University of Virginia Library

3. PART III.

DARIUS on his throne. PHARNACES, SORANUS, PRINCES, PRESIDENTS, and COURTIERS.
PHARNACES.
O King Darius, live for ever!

DARIUS.
Welcome!
Welcome, my princes, presidents and friends!
Now tell me, has your wisdom ought devis'd
To serve the common weal? In our new empire,
Subdu'd Chaldea, is there ought 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! Wherefore am I king,
Except to poise the awful scale of justice,
With even hand; to minister to want,
To bless the nations with a lib'ral rule,
Vicegerent of th' eternal Oromasdes!

PHARNACES.
So absolute thy wisdom, mighty king!
All counsel were superfluous.

DARIUS.
Hold, Pharnaces!
No flatt'ry, prince, it is the death of virtue;
Who gives it is of all mankind the lowest,
Save he who takes it. Monarchs are but men;
As feeble and as frail as those they rule,
And born, like them, to die. The Lydian king,
Unhappy Crœsus! lately sat aloft,
Almost above mortality; now see him,
Sunk to the vile condition of a slave,
He swells the train of Cyrus! I, like him,
To mis'ry am obnoxious. See this throne;
This very throne the great Nebassar fill'd;
Yet hence his pride expell'd him! Yonder wall,
The dread terrific writing to the eyes
Of proud Belshazzar shew'd; sad monuments
Of Heav'n's tremendous vengeance! and shall I,
Unwarn'd by such examples, cherish pride?
Yet to their dire calamities I owe
The brightest gem that glistens in my crown,
Sage Daniel. If my speech have ought of worth,
Or if my life with ought of good be grac'd,
To him alone I owe it.

SORANUS.
[Aside to Pharnaces.
Now, Pharnaces,
Will he run o'er, and dwell upon his praise,
As if we ne'er had heard it; nay, will swell
The nauseous catalogue with many a virtue
His own fond fancy coins.

PHARNACES.
O, great Darius!
Let thine unworthy servant's words find grace,
And meet acceptance in his royal ear,
Who subjugates the East! Let not the king
With anger hear my pray'r.

DARIUS.
Pharnaces, speak!
I know thou lov'st me; I but meant to chide
Thy flatt'ry, not reprove thee for thy zeal.
Speak boldly, friends, as man shou'd speak to man.
Perish the barb'rous maxims of the East,
Which basely wou'd enslave the free-born mind,
And plunder it of the best gift of Heav'n,
Its liberty!

PHARNACES.
Then, O Darius, hear me!
Thy princes, and the captains of thy bands,
Thy presidents, the governors who rule
Thy provinces, and I, thine humble creature,
(Less than the least in merit, but in love,
In zeal, and duty, equal with the first);
We have devis'd a measure to confirm
Thy infant empire; to establish here
Thy pow'r with firm dominion, and secure
Thy growing greatness past the pow'r of change.

DARIUS.
I am prepar'd to hear thee. Speak, Pharnaces!

PHARNACES.
The wretched Babylonians long have groan'd
Beneath the rule of princes, weak or rash.
The rod of pow'r was falsely sway'd alike,
By feeble Merodach, and fierce Belshazzar.
One let the slacken'd reins too loosely float
Upon the people's neck, and lost his pow'r
By nerveless relaxation. He who follow'd,
Held with a tyrant's hand the cruel curb,
And check'd the groaning nation till it bled.
On diff'rent rocks they met one common ruin.
Their edicts were irresolute, their laws
Were feebly plann'd, their councils ill-advis'd;
Now so relax'd, and now so overstrain'd,
That the tir'd people, wearied with the weight
They long have borne, will soon disdain controul,
Tread on all rule, and spurn the hand that guides 'em.

DARIUS.
But say what remedy, Pharnaces?

PHARNACES.
Know that too,
Thy servants have provided. Hitherto
They bear the yoke submissive. But to fix
Thy pow'r, and their obedience; to reduce
All hearts to thy dominion, yet avoid
Those deeds of cruelty thy nature starts at—
Thou shoud'st begin by some imperial act
Of absolute dominion, yet unstain'd
By ought of barbarous. For know, O king!
Wholesome severity, if wisely rul'd
With sober discipline, procures respect,
More than the lenient counsels and weak measures
Of frail irresolution.

DARIUS.
Now proceed
To thy request.

PHARNACES.
Not I, but all request it.
Be thy imperial edict issued strait,
And let a firm decree be this day pass'd,
Irrevocable, as our Median laws
Ordain, that for the space of thirty days,
No subject in thy realm shall ought request
Of God, or man, except of thee, O king!

DARIUS.
Wherefore this strange decree?

PHARNACES.
'Twill fix the crown
With lasting safety on thy royal brow;
And by a bloodless means preserve th' obedience
Of this new empire. Think how much 'twill raise
Thy high renown! 'Twill make thy name rever'd,
And popular beyond example. What!
To be as Heav'n, dispensing good and ill
For thirty days! With thine own ears to hear
Thy people's wants, with thine own lib'ral hands
To bless thy suppliant subjects! O, Darius!
Thou'lt seem as bounteous as a giving God!
And reign in ev'ry heart in Babylon,
As well as Media. What a glorious state,
To be the blessed arbiter of good;
The first efficient cause of happiness!
To scatter mercies with a plenteous hand,
And to be blest thyself in blessing others!

DARIUS.
Is this the gen'ral wish?

[The Princes and Courtiers kneel.
Chief PRESIDENT.
Of one, of all.
Behold thy princes, presidents, and lords,
Thy counsellors, and captains! See, O king!
[Presenting the Edict.
Behold the instrument our zeal has drawn:
The edict is prepar'd. We only wait
The confirmation of thy gracious word,
And thy imperial signet.

DARIUS.
Say, Pharnaces,
What penalty awaits the man who dares
Transgress our mandate?

PHARNACES.
Instant death, O king!
This statute says, “Shou'd any subject dare
“Petition, for the space of thirty days,
“Of God, or man, except of thee, O king!
“He shall be thrown into yon' dreadful den
“Of hungry lions!”

DARIUS.
Hold! Methinks a deed
Of such importance shou'd be wisely weigh'd.

PHARNACES.
We have revolv'd it, mighty king, with care,
With closest scrutiny.

DARIUS.
I'm satisfy'd.
Then to your wisdom I commit me, princes!
Behold the royal signet, see, 'tis done!

PHARNACES.
[Aside.
There Daniel fell! That signet seal'd his doom!

DARIUS.
[After a pause.
Let me reflect!—Sure I have been too rash!
Why such intemperate haste? But you are wise;
And wou'd not counsel this severe decree
But for the wisest purpose. Yet, methinks,
I might have weigh'd, and in my mind revolv'd
This statute, e'er, the royal signet stamp'd,
It had been past repeal! Sage Daniel too!
My counsellor, my venerable friend,
He shou'd have been consulted; for his wisdom
I still have found oracular.

PHARNACES.
Mighty king!
'Tis as it shou'd be! The decree is past
Irrevocable, as the stedfast law
Of Mede and Persian, which can never change.
Those who observe it live, as is most meet,
High in thy grace; who violate it, die.