Chapter VIII

When morn is waking in its mirth,
And flowers are softly weeping,
The quiet bosom of the earth
In pearly dew-drops steeping:
I love to feel the zephyr’s sigh,
To list the wild birds’ singing;
And watch along the silent sky
The morn’s gay beauty springing.

YSSEE.

The fugitives, though able to walk but slowly onwards, felt a growing consciousness of safety, which gradually restored strength to Mangeli and Nourmahal, without lessening the sense of horror still pressing on their minds. The moon had already grown pale. The day-star was hastening through clouds whose lower edges were lines of a saffron hue,--the faint reflection of the ocean of light still beneath the horizon. These were succeeded by streaks of thin vapour, sprinkled here and there by roseate tints, while the sheep, busily browsing on the ridges of the eastern mountains, appeared clothed in fleeces of gold. The birds, chirping lowly to each other, flitted timidly amongst the trees, summoning their tribes to meet the morning with their usual anthems of adoration. The mists of night, gradually disappearing, left the meadows enriched with dews that soon sparkled in the coming rays, and the scenery of the country becoming every moment more clearly defined, shewed its pastures, and gardens, and villages in all the beauty of renovated life.

Amidst the songs which burst from all sides upon the ears of the early travellers, there were other tones of a still more soothing nature, to which Zeinedeen called their attention. The missionaries were already in their cavern chapel, engaged in the performance of their matin-office, consisting partly of hymns and litanies which they sung, aided by a small choir, partly of psalms, which they recited in those solemn suppliant notes that seem to resound of the primitive ages of the world. They called to their God, who they trusted would hear them from his sacred hill, elevated above the heavens, who had made man little less than the angels, and had subjected to him all creatures that winged their way through the air, or trod the land, or moved through the paths of the sea. Pure were the promises of that Great Being, as silver tried by the fire: unblemished the tabernacles he had prepared for those who loved him,--tabernacles set in the sun, from which he came forth as a bridegroom from his bridal chamber. Ah! those were the abodes to be desired more than the honey-comb--more than gold or precious stones!

There were seasons when even the best man felt miserable--when he walked sorrowful all the day long--when his brain was filled with illusions, and he mourned in the depths of his heart. Friends and neighbours who used to draw near to him, stood afar off, and those were multiplied who hated him wrongfully. But these were seasons not without their use. They taught him that his days on earth were measured--that he was to pass from it as an image from the face of the waters, and that to disquiet his soul was of all things the most vain, even though the companion of his peace, who ate his bread, and in whom he trusted, had supplanted him.

Those hours of sorrow passed, hope returned to him, because he was right of heart, and bade him to look forward to the eternal firmament, where it would be his happy destiny to join in the jubilee of those spirits who exulted in the glory of the Supreme, who for ever sounded the notes of joy from the trumpet, the psaltery, and the cymbal.

These voices--so soft--so harmonious--so full of peace--so different from the terrific cries which lately assailed their ears, came upon the trembling nerves of the hermit and his companions like a heavenly balm. They lingered to hear those tones repeated. They entered the humble chapel, where they found the missionaries, in their plain monastic attire, kneeling before their sacred altar, and singing the Litany of the Virgin, whose intercession with the most High they entreated. It was reasonable, said Aquaviva, turning to his brethren and the novices who had already entered their convent, that the earthly being selected as the shrine, the mother, the protectress of the Infant Messiah, who watched him through life, and whose maternal heart was pierced with many griefs at his death, should possess influence near the throne of the Eternal. That influence, therefore, they solicited in the most affectionate language. They appealed to her as the Holy Mary, the virgin of virgins, whose bosom was fraught with every good and gracious inspiration--the emblem of purity, destined to be hailed by all nations as the blessed one--the mirror of fidelity and justice, but at the same time the advocate of mercy, distinguished at once by her simplicity and wisdom, her humility and devotion. They hailed her as the mystical rose--the tower that seen afar gave hope to the wearied traveller--the golden mansion that promised him repose--the ark that held the covenant of peace between heaven and earth--the beauteous star of morning issuing from the celestial gate, bearing tidings of strength to the weak, of hope to the afflicted, of pardon to the repentant. She was the queen of the angelic hosts, of the patriarchs, the prophets, and the apostles. To her they put up their orisons, that she might mediate for them--that to their prayers for the protection of the Most High she might add her own.

“Oh!” exclaimed Zeinedeen to Kazim, as quitting the chapel while these thrilling words and tones still vibrated on his heart--“Oh! how different the occupation of these good men from that of the barbarians, from whose deadly weapons we have just escaped! How soothing is that sweet music to my soul! The more I see of those holy men, the more I know of the simplicity, the purity of their lives,--the more I feel that they are to our land the harbingers of that truth which it has never known before!”

Mangeli, relieved by the copious tears which these beautiful supplications to the maternal virgin drew from the inmost fountains of her heart, clasped her arms round the neck of her Nourmahal, whom she kissed again and again. Following the impulse of the piety she had just witnessed, she looked up to the heavens, and, kneeling, prayed that her child might be guarded by her who knew the solicitude of a mother, from the many perils by which she was surrounded! Her companions, imitating her example, prostrated themselves on the thymy heath, through which they were passing, and uniting in her fervent petitions, rose with renewed spirit to resume their journey. Zeinedeen’s hermitage soon appeared in view; and his gates having been at length passed, the party, feeling assured of their safety, surrendered themselves for a few hours to that repose of which they all stood so much in need.

The anxious mind of Kazim did not permit him, however, to prolong his residence at the hermit’s abode. He felt it to be his duty to proceed to the camp without delay, to lay before the emperor a statement of the circumstances which he had witnessed, and to recommend that an investigation should be made into the origin of a proceeding so much at variance with the honour of the crown, so contrary to all the recognized rules of warfare, and so fraught with indignity to himself personally. He was not yet fully informed of all that had occurred on that fatal evening of his visit to the subah’s castle. The observations made by Zeinedeen in the hall of the palanquins,--the murderous discharge of arms, to which the hermit had nearly fallen a victim in the gallery--the tumult and combats which followed, created indeed in his mind the most painful suspicions as to the participation of Bochari in that dreadful tragedy. Inquiry would speedily bring home the guilt to the real perpetrator, and that inquiry he was resolved to prosecute--the criminal, whoever he was, should suffer for this outrage upon all divine and human law, otherwise there was no longer any justice to be found in Hindostan. If the emperor were weak enough to permit such enormous iniquity to pass unexpiated, no man of prolity could remain a moment longer in his service.

Full of these noble resolutions, worthy at once of the pupil of Fazeel, of the representative of the house of Ayaz, and of the high chancellor of the empire, Kazim presented himself at an early hour on the following morning, in the imperial pavilion, to which, by reason of his official station, he had always free access. He found there a council already sitting, and engaged in discussing the question whether Chusero was to be instantly executed in the presence of the whole army, as an example to traitors for all time to come, or to be imprisoned for life in the fortress of Gwalior.

Jehangire seemed irresolute--the natural feelings of the parent opposing the sense of impartial justice, by which the sovereign ought to be actuated in such a case. “For,” as Bochari put it, aided by the omrahs, who servilely applauded every word he uttered as the oracles of wisdom,--“how should it be possible for the laws to inflict due punishment on other offenders against the majesty of the throne, if the leader of the late rebellion--he on whose head was to be laid all the blood shed in consequence of his foul attempt to dethrone his father, were to go unpunished? Peace could never be restored--order could never be established in the empire, where the very throne, assailed by rebellion, was placed as a shield between the rebel and the axe of justice. In this view of the case, he had no doubt the high chancellor would at once coincide.”

Kazim, thus called on to speak his opinion, hesitated not to declare his horror against the crime of treason. The duty imposed upon the emperor in all cases where the guilt of that high crime appeared to be clearly established, was to cause the perpetrators of it to be punished according to the laws. “Had the prince, who I have learned is now a prisoner in the camp, been taken with arms in his hands, and in the act of carrying on war against his lawful sovereign--against his father too--an aggravation which would render the crime still more revolting,--no doubt could be entertained as to the mode in which the question ought to be decided. But the prince was not taken with arms in his hands. He was not overcome in the field of battle. During a period agreed upon as a truce,--when I was commissioned by my imperial master to proceed to the subah’s castle, to act there as a mediator between the emperor and the prince, and to effect a reconciliation upon terms which were propounded in this council-room by the commander himself,--the castle was taken possession of through some stratagem that will through all ages reflect infamy upon its authors:--the truce, to which the honour of the empire was sacredly pledged, was violated with every circumstance of horror that could attend such a departure from all law and decorum; and at a moment when I had received full authority from the prince, as well from Afkun, my brave and noble son----”

“Another arch traitor, my lords,” exclaimed Bochari, rising and drawing his sword. “The chancellor of the empire,--hear ye not this officer of justice speak of the rebel subah, whose blood has already answered for his deeds, as the brave subah--the noble subah? Vengeance, say I, upon all traitors!”

“I know it; my son has perished; I appeal to my imperial lord,--have I ever palliated his crime?”

“Let the high chancellor proceed,” said Jehangire. “It is his duty to offer me his advice, and I _will_ hear it. Down with these swords; you do but appear as executioners when you thus substitute your weapons for deliberation. In this council all are free to speak their honest opinions. This is not a charnel house, my lords; it is the council-room of your emperor.”

Kazim, overcome by the emotions which the intelligence of the violent death of Afkun had crowded together in his mind, could not proceed for a few moments. Auzeem availed himself of the interval to suggest, that in a matter of so much importance to the welfare of the empire, it were desirable that both the civil and the military authorities should, if possible, act in unison. The country had had experience of the fidelity of their illustrious commander and of the high chancellor; and he hoped that the council would listen to the opinions of those distinguished officers with the respect that was due to them.

Bochari, who was astonished at the momentary energy displayed by Jehangire, affected to yield to the course pointed out by Auzeem, and restored his sword to its scabbard. The omrahs, his friends, followed his example.

“I never did, I never will, palliate a deed of treason against the state,” resumed Kazim, speaking in a voice somewhat more composed, though still tremulous with the agony of grief that was in his heart. “But it is my duty, as well as my glory, to repeat that I had put an end to the civil war”--

“You!” cried Bochari.

“I,” repeated Kazim. “Here is my authority,” producing a written scroll of paper; “it is signed by the prince.”

“Give it me, give it me,” said Jehangire, rising and almost snatching the paper out of Kazim’s hand. “Oh, my child! yes, it is his signature! he accepts the terms which were offered him,--he submits to his father! Oh Chusero, Chusero! how little you must have known that father’s heart!” he added, pressing the paper to his lips and to his bosom.

“I say, then, my lords,” resumed Kazim, with increasing firmness and dignity, “that the prince has a right to the protection which he has purchased by his submission to the terms that were proposed to him. For the party who prescribed those conditions, to be the first to violate them, would be to implicate the throne itself in a most flagitious offence against all the laws of honour and good faith, and to lower the emperor to the level of that assassin, who conceived and executed the stratagem through which the fortress was entered, the subah deprived of his life, and the inmates of his harem,--whom every law of Hindostan surrounded with inviolable respect,--massacred without discrimination!”

“What! Nourmahal, too?” eagerly inquired Jehangire, rising and putting his hand on his ataghan----

“By a miracle she is safe, sire,” answered Kazim. “The interposition of Heaven in our favour sent to us a good dervish, by whose vigilance we three were rescued from the slaughter, intended, I doubt not, for her, as well as for her mother and myself. But I set no value upon my life, nor is your throne worth the meanest slave in your empire, my sovereign, if the perpetrators of that base massacre remain unpunished. They were in the midst of their rejoicing--as fair--as guileless--as happy an assemblage of unoffending women as ever graced the sanctuary of a harem, when the arm of the murderer was bared against them within their own walls. Is there a manly heart throughout all Hindostan,--can any living being, invested with the human form, hear of such a horror as this, without feeling every pulse of his life in arms to avenge it?”

“It was a most foul deed,” said Jehangire. “Whom do you accuse as the author of it?”

“Suspicion--rumour with a thousand tongues already proclaim the culprit--but it is my office to judge, not to accuse. All that I demand at present is instant investigation upon this subject, before the empire is roused to anger by the diffusion of the intelligence of what has been done. This I demand, as the chief administrator of the laws. I next demand the personal safety of the prince, to which I stand pledged as the mediator, appointed by your majesty to negociate the peace.”

“Spoken rightly, Kazim Ayaz,” said the emperor. “Go, tell my son that the conditions to which he has here affixed his name shall be held sacred. Also give the requisite orders for prosecuting the author of the massacre at the castle; and may Allah forget me if I shall suffer him to contaminate the earth, whoever he may be. The council is dissolved.”