Now fuperftition, ignorance, and error,
Ufurp our temples, and profane our altars.
From ev'ry palace bursts a mingled clamour,
The dreadful diffonance of barb'rous triumph,
Shrieks of affright, and wailings of diftress.
Oft when the cries of violated beauty
Arose to Heav'n, and pierc'd my bleeding breaft,
I felt thy pains, and trembled for Afpafia.
Afpafia! fpare that lov'd, that mournful name: Dear hapless maid-tempeftuous grief o'erbears My reasoning pow'rs-Dear, hapless, loft, Afpafia!
All thought on her is madnefs; Yet let me think-I fee the helpless maid, Behold the monsters gaze with favage rapture, Behold how luft and rapine ftruggle round her,
Awake, Demetrius, from this dismal dream,
Sink not beneath imaginary forrows :
Call to your aid your courage, and your
Think on the fudden change of human scenes;
Think on the various accidents of war;
Think on the mighty pow'r of awful virtue;
Think on that Providence that guards the good.
O Providence! extend thy care to me,
For Courage droops unequal to the combat,
And weak Philofophy denies her fuccours.
Sure fome kind fabre in the heat of battle,
Ere yet the foe found leisure to be cruel,
Difmifs'd her to the sky.
Perhaps, enamour'd of refembling virtue,
With gentle hand reftrain'd the ftreams of life,
And fnatch'd her timely from her country's fate.
From those bright regions of eternal day,
Where now thou fhin'ft among thy fellow-faints,
Array'd in purer light, look down on me :
In pleafing vifions, and affuafive dreams,
O! footh my foul, and teach me how to lose thee.
Enough of unavailing tears, Demetrius :
I came obedient to thy friendly fummons,
And hop'd to fhare thy counfels, not thy forrows:
While thus we mourn the fortune of Afpafia,
To what are we referv'd?
But hope, yet hope, to happiness and honour;
If happiness can be without Afpafia.
But whence this new-fprung hope?
The chief, whofe wifdom guides the Turkish counfels,
He, tir'd of flav'ry, tho' the highest flave,
Projects at once our freedom and his own;
And bids us thus difguis'd await him here.
Can he restore the ftate he could not fave?
In vain, when Turkey's troops affail'd our walls,
His kind intelligence betray'd their measures;
Their arms prevail'd, though Cali was our friend,
When the tenth fun had fet upon our forrows,
At midnight's private hour, a voice unknown
Sounds in my fleeping ear, Awake, Demetrius,
Awake, and follow me to better fortunes.'
Surpriz'd I start, and blefs the happy dream;
Then, rouzing, know the fiery chief Abdalla,
Whofe quick impatience feiz'd my doubtful hand,
And led me to the fhore where Cali ftood,
Penfive and lift'ning to the beating furge.
There, in foft hints and in ambiguous phrafe,
With all the diffidence of long experience,
That oft' had practis'd fraud, and oft' detected,
The vet'ran courtier half reveal'd his project.
By his command, equipp'd for fpeedy flight,
Deep in a winding creek a galley lies,
Mann'd with the braveft of our fellow-captives,
Selected by my care, a hardy band,
That long to hail thee chief.
So fmall a force? or why fhould Cali fly?
Or how can Cali's flight reftore our country?
Referve thefe queftions for a fafer hour;
Or hear himself, for fee the Baffa comes.
DEMETRIUS, LEONTIUS, CALI BASSA.
Now fummon all thy foul, illuftrious Chriftian!
Awake each faculty that fleeps within thee,
The courtier's policy, the fage's firmnels,
The warrior's ardour, and the patriot's zeal :
If chafing past events with vain pursuit,
Or wand'ring in the wilds of future being,
A fingle thought now rove, recall it home.
But can thy friend fuftain the glorious caufe,
The caufe of liberty, the caufe of nations?
Obferve him closely with a statesman's eye,
Thou that haft long perus'd the draughts of Nature,
And know'ft the characters of vice and virtue,
Left by the hand of Heav'n on human clay.
His mien is lofty, his demeanour great,
Nor fprightly folly wantons in his air,
Nor dull ferenity becalms his eyes.
Such had I trusted once as foon as seen,
But cautious age fufpects the flatt'ring form,
And only credits what experience tells.
Has Silence prefs'd her feal upon his lips?
Does adamantine faith inveft his heart?
Will he not bend beneath a tyrant's frown?
Will he not melt before ambition's fire?
Will he not foften in a friend's embrace?
Or flow diffolving in a woman's tears?
Sooner the trembling leaves fhall find a voice,
And tell the fecrets of their confcious walks;
Sooner the breeze fhall catch the flying founds,
And fhack the tyrant with a tale of treason.
Your flaughter'd multitudes, that fwell the shore
With monuments of death, proclaim his courage;
Virtue and liberty engrofs his foul,
And leave no place for perfidy or fear.
I fcorn a trust unwillingly repos'd;
Demetrius will not lead me to difhonour;
Confult in private, call me when your scheme
Is ripe for action, and demands the fword.
Forgive an old man's weakness,
And share the deepest fecrets of my foul,
My wrongs, my fears, my motives, my defigus.
When unfuccefsful wars, and civil factions,
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