nto itself--whose life had
been separated from that of the herd--whom doubts and awe drew back,
while circumstances impelled onward--whom a supernatural doom invested
with a peculiar philosophy, not of human effect and cause--and who, with
every gift that could ennoble and adorn, was suddenly palsied into that
mortal imbecility, which is almost ever the result of mortal visitings
into the haunted regions of the Ghostly and Unknown. The gloomier
colourings of his mind had been deepened, too, by secret remorse. For
the preservation of his own life, constantly threatened by his unnatural
predecessor, he had been early driven into rebellion against his father.
In age, infirmity, and blindness, that fierce king had been made a
prisoner at Salobrena by his brother, El Zagal, Boabdil's partner in
rebellion; and dying suddenly, El Zagal was suspected of his murder.
Though Boabdil was innocent of such a crime, he felt himself guilty
of the causes which led to it; and a dark memory, resting upon his
conscience, served to augment his superstition and enervate the vigour
of his resolves; for, of all things that make men dreamers, none is so
effectual as remorse operating upon a thoughtful temperament.

Revolving the character of his sovereign, and sadly foreboding the ruin
of his country, the young hero of Granada pursued his way, until his
steps, almost unconsciously, led him towards the abode of Leila. He
scaled the walls of the garden as before--he neared the house. All
was silent and deserted; his signal was unanswered--his murmured song
brought no grateful light to the lattice, no fairy footstep to the
balcony. Dejected, and sad of heart, he retired from the spot; and,
returning home, sought a couch, to which even all the fatigue and
excitement he had undergone, could not win the forgetfulness of slumber.
The mystery that wrapt the maiden of his homage, the rareness of their
interviews, and the wild and poetical romance that made a very principle
of the chivalry of the Spanish Moors, had imparted to Muza's love for
Leila a passionate depth, which, at this day, and in more enervated
climes, is unknown to the Mohammedan lover. His keenest inquiries had
been unable to pierce the secret of her birth and station. Little of the
inmates of that guarded and lonely house was known in the neighbourhood;
the only one ever seen without its walls was an old man of the Jewish
faith, supposed to be a superintendent of the foreign slaves (for