Yet should thy soal indulge the gen'rous heat On Moscow's walls till Gothic standards fly, And Winter barricades the realns of Frost; To point a moral, or adorni a tale. If dreams yet flatter, once again attend, 12 All times theirscenes of pompous woes afford, Hear Lydiat's life, and Galileu's end. [stows, From Persia's tyrant to Bavaria's lord, Nor deem, when Learning her last prize be- In gay hostility and barb'rous pride, The glitt’ring eminence exempt from foes; With half mankind embattled at bis side, See, when the vulgar 'scapes, despis'd or awd, Great Xerxes comes to seize the certain prey, Rebellion's vengeful talons seize on Laud. And starres exhausted regions in his way ; From meaner minds, thoughsmaller fines content Attendant Flattry counts his myriads o'er, The plunder'd palace, or sequester'd rent : 70 Till counted myriads sooth his pride no more ; Mark'd out by dang’rous parts, he meets the stock, Fresh praise is try'd till madness fires his mind, And fatal Learning leads him to the block : The waves he lashes, and enchains the wind, Around bis tomb let Art and Genius weep, New. pow'rs are claim'd, new pow'rs' are still But hear his death, ye blockheads, hearand sleep. bestow'd, 10 'The festal blazes, the triumphal show,- Till rude resistance lops the spreading god; The ravish'd standard, and the captive foe, The daring Greeks deride the martial show, The senate's thanks, the Gazette's pompous tale, And heap their valleys with the gaudy foe; With force resistless o’er the brave prevail. Th'insulted sea with humbler thought he gains, Such bribes the rapid Greek o'er Asia wbirl'd, A single skiff to speed his fight remaitis; For such the steady Roman shook the world ; Th’ encumber'd oar scarce leaves the dreaded For such in distant lands the Britons shine, coast And siain with blood the Danube or the Rhine ; Through purple billows and a floating host. This pow'r has praise, that virtue scarce can The bold Bavarjan, in a luckless hour, Tries the dread summits of Cæsarean pow'r, Till fame supplies the, universal charm. With unexpected legions bursts away, Yet reason frowns on war's unequal game, And sees defenceless realms receive his sway: Where wasted nations raise a single name;[gret, Short sway! fair Austria spreads her inour.ful And mortgag'd states their grandsires' wreathsre charms, From age to age in everlasting debt; (vey The queen, the beauty, sets the world in arms; Wreaths which at last the dear-bought right con- From hill to bill the beacon's rousing blaze To rust on medals, or on stoues decay. Spreads wide the bope of plunder and of praise; 11 On what foundation stands the warrior's The fierce Croatian, apdihe wild Hussar, pride, With all the sons of ravage crowd the war; How just his hopes, let Swedish Charles decide; The baffled prince, in honour's flatt'ring bloomi i A frame of adamant, a soul of fire, Of hasty greatness, finds the fatal doom'; No dangers frigut him, and no labuurs tire; His foes derision, and his subjects blame, O'er love, o'er tear, extends his wide domain, Alid steals to death from anguish and from Unconquer'd lord of pleasure and of pam; shame. No joys to bim pacific sceptres yield, 13 « Enlarge my life with multitude of days!" War sounds the trump, he rushes to tbe field; In health, in sickness, thus the suppliant prays: Behold surrounding kings their pow'rs combine, Hides from himself its state, and shuns to know, And one capitulate, and one resign;", [in vain ; | That life protracted is protracted woe. Peace courts his hand, but spreads her charms Time hovers o'er, impatient to destroy, “ 'Think nothing gain'd," he cries, till nuught And shuts up all the passages of joy : remain, In vain their gifts the bounteous seasons pour, The fruit autunnal, and the vernal flow'r; Lacon, built on ar: arch over the bridge will with listless eyes the dotard views the store, fall when a man greater than Bacon shall pass He views, and wonders that they please no under it. To prevent so shocking an accident more; it was pulled down many years since. 9 See Gent. Mag. vol. Ixviii. p. 951. 1027. Ver, 168-187. 13 Ver. 188-288. 1o Ver. 133-146. 11 Ver. 147-167. warm sneer, Now pall the tasteless meats, and joyless wines, | What care, what rules, your heedless charms And Luxury with sighs her slave resigns, shall save, (slave? Approach, ye minstrels, try the socthing strain, Each nymph your rival, and each youth your Diffuse the tuneful lenitives of pain : Against your fame with fondness ha e combines, No sounds, alas ! would touch th' impervious | The vival batters, and the lover mines. ear, (near; With distant voice neglected Virtue calls, Though dancing mountains witness’d Orpheus Less hcard and less, the faint remonstrance falls ; Nor lute nor lyre his feeble pow'rs attend, Tir'd with contempt, she quits the slipp'ry reign, Nor sweeter music of a virtuous friend; And Pride and Prudence take her seat in vain. But everlasting dictates crowd his tongue, In crowd at once, where none the pass defend, Perversely grave, or positively wrong. The barmless freedom, and the private friend. The still returning tale, and ling'ring jest, The guardians yield, by force superior ply'd: Perplex the fawning niece and pamper'd guest, To lot'rest, Frudence; and to Flattry, Pride. While growing hopes scarce awe the gath'ring Here Beauty falls betray’d, despis'd, distress'd, And bissing Infamy proclaims the rest. And scarce a legacy can bribe to hear; 15 Where then shall Hope and Fear their ob. The watchful guests still hint the last offence; jects find? The daughter's petulance, the son's expense, Must dull suspence corrupt the stagnant mind? Improve his heady rage with treach'rous skill, Must helpless man, in ignorance serate, And mould his passions till they make his will. Roll darkling down the torrent of bis fate? Uonumber'd maladies his joints invade, Must no dislike alarm, no wishes rise, Lay siege to life, and pre-s the dire blockade; No cries invoke the mercies of the skies? But unextinguish'd av'rice still remains, Inquirer, cease; petitions yet remain And dreaded losses aggravate his pains; Which Heav'n may hear, nor deem religion vain. He turns, with anxious heart and crippled hands, Still raise for good the supplicating voice, His bonds of debt, and mortgages of lands; But leave to Heav'n the measure and the choice. Or views his coffers with suspicious eyes, Safe in his pow'r, whose eyes discern afar Unlocks his gold, and counts it till he dies. The secret ambush of a specious pray'r; But grant, the virtues of a températe prime Implore his aid, in his decisions rest, Bless with an age exempt from scorn or crime; Secure, whate'er he gives, he gives the best. An age that melts with unperceiv'd decay, Yet, when the sense of sacred presence fires, And glides in modest innocence away; And strong devotion to the skies aspires, Whose peaceful day benevolence endears, Pour forth thy fervours for a healthful mind, Whose night congratulating conscience cheets | Obedient passions, and a will resignd; The gen'ral fav’rite as the gen’ral friend : For lore, which scarce collective man can fill; Such age there is, and who shall wish its end? For patience, sov’reign o'er transınuted ill; Yet ev'n on this her load Misfortune flings, For faith, that, panting for a happier seat, To press the weary minutes' flagging wings; Counts death kind Nature's signal of retreat: New sorrow rises as the day returns, These goods for man the laws of Heav'n ordain, A sister sickens, or a daughter mourns. These goods he grants, who grants the pow'r to Now kindred Merit fills the sable bier, gain; Now lacerated Friendship claims a tear; With these celestial Wisdom calms the mind, Year chases year, decay pursues decay, And makes the happiness she does not find. Still drops some joy from with’ring life away; New forms arise, and diff'rent views engage, Superfluous lags the vet’ran on the stage, Till pitying Nature signs the last release, And bids afflicted worth retire to peace, PROLOGUE, SPOKEN BY MR. GARRICK, AT THE OPENING OF THE THEATRE ROYAL, DRURY When Learning's triumph v'er her barb'rous From Marlb'rough's eyes the streams of dotage First seard the stage, immortal Shakspeare foes [rose; flow, And Swift expires a driv'ler and a show. Each change of many--colour'd life he drew, Exhausted worlds, and then imagin'd new: 14 The teeming mother, anxious for her race, Begs for each birth the fortune <f a face; Existence saw bim spurn her bounded reign, Yet Vane could tell what iils from beauty spring; His pow'rful strokes presiding Truth impressid, And panting Time toil'd after him in vain. And Sedley curs'd the form that pleas'd a king. And unresisted Passion storm'd the breast. Ye nymphs of rosy lips and radiant eyes, Then Jonson came, instructed from the Whom pleasure keeps too busy to be wise ; school, Whom joys with soft varieties invite, By day the frolic, and the dance by night; To please in method, and invent by rule; llis stidious patience and laborious art, Who frown with vanity, who smile with art, And ask the latest fashion of the heart; By regular approach assail'd the heart: 14 Ver. 289-315. 15 Ver. 346--366. VOL. XVI, PP LANE, 1747. Cold Approbation gave the ling'ring bays, From grov’ling business and superfluous care, For those, who durst not censure, scarce could Ye sons of Avarice, a moment spare ! praise. l'ot'ries of Fame, and worshippers of Power, A mortal born, be met the gen'ral doom, Dismiss the pleasing phantoms for an hour ! But left, like Egypt's kings, a lasting tomb. Our daring bard, with spirit unconfin'd, The wits of Charles found easier ways to fame, Spreads wide the mighty moral for mankind. Nor wish'd for Jonson's art, or Shakspeare's Learn here how Heav'n supports the virtuous flame. mind, [sign'd, Themselves they studied, as they felt they writ; Daring, though calm; and vigʻrous, though reIntrigue was plot, obscenity was wit. Learn here what anguish racks the guilty breast, Vice always found a sympathetic friend; In pow'r dependent, in success deprest. They pleas’d their age, and did not aim to mend. Learn here that peace from innocence must flow; Yet bards like these aspir'd to lasting praise, All else is empty sound and idle show. And proudly hop'd to pimp in future days. If truths like these with pleasing language Their cause was gen'ral, their supports were join : strong, (long : Ennobled, yet unchang'd, if Nature shine ; Their slaves were willing, and their reign was If no wild draught depart from reason's rules, Till Shame regain'd the post that Sense betray'd Nor gods his heroes, nor his lovers fools : And Virtue callid Oblivion to her aid. Intriguing wits! his artless plot forgive ; Then, crush'd by rules, and weaken'd as re- And spare him, beauties! though his lovers life. fin'd, Be this at least his praise, be this his pride; For years the pow'r of Tragedy declin'd; To force applause no modern arts are tryd. From bard to bard the frigid caution crept, Should partial cat-calls all his hopes confound, Till Declamation roar'd whilst Passion slept; He bids po trumpet quell the fatal sound. Yet still did Virtue deign the stage to tread, Should welcome sleep relieve the weary wit, Philosophy remain'd, though Nature fled. He rolls no thunders o'er the drowsy pit. But forc'd, at length, her antient reign to quit, No snares to captivate the judgment spreads, She saw great Faustus lay the ghost of Wit; Nor bribes your eyes to prejudice your heads. Exulting Folly hail'd the joyful day, Unmov'd though witlings sneer and rivals rail; And Pantomime and Song confirm'd her sway. Studious to please, yet not asham'd to fail. But who the coming changes can presage, He scorns the meek address, the suppliant strain, And mark the future periods of the stage? With merit needless, and without it vain. Perhaps, if skill could distant times explore, In reason, nature, truth, he dares to trust : New Behns, new Durfeys, yet remain in store; Ye fops, be silent: and ye wits, be just ! Perhaps where Lear has rav'd, and Hamlet dy'd, On flying cars new sorcerers may ride: Perhaps (for who can guess th'effects of chance?) PERSONS OF THE DRAMA. Here Hunt may box, or Mahomet' may dance. Hard is his lot that, here by Fortune plac'd, Must watch the wild vicissitudes of taste; MAHOMET, emperor of the Turks, Mr. Barry. With ev'ry meteor of caprice must play, CALI BASSA, Mr. Berry. And chase the new-blown bubbles of the day. MUSTAPHA, a Turkish aga, Mr. Sowden. Ah! let not Censure term our fate our choice, ABDALLA, an officer, Mr. Havard. The stage but echoes back the public voice; HASAN, } Turkish captains, Mr. Usher. The drama's laws, the drama's patrons give, CARAZA, Mr. Burton. For we that live to please, must please to live. DEMETRIUS, Mr. Garrick. Greek noblemen, LEONTIUS, Then prompt no more the follies you decry, Mr. Blakes. As tyrants doom their tools of guilt to die; MURZA, Mr. King. 'Tis yours, this night, to bid the reign comOf rescued Nature and reviving Sense; ASPASIA, Mrs. Cibber. Attendants on Irene. ACT 1. SCENE I. DEMETRIUS AND LEONTIUS, in Turkish habits LEONTIUS. And is it thus Demetrius meets his friend, Hid in the mean disguise of Turkish robes, Ye glitt'ring train, whom lace and velvet bless, with servile secrecy to lurk in shades, Suspend the soft solicitudes of dress! And vent our suff'rings in clandestine groans ? Hunt, a famous boxer on the stage ; Maho DEMETRIUS. met, a rope-dancer, who had exhibited at Co. Till breathless fury rested from destruction, vent-Garden theatre the winter before, said to These groans were fatal," these disguises vain ; be a Turk. But now our Turkish conquerors have quench'd MEN. WOMEN. mence }Gr E DEMETRIUS. DEMETRIUS. LEONTIUS. DEMETRIUS. Their rage, and pall?d their appetite of murder ; | Each night, protected by the friendly darkness, No more the glutted sabre thirsts for blood, Quitting my close retreat, I range the city, And weary cruelty remits her tortures. And, weeping, kiss the venerable ruins : With silent pangs I view the tow'ring domes, LEONTIUS. Sacred to pray'r; and wander through the Yet Greece enjoys no gleam of transient hope, streets, No soothing interval of peaceful sorrow; Where commerce lavish'd unexhausted plenty, The Just of gold succeeds the rage of conquest, And jollity maintain’d eternal revels.The lust of gold, unfeeling and remorseless, The last corruption of degenerate man! Urg'd by th' imperious soldier's fierce command, -How chang'd, alas!-Now ghastly desolation The groaning Greeks break up their golden ca. In triumph sits upon our shatter'd spires; verns [envy, Now superstition, ignorance, and errour, Pregnant with stores that India's mines might Usurp our temples, and profane our altars. Th' accumulated wealth of toiling ages. LEONTIES. From ev'ry palace bursts a mingled clamour, Arose to Heav'n, and pierc'd my bleeding breast, Had rang'd embattled nations at our gates! I felt thy pains, and trembled for Aspasia. But, thus reserv'd to lure the wolves of Turkey, Adds shame to grief, and infamy to rujn. Lamenting av'rice now too late discovers, Aspasia ! spare that lov'd, that mournful name : Her own neglected in the public safety. Dear hapless maid-tempestuous grief o'erbears My reasoning pow'rs~Dear, hapless, lost As. pasia! Suspend the thought. That pow'r that kindly spreads All thought ou her is madness; The clouds, a signal of impending show'rs Yet let me think-1 see the helpless maid, To wara the wand'ring linnet to the shade, Behold the monsters gaze with savage rapture, Beheld without concern expiring Greece, Behold how lust and rapine struggle round her! And not one prodigy foretold our fate. LEONTIUS. Awake, Demetrius, from this dismal dream, A thousand horrid prodigies foretold it. Sink not beneath imaginary sorrows; A feeble government, eluded laws, Call to your aid your courage and your wisdom; A factious populace, luxurious nobles, Think on the sudden change of human scenes ; And all the maladies of sinking states. Think on the various accidents of war; When public villany, too strong for justice, Think on the mighty power of awful virtue; Shows his bold front, the harbinger of ruin, Think on that Providence that guards the good. Can brave Leontius call for airy wonders, Which cheats interpret, and which fools regard? DEMETRIUS. When some neglected fabric nods beneath O Providence! extend thy care to me, The weight of years, and totters to the tempest, Por courage droops unequal to the combat, Must Heav'n dispatch the messengers of light, And weak philosophy denies her succours. Or wake the dead, to warn us of its fall ? Sure some kind sabre in the heat of battle, LEONTIUS. Ere yet the fue found leisure to be cruel, Dismiss'd her to the sky. LEONTIUS. Some virgin-martyr, Conducts their armies, and asserts their cause. Perhaps, enamour'd of resembling virtue, With gentle hand restrain'd the streams of life, DEMETRIUS. And snatch'd ber timely from her country's fate. And yet, my friend, what miracles were wrought DEMETRIUS. From those bright regions of eternal day, Where now thou shin'st among thy fellow-saints, parts? (Leontius, Array'd in purer light, look down on me: 'Twas vice that shook our nerves, 'twas vice, In pleasing visions and assuasive dreams, That froze our veins, and wither'd all our pow'rs. O! sooth my soul, and teach me how to luse thee. LEONTIUS. LEONTIUS. Whate'er our crimes, our woes demand com- Enough of unavailing tears, Demetrius : passion, I came obedient to tby friendly summons, DEMETRIUS. CALI. LEONTIUS. DEMETRIUS. And hop'd to share thy counsels,not thy sorrows : DEMETRIUS. While thus we mourn the fortune of Aspasia, Observe him closely with a statesman's eye, To what are we reserv'd? Thou that hast long perus'd the draughts of Nae ture, DEMETRIUS, And know'st the characters of vice and virtue, Left by the hand of Heav'n on human clay. His mien is lofty, his demeanour great; Nor sprightly folly wantons in his air, Nor dull serenity becalms his eyes. Such had I trusted once as soon as seen, But cautious age suspects the flatt'ring form, And only credits what experience tells. The chief, whose wisdom guides the Turkish Has silence press'd her seal upon his lips? counsels. Does adamantine faith invest his heart He, tir'd of slavery, though the highest slave, Will he not bend beneath a tyrant's frown? Projects at once our freedom and his own; Will he not melt before ambition's fire? And bids us thus disguis'd await him here. Will he not soften in a friend's embrace? Or flow dissolving in a woman's tears? Sooner the trembling leaves shall find a voice, His kind intelligence betray'd their measures ; And tell the secrets of their conscious walks ; Their arms prevail'd, though Cali was our friend. Sooner the breeze shall catch the flying sounds, And shock the tyrant with a tale of treason. DEMETRIUS. Your slaughter'd multitudes, that swell the shore When the tenth sun had set upon our sorrows, With monuments of death, proclaim his couAt midnight's private hour, a voice unknown Virtue and liberty engross his soul [rage; LEONTIUS. I scorn a trust unwillingly repos'd; Consult in private, call me when your scheme There, in soft hints and in ambiguous phrase, Is ripe for action, and demands the sword. (Going. With all the diffidence of long experience, That oft had practis'd fraud, and oft detected, DEMETRIUS. Forgive an old man's weakness, Selected by my care, a hardy band, And share the deepest secrets of my soul, My wrongs, my fears, my motives, my designs.- Embroild the Turkish state, our sultan's father, Great Amurath, at my request, furscok So small a force? or why should Cali fly? The cloister's ease, resum'd the tott'ring throne, Or how can Cali's flight restore our country? And snatch'd the reins of abdicated porr From giddy Mahomet's upskilful hand. This fir'd the youthful king's ambitious breast: Reserve these questions for a safer hour; He murmurs vengeance at the name of Cali, Or hear himself, for see the Bassa comes. And dooms my rash fidelity to ruin. DEMETRIUS. Unhappy lot of all that shine in courts. Still odious to the monarch or the people. Now summon all thy soul, illustrious Christian! Awake each faculty that sleeps within thee, Such are the woes when arbitrary pow'r The courtier's policy, the sage's firmness, The warrior's ardour, and the patriot's zeal: And lawless passion bold the sword of justice. If, chasing past events with vain pursuit, If there be any land, as fame reports, Or wand'ring in the wiids of future being, Where common laws restrain the pricce and A single thought now rove, recall it home. subject, But can thy friend sustain the glorious cause, A happy land, where circulating pow's The cause of liberty, the cause of nations ? Flows through each member of th' embodiel state ; CALI. LEONTIUS. CALI. CALI. |
