That vessel, if observ'd, alarms the court,

And gives a thousand fatal questions birth:

Just in the moment of impending fate,
Another plund'rer, brought the bright Irene:
Of equal beauty, but of softer mien,
Fear in her eye, submission on her tongue,
Her mournful charms attracted his regards,
Disarm'd his rage, and in repeated visits

Cali ?

CALI.

This hour I'll beg, with unsuspecting face,
Leave to perform my pilgrimage to Mecca ;
Which granted, hides my purpose from the
world.

And, though refus'd, conceals it from the sultan.

LEONTIUS.

How can a single hand attempt a life Which armies guard, and citadels enclose?

CALI.

Forgetful of command, with captive beauties,
Far from his troops, he toys his hours away.
A roving soldier seiz'd in Sophia's temple
A virgin shining with distinguish'd charms,
And brought his beauteous plunder to the sultan.

DEMETRIUS.

In Sophia's temple !-What alarm!-Proceed.

To her transferr'd the offer of a crown.

While with incessant thought laborious man Extends his mighty schemes of wealth and pow'r, And towers and triumphs in ideal greatness; Some accidental gust of opposition

Blasts all the beauties of his new creation,
O'erturns the fabric of presumptuous reason,
And whelms the swelling architect beneath it.
Had not the breeze untwin'd the meeting boughs,
And through the parted shade disclos'd the
Greeks,

In all the sweet oblivion of delight,
Th' important hour had pass'd unheeded by,

In all the fopperies of meeting lovers;
In sighs and tears, in transports and embraces,
In soft complaints, and idle protestations.

SCENE IV.

CALI, DEMETRIUS, LEONTIUS.

CALI.

Could omens fright the resolute and wise,
Well might we fear impending disappointments.

LEONTIUS.

Your artful suit, your monarch's fierce denial, The cruel doom of hapless Menodorus

DEMETRIUS.

And your new charge, that dear, that heav'nly maid

LEONTIUS.

All this we know already from Abdalla.

DEMETRIUS.

Such slight defeats but animate the brave To stronger efforts and maturer counsels.

CALI.

My doom confirm'd establishes my purpose.
Calmly he heard till Amurath's resumption
When from his lips the fatal name burst out,
Rose to his thought, and set his soul on fire:
A sudden pause th' imperfect sense suspended,
Like the dread stillness of condensing storms.

DEMETRIUS.

The loudest cries of Nature urge us forward;
Despotic rage pursues the life of Cali;
His groaning country claims Leontius' aid;
And yet another voice, forgive me, Greece,
The pow'rful voice of love inflames Demetrius,
Each ling'ring hour alarms me for Aspasia.

CALI,

What passions reign among thy crew, Leontius? Does cheerless diffidence oppress their hearts? Or sprightly hope exalt their kindling spirits' Do they with pain repress the struggling shout, And listen eager to the rising wind?

LEONTIUS.

All there is hope, and gaiety, and courage,
No cloudy doubts, or languishing delays;
Ere I could range them on the crowded deck,
At once an hundred voices thunder'd round me,
And ev'ry voice was "Liberty and Greece,"

DEMETRIUS.

Swift let us rush upon the careless tyrant, Nor give him leisure for another crime.

LEONTIUS.

Then let us now resolve, nor idly waste Another hour in dull deliberation.

CALI.

But see, where, destin'd to protract our counsels, Comes Mustapha.-Your Turkish robes conceal

you.

Retire with speed, while I prepare to meet him With artificial smiles, and seeming friendship.

SCENE V.

CALI, MUSTAPHA.

CALI.

I see the gloom that low'rs upon thy brow;
These days of love and pleasure charm not thee!
Too slow these gentle constellations roll;
Thou long'st for stars that frown on human kind,
And scatter discord from their baleful beams.

MUSTAPHA.

How blest art thou, still jocund and serene, Beneath the load of business, and of years!

CALI.

Sure, by some wond'rous sympathy of souls,
My heart still beats responsive to the Sultan's;
I share, by secret instinct all his joys,
And feel no sorrow while my sov❜reign smiles.

MUSTAPHA.

The sultan comes, impatient for his love; Conduct her hither; let no rude intrusion Molest these private walks, or care invade These hours assign'd to pleasure and Irene.

SCENE VI.

MAHOMET, MUSTAPHA,

MAHOMET.

Now, Mustapha, pursue thy tale of horrour.
Has treason's dire infection reach'd my palace?
Can Cali dare the stroke of heav'nly justice
In the dark precincts of the gaping grave,
And load with perjuries his parting soul?
Was it for this, that, sick'ning in Epirus,
My father call'd me to his couch of death,
Join'd Cali's hand to mine, and falt'ring cry'd,
"Restrain the fervour of impetuous youth
With venerable Cali's faithful counsels ?"
Are these the counsels, this the faith of Cali ?
Were all our favours lavish'd on a villain?
Confest ?

MUSTAPHA.

Confest by dying Menodorus. In his last agonies the gasping coward, Amidst the tortures of the burning steel, Still fond of life, groan'd out the dreadful secret, Held forth this fatal scroll, then sunk to nothing.

MAHOMET, examining the paper.

His correspondence with our foes of Greece:
His hand! his seal! The secrets of my soul
Conceal'd from all but him! All, all conspire
To banish doubt, and brand him for a villain!
Our schemes for ever cross'd, our mines disco-
ver'd,

Betray'd some traitor lurking near my bosom.
Oft have I rag'd, when their wide-wasting cannon
Lay pointed at our batt'ries yet unform'd,
And broke the meditated lines of war.
Detested Cali too, with artful wonder,
Would shake his wily head, and closely whisper,
Beware of Mustapha, beware of treason,