
 other side of the stage. 
 
 Mir. (to ZaphnaJ Traitor, turn back 5 what 
 means 
 
 This conference with the foe ! to Mahomet 
 .Away this instant; he commands thy presence. 
 Zafih. (apart) Where am I ? heavens 1 how 
 shall I now resolve ? 
 
 How act! a precipice on ev’ry side 
 Awaits me, and the first least step’s perdition. 
 
 Mir. Young man, our prophet brooks not such 
 delay ; 
 
 Go stop the bolt that’s ready to be launch’d 
 On thy rebellious head, 
 
 Zaph. Yes, and renounce 
 This horrid vow, that’s poison to my soul. 
 
 [< exit with Mir van, Ifc. 
 « re-enter alcanor and pharon. 
 
 Ale. Where is this Zaphna ?—but he flies me 
 still-: 
 
 In vain I call in all the soft’ning arts 
 Of pity, love, and friendship, to engage him : 
 
 His breast is sear’d by that impostor’s precepts 
 Gainst all who bid defiance to his laws 
 But, Pharon, didst thou mark the baneful gloom, 
 That somewhat like reluctance^yage, and pity, 
 -That blended sat upon his pensive brow ? 
 
 Phar. I did; there’s something at his heart- - 
 
 Ale. There is- 
 
 'Would I could fathom it! this letter, Pharon, 
 
 His aspect, age, the transport that I taste 
 When he is near me, the anxiety 
 His absence gives, do too much violence 
 
43 
 
 1SAH0MET 
 
 fit mm 
 
 To ray distracted sense. Hercides here 
 Desires to see me ; twas his barbarous hands 
 That robb’d me of ray children ; they are living^ 
 He tells me, under Mahomet’s protection, 
 
 And he has something to unfold on which 
 Their destiny and mine depends This Zaphn& 
 And young Palmira, vassals of that tyrant, 
 
 Are ignorant from whom they are descended. 
 Imagination’s pregnant with the thought. 
 
 My wishes mock me. Sinking with my grief 
 I blindly catch at ev’ry flattering error,' 
 
 And supplicate deception’s self for succor. 
 
 Phar. Hope, but yet fear, Alcanor: think, my 
 chief, 
 
 How many infants from their parents torn, 
 
 Ere conscious whose they are, attend that tyrant* 
 Drink in his dictates, place their being in him,. 
 And deem him an infallible dispenser 
 
 Of heaven’s decisions- 
 
 Ale. Well, no matter, Pharon : 
 
 At noon of night conduct Hercides hither ; 
 
 Thy master in th’ adjoining fane once more 
 Will importune the gods with prayers and incense. 
 That he may save his friends and see his children. 
 Phar. Thou shalt not find thy Pharon slack in 
 aught 
 
 That tends ta thy deliverance from this anguish. 
 
 [exit Pharon 
 
 Ale. Just heaven 1 if by erroneous thought or 
 act 
 
 I have drawn down your fierce displeasure on me? 
 Point me to right, I’ll onward to its goal 
 With double energy, will expiate all, 
 
 That in the days of ignorance, might offend; 
 
: jct irj 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 4 ? 
 
 Only restore my children to my care, 
 
 Give to my craving arms my hapless children, 
 That I may form them, turn ’em back from wrong. 
 Weed their young minds of those pernicious er¬ 
 rors 
 
 The arch-impostor has implanted in ’em, 
 
 Train ’em in virtue’s school, and had them on 
 To deeds of glorious and immortal honor. [exit 
 
 END OF THE THIRD ACT. 
 
 ACT IV. 
 
 scene i—‘Mahomet’s apartment. 
 MAHOMET alone. 
 
 Mali. Ambition knows not conscience-—~ 
 Well, this Zaphna 
 
 Is fix’d at length--I lesson’d him so home* 
 
 Dealt to his young enthusiastic soul 
 
 Su£h promises and threats- 
 
 enter mirvan. 
 
 Mirvan, what news ? 
 
 Mir. Oh, Mahomet, I fear the nice-woven web- 
 Of our design’s unraveil’d. Ere thy spirit 
 Had re-inflamed young Zaphna with the thirst 
 Of old A-lcanor’s blood he had reveal’d 
 
 The dreadful purpose to Hercides - - 
 
 Mali. Hah 1 
 
 Mir. Hercides loVes the youth, and Zaphna still 
 Has held him as a father. 
 
 Mali. That I like not. 
 
 What does Hercides say ? thinks he with tls ?• 
 
 Er 
 
5® 
 
 MAJtOMBT 
 
 [Miller 
 
 Mir. Oh, no ; he trembles at the very thought 
 Of this dread scene, compassionates Alcanor, 
 
 And-- 
 
 Mali. He’s but a half friend then, and a half 
 friend 
 
 Is not a span from traitor. Mirvan, Mirvan, 
 
 A dangerous witness must be some way dealt with j 
 Am I obey’d ? 
 
 Mir. Tis done. 
 
 Mah. Then for the rest- 
 
 ©r, e’er the harbinger of morrow’s dawn. 
 
 Gleam in the east, Alcanor, thou must set, 
 
 Or Mahomet and all his hopes must perish : 
 
 That’s the first step then—Zaphna, next for thee. 
 Soon as thy hands have dealt the midnight mis¬ 
 chief 
 
 In thy own blood the secret must be drown’d. 
 Thus quit of son and father, those curst rivals 
 Who elbow me at once in love and grandeur, 
 
 Both Mecca and Palmira shall be mine. 
 
 Oh, tow’ring aspect! how it fills the eye 
 Of my aspiring and enamor’d soul! 
 
 Might! put on double sable, that no star 
 
 May be a spy on those dark deeds-well, Mirvan* 
 
 Shall we accomplish this ? 
 
 Mir. We shall, my chief. 
 
 . Mah. What, though I seize his life from whom 
 she sprung ? 
 
 He’s not her father as she knows it not. 
 
 Trust me, those partial ties of blood and kindred 
 Are but the illusive taints of education : 
 
 What we call nature is mere habit, Mirvan ; 
 
 That habit’s on our side; for the whole study 
 Of this young creature’s life has been obedience. 
 
Act IV] 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 51 
 
 To think, believe, and act, as pleasured me. 
 
 But hold, the hour on which our fortune hangs 
 Is now at hand. While Zaphna seeks the temple 
 Let us look round us, see that not a wheel 
 Lag in the vast machine we have at work : 
 
 It is success that consecrates our actions : 
 
 The vanquish’d rebel as a rebel dies, 
 
 The victor-rebel plumes him on a throne, [exeunt 
 
 scene ii —changes to the temfile. 
 enter zaphna with a drawn sword in his hand. 
 Zaph. Well then, it must be so ; I must discharge 
 This cruel duty—Mahomet enjoins it, 
 
 And heaven through him demands it of my hands. 
 Horrid, though sacred act!—my soul shrinks back, 
 And wo’nt admit conviction—“ ay, but heaven 1 
 Heaven’s call I must obey”—oh, dire obedience ! 
 il What dost thou cost me! my humanity 1” 
 
 "Why, duty, art thou thus at war with nature ? 
 
 enter palmira. 
 
 Thou here, Palmira I oh, what fatal transport 
 Leads thee to this sad place, these dark abodes. 
 Sacred to death ? thou hast no bus’ness here. 
 
 Pal. Oh, Zaphna, fear and love have been my 
 guides. 
 
 What victim does the god of Mahomet 
 Claim from thy tender hand ? 
 
 Zaph. Oh, my guardian angel, 
 
 Speak, resolve me,; 
 
 How can assassination be a virtue ? 
 
 How can the gracious parent of mankind 
 Delight in mankind’s suff’rings ? mayn’t this proph¬ 
 et, 
 
MAHOMET 
 
 \-Milkr- 
 
 
 This great announcer of his heavenly will, 
 
 Mistake it once ? 
 
 Pal. Oh, tremble to examine. 
 
 He sees our hearts.-To doubt is to blaspheme.. 
 
 Z afih. Be steady then, my soul, firm to thy pur¬ 
 pose, 
 
 “ And let religion steel thee against pity.” 
 
 Come forth thou foe to Mahomet and heaven,- 
 And meet the doom thy rebel faith deserves j 
 Come forth, Alcanor! 
 
 Pal. Who, Alcanor! 
 
 Z afth. Yes. 
 
 Pal The good Alcanor ? 
 
 'Lafih. “ Why d’ye call him good ?” 
 
 Curse on his pagan virtues ! he must die ; 
 
 So Mahomet commands : and yet methinks 
 Some other deity arrests my arm, 
 
 And whispers to my heart—Zaphna, forbear ! 
 
 Pal. Distracted state 1 
 Zafih. Alas 1 my dear Palmira, 
 
 I’m weak, and shudder at this bloody bus’ness^ 
 Help me, oh help, Palmira ! I am torn, 
 
 Distracted with this conflict. 
 
 Zeal, horror, love, and pity, seize my breast, 
 
 And drag it different ways. Alas ! Palmira, 
 
 You see me tossing on a sea of passions ; 
 
 Tis thine, my angel, to appease this tempest, 
 
 Fix my distracted will, and teach me- 
 
 Pal. What! 
 
 What can I teach thee in this strife of passions? 
 Oh, Zaphna! I revere our holy prophet, 
 
 Think all his laws are register’d in heaven, 
 
 And ev’ry mandate minted in the skies. 
 
 Zafih. But then to break through hospitality, 
 
Act IV] 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 «s 
 
 And murder him by whom we are protected i 
 Pal. Oh, poor Alcanor I gen'rous, good Alcanor 1 
 My heart bleeds for thee. 
 
 Zaph Know then, unless I act this horrid scene, 
 Unless I plunge this dagger in the breast 
 
 Of that old man, I must—I must- 
 
 . Pal. What- 
 
 Zaph. Must, Palmira-- 
 
 (Oh, agonizing thought) lose thee for ever. 
 
 Pal. Am I the price of good Alcanor’s blood ? 
 Zaph So Mahomet ordains. 
 
 Pal. Horrible dowry ! 
 
 Zaph. Thou know’st the curse our prophet has 
 denounc’d 
 
 Of endless tortures on the disobedient ? 
 
 Thou know’st with what an oath I’ve bound myself 
 To vindicate his laws, extirpate all 
 That dare oppose his progress : say then, fair one, 
 Thou tutoress divine, instruct me how— 
 
 How to obey my chief, perform my oath, 
 
 Yet list to mercy’s call. 
 
 Pal, This rends my heart. 
 
 Zaph. How to avoid being banish’d thee for ever. 
 Pal. Oh, save me from that thought 1 must that 
 e'er be ? 
 
 Zaph . It must not: thou hast now pronounc’d his 
 doom. 
 
 Pal. What doom ?—have I! 
 
 Zaph. Yes, thou hast seal’d his death. 
 
 Pal. I seal his death !—did I ? 
 
 Zaph. Twas heaven spoke by thee; thou’rt its 
 oracle, 
 
 And I’ll fulfil its laws. This is the hour 
 In which he pays at the adjoining altar 
 E 2 
 
MAHOMET 
 
 (Miter 
 
 Si 
 
 Black rites to his imaginary gods. 
 
 Follow me not, Palmira 1 
 Pal. I must follow ; 
 
 I will not, dare not leave thee. 
 
 Zafih. Gentle maid, 
 
 I beg thee fly these walls ; thou canst not bear 
 This horrid scene—oh, these are dreadful momentsl 
 Begone—quick—this way— 
 
 Pal No, I follow thee, 
 
 Retread thy ev’ry footstep, though they lead 
 To the dark gulf of death. 
 
 Zafih. Thou matchless maid!—to the dire trial 
 then. [ exeunt 
 
 scene in —draws and discovers the inner fiart of 
 the temple^ with a pagan altar and images , alca- 
 nor addressing himself to the idols. 
 
 Me. Eternal powers I that deign to bless these 
 mansions, 
 
 Protectors of the sons of Ishmael, 
 
 Crush, crush this blasphemous invader’s force, 
 
 And turn him back with shame. If power be your’s' 
 Oh! shield your injur’d votaries, and lay 
 Oppression bleeding at your altar’s foot. 
 
 enter zaphna and palmira. 
 
 Pal. (entering) Act not this bloody deed; oh, 
 save him, save him. 
 
 Zaph. Save him, and lose both paradise and thee ! 
 Pal. Hah, yonder he stands—oh, Zaphna, all my 
 blood 
 
 Is frozen Rt the sight. 
 
 Me. Tis in your own behalf that I implore 
 The terrors of your might; swift, swiftly 
 
Act iP?j 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 55 
 
 Pour vengeance on this vile apostate’s head, 
 
 Who dares profanely wrest your thunder from you 5 
 And lodge it with an unknown fancy’d god. 
 
 Zafih. Hear how the wretch blasphemes ! sp 
 now- 
 
 Pal. Hold, Zaphna ! 
 
 Zafih. Let me go- 
 
 Pal. I cannot—cannot. 
 
 Ale. But, if for reasons which dimsighted mortals 
 Can’t look into, you’ll crown this daring rebel 
 With royalty and priesthood, take my life : 
 
 And if, ye gracious powers ! you’ve aught of bliss 
 In store for me, at my last hour permit me 
 To see my children, pour my blessing on them, 
 Expire in their dear arms, and let them close 
 These eyes, which then would wish no aftersight. 
 
 Pal. His children did he say ? 
 
 Zafih. I think he did- 
 
 Ale. For this I’ll at your altar pay my vows, 
 
 And make it smoke with incense. 
 
 (retires behind the altar) 
 
 Zafih. Now’s the time (drawing hit sword) 
 
 Insulting heaven he flies to stones for refuge : 
 
 Now let me strike. 
 
 Pal. Stay hut one moment, Zaphna. 
 
 Zafih. It must not be—unhand me. 
 
 Pal. What to do? 
 
 Zafih. To serve my god and king, and merit thee. 
 (breaking from Palmira, and going towards 
 the altar , he starts , and stops short) 
 
 Ha ! what are ye, ye terrifying shades ? 
 
 What means this lake of blood that lies before me ? 
 
 Pal. Oh, Zaphna 1 let us fly these horrid roofs. 
 
 Zafih, No, go on ye ministers of death ; 
 t.ead me the way : I’ll follow ye. 
 
MAHOMET 
 
 5S 
 
 {Miller 
 
 Pal. Stay, Zaphna; 
 
 Heap ho more horrors on me ; I’m expiring 
 Beneath the load. 
 
 Zafih. Be hush’d-the altar trembles 1 
 
 What means that omen ! does it spur to murder, 
 Or would it rein me back ? no, tis the voice 
 Of heaven itself that chides my ling’ring hand. 
 
 Now send up thither all thy vows, Palmira, 
 
 Whilst I obey its will and give the stroke. 
 
 f gocs out behind the altar after Alcanor J 
 Pal. What vows ? will heaven receive a murd’- 
 rer’s vows ? 
 
 For sure I’m such whilst I prevent not murder, 
 Why beats my heart thus ? what soft voice is this 
 That’s waken’d in my soul, and preaches mercy ? 
 If heaven demands his life, dare I oppose ? 
 
 Is it my place to judge ?—hah 1 that dire groan 
 Proclaims the bloody business is about. 
 
 Zaphna 1 oh, Zaphna 1 
 
 re-enter zaehna. 
 
 Zafih. Ha ! where am I ? 
 
 Who calls me ? where’s Palmira ? she’s not here: 
 What fiend has snatch’d her from me ? 
 
 Pal. Heav’ns he raves ! 
 
 Dost thou not know me, Zaphna ! her who lives 
 For thee alone ?—why dost thou gaze thus on met 
 Zafih. Where are we ? 
 
 Pal. Hast thou then discharg’d 
 The horrid duty ? 
 
 Zafih. What dost thou say ? 
 
 Pal. Alcanor- 
 
 Zafih. Alcanor 1 what Alcanor ? 
 
 'Phi. Gracious heavep, 
 
Act m j 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 
 Look down upon him ! 
 
 Let’s begone, my Zaphna, 
 
 Let’s fly this place. 
 
 Zafih. Oh, whither fly 1 to whom ? 
 
 D’ye see these hands? who will receive these hands ? 
 Pal. Qh, come, and let me wash them with my 
 tears ! 
 
 Zafih. Who art thou ? let me lean on thee ; “ I find 
 My powers returning.” Is it thou, Palmira ? 
 Where have I been ? what have I done ? 
 
 Pal. I know not: 
 
 Think on’t no more. 
 
 TLaf/h. But I must think and talk on’t too, Palmira* 
 I seiz’d the victim by his hoary locks—— 
 
 (Thou, heaven, didst will it) 
 
 Then, shudd’ring with horror, bury’d straight 
 The poiguard in Ifis breast, I had redoubled 
 The bloody plunge—“ what cannot zeal persuade I” 
 But that the venerable sire pour’d forth 
 
 So piteous a groan ! look’d so, Palmira- 
 
 And with a feeble voice crv’d, is it Zaphna ! 
 
 I could no more. Oh, hadst thou seen, my love, 
 The fe3, fell dagger in his bosom, view’d 
 His d ying face, where sat such dignity, 
 
 Cloth’d with compassion towards his base assassin, 
 (throwing himself on the ground) 
 The dire remembrance weighs me to the earth—” 
 
 Here let me die- 
 
 Pal. Rise, my lov’d Zaphna! rise, 
 
 And let us fly to Mahomet for protection : 
 
 If we are found in these abodes of slaughter 
 Tortures and 'death attend us : let us fly. 
 
 Ttajih. (starting up,) I did fly at that blasting 
 eight, Palmira, 
 
58 
 
 MAHOMEtf 
 
 {Milleti' 
 
 When drawing out the fatal steel, he cast 
 Such tender looks !—I fled—the fatal steel, 
 
 The voice, the tender looks, the bleeding victim 
 Blessing his murderer, I could not fly : 
 
 No, they clung to me, riv’d my throbbing heart, 
 And set my brain on fire. What have we done ! 
 Pal Hark! what's that noise ? I tremble for thy 
 life. 
 
 dh, in the name of love, by all the ties, 
 
 Those sacred ties that bind thee mine for ever, 
 
 I do conjure thee follow me. 
 
 ALcanok comes from behind the altar , leaning against 
 it , with the bloody sword in his hand. 
 
 T Zjafih. Hah ! look, Palmira, see what object’s that 
 Which bears upon my tortur’d sight! is’t he ? 
 
 Or is’t his bloody manes come to haunt us 2 
 
 Pal. Tis he himself, poor wretch! struggling 
 with death, 
 
 And feebly crawling tow’rds us. Let me fly 
 And yield what help I can : let me support thee, 
 Thou much lamented, injur’d good old man ’• 
 
 Z afih. Why dont I move ? my feet are rooted here, 
 And all my frame is struck and wither’d up 
 As with a lightning’s blast. 
 
 Ale. My'gentle maid, 
 
 Wilt thou support me ? 
 
 Weep not, my Palmira. 
 
 Pal. I could weep tears of blood if that would 
 serve thee 
 
 Ale. (sitting down) Zaphna, come hither ; thou 
 hast ta’en my life, 
 
 For what offence, or what one thought towards kh'e,e 
 That anger or malevolence gave birth* 
 
Act 1V \j 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 A 
 
 5ft 
 
 Heaven knows I am unconscious. Do not look so : 
 I see thou dost relent. 
 
 enter pharon hastily. 
 
 Pal. (starting back) Hah 1 tis too late then. 
 Ale. Would I could see Hercides ?—Pharon, lo 
 Thy martyr’d friend by his distemper’d hand 
 Is now expiring. 
 
 Phar. Dire unnatural crime ! 
 
 Oh, wretched parricide '• behold thy father. 
 
 (pointing to Alcanor J 
 
 ’Lafih. My father I 
 Pal. Father ! hah ! 
 
 , Ale. Mysterious heaven ! 
 
 Phar. Hercides dying by the hand of Mirvan, 
 Who slew him lest he should betray the secret, 
 Saw me approach, and in the pangs of death 
 Cry’d fly and save Alcanor ; wrest the sword 
 From Zaphna’s hands if tis not yet too late, 
 
 , That's destin’d for his death : then let him know 
 That Zaphna and Palmira are his children ! 
 
 Pal. “ That Zaphna and Palmira are his children 1” 
 Dost hear that, Zaphna ? 
 
 ’Lafih. Tis enough, my fate 1 
 Can’st thou aught more I 
 
 Ale. Oh, nature ! eh, my children 1 
 By what vile instigations wert thou driven, 
 Unhappy Zaphna ! to this bloody action I 
 
 Z aph. (falling at his father's feet) Oh, I cannot 
 speak j 
 
 Restore me, sir, restore that damned weapon. 
 
 That I for once may make it, as I ought, 
 
 An instrument of justice. 
 
 Pal. (kneeling) Oh, my father. 
 
46 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 Strike here ; the crime was mine ; tvvas 1 alone 
 That work’d his will to this unnatural deed : 
 
 “ Upon these terms alone he could be mine. 
 
 And incest was the price of parricide.” 
 
 Zafih. Strike your assassins- ■ — » 
 
 Ale. I embrace my children, 
 
 And joy to see them, though my life’s the forfeit 
 Rise, children, rise and live ; live to revenge 
 Your father’s death—-but in the name of nature, 
 
 By the remains of this paternal blood 
 That’s oozing from my wound, raise not your hands 
 Gainst your own being. Zaphna, would’st thou do me 
 A second deadlier mischief ? 
 
 Self-slaughter can’t atone for parricide. 
 u Zajih. Then I will live, 
 
 Live to/ some purpose r this is glorious suffering*’ 5 
 Ale. Thy undetermin’d arm ha’n’t quite fulfill’d 
 Its bigot purpose ; I hope to live to animate 
 Our friends gainst this impostor ; lead ’em Zaphna, 
 To root out a rapacious baneful crew, 
 
 Whose zeal is phrenzy, whose religion murder. 
 Zafih. Swift, swift, ye hours ! and light me to re¬ 
 venge f 
 
 Gome thou infernal weapon, (snatches the s wordy 
 I’ll wash off thy foul stain with the heart’s blood 
 Of that malignant, sanctify’d assassin. 
 
 (as Zaphna is going off mirvan q.nd Ids followers 
 enter and stofi him) 
 
 Mir. Seize Zaphna, 
 
 d And load the trait’rous murderer with chains :•** 
 Help you the good Alcanor—hapless man I 
 Our prophet in a vision learnt to-night 
 The mournful tele of thy untimely end,- 
 
Act IF] 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 61 
 
 And sent me straight to seize the vile asssassin, 
 That he might wreak severest justice on him : 
 Mahomet comes to vindicate the laws, 
 
 Not suffer with impunity their breach. 
 
 Ale. Heav’ns 1 what accumulated crimes are here! 
 Zafih. Where is the monster ? bear me instant 
 to him, 
 
 That I may blast him with my eye, may curse him 
 With my last hesitating voice. 
 
 Pal. Thou traitor, 
 
 Did not thy own death-doing tongue enjoin 
 This horrid deed ? 
 
 « Mir. Not mine, by heav’n ! 
 
 Zajih. Not thine ! 
 
 Mir. No, by our prophet and his holy faith, 
 
 Of all the thoughts ere harbor’d in this breast 
 It ne’er had such a monster for its tenant. 
 
 Zafih. Most accomplish’d villain ! 
 
 Mirvan, look at me—dar’st thou-” 
 
 Mir. Off" with him, (to the soldiers) 
 
 And see him well secur’d, {< till Mahomet 
 Demands him of you. 
 
 Pal. Villain, hold 1 {laying hold of Zaphna) 
 Mir. Away. 
 
 Zafih. Just, just reward of my credulity 1” 
 
 Pal. Let me go with him ; I will share thy fate 
 Unhappy Zaphna, for I share thy guilt. 
 
 « But then- {looking back at Alcanor”) 
 
 Mir. No more—you must to Mahomet : 
 
 « Obey without reluctanceour great prophet, 
 
 « In pity to your tender frame and years,” 
 
 Will take you under his divine protection. 
 
 Pal. (apart) Oh, death ! deliver me from such 
 protection l 
 
MAHOMET 
 
 QMUefi 
 
 62 
 
 Mir. « If you would aught to save the destin’d 
 Zaphna, 
 
 Follow me to the prophet; you may move him 
 To mitigate his doom”—away. 
 
 (to the soldiers who hold Zaphna} 
 You, this way. (to Palmira) 
 
 Zafih. Pardon ! 
 
 Pal. Oh, pardon ! 
 
 (they are led off by degrees , looking alternately at 
 their father and each other) 
 
 Ale. Oh, insupportable ! 
 
 Both from me torn then when I wanted most 
 Their consolation. (a shout) 
 
 Pha. Hark! 
 
 The citizens are rous’d, and ail in arms 
 Rush on to your defence. 
 
 Ale. Pharon, support me 
 Some moments longer—help, conduct me towards 
 ’em : 
 
 Bare this wound to ’em ; let that speak the cause* 
 The treach’rous cause, for words begin to fail me ! 
 Then, if in death I can but serve my country, 
 Save my poor children from this tiger’s gripe, 
 
 “ And give a second life to that lov’d pair 
 By whose misguided zeal I lose my own 
 What patriot or parent but would wish 
 In so divine a cause to fall a martyr ! [exeunt 
 
 END OF THE FOURTH ACT. 
 
 ACT V. 
 
 SCENE I—. 
 
 enter mahomet arid mirvan. 
 
 Mali. Wrong will be ever nurs’d and fed with 
 blood— 
 
fat V) 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 0 
 
 So this boy bigot held his pious purpose ? 
 
 Mir. Devoutly. ' 
 
 Mali. What a reasonless machine 
 Can superstition make the reas’ner, man ! 
 Alcanor lies there on his bed of earth ? 
 
 Mir. This moment he expir’d, and Mecca’s youth 
 In vain lament their chief. ‘‘To the mad crowd 
 That gather’d round good Ali and myself 
 (Full of thy dauntless heav’nly-seeming spirit) 
 Disclaim’d the deed, and pointed out the arm 
 Of righteous heav’n that strikes for Mahomet— 
 Think ye, we cry’d (with eyes and hands uprear’d) 
 Think ye our holy prophet w r ould consent 
 To such a crime, whose foulness casts a blot 
 On right of nations, nature, and our faith ? 
 
 Oh, rather think he will revenge his death, 
 
 And root his murd’rer from the burden’d earth ! 
 Then struck our breasts, and wept the good old man* 
 And only wish’d he died among the faithful. 
 
 And slept with Ibrahim. 
 
 Mah. Excellent Mirvan! 
 
 Mir. We then both at large 
 Descanted on thy clemency and bounty ; 
 
 On that” the silent and desponding crowd 
 Broke out in murmurs, plaints, and, last in shouts. 
 And each mechanic grew a mussulman. 
 
 Mah, Oh, worthy to deceive and awe the worlds 
 Second to Mahomet I let me embrace thee—” 
 But say, is not our army at their gates 
 “ To back our clemency ?” 
 
 Mir Omar commands 
 Their nightly march thro’ unsuspected paths, 
 And with the morn appears, 
 
 Mah. At sight of them 
 ^he weak remaining billows of this storm 
 
64 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [MiUer 
 
 Will lash themselves to peace—but where is 
 Zaphna ? 
 
 Mir. Safe in a dungeon, where he dies apace, 
 Unconscious of his fate : for well thou know’st 
 Ere at the altar’s foot he slew his sire 
 In his own veins he bore his guilt’s reward, 
 
 A deadly draught of poison. 
 
 Mah. I would be kind, and let him die deceiv’d. 
 Nor know that parent’s blood defiles his soul. 
 Mir. He cannot know it: if the grave be silent 
 
 Pm sure Hercides is- 
 
 Mah. Unhappy Zaphna! 
 
 Something like pity checks me for thy death. 
 
 “ But why—T must not think that way—shall Ma- 
 Give a new paradise to all mankind, [hornet 
 And let remorse of conscience be the hell 
 Of his own breast!” my safety claim’d his life. 
 And all the heav’n of fair Palmira’s charms 
 Shall be my great reward. 
 
 Mir. My noble lord, 
 
 Palmira is at hand, and waits your pleasure. 
 
 Mah. At hand ! how, Mirvan, couldst thou let 
 me talk 
 
 On themes of guilt when that pure angel’s near ? 
 
 Mir. The weeping fair, led on by flatt’ring hope 
 Of Zaphna’s life, attendsL your sacred will : 
 
 A silent pale dejection shrowds her cheeks, 
 
 And, like the lily in a morning show’r, 
 
 She droops her head and locks up all her sweets. 
 
 Mah. Say Mahomet awrits, and then 
 Assemble all our chiefs, and on this platform 
 Let them attend me straight. [exit Mirvan 
 
 enter palmira with attendants. 
 
 Pal. (afiart) Where have they led me ? 
 Methinks each step I take, the mangled corpse 
 
4ct f] 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 65 
 
 Of my dear father, by poor Zaphna mangled. 
 
 Lies in my way, and all I see is blood-( [starting ). 
 
 Tis the impostor’s self!—burst heart, in silence. 
 
 Mali. Maid, lav aside this dread. Palmira’s fate 
 And that of Mecca by my will is fix’d. 
 
 This great event, that fills thy soul with horror 
 Xs mystery to all but heaven and Mahomet. 
 
 Pal. Oh, ever righteous heaven ! canst thou suffer 
 This sacrilegious hypocrite, this spoiler, 
 
 To steal thy terrors, and blaspheme thy name, 
 
 Nor doom him instant dead? (aside) 
 
 Mali. Child of my care, 
 
 At length from galling chains I’ve set thee free, 
 And made thee triumph in a just revenge ; 
 
 Think then thou’rt dear to me, and Mahomet 
 Regards thee with a more than father’s eye : 
 
 Then know, if thou’lt deserve the mighty boon, 
 
 An higher name, a nobler fate, awaits thee. 
 
 Pal. What would the tyrant ?-- 
 
 Mah. Raise thy thoughts to glory, 
 
 And sweep this Zaphna from thy memory, 
 
 With all that’s past—let that mean flame expire 
 Before the blaze of empire’s radiant sun. 
 
 Thy grateful heart must answerto my bounties, 
 Follow my laws, and share in all my conquests. 
 Pal. What laws, what bounties, and what con¬ 
 quest, tyrant ? 
 
 Fraud is thy law, the tomb thy only bounty, 
 
 Thy conquests fatal as infected air, 
 
 Dispeopling half the globe—set here, good heaven! 
 The venerable prophet I revered, 
 
 The king I served, the god that I adored. 
 
 JMfih. (approaching her) Whence this unwonted 
 language, this wild frenzy l 
 F 2 
 
66 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 Pal. Where is the spirit of my martyr’d father ? 
 Where Zaphna’s ? where Palmira’s innocence ? 
 Blasted by thee, by thee, infernal monster— 
 
 Thou iound’st us angels and hast made us fiends : 
 Give, give us back our lives, our fame, our virtue : 
 Thou canst not, tyrant—yet thou seek’st my love, 
 Seek’st with Alcanor’s blood his daughter’s love. 
 Mah. (apart) Horror and death 1 the fatal se¬ 
 cret’s known. 
 
 enter mirvan. 
 
 Mir. Oh, Mahomet, all’s lost, thy glory tarnish’d, 
 And th’ insatiate tomb ripe to devour us I 
 Hercides’ parting breath divulged the secret. 
 
 The prison’s forced, the city all in arms : 
 
 See where they bear aloft their murder’d chief, 
 Fell Zaphna in their front, death in his looks, 
 
 Rage all his strepgth. Spite of the deadly draught 
 He holds in life but to make sure of vengeance. 
 Mah. What dost thou here then ? instant with our 
 guards, 
 
 Attempt to stem their progress, till the arrival 
 Of Omar with the troops. 
 
 Mir. I haste, my lord. [exit Mirvan 
 
 Pal. Now, now, my hour’s at hand. 
 
 Hearist thou those shouts that rend the ambient air ? 
 Seest thou those glancing fires that add new horrors 
 To the night’s gloom ? fresh from thy murd’ring 
 poignard, 
 
 “ For thine it was, though Zaphna gave the blow,” 
 My father’s spirit leads the vengeful shades 
 Of all the wretches whom thy sword has butcher’d : 
 “ I see them raise their unsubstantial arms 
 To snatch me from thy rage, or worse, thy love. 
 
Act rj 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 6 r 
 
 Shadows shall conquer in Palmira’s cause. 
 
 Mah. {apart) What terror’s this that hangs up¬ 
 on her accents ! 
 
 I feel her virtue, though I know her weakness. 
 
 Pal. Thou ask’st my love, go seek it in the grave 
 Of good Alcanor—talk’st of grateful minds, 
 
 Bid Zaphna plead for thee, and I may hear thee ; 
 Till then thou art my scorn-—may’st thou, like me, 
 Behold thy dearest blood split at thy feet, 
 
 , Mecca, Medina, all our asian world, 
 
 Join, join to drive the impostor from the earth, 
 Blush at his chains, and shake them oflfin vengeance! 
 Mah. (apart) Be still, my soul, nor let a wo¬ 
 man’s rage 
 
 Ruffle thy wonted calm—spite of thy hate 
 Thou’rt lovely still, and charming even in madness. 
 
 (a shout and noise of fighting J 
 My fair, retire ; nor let thy gentle soul 
 
 * Shake with alarms : thou’rt my peculiar care ; . 
 
 I go to quell this trait’rous insurrection, 
 
 And will attend thee straight. 
 
 Pal. No, tyrant, no ; 
 
 I’ll join my brother, help to head our friends, 
 
 And urge them on. .(a shout) 
 
 Roll, roll your thunders heavens, and aid the storm i 
 Now hurl your lightning on the guilty head, 
 
 I And plead the cause of injured innocence, [exit Pal. 
 enter aiu. 
 
 Mah. Whence, Alt, that surprize ? 
 
 Ali . My royal chief, 
 
 * The foe prevails—thy troops, led on by Mirvan, 
 Are all cut off, and valiant Mirvan’s self, 
 
 By Zaphna slain, lies weltering in his blood : 
 v The guards that to our arms should ope the gate§, 
 Struck with the common frenzy, row thy ruin, 
 
68 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 And ceath arid vengeance is the gen’ral cry. 
 
 Mah. Can Ali fear then, Mahomet be thyself. 
 
 Ali. See, thy few friends, whom wild despair' 
 hath arm’d, 
 
 But arm’d in vain, are come to die beside thee. 
 
 Mah. Ye heartless traitors ! Mahomet alone 
 Shall be his own defender, and your guard 
 Against the crowds of Mecca—follow me. 
 enter zaphn a, palmira, and pharon, ’with citizens , 
 and the body of Alcanor on a bier. 
 
 Ha ! 
 
 Zafih. See, my friends, where the impostor stands 
 With head erect, as if ht knew not guilt, 
 
 As if no tongue spake from Alcanor’s wound, 
 
 Nor call’d for vengeance on him. 
 
 Mah. Impious man! ' 
 
 Is’t not enough to have spilt thy parent blood, 
 
 But witli attrocious and blaspheming lips 
 Dar’st thou arraign the substitute of heaven ? 
 
 Zafih The substitute of heaven ! so is the sword ? , 
 The pestilence, the famine ; such art thou : 
 
 Such are the blessings heaven has sent to man 
 B} thee, its delegate ; “ nay more, to me. 
 
 Oh, he took pains, Palmira, upon us, 
 
 Deluded us into such monstrous crimes 
 
 A - nature sicken’d at conception of]--” 
 
 How couldst thou damn us thus ? 
 
 Mah Babbler, avaunt ! |Yhee, 
 
 Zafih. Well thou upbraidstme, for to parly with 
 Half brands me coward. Oh, revenge me, friends 1 
 Revenge Alcanor’s massacre ; revenge 
 Taimira’s wrongs, and crush the rancorous monster. 
 Mah. Hear me, ye slaves, born to obey my will. 
 
 Pul. Ah, hear him not! fraud dwells upqn his 
 tongue. 
 
Act r\ 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 69 
 
 Za/ih. Have at thee, fiend !— ha, heaven, 
 (Zaphna advancing , reels and reclines on his sword ) 
 What cloud is this 
 
 That thwarts upon my sight ? my head grows dizzy, 
 My joints unloose: sure tis the stroke of fate. 
 Mah. (aside) The poison works 1—then triumph 
 Mahomet! 
 
 Za[ih. Off, off, base lethargy. 
 
 Pal. Brother, dismay'd 1 
 Hast thou no power but in a guilty cause, 
 
 ► And only strength to be a parricide ? [not be. 
 Zajih Spare that reproach—come on—-it will 
 (hangs down his sword , and reclines on Pharon) 
 Some cruel pow’r unnerves my willing arm, 
 
 Blasts my resolves, and weighs me down to earth, 
 Mah. Such be the fate of all who brave our law. 
 Nature and death have heard my voice, and now 
 Let heav’n be judge twixt Zaphna and myself, 
 
 And instant blast the guilty of the two. 
 
 Pal . Brother! oh. Zaphna ! 
 
 L Z afih. u Zaphna now no more.” (reeling from 
 Pharon’s arms , sinks on the dead body of Alcanor ) 
 Down, down, good Pharon—thou poor injur’d corse, 
 l May I embrace thee ? won’t thy pallid wound 
 1 Purple anew at the unnatural touch, 
 
 And ooze fresh calls for vengeance ? 
 
 Pal. Oh, mv brother ! 
 
 'Lafih. In vain’s the guiltless meaning of my heart, 
 High heaven detests the involuntary crime. 
 
 And dooms for parricide—then tremble, tyrant! 
 
 If the supreme can punish error thus, 
 
 What new-invented tortures must await 
 Thy soul, grown leprous with such foul offences ? 
 
 But soft—now fate and nature are at strife . - 
 
 lister farewell 1 with transport should I quit 
 
70 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Miller 
 
 This toilsome, perilous, delusive stage, 
 
 But that I leave thee on’: ;—leave thee, Palmira, 
 Expos’d to what is worse than fear can image, 
 
 That tyran’ts mercy :—but I know thee brave ; 
 Know that though act a part”—look on her, heaven 
 Guide her, and—oh I (dies) 
 
 Pal. Think not. ye men of Mecca, 
 
 This death’s inflicted by the hand of heaven r 
 
 Tis he—that viper- 
 
 Mah. Know, ye faithless wretches ! 
 
 Tis mine to deal the bolts of angry heaven ; 
 
 Behold them there, and let the wretch who doubts 
 Tremble at Zaphna’s fete, and know that Mahpmet 
 Can read his thoughts, and doom him with a look. • 
 Go, then, and thank your pontiff and your prince 
 For each day’s sun he grants you to behold. 
 
 Hence to your temples and appease my rage. 
 
 (the fieofde go off) 
 Pal. Ah, stay ! my brother’s murder’d by this ty> 
 By poison not bv piety he kills. [rant; 
 
 Mah. Tis done—-thus ever be our law receiv’d ! 
 
 ( apart) 
 
 !Now, fair Palmira- 
 
 Pal. Monster ! is it thus 
 Thou mak’st thyself a god, by added crimes, 
 
 4md murders justify’d by sacrilege ? 
 
 Mah. Think exquisite Palmira ! for thy sake— 
 Pal. Thou’st been the murderer of all my race, 
 See where Alcanor, see where Zaphna, lies : 
 
 Do they not call for me too at thy hands ? 
 
 O i, that thev did !—but I can read thy thoughts ; 
 Palmira’s sav’d for something worse than death ; 
 This to prevent—Zaphna, I follow thee. 
 
 (stabs herself with Zaphna’s s.word J; 
 Pfah. What hast thou done l 
 
Act ir\ 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 n 
 
 Pal. A deed of glory, tyrant! 
 
 Thou’st left no object worth Palmira’s eye, 
 
 And when I shut out light I shut out thee— (dies) 
 Mah. Farewell dear victim of my boundiess pas* 
 sion ; 
 
 tl The price of treachery, the reward of murder, 
 Sink with thee to the earth”—oh, justice, justice i 
 In vain are glory, worship, and dominion. 
 
 All conq’ror as I am I am a slave, 
 
 And by the world ador’d, dwell with the damn’d. 
 
 , My crimes have planted scorpions in my breast—* 
 Here, here, I feel them. Tis in vain to brave 
 The host of terrors that invade my soul: 
 
 I might deceive the world, myself I cannot. 
 
 Alt. Be calm a while my lord; think what you are. 
 Mah. Ha ! what am I ? ( turning to the bodies) 
 
 Ye breathless family, 
 
 Let your loud crying wounds say what lam. 
 
 Oh ! snatch me from that sight; quick, quick trans* 
 port me 
 
 5 Yo nature’s loneliest mansion, where the sun 
 Ne’er enter’d, where the sound of human tread 
 Was never heard—--but wherefore ? still I there, 
 
 , There Still shall find myself—ay, that’s the hell—* 
 
 | I’ll none on’t- (drawing his sword) 
 
 Ali. Heav’ns ! help, hold him 1 
 
 ( Ali, Ufc. disarm himJ 
 
 I Mah. Paltry dastards! 
 
 You fled the foe but can disarm your master. 
 
 Angel of death, whose power I’ve long proclaim’d, 
 Now aid me if thou canst; now if thou canst 
 * Draw the kind curtain of eternal night 
 , And shroud qie from the horrors that beset me 
 
 [exeunt Mahomet, &c. 
 
72 
 
 MAHOMET 
 
 [Millet 
 
 Phar. Oh l what a curse is life when self convic- 
 Flings our offences hourly in our face, [tion 
 
 And turns existence torturer to itself ! 
 
 Here let the mad enthusiast turn his eyes, 
 
 And see from bigotry what horrors rise, 
 
 Here in the blackest'colors let him read 
 
 That zeal, by craft misled, may act a deed 
 
 By which both innocence and virtue bleed [exit 
 
 END OF MAHOMET. 
 
 EPILOGUE. 
 
 - , Originally spoken by Mr. Garrick. 
 
 Long has the shameful license of the age 
 With senseless ribaldry disgrac’d the stage ; 
 
 So much indecencies have been in vogue 
 They pleaded ciistom in an epilogue, 
 
 As if the force of reason was a yoke 
 So heavy—they must ease it withjoke ; 
 
 Disarm the moral of its virtuous way , 
 
 Or else the audience go displeas'd away. 
 
 How have I blush'd to see a tragic queen 
 With ill tim'd mirth disgrace the well wrote scene, 
 From all the sad solemnity of woe 
 Trip nimbly forth—to ridicule a beau; 
 
 Then, as the loosest airs she had been gleaning. 
 Coquette the fan, and leer a double meaning ! 
 Shame on those arts that prostitute the bays 1 _ 
 Shame on the bard who this way hopes for praise ! 
 The bold but honest author of to night 
 Disdains to please you if he please not right; 
 
 ]f in his well meant scene you chance to find 
 Aught to ennoble or enlarge the mind, 
 
 Jf he has found the means ; with honest art, 
 
 To fix the noblest wishes in the heart. 
 
 In softer accents to inform the fair 
 
 How bright they look when virtue drops the tear, 
 
 Enjoy wiih'fricndly welcome the repast. 
 
 And keep the heartfelt relish to the last.