Ne'er did Barbaric kings behold, With all their shining gems, their burnish'd gold, A fane so perfect, bright, and fair: For God himself was wont t' inhabit there. Between the cherubim his glory stood, While the high-priest alone the dazzling splendour view'd. How fondly did the Tyrian artist strive His name to latest time should live! Such wealth the stranger wonder'd to behold: Gold were the tablets, and the vases gold, Of cedar such an ample store, Exhausted Lebanon could yield no more. Bending before the Ruler of the sky, Well might the royal founder cry, Fill'd with an holy dread, a rev'rend fear, Will God in very deed inhabit here? The heaven of heavens beneath his feet, Is for the bright inhabitant unmeet: Archangels prostrate wait his high commands, And will he deign to dwell in temples made Dan. Yes, Thou art ever present, Pow'r Not circumscrib'd by time, nor fix'd to space, Confin'd to altars, nor to temples bound. thee! E'en in the burning caldron thou wast near They sought, and found Thee; call'd, and First Jew. How chang'd our state! set By Korah's sons, or heav'n-taught Asaph Th' unfinish'd cadence falls; and the big Its drooping willows, and its verdant banks, Will teach us to endure without a murmur, O men of Judah! dare what these have dar'd Old as I am, I will not shrink at death, First Jew. Prophet, thy words support, Thy joys for hard captivity exchang'd : Show contumelious scorn. court ! If I not fondly cherish thy lov'd image, Of sweetest harmony, my rude right hand | First Jew. Oft on Euphrates' ever verdant banks Where drooping willows form a mournful tuary. Second Jew. May HE, to whose blest use they were devoted, more, Preserve them from pollution; and once [ple! his own gracious time, restore the temDan. I, with some favour'd youths of Jewish race Was lodg'd in the king's palace, and in- In all the various learning of the East; Preserv'd us from the perils of a court, • Nebuchadnezzar. Fell Luxury; more perilous to youth Than storms or quicksands, poverty or /chains Second Jew. He who can guard 'gainst the low baits of sense, Will find Temptation's arrows hurtless strike Against the brazen shield of Temperance. The senses take the soul an easy prey, The visions of the king; his soul was touch'd, Wafts from each distant corner of the earth; When he beheld the adamantine tow'rs, The brazen gates, the bulwarks of his strength, The pendant gardens, Art's stupendous work, The wonder of the world! the proud Chaldean, Mad with th' intoxicating fumes which rise When uncontroll'd ambition grasps at once Dominion absolute, and boundless wealth, Forgot he was a man, forgot his God! This mighty Babylon is mine,' he cry'd; 'My wond'rous pow'r, my godlike arm achiev'd it. I scorn submission; own no Deity Above my own.-While the blasphemer spoke, The wrath of Heav'n inflicted instant vengeance: Stripp'd him of that bright reason he abus'd; And drove him from the cheerful haunts of men, A naked, wretched. helpless, senseless thing; Companion of the brutes, his equals now. First Jew. Nor does his impious grandson, proud Belshazzar, Fall short of his offences; nay, he wants In flowery fetters, seeming light and loose, sumes. War slays her thousands, but destructive Pleasure, More fell, more fatal, her ten thousands slays: Daniel, chap. ii. and iv. The young luxurious king she fondly woos In ev'ry shape of am'rous blandishment; With adulation smooth ensnares his soul; With love betrays him, and with wine inflames. She strews her magic poppies o'er his couch And with delicious opiates charms him down, In fatal slumbers bound. Though Babylon rors Dan. E'en in this night of universal dread, A mighty army threat'ning at the gates ; This very night, as if in scorn of danger, The dissolute Belshazzar holds a feast Magnificently impious, meant to honour Belus, the fav'rite Babylonish idol. Lewd parasites compose his wanton court, Whose impious flatt'ries sooth his monstrous crimes: They justify his vices, and extol His boastful phrase, as if he were some god: Whate'er he says, they say; what he commands, Implicitly they do; they echo back They cryAll hail! Belshazzar live for ever! To-night a thousand nobles fill his hall, Princes, and all the dames who grace the court; All but his virtuous mother, sage Nitocris : The royal fair is rich in ev'ry virtue woman. But for the wisdom of her prudent counsels This wretched empire had been long undone. Not fam'd Semiramis, Assyria's pride, To taste once more the long-forgotten sweets Of liberty and light, sustain'd his age, Pour'd in his wounds the lenient balm of kindness, And blest his setting hour of life with peace. [Sound of trumpets is heard at a distance. First Jew. That sound proclaims the banquet is begun. 2 Kings, chap. xxiv. 1 Second Jew. Hark! the licentious uproar | Then, pointing to the mischiefs she has grows more loud, made, The vaulted roof resounds with shouts of Exulting cries, This once was Babylon! mirth, And the firm palace shakes! Retire my now The desolating angel stalks abroad, No more Sidonian robes shall grace thy limbs. Topurple garments sackcloth shall succeed; I AM, and there is none beside me thou, Of viol and of harp shall charm no more; The bat's fell scream, the lonely owl's dull plaint, And ev'ry hideous bird, with ominous shriek, Shall scare affrighted Silence from thy walls: While Desolation, snatching from the hand See the prophecies of Isaiah, chap. xlvii. and others. Let the deluded Jews, who fondly hope In regular progression, through the round Why give us else these tastes and appetites? And why the means to crown them with indulgence? To burst the feeble bonds which hold the vulgar, Is noble daring. 1st, cour. And is therefore worthy The high imperial spirit of Belshazzar. 2d. cour. Behold a banquet which the gods might share ! Bel. To-night, my friends, your monarch shall be blest But the rich means to gratify desire? I will not have a wish, a hope, a thought, That shall not know fruition. What is empire? The privilege to punish and enjoy : In cumbrous majesty, in sullen state charms of greatness; They nothing knew of empire but the name, The lust of pow'r shall lord it uncontroll❜d, As may inflame my spirit to despise Th' ambitious Persian, that presumptuous boy, Who rashly dares e'en now invest our city, And menaces th' invincible Belshazzar. [A grand concert of music, after which an ode.] In vain shall Persian Cyrus dare And great Belshazzar's self our fate directs, And Media's monarch dread his vengeful hour. On Dura's* ample plain behold Immortal Belus,† whom the nations own; Sublime he stands in burnish'd gold, And richest offerings his bright altars crown. To-night his deity we here adore, And due libations speak his mighty pow'r. Yet Belus' self not more we own Than great Belshazzar on Chaldea's throne. Great Belshazzar like a God, Rules the nations with a nod ! To great Belshazzar be the goblet crown'd! Belshazzar's name the echoing roofs rebound! Beish. Enough! the kindling rapture fires my brain, And my heart dances to the flattering sounds. I feel myself a god! Why not a god! * Daniel, chap. lii. + See a very fine description of the temple of this idol. -The tow'ring fane Of Bel, Chaldean Jove, surpassing far Or that Ionie, where th' Ephesian bow'd To Dian, queen of heaven. Eight towers arise, Judah Resto cd, b. i. What were the deities our fathers wor-Go-fetch them hither. They shall grace [der? our banquet. ship'd? What was great Nimrod our imperial founWhat greater Belus, to whose pow'r divine We raise to-night the banquet and the song; But youthful heroes, mortal, like myself, Who by their daring earn'd divinity? They were but men: nay some were less than men, [Anubis, Though now rever'd as gods. What was Whom Egypt's sapient sons adore? A dog! And shall not I, young, valiant, and a king, Dare more? do more? exceed the boldest flights Of my progenitors?-Fill me more wine, To cherish and exalt the young idea. (he drinks.) Ne'er did Olympian Jupiter himself What could that fancy'd Paradise bestow To match these generous juices? Belsh, will enjoy it : Hold-enough! ist court. What means the king? Those tributary creatures of thy pow'r, Belsh. When that abandoned race was Were not the choicest treasures of their temple, (Devoted to their God, and held most precious) Among the spoils which grac'd Nebassar's* triumphs, And lodg'd in Babylon? 1st court. O king! they were. 2d court. The Jews, with superstitious awe, behold These sacred symbols of their ancient faith: Nor has captivity abated aught Does no one stir? Belshazzar disobey ́d ? And yet you live? Whence comes this strange reluctance? This new-born rev'rence for the helpless Jews? [it? This fear to injure those who can't revenge Send to the sacred treasury in haste, Let all be hither brought;-who answers dies. [They go out. The mantling wine a higher joy will yield, Pour'd from the precious flaggons which adorn'd Their far-fam'd temple, now in ashes laid. [The vessels are brought in. 2d court. A goodly show! how bright with gold and gems! Far fitter for a youthful monarch's board Than the cold shrine of an unheeding God. Belsh, Fill me that massy goblet to the brim. [pect Now, Abraham! let thy wretched race exThe fable of their faith to be fulfill'd; Their second temple, and their promis'd king! Now will they see the god they vainly serve This profanation. [As the king is going to drink, thunder is heard: he starts from the throne, spies a hand, which writes on the wall these words, MENE, MENE, TEKEL, UPHARSIN. He lets fall the goblet, and stands in an attitude of speechless horror. All start and seem terrified.] 1st court. (after a long pause) Oh, transcendant horror! 2d court. What may this mean? The king is greatly mov'd! 3d court. Nor is it strange-who unappali'd can view it? Those sacred cups! I doubt we've gone too far! 1st court. Observe the fear-struck king! his starting eyes The rev'rend love they bear these holy re-Roll horribly. Thrice he essay'd to speak, liques. And thrice his tongue refus’d. Belsh. (in a low trembling voice. ) Ye mystic words! Thou semblance of an hand! illusive forms! Ye will not answer me- |