red in front of his troops, with their
heads dejected and their arms inverted toward the ground; and in this
manner they came forward to the Vizier Horam's army.

Horam, to encourage the submission of Hobaddan, had placed the forces,
which he had raised in the kingdom of Cassimir, in the van of his
army; and also to secure them from retreating, by the support which
his own troops were to give them in the rear.

When Hobaddan was within hearing, instead of throwing his arms on the
ground, he unsheathed his scimitar, and thus spake to the troops
before him:

"Brethren and countrymen, suffer me to speak what my affection to you
all, and my love for my country, requires me to say. Against whom, O
my brethren, is this array of battle? and whose blood seek ye to spill
on the plains which our forefathers have cultivated? Is it our own
blood that must be poured forth over these lands to enrich them for a
stranger's benefit? Is it not under pretence of fighting for the
Princess of Cassimir, who has been long since dead, that the Sultan of
India's troops are now ravaging, not on our borders only, but
penetrating even into the heart of our nation? But suppose ye that the
conquerors will give up the treasures they hope to earn by their
blood? Will they not rather, invited by the fruitfulness of our vales,
and by the rich produce of our mountains, fix here the standard of
their arms, and make slaves of us, who are become thus easily the
dupes of their ambitious pretences? Then, farewell content! farewell
pleasure! farewell the well-earned fruits of industry and frugality!
Our lands shall be the property of others, and we still tied down by
slavish chains to cultivate and improve them. Our houses, our
substance, shall be the reward of foreign robbers; our wives and our
virgins shall bow down before conquerors; and we, like the beasts of
the field, shall be drawn in the scorching midday to the furrow or the
mine."

As Hobaddan began to utter these words, Horam, astonished at his
malice and presumption, ordered the archers who attended him to draw
forth their arrows, and pierce him to the heart; but the weapons of
war were as straws on the armour of Hobaddan, and he stood dauntless
and unhurt amidst ten thousand arrows.

"Friends and brethren!" continued Hobaddan, "you see the powers above
are on our side; the arrows of Horam are as chaff on the plain, and as
the dust which penetrates not the garments of the traveller. Halt not,