ACT V. SCENE I
Mahomet, Omar, Guards at a distance.
OMAR.
Zopir's approaching death alarms the people,
We have endeavored to appease their clamors,
And disavowed all knowledge of the deed;
To some, we called it the avenging hand
Of heaven that favors thus its prophet's cause:
With others, we lament his fall, and boast
Thy awful justice that will soon avenge it.
The crowd attentive listen to thy praise,
And all the danger of the storm is o'er;
If aught remains of busy faction's rage
It is but as the tossing of the waves
After the tempest, when the vault of heaven
Is placid and serene.
MAHOMET.
Be it our care
To keep it so: where are my valiant bands?
OMAR/
All ready; Osman in the dead of night
By secret paths conducted them to Mecca.
MAHOMET.
'Tis strange that men either deceived
or forced into obedience: Seid knows not
it is a father's blood that he has shed?
OMAR.
Who could inform him of it? He alone
Who knew the secret is no more; Hercides
Is gone, and Seid soon shall follow him;
For know, he has already drunk the poison;
His crime was punished ere it was committed:
Even whilst he dragged his father to the altar
Death lurked within his veins; he cannot live:
Palmira too, is safe, she may be useful:
I've given her hopes of Seid's pardon: that
May win her to our cause; she dare not murmur,
Besides, her heart is flexible and soft,
Formed to obey, to worship Mahomet,
And make him soon the happiest of mankind:
Trembling and pale, behold! They bring her to thee.
MAHOMET.
Collect my forced, Omar and return.
ACT V. SCENE II
Mahomet, Palmira, Guards.
PALMIRA.
O heaven! Where am I? Gracious God?
MAHOMET.
Palmira,
Be not alarmed; already I have fixed
Thy fate and Mecca's: know, the great event
That fills thy soul with horror is a mystery
'twixt heaven and me that's not to be revealed:
But thou art free, and happy: think no more
Of Seid, nor lament him; leave to me
The fate of men; be thankful for thy own:
Thou knowest that Mahomet hath loved thee long,
That I have ever been a father to thee;
Perhaps a nobler fate and fairer title
May grace thee still, if thou deserve it; therefore
Blot from thy memory the name of Seid,
And let thy soul aspire to greater blessings
That it could dare to hope for; let thy heart
Be my last noblest victory, and join
The conquered world to own me for its master.
PALMIRA.
What joys, what blessings, or what happiness
Can I expect from thee, thou vile impostor?
Thou bloody savage! This alone was wanting
This cruel insult to complete my woes:
Eternal father, look upon this king,
This holy prophet, this all-powerful god
Whom I adored: thou monster, to betray
Two guiltless hearts into the crying sin
Of parricide; thou infamous seducer
Of my unguarded youth, how darest thou think,
Stained as thou art with my dear father's blood,
To gain Palmira's heart? But know, proud tyrant,
Thou are not yet invincible: the veil
Is off that hid thee, and the hand of vengeance
Upraised to scourge thy guilt: dost thou not hear
The maddening multitude already armed
In the defense of injured innocence?
From the death's dark shades my murdered father comes
To lead them on: O that these feeble hands
Could tear thee piece-meal, thee and all thy train!
Would I cold see them weltering in their blood;
See Mecca, and Medina, Asia, all
Combined against thee! That the credulous world
Would shake off thy vile chains and thy religion
Become the jest and scorn of all mankind
To after ages! May that hell, whose threats
Thou hast so often denounced 'gainst all who dared
To doubt thy false divinity, now open
Her fiery gates, and be thy just reward!
These are the thanks I owe thee for thy bounties,
And these the prayers I made for Mahomet.
MAHOMET.
I see I am betrayed; but be it so:
Whe'er thou art, learn henceforth to obey you;
For know, my heart—
ACT V. SCENE III
Mahomet, Palmira, Omar, Ali, Attendants.
OMAR.
The secret is revealed;
Hercides told it in his dying moments:
The people all enraged have forced the prison: