Thou hast some faithful
friends here, who would fain commune in calmness for thy lasting
welfare.'
'Welfare! He mocks me.'
'I beseech, thee, Sire, be calm. If, indeed, I speak unto that great
Alroy whom all men fear and still may fear, I pray remember, 'tis not
in palaces or in the battle-field alone that the heroic soul can conquer
and command. Scenes like these are the great proof of a superior soul.
While we live, our body is a temple where our genius pours forth its
godlike inspiration, and while the altar is not overthrown, the deity
may still work marvels. Then rouse thyself, great Sire; bethink thee
that, a Caliph or a captive, there is no man within this breathing world
like to Alroy. Shall such a being fall without a struggle, like some
poor felon, who has naught to trust to but the dull shuffling accident
of Chance? I, too, am a prophet, and I feel thou still wilt conquer.'
'Give me my sceptre, then, give me the sceptre! I speak to the wrong
brother! It was not thou, it was not thou that gavest it me.'
'Gain it once more. The Lord deserted David for a time; still he
pardoned him, and still he died a king.'
'A woman worked his fall.'
'But thee a woman raises. This great Princess, has she not suffered too?
Yet her spirit is still unbroken.
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