University of Virginia Library

2. PART II.

SCENE, The Court of Belshazzar. The King seated on a magnificent throne. Princes, Nobles, and Attendants. Ladies of the Court. Music—A superb Banquet.
First COURTIER.
Rises, and kneels.
Hail, mighty king!

Second COURTIER.
Belshazzar, live for ever!

Third COURTIER.
Sun of the world, and light of kings, all hail!

Fourth COURTIER.
With lowest reverence, such as best becomes
The humblest creatures of imperial power,
Behold a thousand nobles bend before thee!
Princes far fam'd, and dames of high descent:
Yet all this pride of wealth, this boast of beauty,
Shrinks into nought before thine awful eye,
And lives, or dies, as the king frowns, or smiles!

BELSHAZZAR.
This is such homage as becomes your love,
And suits the mighty monarch of mankind.

Fifth COURTIER.
The bending world shou'd prostrate thus before thee,
And pay, not only praise, but adoration!

BELSHAZZAR.
Rises, and comes forward.
Let dull philosophy preach self-denial;
Let envious poverty, and snarling age,
Proudly declaim against the joys they know not.
Let the deluded Jews, who fondly hope
Some fancied heav'n hereafter, mortify,
And lose the actual blessings of this world,
To purchase others which may never come.
Our Gods may promise less, but give us more.
Ill cou'd my ardent spirit be content
With meagre abstinence, and hungry hope.
Let those misjudging Israelites, who want
The nimble spirits, and the active soul,
Call their blunt feelings virtue: let them drudge,
In regular progression, thro' the round
Of formal duty, and of daily toil,
And, when they want the genius to be blest,
Believe their harsh austerity is goodness.
If there be Gods they meant we shou'd be happy,
Why give us else these appetites to be so?
And why, the means to crown them with indulgence?
To burst the feeble bonds which hold the vulgar,
Is noble daring.

First COURTIER.
And is therefore worthy
The high imperial spirit of Belshazzar.

Second COURTIER.
Behold a banquet which the gods might share.

BELSHAZZAR.
To-night, my friends! your monarch shall be blest
With ev'ry various joy; to-night is ours;
Nor shall the envious gods who view our bliss,
And sicken as they view, to-night disturb us.
Bring all the richest spices of the East,
The od'rous cassia, and the dropping myrrh;
The liquid amber, and the fragrant gums;
Rob Gilead of its balms, Belshazzar bids,
And leave the Arabian groves without an odour.
Bring freshest flow'rs, exhaust the blooming spring,
Twine the green myrtle with the short-liv'd rose,
And ever, as the blushing garland fades,
We'll learn to snatch the fugitive delight,
And grasp the flying joy ere it escape us.
Come—fill the smiling goblet for the king;
Belshazzar will not let a moment pass
Unmark'd by some enjoyment! The full bowl
Let every guest partake!

[Courtiers kneel, and drink.
First COURTIER.
Here's to the king!
Light of the world, and glory of the earth,
Whose word is fate!

BELSHAZZAR.
Yes, we are likest gods,
When we have pow'r, and use it. What is wealth,
But the blest means to gratify desire?
I will not have a wish, a hope, a thought,
That shall not know fruition. What is empire?
The privilege to punish and enjoy;
To feel our pow'r in making others fear it;
To taste of pleasure's cup till we grow giddy,
And think ourselves immortal. This is empire!
My ancestors scarce tasted of its joys:
Shut from the sprightly world, and all its charms,
In cumbrous majesty, in sullen state,
And dull unsocial dignity they liv'd;
Far from the sight of an admiring world,
That world, whose gaze makes half the charms of greatness;
They nothing knew of empire but the name,
Or saw it in the looks of trembling slaves;
And all they felt of royalty was care.
But I will see, and know it of myself;
Youth, wealth, and greatness court me to be blest,
And Pow'r and Pleasure draw with equal force
And sweet attraction: both I will embrace
With fond delight; but this is Pleasure's day;
Ambition will have time to reign hereafter;
It is the proper appetite of age.
The lust of pow'r shall lord it uncontroul'd,
When all the gen'rous feelings grow obtuse,
And stern dominion holds, with rigid hand,
His iron rein, and sits and sways alone.
But youth is pleasure's hour!

First COURTIER.
Perish the slave,
Who, with officious counsel, wou'd oppose
The king's desire, whose slightest wish is law!

BELSHAZZAR.

BELSHAZZAR.
Enough! the kindling rapture fires my train,
And my heart dances to the flatt'ring sounds.
I feel myself a god! Why not a god?
What were the deities our fathers worshipp'd?
What was great Nimrod, our imperial founder?
What, greater Belus, to whose pow'r divine,
We raise to-night the banquet and the song;
But youthful heroes, mortal, like myself,
Who by their daring earn'd divinity?
They were but men: nay, some were less than men,
Tho' now rever'd as Gods. What was Anubis,
Whom Egypt's sapient sons adore? A dog!
And shall not I, young, valiant, and a king,
Dare more? do more? be greater than the rest?
I will indulge the thought.—Fill me more wine,
To cherish and exalt the young idea!
[He drinks.
Ne'er did Olympian Jupiter himself
Quaff such immortal draughts.

First COURTIER.
What cou'd that Canaan,
That heaven in hope, that nothing in possession,
That air-built bliss of the deluded Jews,
That promis'd land of milk, and flowing honey;
What cou'd that fancied Paradise bestow
To match these generous juices?

BELSHAZZAR.
Hold—enough!
Thou hast rous'd a thought; by Heav'n I will enjoy it;
A glorious thought! which will exalt to rapture
The pleasures of the banquet, and bestow
A yet untasted relish of delight.

First COURTIER.
What means the king?

BELSHAZZAR.
The Jews! saidst thou the Jews?

First COURTIER.
I spoke of that undone, that outcast people,
The tributary creatures of thy pow'r,
The captives of thy will, whose very breath
Hangs on the sov'reign pleasure of the king.

BELSHAZZAR.
When that abandon'd race was hither brought,
Were not the choicest treasures of their temple,
(Devoted to their God, and held most precious)
Among the spoils which grac'd Nebassar's triumph,
And lodg'd in Babylon?

First COURTIER.
O king! they were.

Second COURTIER.
The Jews, with superstitious awe, behold
These sacred symbols of their ancient faith:
Nor has captivity abated ought
The rev'rend love they bear these holy reliques.
Tho' we deride their law, and scorn their persons,
Yet never have we yet to human use
Devoted these rich vessels, set apart
To sacred purposes.

BELSHAZZAR.
I joy to hear it!
Go—fetch them hither. They shall grace our banquet.
Does no one stir? Belshazzar disobey'd?
And yet you live! Whence comes this strange reluctance?
This new-born rev'rence for the helpless Jews?
This fear to injure those who can't revenge it?
Send to the sacred treasury in haste,
Let all be hither brought;—who answers, dies.
[They go out.
The mantling wine a higher joy will yield,
Pour'd from the precious flaggons which adorn'd
Their far-fam'd temple, now in ashes laid.
Oh! 'twill exalt the pleasure into transport,
To gall those whining, praying Israelites!
I laugh to think what wild dismay will seize them,
When they shall learn the use that has been made
Of all their holy trumpery!

[The vessels are brought in.
Second COURTIER,
It comes!
A goodly shew! how bright with gold and gems!
Far fitter for a youthful monarch's board,
Than the cold shrine of an unheeding god.

BELSHAZZAR.
Fill me that massy goblet to the brim.
Now, Abraham! let thy wretched race expect
The fable of their faith to be fulfill'd;
Their second temple, and their promis'd king!
Now will they see he's impotent to save,
For had he pow'r to help, he wou'd have hinder'd
This profanation.

[As the king is going to drink, thunder is heard; he starts from the throne, spies a hand, which writes on the wall these words; Mene, Mene, Tekel Upharsin. He lets fall the goblet, and stands in an attitude of speechless horror. All start, and are terrified.]
First COURTIER,
after a long pause.
Oh, transcendent horror!

Second COURTIER.
What may this mean? The king is greatly mov'd!

Third COURTIER.
Nor is it strange—who unappall'd can view it?
Those sacred cups! I doubt we've gone too far.

First COURTIER.
Observe the fear-struck king! his starting eyes
Roll horribly. Thrice he essay'd to speak,
And thrice his tongue refus'd.

BELSHAZZAR,
in a low trembling voice.
Ye mystic words!
Thou semblance of an hand! illusive forms!
Ye dire fantastic images, what are ye?
Dread shadows, speak! Explain your horrible meaning!
Ye will not answer me.—Yes, yes, I feel
I am a mortal now—My failing limbs
Refuse to bear me up. I am no god!
Gods do not tremble thus.—Support me, hold me,
These loosen'd joints, these knees which smite each other,
Betray I'm but a man—a weak one too!

First COURTIER.
In truth 'tis passing strange, and full of horror!

BELSHAZZAR.
Send for the learn'd magicians, every sage
Who deals in wizard spells and magic charms.

[Some go out.
First COURTIER.
How fares my lord the king?

BELSHAZZAR.
Am I a king?
What pow'r have I? Ye lying slaves, I am not.
Oh, soul-distracting sight! but is it real?
Perhaps 'tis fancy all, or the wild dream
Of mad distemperature, the fumes of wine!
I'll look upon't no more!—So—now I'm well!
I am a king again, and know not fear.
And yet my eyes will seek that fatal spot,
And fondly dwell upon the sight that blasts them!
Again, 'tis there! it is not fancy's work.
I see it still! 'tis written on the wall.
I see the writing, but the viewless writer,
Who, what is he? Oh, horror! horror! horror!
It cannot be the God of these poor Jews,
For what is he, that he can thus afflict?

Second COURTIER.
Let not my lord the king be thus dismay'd.

Third COURTIER.
Let not a phantom, an illusive shade,
Disturb the peace of him who rules the world.

BELSHAZZAR.
No more, ye wretched sycophants! no more!
The sweetest note which flatt'ry now can strike,
Harsh and discordant grates upon my soul.
Talk not of power to one so full of fear,
So weak, so impotent! Look on that wall;
If thou wou'dst sooth my soul, explain the writing,
And thou shalt be my oracle, my God!
Tell me from whence it came, and what it means,
And I'll believe I am again a king!
Friends! princes! ease my troubled breast, and say,
What do the mystic characters portend?

First COURTIER.
'Tis not in us, O king! to ease thy spirit;
We are not skill'd in those mysterious arts
Which wait the midnight studies of the sage;
But of the deep diviners thou shalt learn,
The wise astrologers, the sage magicians,
Who, of events unborn, take secret note,
And hold deep commerce with the unseen world.

Enter ASTROLOGERS, MAGICIANS, &c. &c.
BELSHAZZAR.
Approach, ye sages, 'tis the king commands!

[They kneel.
ASTROLOGERS.
Hail, mighty king of Babylon!

BELSHAZZAR.
Nay, rise:
I do not need your homage, but your help;
The world may worship, you must counsel me.
He who declares the secret of the king,
No common honours shall await his skill;
Our empire shall be tax'd for his reward,
And he himself shall name the gift he wishes.
A splendid scarlet robe shall grace his limbs,
His neck a princely chain of gold adorn,
Meet honours for such wisdom: He shall rule
The third in rank throughout our Babylon.

Second ASTROLOGER.
Such recompence becomes Belshazzar's bounty.
Let the king speak the secret of his soul,
Which heard, his humble creatures shall unfold.

BELSHAZZAR
, points to the wall.
Be't so—Look there—behold those characters!
Nay, do not start, for I will know their meaning!
Ha! answer; speak, or instant death awaits you!
What, dumb! all dumb! where is your boasted skill?
[They confer together.
Keep them asunder—No confed'racy—
No secret plots to make your tales agree.
Speak, slaves, and dare to let me know the worst!

First ASTROLOGER.
[They kneel.
O, let the king forgive his faithful servants!

Second ASTROLOGER.
O mitigate our threaten'd doom of death,
If we declare, with mingled grief and shame,
We cannot tell the secret of the king,
Nor what these mystic characters portend!

BELSHAZZAR.
Off with their heads! Ye shall not live an hour!
Curse on your shallow arts, your lying science!
'Tis thus you practise on the credulous world,
Who think you wise, because themselves are weak!
But, miscreants, ye shall die! the pow'r to punish
Is all that I have left me of a king.

First COURTIER.
Great Sir! suspend their punishment awhile,
Behold sage Nitocris, thy royal mother!

BELSHAZZAR.
My mother here!

Enter QUEEN.
QUEEN.
O my misguided son!
Well mayst thou wonder to behold me here,
For I have ever shunn'd this scene of riot,
Where wild intemperance and dishonour'd mirth
Hold festival impure. Yet, O Belshazzar!
I cou'd not hear the wonders which befel,
And leave thee to the workings of despair:
For, spite of all the anguish of my soul
At thy offences, I'm thy mother still!
Against the solemn prupose I had form'd
Never to mix in this unhallow'd crowd,
The wond'rous story of the mystic writing,
Of strange and awful import, brings me here;
If haply I may shew some likely means
To fathom this dark mystery.

BELSHAZZAR.
Speak, O queen!
My list'ning soul shall hang upon thy words,
And prompt obedience follow them!

QUEEN.
Then hear me.
Among the captive tribes which hither came
To grace Nebassar's triumph, there was brought
A youth nam'd Daniel, favour'd by high Heav'n
With pow'r to look into the secret page
Of dim futurity's mysterious volume.
The spirit of the holy Gods is in him;
No vision so obscure, no fate so dark,
No sentence so perplex'd, but he can solve it:
Can trace each crooked labyrinth of thought,
Each winding maze of doubt, and make it clear,
And palpable to sense. He twice explain'd
The monarch's mystic dreams. The holy seer
Saw, with prophetic spirit, what befel
The king long after. For his wond'rous skill
He was rewarded, honour'd, and caress'd,
And with the rulers of Chaldea rank'd;
Tho' now, alas! thrown by; his services
Forgotten or neglected; such the meed
Which virtue finds in courts.

BELSHAZZAR.
Dispatch with speed
A message, to command the holy man
To meet us on the instant.

NITOCRIS.
I already
Have sent to ask his presence at the palace;
And, lo! he comes.

Enter DANIEL.
BELSHAZZAR.
Welcome, thrice venerable sage! approach.
Art thou that Daniel, whom my great forefather
Brought hither with the captive tribes of Judah?

DANIEL.
I am that Daniel.

BELSHAZZAR.
Pardon, holy Prophet;
Nor let a just resentment of thy wrongs,
And long neglected merit, shut thy heart
Against a king's request, a suppliant king!

DANIEL.
The God I worship teaches to forgive.

BELSHAZZAR.
Then let thy words bring comfort to my soul.
I've heard the spirit of the Gods is in thee;
That thou cans't look into the fates of men
With prescience more than human!

DANIEL.
Hold, O king!
Wisdom is from above, 'tis God's own gift.
I of myself am nothing; but from him
The little knowledge I possess, I hold;
To him be all the glory!

BELSHAZZAR.
Then, O Daniel!
If thou indeed dost boast that wond'rous gift,
That faculty divine, look there, and tell me!
O say, what mean those mystic characters!
Remove this load of terror from my soul,
And honours, such as kings can give, await thee:
Thou shalt be great beyond thy soul's ambition,
And rich above thy wildest dream of wealth:
Clad in the scarlet robe our nobles wear,
And grac'd with princely ensigns, thou shalt stand
Near our own throne, and third within our empire.

DANIEL.
O mighty king! thy gifts with thee remain,
And let thy high rewards on others fall.
The princely ensign, nor the scarlet robe,
Nor yet to be the third within thy realm,
Can touch the soul of Daniel. Honour, fame,
All that the world calls great, thy crown itself,
Cou'd never satisfy the vast ambition
Of an immortal spirit, which aspires
To an eternal crown, a crown of glory!

First COURTIER.
[Aside.
Our priests teach no such notions.

DANIEL.
Yet, O king!
Tho' all unmov'd by grandeur or by gift,
I will unfold the high decrees of Heav'n,
And strait declare the mystery.

BELSHAZZAR.
Speak, O Prophet!

DANIEL.
Prepare to hear what kings have seldom heard,
Prepare to hear what these have never told thee,
Prepare to hear the Truth. The mighty God,
Who rules the sceptres and the hearts of kings,
Gave thy renown'd forefather here to reign,
With such extent of empire, weight of pow'r,
And greatness of dominion, the wide earth
Trembled beneath the terror of his name,
And kingdoms stood or fell as he decreed.
Oh! dangerous pinnacle of pow'r supreme!
Who can stand safe upon its treach'rous top,
Behold the gazing prostrate world below,
Whom depth and distance into pigmies shrink,
And not grow giddy? Babylon's great king
Forgot he was a man, a helpless man,
Subject to pain, and sin, and death, like others!
But who shall fight against Omnipotence?
Or who hath harden'd his obdurate heart
Against the Majesty of Heav'n, and prosper'd?
The God he had insulted was aveng'd;
From empire, from the joys of social life,
He drove him forth; extinguish'd reason's lamp,
Quench'd that bright spark of deity within;
Compell'd him, with the forest brutes, to roam
For scanty pasture; and the mountain dews
Fell, cold and wet, on his defenceless head:
Till he confess'd—Let men, let monarchs hear!—
Till he confess'd, Pride was not made for man!

NITOCRIS.
O, awful instance of divine displeasure!

BELSHAZZAR.
Proceed! My soul is wrapt in fix'd attention!

DANIEL.
O king! thy grandsire not in vain had sinn'd,
If, from his error, thou had'st learnt the truth.
The story of his fall thou oft hast heard,
But has it taught thee wisdom? Thou, like him,
Hast been elate with pow'r, and mad with pride.
Like him, thou hast defy'd the Living God.
Nay, to bold thoughts hast added deeds more bold.
Thou hast out-wrought the pattern he bequeth'd thee,
And quite outgone example; hast prophan'd,
With impious hand, the vessels of the Temple:
Those vessels, sanctified to holiest use,
Thou hast polluted with unhallow'd lips,
And made the instruments of foul debauch.
Thou hast ador'd the gods of wood and stone,
Vile, senseless deities, the work of hands;
But He, the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords,
In whom exists thy life, thy soul, thy breath,
On whom thy being hangs, thou hast deny'd.

First COURTIER.
[Aside to the others.
With what an holy boldness he reproves him!

Second COURTIER.
Such is the fearless confidence of virtue!
And such the righteous courage those maintain
Who plead the cause of truth! The smallest word
He utters, had been death to half the court.

BELSHAZZAR.
Now let the mystic writing be explain'd,
Thrice venerable sage!

DANIEL.
O mighty king!
Hear then its awful import: God has number'd
Thy days of royalty, and soon will end them.
The All-wise has weigh'd thee in the even balance
Of his own holy law, and finds thee wanting:
And last, Thy kingdom shall be wrested from thee;
And know, the Mede and Persian shall possess it.

BELSHAZZAR.
[He starts up.
Prophet, when shall this be?

DANIEL.
In God's own time:
Here my commission ends; I may not utter
More than thou hast heard; but O! remember, king!
Thy days are number'd; hear, repent, and live!

BELSHAZZAR.
Say, Prophet, what can penitence avail?
If Heav'n's decrees immutably are fix'd,
Can pray'rs avert our fate?

DANIEL.
They change our hearts,
And thus dispose Omnipotence to mercy.
'Tis man that alters, God is still the same.
Conditional are all Heav'n's covenants:
And when th' uplifted thunder is with-held,
'Tis pray'r that deprecates th' impending bolt.
Good Hezekiah's days were number'd too;
But penitence and tears were mighty pleas:
At Mercy's throne they never plead in vain.

[He is going.
BELSHAZZAR.
Stay, Prophet, and receive thy promis'd gift:
The scarlet robe, and princely chain, are thine;
And let my heralds publish through the land,
That Daniel stands, in dignity and pow'r,
The third in Babylon. These just rewards
Thou well may'st claim, though sad thy prophecy!

QUEEN.
Be not deceiv'd, my son! nor let thy soul
Snatch an uncertain moment's treach'rous rest,
On the dread brink of that tremendous gulf
Which yawns beneath thee.

DANIEL.
O unhappy king!
Know what must happen once, may happen soon.
Remember, that 'tis terrible to meet
Great evils unprepar'd! and, O Belshazzar!
In the wild moment of dismay and death,
Remember thou wast warn'd! and, O! remember,
Warnings despis'd are condemnations then!

[Exeunt Daniel and Queen.
BELSHAZZAR.
'Tis well—my soul shakes off its load of care:
'Tis only the obscure is terrible.
Imagination frames events unknown,
In wild fantastic shapes of hideous ruin;
And what it fears, creates!—I know the worst;
And awful is that worst as fear could feign:
But distant are the ills I have to dread!
What is remote may be uncertain too!
Ha! Princes! hope breaks in!—This may not be!

First COURTIER.
Perhaps this Daniel is in league with Persia,
And brib'd by Cyrus to report these horrors,
To weaken and impede the mighty plans
Of thy imperial mind!

BELSHAZZAR.
'Tis very like.

Second COURTIER.
Return we to the banquet.

BELSHAZZAR.
Dare we venture?

Third COURTIER.
Let not this dreaming Seer disturb the king.
Against the pow'r of Cyrus, and the Mede,
Is Babylon secure. Her brazen gates
Mock all attempts to force them. Proud Euphrates,
A watry bulwark, guards our ample city
From all assailants. And within the walls
Of this stupendous capital are lodg'd
Such vast provisions, such exhaustless stores,
As a twice ten years siege could never waste!

BELSHAZZAR.
[Embraces him.
My better genius! To the banquet then!

[As they are going to resume their places at the banquet, a dreadful uproar is heard, tumultuous cries, and warlike sounds. All stand terrified. Enter soldiers, with their swords drawn, and wounded.
SOLDIER.
Oh, helpless Babylon! Oh, wretched king!
Chaldea is no more, the Mede has conquer'd!
The victor Cyrus, like a mighty torrent,
Comes rushing on, and marks his way with ruin!

BELSHAZZAR.
Impossible! Villain and slave thou ly'st!
Euphrates and the brazen gates secure us.
While those remain Belshazzar laughs at danger.

SOLDIER.
Euphrates is diverted from its course,
The brazen gates are burst, the city's taken,
Thyself a pris'ner, and thy empire lost.

BELSHAZZAR.
Oh, Prophet! I remember thee too soon!

[He runs out. They follow, in the utmost confusion.
Enter several JEWS, MEDES, and BABYLONIANS.
First JEW.
He comes, he comes! the long predicted prince,
Cyrus! the destin'd instrument of Heav'n,
To free our captive nation, and restore
Jehovah's Temple! Carnage marks his way,
And conquest sits upon his plume-crown'd helm!

First JEW.
What noise is that?

Second JEW.
Hark! 'tis Belshazzar's voice!

BELSHAZZAR.
[Without.
O Soldier! spare my life, and aid my flight;
Such treasures shall reward the gentle deed,
As Persia never saw! I'll be thy slave;
I'll yield my crown to Cyrus, I'll adore
His Gods and thine—I'll kneel and kiss thy feet,
And worship thee—It is not much I ask—
I'll live in bondage, beggary, and pain,
So thou but let me live!

SOLDIER.
Die, tyrant die!

BELSHAZZAR.
O Daniel! Daniel! Daniel!

Enter SOLDIER.
SOLDIER.
Belshazzar's dead!
The wretched king breath'd out his furious soul
In that tremendous groan.

First JEW.
Belshazzar's dead!
Then, Judah! art thou free! The tyrant's fall'n!
Jerusalem, Jerusalem is free!