 | The Merchant |  |
SCENE I.
CHARINUScoming from home in a travelling habit.
Once more, ye sacred doors, I bid you hail,
And to that greeting join, Farewel for ever!
To-day, for the last time, I lift my foot
Over my father's threshold. From this hour
All uses and enjoyments of this house
Are gone, destroy'd, estrang'd from me for ever.
Ye houshold Deities, who guard my parents,
And shed your influence on our family,
To you I recommend their lives and fortunes.
I must seek other houshold Gods, must seek
Another city, and another country:
At Athens I abide no more. Where vice
Each day grows more and more predominant;
Where treachery and friendship are so mingled,
They cannot be distinguish'd; where all joys,
Dearest and best, are ravish'd from me; there
I would not live,—no, not to be a king.
| The Merchant | |