Lo the Chaldean priests appear; behold
The sacred fire, Nearchus and Eumenes,
With their white wands, and dressed in eastern
robes,

To soothe the king, who loves the Persian mode:
But see, the master of the world appears.

Enter ALEXANDER; all kneel but CLYTUS.
Heph. O son of Jupiter, live for ever!
Alex. Rise all; and thou my second self, my
love,

O my Hephestion, raise thee from the earth
Up to my breast, and hide thee in my heart.
Art thou grown cold? Why hang thine arms at
distance?

Hug me, or, by Heaven, thou lov'st me not. Heph. Not love, my lord! break not the heart you framed,

And moulded up to such an excellence,
Then stamped on it your own immortal image.
Not love the king? such is not woman's love;
So fond a friendship, such a sacred flame,
As I inust doubt to find in breasts above.

Alex. Thou dost, thou lov'st me, crown of all
my wars,

Thou dearer to me than my groves of laurel :
I know thou lov'st thy Alexander more
Than Clytus does the king. No tears, Hephestion;
I read thy passion in thy manly eyes,
And glory in those planets of my life,
Above the rival lights, that shine in Heaven.

Lys. I see, that death must wait me, yet I'll on. Alex. I'll tell thee, friend,—and mark it, all ye princes,—

Though never mortal man arrived to such
A height as I, yet I would forfeit all,
Cast all my purples, and my conquered crowns,
And die to save this darling of my soul.
Give me thy hand, share all my sceptres while
I live; and, when my hour of fate is come,
I leave thee, what thou merit'st more than I, the
world.

Lys. Dread sir, I cast me at your royal feet. Alex. What! my Lysimachus, whose veins are rich

With our illustrious blood? My kinsman, rise; Is not that Clytus?

Cly. Your old faithful soldier.

Alex. Come to my hands, thus double arm the king:

And now, methinks, I stand like the dread God,

Lys. But if your majesty―

Cly. Who would not lose

The last dear drop of blood for such a king?

Alex. Witness, my elder brothers of the sky, How much I love a soldier!O my Clytus, Was it not when we passed the Granicus, Thou didst preserve me from unequal force? 'Twas then, when Spithridates and Rhesaces, Fell both upon me with two dreadful strokes, And clove my tempered helmet quite in sunder, Then I remember, then thou didst me service; I think my thunder split them to the navel.

Cly. To your great self you owe that victory, And sure your arms did never gain a nobler.

Alex. By Heaven, they never did; for well thou

know'st,

And I am prouder to have passed that stream,
Than that I drove a million o'er the plain:
Can none remember? Yes, I know all must,
When glory, like the dazzling eagle, stood,
Perched on my beaver in the Granick flood;
When Fortune's self my standard trembling bore,
And the pale Fates stood frighted on the shore,
When the immortals on the billows rode,
And I myself appeared the leading god.

Aris. But all the honours, which your youth

has won,

Are lost, unless you fly from Babylon;
Haste with your chiefs, to Susa take your way,
Fly for your life, destructive is your stay.
This morning having viewed the angry sky,
And marked the prodigies, that threatened high,
To our bright God I did for succour fly;
But oh-

Alex. What fears thy reverend bosom shake?
Or dost thou from some dream of horror wake?
If so, come grasp me with thy shaking hand,
Or fall behind, while I the danger stand.

Aris. To Orosmades' cave I did repair, Where I atoned the dreadful God with prayer: But as I prayed I heard long groans within, And shrieks as of the damned, that howl for sin: I knew the omen, and I feared to stay, But prostrate on the trembling pavement lay. When he bodes happiness, he answers mild; 'Twas so of old, and the great image smiled: But now in abrupt thunder he replied,

·

Loud as rent rocks, or roaring seas, he cried,
All empires, crowns, glory of Babylon,
Whose head stands wrapped in clouds, must

tumble down.'

Alex. If Babylon must fall, what is't to me? Or can I help immutable decree?

Down then, vast frame, with all thy lofty towers,

Since 'tis so ordered by almighty powers: Pressed by the fates, unloose your golden bars, 'Tis great to fall, the envy of the stars.

Etter PERDICCAS, MELEAGER.

Mel. O horror!

Per. Dire portents!

Aler. Out with them, then;

What, are ye ghosts, ye empty shapes of men?
If so, the mysteries of hell unfold,
Be all the scrolls of destiny unrolled,
Open the brazen leaves, and let it come;

Point with a thunder-bolt your monarch's doom.
Per. As Meleager and myself in field,
Your Persian horse about the army wheeled,
We heard a noise as of a rushing wind,
And a thick storm the eye of day did blind:
A croaking noise resounded through the air,
We looked, and saw big ravens battling there;
Each bird of night appeared himself a cloud,
They met and fought, and their wounds rained
black blood.

Mel. All, as for honour, did their lives expose; Their talons clashed, and beaks gave mighty blows,

Whilst dreadful sounds did our scared sense assail,
As of small thunder, or huge Scythian hail.
Per. Our augurs shook, when, with a horrid

groan,

We thought that all the clouds had tumbled down.
Soldiers and chiefs,-who can the wonder tell!
Struck to the ground, promiscuously fell;
While the dark birds, each ponderous as a shield,
For fifty furlongs hid the fatal field.

Alex. Be witness for me, all ye powers divine,
If
ye be angry, 'tis no fault of mine;
Therefore let furies face me with a band
From hell, my virtue shall not make a stand;
Though all the curtains of the sky be drawn,
And the stars wink, young Ammon shall go on:
While my Statira shines, I cannot stay,
Love lifts his torch to light me on my way,
And her bright eyes create another day.

Lys. Ere you remove, be pleased, dread sir, to hear

A prince allied to you by blood.

Aler. Speak quickly.

Lys. For all that I have done for you in war, I beg the princess Parisatis.

Aler. Ha!

Is not my word already past? Hephestion,

I know he hates thee, but he shall not have her;
We heard of this before-Lysimachus,
I here command you nourish no design
To prejudice my person in the man
I love, and will prefer to all the world.

Lys. I never failed to obey your majesty,
Whilst you commanded what was in my power;
Nor could Hephestion fly more swift to serve,
When you commanded us to storm a town,
Or-fetch a standard from the enemy:
But, when you charge me not to love the prin-

Would the gods themselves, should they com mand.

Alex. You should, brave sir? hear me, and then be dumb!

When by my order curst Calisthenes

Was, as a traitor, doomed to live in torments,
Your pity sped him in despite of me.
Think not I have forgot your insolence;
No, though I pardoned it, yet if again
Thou darest to cross me with another crime,
The bolts of fury shall be doubled on thee.
In the mean time think not of Parisatis;
For if thou dost, by Jupiter Ammon,
By my own head, and by king Philip's soul,
I'll not respect that blood of mine thou sharest,
But use thee as the vilest Macedonian.

Lys. I doubted not at first but I should meet
Your indignation, yet my soul's resolved ;
And I shall never quit so brave a prize,
While I can draw a bow, or lift a sword.

Alex. Against my life! Ah! was it so? how now?

'Tis said, that I am rash, of hasty humour;
But I appeal to the immortal gods,
If ever petty poor provincial lord
Had temper like to mine: My slave, whom I
Could tread to clay, dares utter bloody threats!
Cly. Contain yourself, dread sir; the noble
prince,

I see it in his countenance, would die
To justify his truth; but love makes many faults.
Lys. I meant his minion there should feel my

Aler. O thou the best of women,
Source of my joy, blest parent of my love!

Sys. Permit me kneel, and give those adora tions,

Which from the Persian family are due:
Have you not raised us, from our ruins, high?
And when no hand could help, nor any eye
Behold us with a tear, your's pitied me;
You, like a god, snatched us from sorrow's gulf,
Fixed us in thrones above our former state.

Par. Which, when a soul forgets, advanced so nobly,

May it be drowned in deeper misery!

Åler. To meet me thus, was generously done; But still there wants, to crown my happiness, Life of my empire, treasure of my soul, My dear Statira: O that heavenly beam,

Warmth of my brain, and fire of my heart!
Had she but shot to see me, had she met me,
By this time I had been amongst the gods,
If any extasy can make a height,

Or any rapture hurl us to the heavens.

Cly. Now, who shall dare to tell him the queen's vow?

Aler. How fares my love? ha-neither answer me!

Ye raise my wonder, darkness overwhelms me;—
If royal Sysigambis does not weep!
Trembling and horror pierce me cold as ice.
Is she not well? what, none, none answer me?
Or is it worse? Keep down, ye rising sighs,
And murmur in the hollow of my breast:
Run to my heart, and gather more sad wind;
That, when the voice of fate shall call you forth,
Ye
may, at once, rush from the seat of life,
Blow the blood out, and burst like a bladder.
Heph. I would relate it, but my courage fails

me.

Alex. If she be dead-That if's impossible; And let none here affirm it, for his soul: For he that dares but think so damned a lie, I'll have his body straight impaled before me, And glut my eyes upon his bleeding entrails. Cass. How will this engine of unruly passion Roar when we have rammed him to the mouth with poison? [Aside. Aler. Why stand you all, as you were rooted here,

Like the senseless trees, while to the stupid grove
I, like a wounded lion, groan my griefs,
And none will answer-what, not my Hephestion?
If thou hast any love for Alexander,
If ever I obliged thee by my care,

When my quick sight has watched thee in the fight;

Or if to see thee bleed I sent forth cries,
And, like a mother, washed thee with my tears;
If this be true, if I deserve thy love,
Ease me, and tell the cause of my disaster.
Heph. Your mourning queen (which I had told
before,

Had
you been calm) has no disease but sorrow,
Which was occasioned first by jealous pangs:
She heard, (for what can 'scape a watchful lo-

ver?)

That you at Susa, breaking all your vows, Relapsed, and conquered by Roxana's charms, Gave up yourself devoted to her arms.

Aler. I know that subtle creature, in my riot, My reason gone, seduced me to her bed; But when I waked I shook the Circe off, Though that enchantress held me by the arm, And wept, and gazed with all the force of love; Nor grieved I less for that, which I had done, Than when at Thais' suit, enraged with wine, I set the famed Persepolis on fire.

Heph. Your queen Statira took it so to heart, That, in the agony of love, she swore Never to see your majesty again; With dreadful imprecations she confirmed Her oath, and I much fear that she will keep it.

Alex. Ha! did she swear? did that sweet crea

ture swear?

I'll not believe it ; no, she is all softness,
All melting, mild, and calm as a rocked infant,
Nor can you wake her into cries: By heaven,
She is the child of love, and she was born in
smiles.

Par. I and my weeping mother heard her

swear.

Sys. And with such fierceness she did aggra

vate

The foulness of your fault, that I could wish
Your majesty would blot her from your breast.
Aler. Blot her, forget her, hurl her from my
bosom,

For ever lose that star that gilds my life,
Guide of my days, and goddess of my nights!
No, she shall stay with me in spite of vows,
My soul and body both are twisted with her.
The god of love empties his golden quiver,
Shoots every grain of her into my heart;
She is all mine, by Heaven I feel her here,
Panting and warm, the dearest-O Statira!
Sys. Have patience, son, and trust to Heaven
and me.

If my authority, or the remembrance
Of dead Darius, or her mother's soul,
Can work upon her, she again is yours.

Alex. O mother, help me, help your wounded

Death thou shouldst have, were it not courted so:
But know, to thy confusion, that my word,
Like destiny, admits not a reverse;

Therefore in chains thou shalt behold the nup tials

Of my Hephestion-Guards, take him prisoner.
Lys. I shall not easily resign my sword,
Till i have dyed it in my rival's blood.

Aler. I charge you, kill him not, take him alive;

The dignity of kings is now concerned,
And I will find a way to tame this beast.

Cly. Kneel, for I see lightning in his eyes. Lys. I neither hope nor ask a pardon of him; But if he should restore my sword, I would With a new violence run against my rival.

Can raise me sinking?

Cass. Let your own arm save you! 'Tis in your power, your beauty is almighty: Let all the stars go out, your eyes can light them. Wake then, bright planet, that should rule the world,

Wake like the moon, from your too long eclipse, And we, with all the instruments of war, Trumpets and drums, will help your glorious labour.

Pol. Put us to act, and with a violence, That fits the spirit of a most wronged woman; Let not Medea's dreadful vengeance stand A pattern more, but draw your own so fierce, It may for ever be original.

Cass. Touch not, but dash with strokes so bravely bold,

Till you have formed a face of so much horror,
That gaping furies may run frighted back;
That envy may devour herself for madness,
And sad Medusa's head be turned to stone.
Ror. Yes, we will have revenge, my instru-
ments;

For there is nothing you have said of me,
But comes far short, wanting of what I am.
When in my nonage I at Zogdia lived,
Amongst my she-companions I would reign;
Drew them from idleness, and little arts
Of coining looks, and laying snares for lovers,
Broke all their glasses, and their tiers tore,
Taught them, like Amazons, to ride and chase
Wild beasts in desarts, and to master men.
Cass. Her looks, her words, her every motion,
fires me.

Rox. But when I heard of Alexander's con-
quests;

How with a handful he had millions slain, Spoiled all the east, their queens his captives made,

Yet with what chastity and godlike temper
He saw their beauties, and with pity bowed;
Methought I hung upon my father's lips,
And wished him tell the wondrous tale again;
Left all my sports, the woman now returned,
And sighs uncalled would from my bosom fly:
And all the night, as my Adraste told me,
In slumbers groaned, and murmured Alexander.
Cass. Curse on the name! but I will soon re-

He swore the globe of heaven and earth were vile To those rich worlds, and talk'd, and kiss'd, and lov'd,

And made me shame the morning with my blushes.

Cass. Yet after this
prove false!
Pol. Horrid perjury!

Cass. Not to be matched!
Pol. O you must find revenge!

Cass. A person of your spirit be thus slighted, For whose desire all earth should be too little! Rox. And shall the daughter of Darius hold him?

That puny girl, that ape of my ambition?
That cried for milk when I was nursed in blood!
Shall she, made up of watry elements,
A cloud, shall she embrace my proper god,
While I am cast like lightning from his hand?
No, I must scorn to prey on common things;
Though hurled to earth by this disdainful Jove,
I will rebound to my own orb of fire,
And with the wreck of all the heavens expire.
Cass. Now you appear yourself;

'Tis noble anger.

Rox. May the illustrious blood, that fills my womb,

And ripens to be perfect godhead born,
Come forth a fury; may Barsina's bastard
Tread it to hell, and rule as sovereign lord,
When I permit Statira to enjoy
Roxana's right, and strive not to destroy.
Enter SYSIGAMBIS, STATIRA, in mourning.
Cass. Behold her going to fulfil her vow;
Old Sysigambis, whom the king engaged,
Resists and awes her with authority.

Rox. 'Twas rashly vowed indeed, and I should
pity her.

Sys. Oh, my Statira, how has passion changed thee!

Think if thou drive the king to such extremes, What in his fury may he not denounce Against the poor remains of lost Darius ?

Stat. I know, I know he will be kind to you, And to my mourning sister, for my sake; And tell him, how with my departing breath, I railed not, but spoke kindly of his person, Nay, wept to think of our divided loves, And sobbing sent, at last, forgiveness to him. Ror. Grant, heaven, some ease to this distract

ed wretch!

Let her not linger out a life in torments,
Be these her last words, and at once dispatch her.
Sys. No, by the everlasting fire I swear,
By my Darius' soul, I never more

Will dare to look on Alexander's face,
If you refuse to see him.

Ror. Curse on that cunning tongue! I fear her

now.

Cass. No, she's resolved.

Stat. I cast me at your feet,

To bathe them with my tears; or, if you please,
I'll let out life, and wash them with my blood,
But still conjure you not to rack my soul,
Nor hurry my wild thoughts to perfect madness