moment is the
last, of grace, allowed thee: ... give back Nouronihar to her father,
who still retains a few sparks of life: destroy thy tower, with all its
abominations: drive Carathis from thy councils: be just to thy subjects:
respect the ministers of the Prophet: compensate for thy impieties by an
exemplary life; and, instead of squandering thy days in voluptuous
indulgence, lament thy crimes on the sepulchres of thy ancestors. Thou
beholdest the clouds that obscure the sun: at the instant he recovers
his splendour, if thy heart be not changed, the time of mercy assigned
thee will be past for ever.'"

"Vathek, depressed with fear, was on the point of prostrating himself at
the feet of the shepherd ... but, his pride prevailing ... he said,
'Whoever thou art, withhold thy useless admonitions.... If what I have
done be so criminal ... there remains not for me a moment of grace. I
have traversed a sea of blood to acquire a power which will make thy
equals tremble; deem not that I shall retire when in view of the port;
or that I will relinquish her who is dearer to me than either my life or
thy mercy. Let the sun appear! let him illumine my career! it matters
not where it may end!' On uttering these words ... Vathek ... commanded
that his horses should be forced back to the road.

"There was no difficulty in obeying these orders; for the attraction had
ceased; the sun shone forth in all his glory, and the shepherd vanished
with a lamentable scream" (ed. 1786, pp. 183-185).]

[qc] {479} _By rooted and unhallowed pride_.--[MS. G. erased.]

[373] [Leave out this couplet.--Gifford.]

[374] {480} [Compare--"While the still morn went out with sandals grey."
_Lycidas_, line 187.]

[375] [Strike out--"And the Noon will look on a sultry day."--Gifford.]

[376] The horsetails, fixed upon a lance, a pacha's standard.

["When the vizir appears in public, three _thoughs_, or horse-tails,
fastened to a long staff, with a large gold ball at top, is borne before
him."--_Moeurs des Ottomans_, par A. L. Castellan (Translated, 1821),
iv. 7.

Compare _Childe Harold_, Canto II., "Albanian War-Song," stanza 10, line
2; and _Bride of Abydos_, line 714 (_vide ante_, p. 189).]

[377] [Compare--"Send out moe horses, skirr the country round."
_Macbeth_, act v. sc. 3, line 35.]

[378] [Omit--

"While your fellows on foot, in a fiery mass,
Bloodstain the breach through which they pass."

--Gifford.]

[379] ["And crush the