Demetrius. You recommend that death you would dissuade;

Ennobled thus by fame and empire lost,

As well as life !—Small sacrifice to love.

[Going to stab himself, the King runs to prevent it; but too late.

King. Ah, hold! nor strike thy dagger through my heart!

Demetrius. 'Tis my first disobedience, and my last.

[Falls down.
King. There Philip fell! There Macedon expir'd!
I see the Roman eagle hovering o'er us,
And the shaft broke should bring her to the ground.
[Pointing at Demetrius.
Demetrius. Hear, good Antigonus! my last request:
Tell Perseus, if he'll sheath his impious sword
Drawn on his father, I'll forgive him all ;
Though poor Erixine lies bleeding by :

Her blood cries Vengeance ;-but my father's, Peace-
[Dies.
King. As much his goodness wounds me as his death.
What then are both? O Philip, once renown'd!
Where is the pride of Greece, the dread of Rome,
The theme of Athen's, the wide world's example,
And the god Alexander's rival, now ?

E'en at the foot of fortune's precipice,
Where the slave's sigh wafts pity to the prince,
And his omnipotence cries out for more.

Antigonus. As the swoln column of ascending smoke,

So solid swells thy grandeur, pigmy man!

King. My life's deep tragedy was plann'd with art,
From scene to scene advancing in distress,
Through a sad series, to this dire result;
As if the Thracian queen conducted all,
And wrote the moral in her children's blood;
Which seas might labour to wash out in vain.
Hear it, ye nation's! distant ages! hear;
And learn the dread decrees of Jove to fear :

His dread decrees the strictest balance keep
The father groans, who made a mother weep;
But if no terror for yourselves can move,
Tremble, ye parents, for the child ye love;
For Your Demetrius: Mine is doom'd to bleed,

A guiltless victim, for his father's deed.

AN EPILOGUE, through custom, is your right,
But ne'er perhaps was needful till this night:
To-night the virtuous falls, the guilty flies,
Guilt's dreadful close our narrow scene denies.
In history's authentic record read

What ample vengeance gluts Demetrius' shade;
Vengeance so great, that when his tale is told,
With pity some ev'n Perseus may behold.

:

Perseus surviv'd, indeed, and fill'd the throne, But ceaseless cares in conquest made him groan Nor reign'd he long; from Rome swift thunder flew, And headlong from his throne the tyrant threw : Thrown headlong down, by Rome in triumph led, For this night's deed his perjur'd bosom bled : His brother's ghost each moment made him start, And all his father's anguish rent his heart.

When, rob'd in black, his children round him hung, And their rais'd arms in early sorrow wrung; The younger smil'd, unconscious of their woe; At which thy tears, O Rome! began to flow; So sad the scene: What then must Perseus feel, To see Jove's race attend the victor's wheel :

To see the slaves of his worst foes increase,

From such a source !-An Emperor's embrace?
He sicken'd soon to death; and, what is worse,
He well deserv'd, and felt, the coward's curse;
Unpity'd, scorn'd, insulted his last hour,
Far, far from home, and in a vassal's power;
His pale cheek rested on his shameful chain,
No friend to mourn, no flatterer to feign;
No suit retards, no comfort sooths his doom,
And not one tear bedews a monarch's tomb.
Nor ends it thus-dire vengeance to complete,
His ancient empire falling, shares his fate :
His throne forgot! his weeping country chain'd!
And nations ask-Where Alexander reign'd.
As public woes a prince's crime pursue,
So public blessings are his virtue's due,
Shout, Britons shout-auspicious fortune bless!
And cry, Long live—OUR title to success!