And fecks the fhades to mufe upon Irene;
Irene fteals unheeded from his tongue,

Aud mingles unperceiv'd with ev'ry thought..

CALI.

Why fhould the Sultan fhun the joys of beauty, Or arm his breaft against the force of love? Love that with fweet viciffitude relieves

The warrior's labours and the monarch's cares. But will the yet receive the faith of Mecca?

MUSTAPHA.

Thofe pow'rful tyrants of the female breast, Fear and Ambition, urge her to compliance; Drefs'd in each charm of gay magnificence, Alluring grandeur courts her to his arms, Religion calls her from the wifh'd embrace, Paints future joys, and points to diftant glories.

CALI.

Soon will th' unequal conteft be decided.
Profpects, obfcur'd by distance, faintly strike;
Fach pleasure brightens at its near approach,
And every danger fhocks with double horror,

MUSTAPHA.

How fhall I fcorn the beautiful apoftate!
How will the bright Afpafia shine above her!

CALI.

Should fhe, for profelytes are always zealous, With pious warmth receive our Prophet's law

MUSTA PHA.

Heav'n will contemn the mercenary fervour,

Which love of greatnefs, not of truth, inflames.

CALI.

Ceafe, cease thy cenfures, for the Sultan comes
Alone, with am'rous hafte to feek his love,

SCENE IV.

MAHOMET, CALI BASSA, MUSTAPHA.

CALI.

Hail, terror of the monarchs of the world,
Unfhaken be thy throne as earth's firm base,
Live till the fun forgets to dart his beams,
And weary planets loiter in their courses.

MA HOME T.

But, Cali, let Irene fhare thy prayers ;
For what is length of days without Irene ?
I come from empty noife, and tasteless pomp,
From crowds that hide a monarch from himself,
To prove the sweets of privacy and friendship,
And dwell upon the beauties of Irene.

CALI.

O may her beauties last unchang'd by time,
As those that blefs the manfions of the good!

MAHOME T.

Each realm where beauty turns the graceful fhape,
Swells the fair breaft, or animates the glance,
Adorns my palace with its brightest virgins;
Yet, unacquainted with these soft emotions
I walk'd fuperior through the blaze of charms,
Prais'd without rapture, left without regret.
Why rove I now, when abfent from my fair,
From folitude to crowds, from crowds to folitude,

VOL. I.

E

Still

Still reftlefs, till I clafp the lovely maid,
And ease my loaded foul upon her bofom?

MUST A PHA.

Forgive, great Sultan, that intrufive duty
Enquires the final doom of Menodorus,
The Grecian counsellor.

MAHOME T.

Go fee him die;

His martial rhet❜rick taught the Greeks resistance; Had they prevail'd, I ne'er had known Irene.

SCENE V.

[Exit Muftapha.

MAHOMET, CALI.

MAHOMET.

Remote from tumult, in th' adjoining palace,
Thy care fhall guard this treasure of my foul;
There let Afpafia, fince my Fair entreats it,
With converse chafe the melancholy moments.
Sure, chill'd with fixty winter camps, thy blood
At fight of female charms will glow no more.

CALI.

Thefe years, unconquer'd Mahomet, demand
Defires more pure, and other cares than Love.
Long have I wish'd, before our prophet's tomb,
To pour my prayers for thy fuccefsful reign,
To quit the tumults of the noify camp,
And fink into the filent grave in peace.

MAHOME T.

What! think of peace while haughty Scanderbeg, Elate with conqueft, in his native mountains,

Prowls

Prowls o'er the wealthy fpoils of bleeding Turkey! While fair Hungaria's unexhaufted vallies

Pour forth their legions, and the roaring Danube Rolls half his floods unheard through fhouting camps! Nor could't thou more fupport a life of floth

Than Amurath

CALI.

Still full of Amurath!

MA HOME T.

Than Amurath, accuftom'd to command,
Could bear his fon upon the Turkish throne.

CALI.

This pilgrimage our lawgiver ordain'd

MAHO MET.

[Afide.

For those who could not please by nobler service.-
Our warlike prophet loves an active faith,

The holy flame of enterprizing virtue,
Mocks the dull vows of folitude and penance,
And scorns the lazy hermit's cheap devotion.
Shine thou, diftinguifh'd by fuperior merit,
With wonted zeal purfue the task of war,
Till ev'ry nation reverence the Koran,
And ev'ry fuppliant lift his eyes to Mecca.

CALI.

This regal confidence, this pious ardour,
Let prudence moderate, though not fupprefs.
Is not each realm that fmiles with kinder funs,
Or boasts a happier foil, already thine?
Extended empire, like expanded gold,
Exchanges folid ftrength for feeble splendour.

MAHOME T.

Preach thy dull politicks to vulgar kings,
Thou know'ft not yet thy mafter's future greatness,
His vaft defigns, his plans of boundless pow'r.
When ev'ry storm in my domain fhall roar,
When ev'ry wave fhall beat a Turkifh fhore;
Then, Cali, fhall the toils of battle cease,
Then dream of prayer, and pilgrimage, and

peace. [Exeunt.

ACT II.

SCENE I.

ASPASIA, IRENE.

IRENE.

ASPASIA, yet pursue the facred theme;
Exhaust the stores of pious eloquence,
And teach me to repel the Sultan's paffion.
Still at Afpafia's voice a fudden rapture
Exalts my foul, and fortifies my heart.
The glitt'ring vanities of empty greatness,
The hopes and fears, the joys and pains of life,
Diffolve in air, and vanish into nothing.

ASPASI A.

Let nobler hopes and jufter fears fucceed,
And bar the paffes of Irene's mind

Against returning guilt.

IRENE.

When thou art abfent,

Death rifes to my view, with all his terrors;

Then