OCR Text |
Show s6 M U S T A P H A. SCENE VII. Solyman, Muftapha. Solyman. Mvftapha, fit---My order is obey'd:* And thouart come. Muftapha. while life informs this frame, Your will, ni; L o r d - - - - Solyman. It no v enjoins thee sience. Attentive mark my words, tilll C v ^ ^ A n anfwer. Wh*o thatPowc*, w h o f c wijj i$ fate, Firft call'd m e to the cares of royalty ; A n d when thofe cares had waken'd me to thou^f T o grave reflection ; Ignorance, I found, Black, heavy, total, had o'erfpread m y realms, J-ler ftenl darknefs, to a people rude £i$ nature at the birth of human kind, Seem'd vener.ble ; feem'd the proper ffote Of greatnefs : and as blindnefs is moft vain, T h e proud Barbarians, all they knew not, fconU Amid this general night, I turn'd m y view Back to th' en lighten"d times of Greece and Rme' T h e times of fcience and of glorious deeds.* A n d faw, with ^leafing wonder, to what heihts Inftruction and cxan pie lift the mind ! Their ftory I revolv'd ; and reverent own'd Their ^olifh'd arts of rule, Their human virtues; T h e luflre and the dignity of man. Till* what Jlongadmir'd, M U S T A P H A . 27 At laft I try'd to emulate : Nor found tire trial vain. Hence was m y foul with nobler aims enlarg d In war and peace. Heaven leconded my cares : M y neighbours fear'd, m y Subjeas bleft, m y fway : j A . ,, « . But chief m y family, where blood-ftain d Rage N o longer rioted iivfcenes of death. Thee, of m y fons the deleft, belt belov'd, I cherifh'd with diftinaQiftYd fondnefs ; rear'd In art and arms; with morals and with honour Seafon'd thy tender thought : whence, to m y felf I hop'd a worthy fon ; and to mankind, W h e n fate fhould fummon me, an equal mafter. This have I done : but where it m y reward ? What hope, what comfort to m y age remains, If thou, impatient to afcend m y throng Would'ft rather, now, invade it, than await Till time and right have made it fairly thine ? Speak : thou hafl leave. Muftapha. For this indulgence, Sir, Toheaven and you I bend m y heart in thanks : And a* I would cleferve it, all m y words Shall be to holy truth fevereiy juft. E'er fince reflection beam'd her light upon me, You, Sir, have been m y ftudy. I have plac'd Before mine eyes, in every li^ht of life, The Father and the King. What weight of duty Lay on a fon from fuch a parent fprung ; What virtuous toil tofhine with his renown ; Has been m y thought by day, m y dream by night. True to the fair example in m y view 1- Forgive the boaft of youth- my aim has been T o merit rather than to wear a crown. I courted fame,, but as a fpur to brave, T o honeft deeds: and who defpifes fame, Will foon renounce the virtues that deferve it. But firft, and ever ncareft to m y heart, - W a s this prime duty j fo to frame m y conduct Toward fuch a father, as^were I a father, c4 My |