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Dav.

I am he, O King!

Saul. Why this concealment? tell me, valiant

David?

Why didst thou hide thy birth and name till now? Dav. O king! I would not aught from favour claim,

Or on remember'd services presume;

But on the strength of my own actions stand,
Ungrac'd and unsupported.

Ab.

Well he merits

The honours which await him. Why, O king,
Dost thou delay to bless his doubting heart

With his well earn'd rewards? Thy lovely daughter,
By right of conquest his!

Saul [to DAVID].

True: thou hast won her.

She shall be thine. Yes, a king's word is pass'd. Dav. O boundless blessing! What! shall she be mine,

For whom contending monarchs might renounce
Their slighted crowns?

[Sounds of musical instruments heard at a dis-
tance. Shouting and singing. A grand procession.
Chorus of Hebrew women.]

Saul.

How's this? what sounds of joy Salute my ears? What means this needless pomp?

This merry sound of tabret and of harp?

What mean these idle instruments of triumph?

These women, who in fair procession move,

Making sweet melody?

Ab.

To David are they come.

Saul [aside].

To pay due honour

A rival's praise

Is discord to my ear! They might have spar'd
This idle pageantry; it wounds my soul!

[Martial symphony: after which, Chorus of Women singing.]

I.

PREPARE! your festal rites prepare!
Let your triumphs rend the air!

Idol gods shall reign no more:
We the living Lord adore!

Let heathen hosts on human helps repose,
Since Israel's God has routed Israel's foes.

II.

Let remotest nations know
Proud Goliath's overthrow.
Fall'n, Philistia, is thy trust,

Dagon mingles with the dust!

Who fears the Lord of Glory, need not fear
The brazen armour or the lifted spear.

III.

See, the routed squadrons fly!
Hark! their clamours rend the sky!
Blood and carnage stain the field!
See, the vanquish'd nations yield;
Dismay and terror fill the frighten❜d land,
While conqu❜ring David routs the trembling band.
IV.

Lo! upon the tented field

Royal Saul has thousands kill'd!
Lo! upon th' ensanguin'd plain

David has ten thousands slain!

Let mighty Saul his vanquish'd thousands tell,
While tenfold triumphs David's victories swell.

BELSHAZZAR:

A

Sacred Drama.

How art thou fallen from Heaven, O Lucifer, Son of the Morning! How art thou cut down to the ground, who didst weaken the nations! ISAIAH.

[blocks in formation]

PERSONS OF THE DRAMA.

BELSHAZZAR, King of Babylon.

NITOCRIS, the Queen-Mother.

Courtiers, Astrologers, Parasites.

DANIEL, the Jewish Prophet.

Captive Jews, &c.

SCENE- Babylon. TIME- Night.

The Subject is taken from the Fifth Chapter of the Prophet Daniel.

BELSHAZZAR.

PART I

SCENE-Near the Palace of Babylon.

DANIEL and CAPTIVE JEWs.

Dan. PARENT of Life and Light! Sole source o
Good!

Whose tender mercies through the tide of time,
In long successive order have sustain'd,

And sav'd the sons of Israel! Thou, whose pow'r
Deliver❜'d righteous Noah from the flood,

The whelming flood, the grave of human kind!
O Thou, whose guardian care and out-stretch'd hand
Rescu'd young Isaac from the lifted arm,

Rais'd, at thy bidding, to devote a son,
An only son, doom'd by his sire to die:
(O saving faith, by such obedience prov'd;
O blest obedience, hallow'd thus by faith!)
Thou, who in mercy sav'd'st the chosen race
In the wild desert, and didst there sustain them
By wonder-working love, though they rebell’d
And murmur'd at the miracles that sav'd them!
Oh, hear thy servant Daniel! hear and help!
Thou, whose almighty pow'r did after raise
Successive leaders to defend our race:

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