University of Virginia Library

SCENE I.

The palace of Xerxes.
Themistocles, Neocles.
Them.
What would'st thou do?

Neoc.
Permit me to chastise
That haughty Persian,—seest thou not, my father,
How little he attends to thy demands?
What further insults must we yet endure?

Them.
Restrain thy ill-tim'd ardour? Thinkst thou still
We tread the soil of Greece; and that thou see'st
Thy father circled with the flattering crowds,
That ever throng to him whom Fortune favours?
All things must change; and, Neocles, the wise
Submit to present evils. See in this
The palace of our foe: no longer now
Am I the hope, the darling pride of Athens;
A poor, a wandering exile, shunn'd of all,
An outcast of mankind, what have I left,
Save this, (the greatest good) I still retain
My constancy unshaken.

Neoc.
Pardon, Sir,
Such constancy I scarce with temper bear.
I see thee driven, excluded from those walls,
Which late thy blood preserv'd; in every part
To find the hatred of thy cruel country
Pursue thee still, and with insidious policy,
Forbid thee an asylum. Malice seems
To grudge thee even a fostering spot of earth,
To feed the wants of nature; yet I hear
No murmurs pass thy lips: I see thy looks
Unmov'd and placid. Is it possible?
How canst thou thus support the unnatural stroke
Of man's ingratitude?

Them.
Alas! my son,
Thou'rt newly enter'd on the path of life,
And all to thee is strange: I blame thee not;
For wonder is the child of ignorance,
And mother still of wisdom. Know the hatred,
Thou see'st in human breasts, is mostly found
The recompense of every good conferr'd;
The ungrateful hate (and many such there are)
The galling weight of benefits in him
From whom they come; while he, from whom they come,
Loves, in the man he serves, the benefits
By him bestow'd; and hence, my son, proceeds
My country's hate to me, my love to her.

Neoc.
Were only men unjust to thee, my father,
I might support the thought; but even the Gods
Seem mindless of thee.

Them.
Mindless?

Neoc.
Can we call
This wretched state, thy virtue's due reward?

Them.
Of good or evil, know'st thou which to name,
Reward or punishment?

Neoc.
What means my father?

Them.
By suffering, virtue is refin'd, but grows
Corrupt by prosperous fortune. Limpid flows
The stream midst broken rocks, but in a pool
Stagnates impure; the weapon, that in war
Resplendent blazes, rusts in lazy peace.

Neoc.
But thus to change from triumphs past to meet
With trials such as these.

Them.
Futurity
Perhaps may envy more my present trials,
Than all my former triumphs.

Neoc.
Be it so:
But say, what cause has brought thee to this place,
In search of other perils? Is the hatred
Of Greece so little? Would'st thou stand expos'd
To Persia's fury? Dost thou not remember
That Athens, when assail'd, led on by thee,
Oppos'd the united force of Asia's arms,
And scoff'd at Xerxes and his idle bridge?
Ah! think not that such transient anger swells
The heart of kings.—Here should'st thou be discover'd
To whom wilt thou recur? In other parts
Thy foes are many, here thy foes are all.
Each, from thy counsels, has in battle lost
A friend, a relative, a son or father.
Ah! let us fly, my lord—in pity—

Them.
Peace:
Some one I see approaching—Leave me; hence
And wait for me apart.

Neoc.
And shall I not
Remain with thee, my father?

Them.
No: I dare not
Confide in thy forbearance; and our state
Requires it much.

Neoc.
And now—

Them.
Obey.

Neoc.
At least,
In such a dreadful tempest, O! take heed
And guard thy safety.

Them.
Hence and hope the best.

Neoc.

[Exit.