him, what he had now to hope. 'I have,
indeed,' said OMAR, 'much less to hope, than thou hast to fear.' 'Thy
insolence,' said ALMORAN, 'is equal to thy folly: what power on earth is
there, that I should fear?' 'Thy own,' said OMAR. 'I have not leisure
now,' replied ALMORAN, 'to hear the paradoxes of thy philosophy
explained: but to shew thee, that I fear not thy power, thou shalt live.
I will leave thee to hopeless regret; to wiles that have been scorned
and defeated; to the unheeded petulance of dotage; to the fondness that
is repayed with neglect; to restless wishes, to credulous hopes, and to
derided command: to the slow and complicated torture of despised old
age; and that, when thou shalt long have abhorred thy being, shall
destroy it.' 'The misery,' said OMAR, 'which thou hast menaced, it is
not in thy power to inflict. As thou hast taken from me all that I
possessed by the bounty of thy father, it is true that I am poor; it is
true also, that my knees are now feeble, and bend with the weight of
years that is upon me. I am, as thou art, a man; and therefore I have
erred: but I have still kept the narrow path in view with a faithful
vigilance, and to that I have soon returned: the past, therefore, I do
not regret; and the future I have no cause to fear. In Him who is most
merciful, I have hope; and in that hope even how I rejoice before thee.
My portion in the present hour, is adversity: but I receive it, not only
with humility, but thankfulness; for I know, that whatever is ordained
is best.'

ALMORAN, in whose heart there were no traces of OMAR'S virtue, and
therefore no foundation for his confidence; sustained himself against
their force, by treating them as hypocrisy and affectation: 'I know,'
says he, 'that thou hast long learned to eccho the specious and pompous
sounds, by which hypocrites conceal their wretchedness, and excite the
admiration of folly and the contempt of wisdom: yet thy walk, in this
place, shall be still unrestrained. Here the splendor of my felicity
shall fill thy heart with envy, and cover thy face with confusion; and
from thee shall the world be instructed, that the enemies of ALMORAN can
move no passion in his breast but contempt, and that most to punish them
is to permit them to live.'

OMAR, whose eye had till now been fixed upon the ground, regarded
ALMORAN with a calm but steady countenance: 'Here then,' said he, 'will
I follow thee, constant as thy shadow; tho', as thy shadow, unno