Whilst to the style of conqu'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 ardour 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.

Alc. Who? Mahomet?

Mir. Yes, he conjures thou'lt grant it.

Alc. 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 pow'r in Mecca,
To their serener wisdoms I'll appeal.

[Exit.
Alc. I'll meet thee there.-Ye sacred pow'rs,
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,
To pluck the spoil from the oppressor's jaws,
And keep my country as I found it-free!

[Exeunt.

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 pow'rs, and brave misfortune.
In vain the storm-tost mariner repines;
Impatience only throws

Discredit on mischance, and adds a shame
To our affliction.

Enter ZAPHNA.

Ha! all-gracious heaven!

Thou, Zaphna! is it thon? what pitying angel
Guided thy steps to these abodes of bondage?

Zaph. Thou sov'reign of my soul, and all its pow'rs,

Object of every 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 bless'd with!

Pal. Say, my hero,

Are my ills ended then?-They are, they are!
Now Zaphna's here, I am no more a captive,
Except to him-Oh, bless'd captivity!

Zaph. 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,
When thou, my son of comfort, wert so nigh.
Zaph. Since that dire hour, when on Sabaria's strand
The barb'rous foe depriv'd me of Palmira,
In what a gulf of horror and despair
Have thy imagin'd perils plung'd my soul!
Stretch'd on expiring corses for awhile,

To the deaf stream I pour'd out my complaint,
And begg'd I might be number'd with the dead
That strew'd 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:
Instant, on wings of lightning, I pursu'd him,
And enter'd as his hostage-fix'd, Palmira,
Or to redeem, or die a captive with thee.
Pal. Heroic youth!

Zaph. But how have these barbarians
Treated my fair?

Pal. With high humanity.

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

But absence from my Zaphna and my friends.

Zaph. 1 grieve, a soul so gen'rous is our foe:

But now, presented as a 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 ardour sprang.
Pal. Yet gen'rous as he is, not all my pray❜rs,

Not all the tears I lavish at his feet,
Can move him to restore me.

Zaph. But he shall;

Let the barbarian know he shall, Palmira.
The god of Mahomet, our divine protector,
Whose still triumphant standard I have borne
O'er piles of vanquish'd infidels-that pow'r
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.

Zaph. Mahomet in Mecca, say'st thou? Once more in Mecca!

Pal. Transport! bid him welcome.

Zuph. Thy suff'rings then are o'er, the ebb is past,

And a full tide of hope flows in upon us.

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.

SCENE II. A spacious Grotto.

[Exeunt.

MAHOMET discovered with the Alcoran before him. Mah. Glorious hypocrisy! what fools are they, Who, 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 achiev'd, Without the succour of thy sacred impulse.

Enter HERCIDES, AMMON, and ALI.

Invincible supporters of our grandeur!
My faithful chiefs, Hercides, Ammon, Ali!
Go, and instruct this people in my name;
That faith may dawn, and, like a morning star,
Be herald to my rising.-Lo, Palmira!

[Exeunt Hercides, Ammon, and Ali. Her angel-face, with unfeign'd blushes spread, Proclaims the purity that dwells within."

Enter MIRVAN, ZAPHINA, and PALMIRA. The hand of war was ne'er before so barbarous, Never bore from me half so rich a spoil,

As thee, my fair.

Pal. Joy to my heavenly guardian!

[To Palmira.

Joy to the world, that Mahomet's in Mecca!

Mah. My child, let me embrace thee-How's this? Zaphina!

Thou here?

Zaph. [Kneels] 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 hither hasten'd

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, errs

As much as he who falters in his duty.

obey

My god-implicitly obey thou me.

Pal. Pardon, my gracious lord, his well-meant ardour. Brought up from tender iufancy, beneath

The shelter of thy sacred patronage,

Zaphna and I've been animated still

By the same sentiments.

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 gen'rals, Zaphna. Fair Palmira,