The Genius then held out towards him a scroll, on which the seal of seven powers was impressed. 'Take, said he, 'this scroll, in which the mysterious name of Orosmades is written. Invoke the spirits, that reside westward from the rising of the sun; and northward, in the regions of cold and darkness: then stretch out thy hand, and a lamp of sulphur, self kindled, shall burn before thee. In the fire of this lamp, consume that which I now give thee; and as the smoke, into which it changes, shall mix with the air, a mighty charm shall be formed, which shall defend thee from all mischief: from that instant no poison, however potent, can hurt thee; nor shall any prison confine: in one moment, thou shalt be restored to the throne, and to ALMEIDA; and the Angel of death, shall lay his hand upon thy brother; to whom, if I had confided this last best effort of my power, he would have secured the good to himself, and have transferred the evil to thee.'

ALMORAN, who had listened unseen to this address of the Genius to HAMET, was now confirmed in his suspicions, that evil had been ultimately intended against him; and that he had been entangled in the toils of perfidy, while he believed himself to be assisted by the efforts of friendship: he was also convinced, that by the Genius he was not known to be present. HAMET, however, flood still doubtful, and ALMORAN was kept silent by his fears. 'Whoever thou art,' said HAMET, the condition of the advantages which thou hast offered me, is such as it is not lawful to fulfill: these horrid rites, and this commerce with unholy powers, are prohibited to mortals in the Law of life.' 'See thou to that,' said the Genius: 'Good and evil are before thee; that which I now offer thee, I will offer no more.'

HAMET, who had not fortitude to give up at once the possibility of securing the advantages that had been offered, and who was seduced by human frailty to deliberate at least upon the choice; stretched out his hand, and receiving the scroll, the Genius instantly disappeared. That which had been proposed as a trial of his virtue, ALMORAN believed indeed to be an offer of advantage; he had no hope, therefore, but that HAMET would refuse the conditions, and that he should be able to obtain the talisman, and fulfill them himself: he judged that the mind of HAMET was in suspense, and was doubtful to which side it might finally incline; he, therefore, instantly assumed the voice and the person of OMAR, that by the influence of his council he might be able to turn the scale.

When the change was effected, he called HAMET by his name; and HAMET, who knew the voice, answered him in a transport of joy and wonder: 'My friend,' said he, 'my father! in this dreary solitude, in this hour of trial, thou art welcome to my soul as liberty and life! Guide me to thee by thy voice; and tell while I hold thee to my bosom, how and wherefore thou art come?' 'Do not now ask me,' said ALMORAN: 'it is enough that I am here; and that I am permitted to warn thee of the precipice, on which thou standest. It is enough, that concealed in this darkness, I have overheard the specious guile, which some evil demon has practised upon thee.' 'Is it then certain,' said HAMET, 'that this being is evil?' 'Is not that being evil, said ALMORAN,' 'who proposes evil, as the condition of good?' 'Shall I then,' said HAMET, 'renounce my liberty and life? The rack is now ready; and, perhaps, the next moment, its tortures will be inevitable.' 'Let me ask thee then,' said ALMORAN, 'to preserve thy life, wilt thou destroy thy soul?' 'O! stay,' said HAMET—'Let me not be tried too far! Let the strength of Him who is Almighty, be manifest in my weakness!' HAMET then paused a few moments; but he was no longer in doubt: and ALMORAN, who disbelieved and despised the arguments, by which he intended to persuade him to renounce what, upon the same condition, he was impatient to secure for himself, conceived hopes that he should succeed; and those hopes were instantly confirmed.' 'Take then,' said HAMET, this unholy charm; and remove it far from me, as the sands of Alai from the trees of Oman; lest, in some dreadful hour, my virtue may fail me, and thy counsel may be wanting!' 'Give it me then,' said ALMORAN; and feeling for the hands of each other, he snatched it from him in an extasy of joy, and instantly resuming his own voice and figure, he cried out, 'At length I have prevailed: and life and love, dominion and revenge, are now at once in my hand!'

HAMET heard and knew the voice of his brother, with astonishment; but it was too late to wish that he had withheld the charm, which his virtue would not permit him to use. 'Yet a few moments pass,' said ALMORAN, and thou art nothing.' HAMET, who doubted not of the power of the talisman, and knew that ALMORAN had no principles which would restrain him from using it to his destruction, resigned himself to death, with a sacred joy that he had escaped from guilt. ALMORAN then, with an elation of mind that sparkled in his eyes, and glowed upon his cheek, stretched out his hand, in which he held the scroll; and a lamp of burning sulphur was immediately suspended in the air before him: he held the mysterious writing in the flame; and as it began to burn, the place shook with reiterated thunder, of which every peal was more terrible and more loud. HAMET, wrapping his robe round him, cried out, 'In the Fountain of Life that flows for ever, let my life be mingled! Let me not be, as if I had never been; but still conscious of my being, let me still glorify Him from whom it is derived, and be still happy in his love!'

ALMORAN, who was absorbed in the anticipation of his own felicity, heard the thunder without dread, as the proclamation of his triumph: 'Let thy hopes,' said he, 'be thy portion; and the pleasures that I have secured, shall be mine.' As he pronounced these words, he started as at a sudden pang; his eyes became fixed, and his posture immoveable; yet his senses still remained, and he perceived the Genius once more to stand before him. 'ALMORAN,' said he, 'to the last sounds which thou shalt hear, let thine ear be attentive! Of the spirits that rejoice to fulfill the purpose of the Almighty, I am one. To HAMET, and to ALMORAN, I have been commissioned from above: I have been appointed to perfect virtue, by adversity; and in the folly of her own projects, to entangle vice. The charm, which could be formed only by guilt, has power only to produce misery: of every good, which thou, ALMORAN, wouldst have secured by disobedience, the opposite evil is thy portion; and of every evil, which thou, HAMET, wast, by Obedience, willing to incur, the opposite good is bestowed upon thee. To thee, HAMET, are now given the throne of thy father, and ALMEIDA. And thou, ALMORAN, who, while I speak, art incorporating with the earth, shalt remain, through all generations, a memorial of the truths which thy life has taught!'

At the words of the Genius, the earth trembled beneath, and above the walls of the prison disappeared: the figure of ALMORAN, which was hardened into stone, expanded by degrees; and a rock, by which his form and attitude are still rudely expressed, became at once a monument of his punishment and his guilt.

Such are the events recorded by ACMET, the descendant of the Prophet, and the preacher of righteousness! for, to ACMET, that which passed in secret was revealed by the Angel of instruction, that the world might know, that, to the wicked, increase of power is increase of wretchedness; and that those who condemn the folly of an attempt to defeat the purpose of a Genius, might no longer hope to elude the appointment of the Most High.

THE END