Why has thy choice then pointed out Leontius,
Unfit to share this night's illustrious toils?
To wait remote from action, and from honour,
An idle list'ner to the distant cries
Of slaughter'd infidels, and clash of swords?
Tell me the cause, that while thy name, Deme-
trius,
Shall scar triumphant on the wings of glory,
Despis'd and curs'd, Leontius must descend
Through hissing ages, a proverbial coward,
The tale of women, and the scorn of fools;
Can brave Leontius be the slave of glory?
Glory, the casual gift of thoughtless crowds!
Glory, the bribe of avaricious virtue!
Be but my country free, be thine the praise;
I ask no witness, but attesting conscience,
No records, but the records of the sky.
Wilt thou then head the troop upon the shore,
While i destroy the oppressor of mankind?
What canst thou boast superior to Demetrius?
Ask to whose sword the Greeks will trust their
My name shall echo through the shouting field:
Demand whose force yon Turkish heroes dread, Obtain her, and possess; thou know'st thy rival.
The shudd'ring camp shall murmur out Deme-
trius.
Too well I know him, since on Thracia's plains
I felt the force of his tempestuous arm,
And saw my scatter'd squadrons fly before him.
Nor will I trust th' uncertain chance of combat;
The rights of princes let the sword decide,
The petty claims of empire and of honour:
Revenge and subtle jealousy shall teach
A surer passage to his hated heart.
O spare the gallant Greek, in bim we lose
The politician's arts, and hero's flame.
When next we meet before we storm the palace,
The bowl shall circle to confirm our league;
Then shall these juices taint Demetrius' draught,
[Showing a phial
And stream destructive through his freezing
veins :
Thus shall he live to strike th' important blow,
And perish ere he taste the joys of conquest.
MAHOMET, MUSTAPHA, CALI, ABDALLA.
Henceforth for ever happy be this day,
Sacred to love, to pleasure, and Irene !
The matchless fair has bless'd me with compli-
ance;
Let every tongue resound Irene's praise,
And spread the general transport through man-
Blest prince, for whom indulgent Heav'n ordains Call them-but let them not prolong their tale,
At once the joys of paradise and empire,
Now join thy people's and thy Cali's prayers;
Suspend thy passage to the seats of bliss,
Nor wish for Houries in Irene's arms.
press too much upon a lover's patience. [Exit Mustapha.
Forbear-I know the long-try'd faith of Cali.
O! could the eyes of kings, like those of Heav'n, Search to the dark recesses of the soul,
Oft would they find ingratitude and treason, By smiles, and oaths, and praises ill disguis'd. How rarely would they meet, in crouded courts, Fidelity so firm, so pure, as mine.
Yet, ere we give our loosen'd thoughts to rapture,
Let prudence obviate an impending danger :
Tainted by sloth, the parent of sedition,
The hungry janizary burns for plunder,
And growls in private o'er his idle sabre.
To still their murmurs, ere the twentieth Sun
Shall shed his beams upon the bridal bed,
I rouse to war, and conquer for Irene.
Then shall the Rhodian mourn his sinking tow'rs,
And Buda fall, and proud Vienna tremble:
Then shall Venetia feel the Turkish pow'r,
And subject seas roar round their queen in vain.
Then seize fair Italy's delightful coast, To fix your standard in imperial Rome.
Her sons malicious clemency shall spare,
To form new legends, sanctify new crimes,
To canonize the slaves of superstition,
And fill the world with follies and impostures,
Till angry Heav'n shall mark them out for ruin,
And war o'erwhelm them in their dream of vice.
O, could her fabled saints and boasted prayers
Call forth her antient heroes to the field, [tions,
How should I joy, 'midst the fierce shock of na-
To cross the tow'rings of an equal soul,
And bid the master genius rule the world!
Abdalla, Cali, go-proclaim my purpose.
[Exeunt Cali and Abdalla.
SCENE VI.
Still Cali lives: and must be live to morrow? That fawning villain's fore'd congratulations Will cloud my triumphs, and pollute the day.
With cautious vigilance, at my command, Two faithful captains, Hasan and Caraza, Pursue him through his labyrinths of treason, And wait your summons to report his conduct.
Whome'er the hope, still blasted, still renew'd,
Of happiness lures on from toil to toil,
Remember Mahomet, and cease thy labour.
Behold him here, in love, in war, successful,
Behold him wretched in his double triumph;
His fav'rite faithless, and his mistress base.
Ambition only gave her to my arms,
By reason not convinc'd, nor won by love.
Ambition was her crime; but meaner folly
Dooms me to loath at once, and doat on false-
And idolize th' apostate I contemn. [hood,
If thou art more than the gay dream of fancy,
More than a pleasing sound without a meaning,
O happiness! sure thou art all Aspasia's.
Shall then the Greeks, unpunish'd and conceal'd'
Contrive perhaps the ruin of our empire,
League with our chiefs and propagate sedition?
Whate'er their scheme, the bassa's death defeats it,
And gratitude's strong ties restrain my tongue.
What ties to slaves? what gratitude to foes?
In that black day when slaughter'd thousands fell
Around these fatal walls, the tide of war
Bore me victorious onward, where Demetrius
Tore unresisted from the giant hand
Of stern Sebalias the triumphant crescent,
And dash'd the night of Asam from the ram-
parts.
There I became, nor blush to make it known, The captive of his sword. The coward Greeks, Enrag'd by wrongs, exulting with success, Doom'd me to die with all the Turkish captains; But brave Demetrius scorn'd the mean revenge, And gave me life.
Do thou repay the gift, Lest unrewarded mercy lose its charms. Profuse of wealth, or bounteous of success, When Heav'n bestows the privilege to bless; I et no weak doubt the gen'rous hand restrain, For when was pow'r Leneficent in vain?
IN these dark moments of suspended fate,
While yet the future fortune of my country
Lies in the womb of Providence conceal'd,
And anxious angels wait the mighty birth;
O giant thy sacred influence, pow'rful Virtue!
Attentive rise, survey the fair creation,
Fill, conscicus of th' encircling deity,
Reyond the mists of care thy pinion tow'rs.
This calm, these joys, dear innocence! are thine:
Joys ill exchang'd for gold, and pride, and empire.
[Enter Irene and Attendants.
SCENE II
ASPASIA, IRENE, and Attendants.
See how the Moon through all th' unclouded sky
Spreads her mild radiance, and descending dews
Revive the languid flow'rs; thus Nature shoue
New from the Maker's hand, and fair array'd
In the bright colours of primeval spring;
When purity, while fraud was yet unknown,
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