English

D ARIUS , A RASPES .

Dar. Oh, good Araspes! what a night of horror!
To me the dawning day brings no return
Of cheerfulness or peace! No balmy sleep
Has seal'd these eyes, no nourishment has pass'd
These loathing lips, since Daniel's fate was sign'd.
Hear what my fruitless penitence resolves —
The thirty days my rashness had decreed
The edict's force should last, I will devote
To mourning and repentance, fasting, prayer,
And all due rites of grief. For thirty days

D ANIEL , A RASPES .

Ar. Still let me follow thee; still let me hear
The voice of wisdom, ere the silver cord
By death's cold hand be loosen'd.
Dan. Now I'm ready!
No grief; no woman's weakness, good Araspes!
Thou shouldst rejoice my pilgrimage is o'er,
And the blest haven of repose in view.
Ar. And must I lose thee, Daniel? must thou die?
Dan. And what is death, my friend, that I should fear it!

P HARNACUS , S ORANUS .

Phar. 'Tis done — success has crown'd our scheme, Soranus;
And Daniel falls into the deep-laid tolls
Our prudence spread.
Sor. That he should fall so soon,
Astonishes e'en me. What! not a day!
What! not a single moment to defer
His rash devotions? Madly thus to rush
On certain peril quite transcends belief!
When happened it, Pharances?
Phar. On the instant:
Scarce is the deed accomplish'd. As he made

D ANIEL , A RASPES .

Ar. Oh, holy Daniel! prophet, father, friend,
I come, the wretched messenger of ill!
Thy foes complot thy death. For what can mean
This new-made law, extorted from the king
Almost by force? What can it mean, O Daniel,
But to involve thee in the toils they spread
To snare thy precious life?
Dan. How! was the king
Consenting to this edict?
Ar. They surpris'd
His easy nature; took him when his heart

Phar. Hail! king Darius, live for ever!
Dar. Welcome!
Welcome, my princes, presidents, and friends!
Now, tell me, has your wisdom aught devis'd
To aid the commonwealth? In our new empire,
Subdued Chaldea, is there aught remains
Your prudence can suggest to serve the state,
To benefit the subject, to redress
And raise the injur'd, to assist th' oppress'd,
And humble the oppressor? If you know,
Speak freely, princes! Why am I a king,
Except to poise the awful scale of justice

D ANIEL A RASPES .

Ar. Proceed, proceed, thrice venerable sage!
Enlighten my darlt mind with this new ray,
This dawning of salvation! Tell me more
Of this expected King! this Comforter!
This Promise of the nations! this great Hope
Of anxious Israel! this unborn Prophet!
This Wonderful, this mighty Councellor!
This Everlasting Lord! This Prince of peace!
This Balm of Gilead, which shall heal the wounds
Of universal nature! this Messiak!
Redeemer, Saviour, Sufferer, Victim, God!

Phar. Yes. — I have noted with a jealous eye,
The power of this new favourite! Daniel reigns,
And not Darius! Daniel guides the springs
Which move this mighty empire! High he sits,
Supreme in favour both with prince and people!
Where is the spirit of our Median lords,
Tamely to crouch and bend the supple knee
To this new god? By Mithras, 'tis too much!
Shall great Arbaces' race to Daniel bow,
A foreigner, a captive, and a Jew?
Something must be devised, and that right soon,
To shake his credit.

Bel boweth down, and haughty Nebo stoops!
The idols fall: the god and worshipper
Together fall together they how down!
Each other, or themselves they cannot save.
O Babylon, where is thy refuge now?
Thy wisdom and thy knowledge, meant to save,
Pervert thee and thy blessing is thy bane!
Where are thy brutish deities, Chaidea;
Where are thy gods of gold? — Oh, Lord of life!
Thou very God! so fall thy foes before thee!
First Jew. So fell beneath the terrors of Thy name

First Court. ( rises and kneels .) Hail, mighty king.
Second Court. Belshazzar, live for ever;
Third Court. Sun of the world, and light of kings, all hail!
Fourth Court. With lowly rev'rence, such as best becomes
The humblest creatures of imperial power,
Behold a thousand nobles head before thee!
Princes far fam'd, and dames of high descent:
Yet all this pride of wealth, this beast of beauty,
Shrinks into nought before thine awful eye!
And lives or dies as the king frowns or smiles!

D ANIEL AND Captive J EWS .

Dan. Parent of life and light! sole Source of good!
Whose tender mercies through the tide of time,
In long successive order, have sustain'd,
And sav'd the sons of Israel! Thou, whose pow'r
Deliver'd righteous Noah from the flood,
The whelming flood, the grave of human kind!
Oh Thou, whose guardian care and outstretch'd hand
Rescued young Isaac from the lifted arm,
Rais'd at thy bidding, to devote a son,
An only son, doom'd by his sire to die: