The queen requested MURZA. MAHOMET. Who? the dead Irene? Was she then guiltless? has my thoughtless rage Destroy'd the fairest workmanship of Heaven! Doom'd her to death unpitied and unheard, Amidst her kind solicitudes for me! Ye slaves of cruelty, ye tools of rage, [To Hasan and Caraza. Ye blind officious ministers of folly, Could not her charms repress your zeal for murder? CARAZA. Your fierce impatience forc❜d us from your presence, Urg'd us to speed, and bade us banish pity, Nor trust our passions with her fatal charms. MAHOMET. What hadst thou lost by slighting those commands? Thy life perhaps-Were but Irene spar'd, Well if a thousand lives like thine had perish'd! Such beauty, sweetness, love, were cheaply bought With half the grov'ling slaves that load the globe. MUSTAPHA. Great is thy woe! But think, illustrious Sultan, Such ills are sent for souls like thine to conquer. Shake off this weight of unavailing grief, MAHOMET. Robb'd of the maid with whom I wish'd to triumph, Success and conquest now are empty sounds, Those groves, whose shades embower'd the dear Heard her last cries, and fann'd her dying beauties, Shall hide me from the tasteless world for ever. [Mahomet goes back, and returns. Yet ere I quit the sceptre of dominion, Let one just act conclude the hateful day.. Hew down, ye guards, those vassals of distraction, [Pointing to Hasan and Caraza. Those hounds of blood, that catch the hint to kill; Bear off with eager haste th' unfinish'd sentence, And speed the stroke, lest mercy should o'ertake them. CARAZA. Then hear, great Mahomet, the voice of truth. MAHOMET. Hear, shall I hear thee! didst thou hear Irene ? Hear but a moment. CARAZA. MAHOMET. Had'st thou heard a moment, Thou might'sthave liv'd, for thou had'st spar'd Irene. CARAZA. I heard her, pitied her, and wish'd to save her. MAHOMET. And wish'd-be still thy fate to wish in vain. CARAZA. I heard and soften'd, till Abdalla brought MAHOMET. Abdalla brought her doom! Abdalla brought it! The wretch, whose guilt, declar'd by tortur'd Cali, My rage and grief had hid from my remembrance: Abdalla brought her doom! HASAN. Abdalla brought it, While yet she begg'd to plead her cause before thee. MAHOMET. O seize me, madness-Did she call on me! Which murder'd innocence that call'd on me. [Exit Mahomet; Abdalla is dragged off. SCENE XIII. HASAN, CARAZA, MUSTAPHA, MURZA. MUSTAPHA to MURZA. What plagues, what tortures, are in store for thee, Behold the model of consummate beauty MURZA. Such was the will of Heaven-A band of Greeks That mark'd my course, suspicious of my purpose, Rush'd out and seiz'd me, thoughtless and unarm❜d, Breathless, amaz'd, and on the guarded beach Detain'd me till Demetrius set me free. MUSTAPHA. So sure the fall of greatness rais'd on crimes! EPILOGUE. MARRY a Turk! a haughty, tyrant king! Besides, he has fifty wives, and who can bear 'Tis true, the fellow's handsome, straight, and tall, But how the devil should he please us all? My swain is little-true-but, be it known, My pride's to have that little all my own. Men will be ever to their errors blind, Where woman's not allow'd to speak her mind. I swear this eastern pageantry is nonsense, And for one man-one wife's enough of conscience. In vain proud man usurps what's woman's due; For us alone, they honour's paths pursue : Inspir'd by us, they glory's heights ascend; Woman the source, the object, and the end. Though wealth, and power, and glory, they receive, These are all trifles to what we can give. For us the statesman labours, hero fights, Bears toilsome days, and wakes long tedious nights; And, when blest peace has silenc'd war's alarms, Receives his full reward in beauty's arms. 34 |