Alroy

Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Alroy, by Benjamin Disraeli This
eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no
restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it
under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this
eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
Title: Alroy The Prince Of The Captivity
Author: Benjamin Disraeli
Release Date: December 3, 2006 [EBook #20002]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ALROY
***

Produced by David Widger

ALROY
OR
THE PRINCE OF THE CAPTIVITY
By Benjamin Disraeli

[Illustration: cover]
[Illustration: alroy-frontis-174]
[Illustration: frontis-label]
AUTHOR'S PREFACE
Being at Jerusalem in the year 1831, and visiting the traditionary tombs
of the Kings of Israel, my thoughts recurred to a personage whose
marvellous career had, even in boyhood, attracted my attention, as one
fraught with the richest materials of poetic fiction. And I then
commenced these pages that should commemorate the name of Alroy.
In the twelfth century, when he arose, this was the political condition of
the East:
The Caliphate was in a state of rapid decay. The Seljukian Sultans, who
had been called to the assistance of the Commanders of the Faithful,
had become, like the Mayors of the palace in France, the real
sovereigns of the Empire. Out of the dominions of the successors of the
Prophet, they had carved four kingdoms, which conferred titles on four
Seljukian Princes, to wit, the Sultan of Bagdad, the Sultan of Persia, the
Sultan of Syria, and the Sultan of Roum, or Asia Minor.
But these warlike princes, in the relaxed discipline and doubtful
conduct of their armies, began themselves to evince the natural effects
of luxury and indulgence. They were no longer the same invincible and
irresistible warriors who had poured forth from the shores of the
Caspian over the fairest regions of the East; and although they still
contrived to preserve order in their dominions, they witnessed with
ill-concealed apprehension the rising power of the Kings of Karasmé,
whose conquests daily made their territories more contiguous.
With regard to the Hebrew people, it should be known that, after the
destruction of Jerusalem, the Eastern Jews, while they acknowledged
the supremacy of their conquerors, gathered themselves together for all
purposes of jurisdiction, under the control of a native ruler, a reputed
descendant of David, whom they dignified with the title of 'The Prince

of the Captivity.' If we are to credit the enthusiastic annalists of this
imaginative people, there were periods of prosperity when the Princes
of the Captivity assumed scarcely less state and enjoyed scarcely less
power than the ancient Kings of Judah themselves. Certain it is that
their power increased always in an exact proportion to the weakness of
the Caliphate, and, without doubt, in some of the most distracted
periods of the Arabian rule, the Hebrew Princes rose into some degree
of local and temporary importance. Their chief residence was Bagdad,
where they remained until the eleventh century, an age fatal in Oriental
history, from the disasters of which the Princes of the Captivity were
not exempt. They are heard of even in the twelfth century. I have
ventured to place one at Hamadan, which was a favourite residence of
the Hebrews, from being the burial-place of Esther and Mordecai.
With regard to the supernatural machinery of this romance, it is
Cabalistical and correct. From the Spirits of the Tombs to the sceptre of
Solomon, authority may be found in the traditions of the Hebrews for
the introduction of all these spiritual agencies.
Grosvenor Gate: July, 1845.

A L R O Y
[Illustration: page001]
CHAPTER I.
A Great Day for Israel.
THE cornets sounded a final flourish as the Prince of the Captivity
dismounted from his white mule; his train shouted as if they were once
more a people; and, had it not been for the contemptuous leer which
played upon the countenances of the Moslem bystanders, it might have
been taken for a day of triumph rather than of tribute.
'The glory has not departed!' exclaimed the venerable Bostenay, as he

entered the hall of his mansion. 'It is not as the visit of Sheba unto
Solomon; nevertheless the glory has not yet departed. You have done
well, faithful Caleb.' The old man's courage waxed more vigorous, as
each step within his own walls the more assured him against the recent
causes of his fear, the audible curses and the threatened missiles of the
unbelieving mob.
'It shall be a day of rejoicing and thanksgiving!' continued the Prince;
'and look, my faithful Caleb, that the trumpeters be well served. That
last flourish was bravely done. It was not as the blast before Jericho;
nevertheless, it told that the Lord of Hosts