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Spare that, and for the rest 'tis equal all,

Be it as it may.

Tam. Well was it for the world,

When, on their borders, neighbouring princes met,
Frequent in friendly parle, by cool debates

Preventing wasteful war: such should our meeting
Have been, hadst thou but held in just regard

The sanctity of leagues so often sworn to.
Canst thou believe thy Prophet, or, what's more,
That Power supreme, which made thee and thy Prophet,
Will, with impunity, let pass that breach

Of sacred faith given to the royal Greek?

Baj. Thou pedant talker ! ha! art thou a king Possess'd of sacred power, Heav'n's darling attribute, And dost thou prate of leagues, and oaths, and prophets ! I hate the Greek, (perdition on his name!)

As I do thee, and would have met you both,
As death does human nature, for destruction.
Tam. Causeless to hate, is not of human kind:
The savage brute that haunts in woods remote
And desert wilds, tears not the fearful traveller,
If hunger, or some injury, provoke not.

Baj. Can a king want a cause, when empire bids
Go on? What is he borr: for, but ambition ?
It is his hunger, 'tis his call of nature,
The noble appetite which will be satisfy'd,
And, like the food of gods, makes him immortal.
Tam. Henceforth I will not wonder we were foes,
Since souls that differ so by nature, hate,

And strong antipathy forbids their union.

Baj. The noble fire, that warms me, does indeed Transcend thy coldness. I am pleas'd we differ, Nor think alike.

Tam. No: for I think like man,

Thou like a monster, from whose baleful presence
Nature starts back; and though she fix'd her stamp
On thy rough mass, and mark'd thee for a man,
Now, conscious of her error, she disclaims thee,
As form'd for her destruction.

'Tis true, I am a king, as thou hast been ;
Honor and glory too have been my aim;
But though I dare face death, and all the dangers
Which furious war wears in its bloody front,
Yet would I choose to fix my name by peace,
By justice and by mercy; and to raise
My trophies on the blessings of mankind:
Nor would I buy the empire of the world
With ruin of the people whom I sway,
On forfeit of my honor.

Baj. Prophet, I thank thee.

Confusion couldst thou rob me of my glory
To dress up this tame king, this preaching dervise ! ·
Unfit for war, thou shouldst have liv'd secure
In lazy peace, and with debating senates
Shar'd a precarious sceptre; sat tamely still,
And let bold factions canton out thy power
And wrangle for the spoils they robb'd thee of;
Whilst I (O blast the power that stops my ardour)
Would like a tempest, rush amidst the nations,
Be greatly terrible, and deal, like Alha,

My angry thunder on the frighted world.

Tam. The world! 'twould be too little for thy pride: Thou wouldst scale heav'n.

Baj. I would. Away! my soul Disdains thy conference.

Tam. Thou vain, rash thing,

That, with gigantic insolence, hast dar'd

To lift thy wretched self above the stars,

And mate with power almighty, thou art fall'n!

Baj. 'Tis false! I am not fall'n from aught I have been!

At least my soul resolves to keep her state,

And scorns to make acquaintance with ill fortune.
Tam. Almost beneath my pity art thou fall'n ;
Since, while the avenging hand of Heav'n is on thee,
And presses to the dust thy swelling soul,
Fool-hardy, with the stronger thou contendest.

To what vast heights had thy tumultuous temper

Been

Been hurry'd if succeess had crown'd thy wishes!
Say, what had I to expect, if thou hadst conquer'd?

Baj. Oh, glorious thought! Ye powers, I will enjoy it, Though but in fancy; imagination shall

Make room to entertain the vast idea.

Oh! had I been the master but of yesterday,
The world, the world had felt me; and for thee,
I had us'd thee, as thou art to me, a dog,
The object of my scorn and mortal hatred.

I would have cag'd thee for the scorn of slaves.
I would have taught thy neck to know my weight,
And mounted from that footstool to the saddle:
Till thou hadst begg'd to die; and e'en that mercy
I had deny'd thee. Now thou know'st my mind,
And question me no farther.

Tam. Well dost thou teach me.

What justice should exact from thee. Mankind
With one consent, cry out for vengeance on thee;
Loudly they call to cut off this league breaker,
This wild destroyer, from the face of earth.

Baj. Do it, and rid thy shaking soul at once
Of its worst fear.

Tam. Why slept the thunder

That should have arm'd the idol deity,

And given thee power, ere yester sun was set,

To shake the soul of Tamerlane. Hadst thou an arm To make thee fear'd, thou shouldst have prov'd it on me, Amidst the sweat and blood of yonder field,

When, through the tumult of the war I sought thee, Fenc'd in with nations.

Baj. Oh, blast the stars

That fated us to different scenes of slaughter?
Oh! could my sword have met thee!

Tam. Thou hadst then,

As now, been in my power, and held thy life
Dependent on my gift. Yes, Bajazet,

I bid thee live. So much my soul disdains

That thou shouldst think I can fear aught but Heaven. Nay more; couldst thou forget thy brutal fierceness,

And

And form thyself to manhood, I would bid thee
Live and be still a king, that thou mayst learn
What man should be to man-

This royal tent, with such of thy domestics
As can be found, shall wait upon thy service;
Nor will I use my fortune to demand

Hard terms of peace; but such as thou mayst offer
With honor, I with honor may receive.

COLONEL BARRE'S SPEECH IN THE BRITISH PARLIAMENT, 1765, ON THE STAMP-ACT BILL.

ON

N the first reading of the bill, Mr Townsend spoke in its favour; and concluded with the following words: "And will these Americans, children planted by our care; nourished up by our indulgence, until they are grown to a degree of strength and opu lence; and protected by our arms; will they grudge to contribute their mite, to relieve us from the heavy weight of that burthen which we lie under ?"

On this Colonel Barre rose, and answered Mr. Towns end in the following masterly manner.

"They planted by YOUR care!" No; your op pressions planted them in America. They fled from your tyranny, to a then uncultivated and unhospitable country, where they exposed themselves to almost all the hardships to which human nature is liable; and among others, to the cruelties of a savage foe, the most subtle, and I will take upon me to say, the most for midable of any people upon the face of the earth; and yet, actuated by principles of true English liberty, they met all hardships with pleasure, compared with those they suffered in their own country, from the hands of those who should have been their friends.

"They nourished up by YOUR indulgence !" They grew by your neglect of them. As soon as you began to care about them, that care was exercised in sending

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persons

persons to rule them, in one department and another, who were, perhaps, the deputies of deputies to some members of this House, sent to spy out their liberties, to misrepresent their actions, and to prey upon them; men, whose behaviour, on many occasions, has caused the blood of those sons of liberty to recoil within them; men promoted to the highest seat of justice; some, who, to my knowledge, were glad, by going to a foreign country, to escape being brought to the bar of a court of justice in their own.

"They protected by YOUR arms!" They have nobly taken up arms in your defence; have exerted a valour, amidst their constant and laborious industry, for the defence of a country, whose frontier was drenched in blood, while its interior parts yielded all its little savings to your emoluments.

And, believe me; remember I this day told you so, that the same spirit of freedom, which actuated that people at first, will accompany them still. But prudence forbids me to explain myself further. Heaven knows, I do not at this time speak from motives of party heat; what I deliver are the genuine sentiments of my heart.

However superior to me in general knowledge and experience the respectable body of this House may be, yet I claim to know more of America than most of you, having seen and been conversant in that country. The people, I believe, are as truly loyal as any subjects the king has; but a people jealous of their liberties, and who will vindicate them, if ever they should be violated. But the subject is too delicate, I will say no

more.

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