Sar. For your safety, which I will have look'd to,
With a strong escort to your native land;
And such gifts, as, if you had not been all

A queen, shall make your dowry worth a kingdom.
Myr. I pray you talk not thus.
Sur.
The queen is gone:
You need not shame to follow. I would fall
Alone I seek no partners but in pleasure.
Myr. And I no pleasure but in parting not.
You shall not force me from you.
Sar.

It soon may be too late.

Myr.

Think well of it

So let it be;

For then you cannot separate me from you.

Man may despoil his brother man of all That's great or glittering-kingdoms fall-hosts yield

Friends fail - slaves fly-and all betray--and, more
Than all, the most indebted - but a heart [it
That loves without self-love! 'Tis here- now prove
Enter SALEMENES.

Sal. I sought you-How! she here again?
Sar.

Return not
Now to reproof: methinks your aspect speaks
Of higher matter than a woman's presence.
Sal. The only woman whom it much imports me
At such a moment now is safe in absence-
The queen's embark'd.

Муг. 'T will not recall the past'T will not restore my honour, nor my heart. No. -here I stand or fall. If that you conquer, live to joy in your great triumph: should Your lot be different, I'll not weep, but share it. You did not doubt me a few hours ago.

Sar. Your courage never-nor your love till now; And none could make me doubt it save yourself. Those words

Myr. Were words. I pray you, let the proofs Be in the past acts you were pleased to praise This very night, and in my further bearing, Beside, wherever you are borne by fate.

Sar. I am content; and, trusting in my cause, Think we may yet be victors and return To peace-the only victory I covet. To me war is no glory-conquest no Renown. To be forced thus to uphold my right Sits heavier on my heart than all the wrongs These men would bow me down with. Never, never Can I forget this night, even should I live To add it to the memory of others.

I thought to have made mine inoffensive rule

An era of sweet peace 'midst bloody annals,

A green spot amidst desert centuries,

On which the future would turn back and smile,
And cultivate, or sigh when it could not
Recall Sardanapalus' golden reign.

1 thought to have made my realm a paradise,
And every moon an epoch of new pleasures.
I took the rabble's shouts for love-the breath
Of friends for truth-the lips of woman for
My only guerdon-so they are, my Myrrha :
[He kisses her.

Upon her sleeping children, were still fix'd
Upon the palace towers as the swift galley

Stole down the hurrying stream beneath the starlight;

Sal.

What! more rebels?

That were hardly prudent Now, though it was our first intention. If By noon to-morrow we are join'd by those I've sent for by sure messengers, we shall be In strength enough to venture an attack, Ay, and pursuit too: but till then, my voice Is to await the onset.

Sar. I detest That waiting: though it seems so safe to fight Behind high walls, and hurl down foes into Deep fosses, or behold them sprawl on spikes Strew'd to receive them, still I like it notMy soul seems lukewarm; but when I set on them, Though they were piled on mountains, I would have A pluck at them, or perish in hot blood!Let me then charge!

How hideous upon earth! where peace and hope,
And love and revel, in an hour were trampled
By human passions to a human chaos,
Not yet resolved to separate elements.
'Tis warring still! And can the sun so rise,
So bright, so rolling back the clouds into
Vapours more lovely than the unclouded sky,
With golden pinnacles, and snowy mountains,
And billows purpler than the ocean's, making
In heaven a glorious mockery of the earth,
So like we almost deem it permanent;
So fleeting, we can scarcely call it aught
Beyond a vision, 't is so transiently
Scatter'd along the eternal vault 2: and yet
It dwells upon the soul, and soothes the soul,
And blends itself into the soul, until
Sunrise and sunset form the haunted epoch

Of sorrow and of love; which they who mark not,
Know not the realms where those twin genii 3
(Who chasten and who purify our hearts,

So that we would not change their sweet rebukes
For all the boisterous joys that ever shook
The air with clamour), build the palaces
Where their fond votaries repose and breathe
Briefly; but in that brief cool calm inhale
Enough of heaven to enable them to bear
The rest of common, heavy, human hours,

And dream them through in placid sufferance;
Though seemingly employ'd like all the rest
Of toiling breathers in allotted tasks 4
Of pain or pleasure, two names for one feeling,
Which our internal, restless agony

Would vary in the sound, although the sense
Escapes our highest efforts to be happy.

Bal. You muse right calmly: and can you so watch The sunrise which may be our last?

Myr. It is Therefore that I so watch it, and reproach Those eyes, which never may behold it more, For having look'd upon it oft, too oft, Without the reverence and the rapture due To that which keeps all earth from being as fragile As I am in this form. Come, look upon it, The Chaldee's god, which, when I gaze upon, I grow almost a convert to your Baal.

Bal. As now he reigns in heaven, so once on earth He sway'd.

It is said the king's demeanour

In the late action scarcely more appall'd
The rebels than astonish'd his true subjects.

Myr. 'Tis easy to astonish or appal

The vulgar mass which moulds a horde of slaves; But he did bravely.

Half-veil'd in vapouring cloud, the silver steam
Of dews fast melting on their lealy boughs
By the strong sunbeams smitten."]

3["Sunrise and sunset form the epoch of
Sorrow and love; and they who mark them not
Can ne'er hold converse with," &c.— -MS.]

4 [“ Of labouring wretches in allotted tasks.”—MS.]

Sal. Fly, then, and tell him, 't was my last request That Zames take my post until the junction, So hoped for, yet delay'd, of Ofratanes, Satrap of Susa. Leave me here: our troops Are not so numerous as to spare your absence. Sol. But prince

Sal. Hence, I say! Here's a courtier and A woman, the best chamber company. As you would not permit me to expire Upon the field, I'll have no idle soldiers About my sick couch. Hence and do my bidding! [Exeunt the Soldiers. Myr. Gallant and glorious spirit! must the earth So soon resign thee?

Though thinly mann'd, may still hold out against
Their present force, or aught save treachery :
But i' the field

Myr.

I thought 't was the intent

Of Salemenes not to risk a sally

Till ye were strengthen'd by the expected succours.
Sar. I over-ruled him.
Myr.

Well, the fault 's a brave one.
Sar. But fatal. Oh, my brother! I would give
These realms, of which thou wert the ornament,
The sword and shield, the sole-redeeming honour,
To call back- But I will not weep for thee;
Thou shalt be mourn'd for as thou wouldst be mourn'd.
It grieves me most that thou couldst quit this life
Believing that I could survive what thou
Hast died for our long royalty of race.
If I redeem it, I will give thee blood
Of thousands, tears of millions, for atonement,
(The tears of all the good are thine already).
If not, we meet again soon,- if the spirit
Within us lives beyond: thou readest mine,
And dost me justice now. Let me once clasp
That yet warm hand, and fold that throbless heart
[Embraces the body.

To this which beats so bitterly. Now, bear
The body hence.

Off. The wall which skirted near the river's brink Is thrown down by the sudden inundation Of the Euphrates, which now rolling, swoln From the enormous mountains where it rises, By the late rains of that tempestuous region, O'erfloods its banks, and hath destroyed the bulwark. Pan. That's a black augury! it has been said For ages, "That the city ne'er should yield To man, until the river grew its foe."

Sar. I can forgive the omen, not the ravage. How much is swept down of the wall?

Report of the true state of this irruption Of waters.

Myr. Against you. Sar.

[Exeunt PANIA and the Officer. Thus the very waves rise up

They are not my subjects, girl,

And may be pardon'd, since they can't be punish'd.
Myr. I joy to see this portent shakes you not.
Sar. I am past the fear of portents: they can tell me
Nothing I have not told myself since midnight:
Despair anticipates such things.

Myr.

Despair!

Sar. No; not despair precisely. When we know All that can come, and how to meet it, our Resolves, if firm, may merit a more noble Word than this is to give it utterance.

But what are words to us? we have well nigh done With them and all things.

Myr.

Save one deed And greatest to all mortals; crowning act Of all that was-or is- or is to beThe only thing common to all mankind,

So different in their births, tongues, sexes, natures, Hues, features, climes, times, feelings, intellects, 2 Without one point of union save in this,

To which we tend, for which we're born, and thread The labyrinth of mystery, call'd life. [cheerful.

Sur. Our clew being well nigh wound out, let's be They who have nothing more to fear may well Indulge a smile at that which once appall'd; As children at discover'd bugbears.

Gives a key.

(Now

It opens to a secret chamber, placed
Behind the couch in my own chamber.
Press'd by a nobler weight than e'er it bore-
Though a long line of sovereigns have lain down
Along its golden frame-as bearing for
A time what late was Salemenes.) Search
The secret covert to which this will lead you;

'Tis full of treasure 3; take it for yourself

And your companions: there's enough to load ye
Though ye be many.4 Let the slaves be freed, too;
And all the inmates of the palace, of
Whatever sex, now quit it in an hour.

[pleasure,

Thence launch the regal barks, once form'd for
And now to serve for safety, and embark.
The river's broad and swoln, and uncommanded
(More potent than a king) by these besiegers.
Fly and be happy!

Pan.

Under your protection !

So you accompany your faithful guard.

Sar. No, Pania! that must not be; get thee hence, And leave me to my fate.

lost if he attempts to sum up the whole value; which induces me to believe, that Athenæus must have very much exaggerated; however, we may be assured, from his account, that the treasures were immensely great." ROLLIN.]

'Tis enough. Now order here

Faggots, pine-nuts, and wither'd leaves, and such
Things as catch fire and blaze with one sole spark ;
Bring cedar, too, and precious drugs, and spices,
And mighty planks, to nourish a tall pile;
Bring frankincense and myrrh, too, for it is
For a great sacrifice I build the pyre!
And heap them round yon throne.
Pan.
Sur.

And you have sworn.

Pun.

My lord!

I have said it, And could keep my faith

[Exit PANIA. You shall know what the whole earth shall ne'er forget.

PANIA, returning with a Herald.

Pan. My king, in going forth upon my duty, This herald has been brought before me, craving An audience.

My office, king, is sacred.

That thou shouldst come and dare to ask of me To lay it down?

[act

Her. My life waits your breath. Yours (I speak humbly)—but it may be yours May also be in danger scarce less imminent : Would it then suit the last hours of a line Such as is that of Nimrod, to destroy A peaceful herald, unarm'd, in his office; And violate not only all that man Holds sacred between man and man-but that More holy tie which links us with the gods? Sar. He's right. Let him go free. — Shall not be one of wrath. Here, fellow, take [Gives him a golden cup from a table near. This golden goblet, let it hold your wine, And think of me; or melt it into ingots, And think of nothing but their weight and value. Her. I thank you doubly for my life, and this Most gorgeous gift, which renders it more precious. But must I bear no answer?

Sar.

An hour's truce to consider.

Her.

My life's last

Yes, I ask

But an hour's?

Whate'er it be.

Sar.

I shall not forget it,

Commend me to Beleses;

And tell him, ere a year expire, I summon Him hence to meet me.

At least from thence he will depart to meet me.
Her. I shall obey you to the letter. [Erit Herald.
Sar.
Pania!-
Now, my good Pania!— quick! with what I order'd.
Pan. My lord, the soldiers are already charged.
And, see they enter.

[Soldiers enter, and form a Pile about the
Throne, &c.
Higher, my good soldiers,
And thicker yet; and see that the foundation
Be such as will not speedily exhaust

Sar.

Its own too subtle flame; nor yet be quench'd