Nor will I truft th' uncertain chance of combat ;
The rights of princes let the fword decide,
The petty claims of empire and of honour:
Revenge and fubtle jealoufy fhall teach
A furer paffage to his hated heart.
O fpare the gallant Greek, in him we lose
The politician's arts, and hero's flame.
When next we meet before we ftorm the palace,
The bowl fhall circle to confirm our league;
Then shall these juices taint Demetrius' draught,
[Shewing a phial.
And ftream deftructive through his freezing veins:
Thus fhall he live to ftrike th' important blow,
And perifh ere he tafte the joys of conqueft.
MAHOMET, MUSTAPHA, CALI, ABDALLA.
Henceforth for ever happy be this day,
Sacred to love, to pleafure, and Irene !
The matchlefs fair has blefs'd me with compliance;
Let every tongue refound Irene's praife,
And spread the general tranfport through mankind.
Bleft prince, for whom indulgent Heav'n ordains At once the joys of paradife and empire,
Now join thy people's and thy Cali's prayers;
Sufpend thy paffage to the feats of blifs,
Nor wish for Houries in Irene's arms.
Forbear-I know the long-try'd faith of Cali.
O! could the eyes of kings, like thofe of Heav'n,
Search to the dark receffes of the foul,
Oft would they find ingratitude and treason,
By smiles, and oaths, and praises, ill difguis'd.
How rarely would they meet, in crowded courts,
Fidelity fo firm, fo pure, as mine.
Yet, ere we give our loofen'd thoughts to rapture,
Let prudence obviate an impending danger:
Tainted by floth, the parent of fedition,
The hungry Janizary burns for plunder,
And growls in private o'er his idle fabre.
To fill their murmurs, ere the twentieth fun
Shall fhed his beams upon the bridal bed,
I rouze to war, and conquer for Irene.
Then fhall the Rhodian mourn his finking tow'rs,
And Buda fall, and proud Vienna tremble:
Then fhall Venetia feel the Turkish pow'r,
And subject feas roar round their queen in vain.
Then feize fair Italy's delightful coaft,
To fix your standard in imperial Rome.
Her fons malicious clemency fhall fpare,
To form new legends, fanctify new crimes,
To canonize the flaves of fuperftition,
And fill the world with follies and impoftures,
Till angry Heav'n fhall mark them out for ruin,
And war o'erwhelm them in their dream of vice.
O, could her fabled faints and boasted prayers
Call forth her antient heroes to the field,
How should I joy, 'midft the fierce fhock of nations,
To cross the tow'rings of an equal foul,
And bid the mafter genius rule the world!
Abdalla, Cali, go-proclaim my purpose.
[Exeunt Cali and Abdalla.
Still Cali lives: and muft he live to-morrow?
That fawning villain's forc'd congratulations
Will cloud my triumphs, and pollute the day.
With cautious vigilance, at my command,
Two faithful captains, Hafan and Caraza,
Purfue him through his labyrinths of treason,
And wait your fummons to report his conduct.
but let them not prolong their tale,
Nor prefs too much upon a lover's patience.
Whome'er the hope, ftill blafted, ftill renew'd,
Of happiness lures on from toil to toil,
Remember Mahomet, and ceafe thy labour.
Behold him here, in love, in war, fuccefsful,
Behold him wretched in his double triumph;
His fav'rite faithlefs, and his mistress base.
Ambition only gave her to my arms,
By reafon not convinc'd, nor won by love.
Ambition was her crime; but meaner folly
Dooms me to loath at once, and doat on falfehood,
And idolize th' apoftate I contemn.
If thou art more than the gay dream of fancy,
More than a pleasing found without a meaning,
O happiness fure thou art all Afpafia's.
Close, as we might unfeen, we watch'd his fteps; His hair diforder'd, and his gait unequal,
Betray'd the wild emotions of his mind.
Sudden he ftops, and inward turns his eyes,
Abforb'd in thought; then, ftarting from his trance, Conftrains a fullen fmile, and fhoots away.
With him Abdalla we beheld-
He wears of late refentment on his brow,
Deny'd the government of Servia's province.
We mark'd him ftorming in excess of fury,
And heard, within the thicket that concealed us,
An undiftinguifh'd found of threat'ning rage.
How guilt, once harbour'd in the conscious breast,
Intimidates the brave, degrades the great;
See Cali, dread of kings, and pride of armies,
By treafon level'd with the dregs of men!
Ere guilty fear deprefs'd the hoary chief,
An angry murmur, a rebellous frown,
Had ftretch'd the fiery boafter in the grave.
Shall monarchs fear to draw the fword of justice,
Aw'd by the crowd, and by their flaves reftrain'd?
Seize him this night, and through the private paffage
Convey him to the prifon's inmoft depths,
Referv'd to all the pangs of tedious death.
[Exeunt Mahomet and Muftapha.
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