By morn return'd Masistius: Hear, he said,
Th' event unpleasing from thy passion sprung.
Mardonius, thy temerity hath chac'd
From Persia's camp the Macedonian queen;
I found her tent abandon'd; but her course
Conjecture cannot trace. What other style
Than of Barbarians can the Greeks afford
To us of Asia? Lo! a youthful king,
Our best ally, and my distinguish'd friend,
Exerts a distant effort in our cause,
Meantime the honour of his queen, by all
Ador'd, inviolate till now, our chief
Insults, by station her protector sole,
When I am absent. Not thyself alone
Thou hast disgrac'd, but me her guardian pledg'd
By sacred oaths to Macedonia's lord.
These words, evincing nature's purest gifts,
Deserving that society sublime
With Grecian muses, where Melissa pour'd
Her moral strain, in perturbation plunge
The hearer; when importunate, abrupt
Appears Briareus, and renews the suit
To pillage Delphi. No, in wrath replied
The clouded son of Gobryas; bring my steed;
March all to Thebes. Then humble as a child,
Who to parental castigation owns
His fault in tears, Masistius he address'd:
How bless'd the mind by Horomazes fram'd
Like thine, serene Masistius, to resist
Unruly passions! never warm desires,
Pride, or ambition, vex thy equal thoughts,
Which from their level no dejection low'rs;
Yet none surpasses thee in rank and pow'r
Among the satraps. Uncorrupted man!
O, in thyself superior to thy state,
Me, who so often sink below my own,
Befriend in this dark moment. I foresee,
I feel disaster in this harsh event.
Masistius here: Reflect, thou mighty chief,
At either gate of life, the first and last,
Yet more through all their intermediate space,
Vicissitude and hazard lurk unseen,
Supplanting wary steps. To mortal pow'r
Those dreadful ministers of jealous heav'n,
The elements, are hostile, and to low'r
The great with changing fortune oft conspire.
Her cruel sport, Mardonius, need we tempt
With our own follies? In thy arduous post
Thy hand sustains a balance, where the lives
Of nations, where an empire's fate is pois'd
From hour to hour against the common ills
Of chance and nature, which so often foil
The wisest; do not super-add the weight
Of thy own passions to the adverse scale.
I, who am ever to thy virtues just,
Will not be slow, though grieving at thy faults,
To furnish present help. Farewell; I mount
My swiftest courser to o'ertake the queen,
Whose indignation I can best compose.
Mardonius then: Adventure is a chace
Thy virtue, no idolatress of fame,
Enjoys; thy prompters are the love of right,
Care for a friend, or zeal for Persia's state,
Which render hazardous attempts thy bliss,
Sublime Masistius. Thou hast weight to awe
Mardonius, who thy enterprising hand
Laments, but never to controul assumes,
Yet feels and most regrets his own defects,
Whene'er they cause thy absence. Here they end
Discourse. Of cavalry a num'rous pow'r,
Train'd by himself, Masistius heads, and leaves
The army filing tow'rds Boeotian fields.
He bends his course to Delphi; he attains
Permessus, round the Heliconian heights
In argent mazes whisp'ring, as he flows,
To passengers along the winding way,
Which skirts the mountain, and o'erlooks the stream.
Back from the ford the satrap's courser starts
Affrighted. Lo! to crimson, as of blood,
In sudden change the late crystalline wave,
Melodious solace of the sacred nine,
Rolls horrible to view. Anon with helms,
With spears and bucklers, grating o'er the bed
Of loosen'd stone, with limbs and trunks of men,
The turbid current chafes. Masistius spurs
Through all obstruction; in his forc'd career
The clank of armour, crash of spears, and shouts
Of battle strike his ear; the vocal rocks
Augment the animating sound; he sees
A flying soldier, by his target known
A Macedonian guard, who stops, and thus:
Hail! satrap, hail! thou timely sent by heav'n,
Haste and protect the Macedonian queen.
A host of robbers, by the lawless times
Combin'd, have vanquish'd our inferior force;
Part of our mangled number choak that flood,
Part on the ground lie bleeding. At these words
Masistius rushes with his pond'rous lance
In rest; Emathia's beauteous queen in flight
Before pursuing ruffians he perceives
On her fleet courser. Thunderbolt of strength,
He hurls to earth their leader giant-siz'd,
A profligate deserter from the guard
Mardonian. Next a Phocian born, expell'd
His native residence for crimes, he slew;
The active staff is broken in the chest
Of an Arcadian, branded by his state
With infamy; the victor then unsheaths
His sabre, op'ning through the savage rout
A passage wide for death. His faithful train
Surround them; irresistible he sweeps
The traitors headlong to the flood below,
Which foams like Simois, by Pelides swoln
With Trojan dead, and struggling to discharge
Th' unwonted load in Neptune's briny waste.
The conqueror dismounts; before the queen
His gracious form presenting, in the arms
Of his sustaining friends he sudden sinks,
Oppress'd by wounds unheeded, ev'n unfelt
Amid the warmth of action. Then her veil
She rends asunder, and, lamenting, beats
Her grateful breast. The notes of sorrow, loud
Through all the concourse, dissipate his trance.
Serene these words he utters: Honour's track
Is perilous, though lovely; there to walk,
Not fearing death, nor coveting his stroke,
Though to receive it ever well prepar'd,
Has been my choice and study. But, fair queen,
Be not discourag'd at my present state,
Wounds are to me familiar, and their cures;
To Delphi lead me, or whatever place,
Thy wish prefers. Masistius comes thy guard,
So will continue, and, ere long restor'd,
Hath much for thy instruction to impart.
While these to Delphi, on his march to Thebes
Advanc'd the son of Gobryas. Soon the steps
Innumerous of men and coursers bruise
On green Cephissian meads the growth of May.
Copææ's lake, perfum'd with orange groves,
Which rude unsated violence deforms,
The multitudes envelop; thence along
The sedgy borders of Ismenus reach
Cadmean walls, when now the golden sun
Sev'n times had fill'd his orbit. Thebes admits
The Persian gen'ral, in these words address'd
By Leontiades: Thrice welcome, lord,
We, thy allies, our counsel to disclose
Have waited long. Not hazarding a fight,
Thou hast the means to ascertain success.
Here seated tranquil, from exhaustless stores
Distribute gold among the Grecian states;
Corrupt the pow'rful, open faction's mouth,
Divide, nor doubt to overcome that strength,
Which, link'd in union, will surmount the force
Of all mankind. The ardent Persian here:
To court th' Athenians with a lavish hand
Have I not stoop'd already? but, disdain'd,
That haughty race to destiny I leave.
Have I not bid defiance to their boast,
Themistocles? Him, forfeiting his word,
Pledg'd to confront me on Boeotian plains,
I haste to summon at his native gates.
What are the Greeks, if Athens be reduc'd?
Where are the vaunted Spartans? lock'd in fear
Behind their isthmian wall, by heav'n in fear
Of Thorax ranging with a slender band
Of his Thessalian horse. Thou rule in Thebes,
Brave Mindarus, till I from Athens tam'd
Return with fetters for the rest of Greece.
He seeks his couch, and, after short repose,
By twilight bursts like thunder from a cloud,
Which, on Olympus hov'ring black, contains
The livid store of Jove's collected wrath
Against offending mortals. O'er a land
Deserted, silent, to the empty roofs
Of Athens was the march. Mardonius climb'd
Ægaleos, thence on Salamis descry'd
That much-enduring people, who again
For liberty forsook their native homes
On his approach. His gen'rous pride relents;
He wishes such a nation were a friend;
His wishes waken in his breast an awe
At such a foe. Murichides was nigh,
A Hellespontine Grecian of his train,
Nor in his favour low; to him he spake:
Look on that haughty, but that gallant race;
Perhaps at me, by myriads thus begirt,
Their very children lift their little hands
In menaces, and cursing lisp the names
Of Xerxes and Mardonius. Mount a bark;
Pass with a herald to that crowded isle;
The senators accost; the people shun,
In pride beyond nobility; repeat
The words Æmathian Alexander us'd:
'Ye men of Athens, repossess your homes;
'Enlarg'd dominion from the royal hand
'Ask and obtain; be govern'd by your laws;
'The son of Gobryas will rebuild your fanes;
'Accept the king's alliance, and be free
'With added strength and splendour.' Further say,
They little know what confidence is due
To him who sends thee. Asian Greeks, subdu'd
By me, retain their democratic rights.
On Salamis the Hellespontine lands;
Before th' Athenian senate he displays
The Persian proffer. All indignant hear
But Lycides, who thus exhorting spake:
From Athens twice expell'd, deserted twice
By Lacedæmon, who her toil employs
Still on her isthmian fence, who lifts no shield
To guard our wives and progeny, to save
From desolation our defenceless fields,
Or from our homes repel the hostile blaze,
What can we better, injur'd and betray'd,
Than listen to Mardonius? be referr'd
His terms of friendship to th' assembling tribes.
The universal senate rose in scorn
Of such submission. By the people known,
His counsel rous'd enthusiastic rage,
Nor Aristides can the tumult cool;
They stone the timid senator to death.
The women catch the spirit; fierce, as fair,
Laodice collects th' infuriate sex.
They hand in hand a dreadful circle form
Around his mansion, and his wife and race
Doom to perdition, that his coward blood
May ne'er survive in Greece. Enormous thought!
Perhaps not less than such excess of zeal
Excess of peril in that season claim'd
To save a land, which foster'd ev'ry muse;
That eloquence, philosophy and arts
Might shine in Attic purity of light
To latest ages: but a sudden fleet,
In wide array extending on the shore,
Suspends the deed. Before each wond'ring eye
Timothea lands, Sicinus at her side;
When thus the matron to th' impatient throng:
His native friends Themistocles salutes:
Euboean plenty in your present need
He sends. Returning, I this crouded isle
Will disencumber, and to safety bear
Your wives and infants; open to their wants
Eudora holds her Amarynthian seat;
Elephenor, Tisander to the shrines
Of Jove invite them, and to friendly roofs
Euboea's towns. As oft Aurora sheds
Serenity around her, when the gates
Of light first open to her fragrant step;
Hush'd at her feet lies Boreas, who had rent
The dusky pall of night, and Jove restrains
The thunder's roar, and torrents of the skies;
Such was Timothea's presence, so the storm,
By furies late excited, at her voice
Was tame. She learns the melancholy fate
Of Lycides, to her protection takes
His helpless orphans, and disastrous wife.
Now of its plenteous stores while eager hands
The num'rous fleet unlade, and Attic dames
Prepare with good Timothea to embark;
Just Aristides, first of men, conducts
That first of matrons to his joyful tent,
Where she began: O righteous like the gods,
Now hear my whole commission, and believe
Themistocles, my husband, feels thy worth.
When at his summons on Euboea's coast
I landed first, 'Thrice welcome,' he exclaim'd,
'From Athens hither to a safe abode.
'A second emigration I presage
'To her afflicted race.' From port to port
Around Euboea's populous extent
With him convey'd, I saw her wealthy towns
To his controul subordinate. Their pow'rs
He now is gath'ring; some achievement new
He meditates, which secresy conceals
Like fate's dark roll inscrutable to all.
From thee an early notice he requests,
Soon as the Greeks, united in one camp,
The sole attention of Mardonius draw;
Th' intelligence to bring I leave behind
That faithful man, Sicinus. Virtuous dame,
Wise is thy husband, Aristides spake;
From him no other than achievements high,
However my conjecture they surpass,
I still expect. Themistocles apprise,
That I am bound for Sparta to upbraid
Pausanias proud, and summon to the field
That selfish breed so martial, yet so cold
To public welfare. Let me next prefer
To thy benignity a fervent suit.
He straight withdrew, and reappearing led
Two little damsels humble in attire.
Behold my daughters, he resum'd; admit
These to thy care; now motherless they want
Protection; ev'n Euphemia they have lost;
My venerable parent have the gods
Releas'd but newly from the growing scene
Of trouble. Athens must a parent prove
To these hereafter, fated to receive
No portion from a father, who delights
In poverty. His arms are all the wealth
Of Aristides. With a tender hand
She takes the children: O! of men, she said,
Most rich, whose wealth is virtue, in the name
Of household gods this office I accept.
O Aristides! these shall mix with mine;
These shall contribute to cement the work,
I long have wrought, the amity begun
Betwixt Themistocles and thee. In tears
Depart the infant maidens from a sire
Of gentlest nature, and in manners bland
Not less, than just. Meanwhile to Athens steers
Murichides unharm'd. The rising dawn
Sees with her precious charge Timothea sail.
Lo! from the city clouds of smoke ascend
Voluminous, with interlacing flames,
Such as Vesuvius vomits from his gulph
Sulphureous, when unquenchable the heat
Within his concave melts the surging ore
To floods of fire. Murichides had told
His fruitless embassy; Mardonius, wild
With ire, to instant conflagration doom'd
Th' abode of such inexorable foes.
They, on the margin opposite, beheld
Their ancient residence a second time
Destroy'd; nor utter'd more than just complaint
Of tardy Sparta. When Briareus dire
With his gigantic savages o'erturn'd
The recent tomb, which held the glorious slain
At Salamis; when scatter'd in the wind
They saw that dust rever'd; in solemn rage,
Devoid of sound illiberal, or loud,
Each his right hand with sanctity of oaths
Pledg'd to his neighbour, and to vengeance full
His blood devoted. Aristides look'd,
As some incens'd divinity, and spake:
Persist, ye sons of folly; crush that tomb;
The last repose of yon heroic slain
Disturb, therein exhibiting your doom
From mortals, and immortals. Thus your pride
By heav'n, and Grecian valour, shall be crush'd,
Your impious host be scatter'd like that dust
Which your barbarity profanes. Now, friends,
By your appointment I to Sparta sail;
You under watchful discipline remain
Compos'd and firm; such patience will surmount
All obstacle, Athenians; will restore
In brighter glories your paternal seats.
This said, the isle he leaves, selecting none,
But Cimon for associate. In the bark
Him Aristides placidly bespake:
Son of Miltiades the great in arms,
Thy early youth was dissolute; thy look
Ingenuous still, and frank thy tongue, reveal'd
Internal virtue; friendship on my part
Succeeded, thence a study to reclaim
Thy human frailties. I rejoice in hope,
Thou wilt hereafter prove an Attic star,
In council wise, triumphant in the field,
Humane to strangers, to thy country just,
Friend to her laws, to all her Muses kind,
Who may record thy actions. Cimon here:
If I have virtues, they proceed from thee;
If I attain to glory, I shall owe
To thee my lustre. To deserve thy praise,
What have I yet accomplish'd? I have fought
At Salamis, what more performing there
Than each Athenian? Aristides then:
True, all were brave; my judgment doth not rest
On one exploit; thy modesty o'erlooks
The signs of worth and talents, whence my hopes
Have rank'd thee first of Grecians. To acquire,
To keep that station, Cimon, be thy choice;
Thou hast the means; but this impression hold,
Who would excel, must be a moral man.
Thus they exhaust their voyage of a day,
When at Troezenè they arrive, and find
Renown'd Cleander training for the field
His native bands. To Sparta thence they sail.
The Ephori assemble, when they hear
Of Aristides, who an audience claims;
He comes before them, and austerely thus:
Cecropia's race, exterminated twice,
Demand of Sparta, whether sloth, or fear,
Or Persian gold her buckler hath unbrac'd.
Mardonius proffer'd more than equal terms,
Not friendship singly, but enlarg'd domain
To Athens, who to eleutherian Jove,
To Greece was faithful, and the lib'ral gift
Disdain'd. Your own ambassador pronounc'd
Your phalanx ready; for its speedy march
His head he pledg'd. Mardonius takes the field,
He lays th' Athenian territory waste;
Where are the Spartans? Adding work to work
For their own sep'rate safety at their wall,
Inglorious isthmian wall, while half the Greeks
Become your foes, and Athens is betray'd.
Pausanias present proudly thus replied:
Hast thou not heard, the Hyacinthian rites
Employ the Spartans? shall the heads of Greece
Be question'd, be directed when to act
By you Athenians? your inferior state
May wait our leisure. Aristides here:
Talk'st thou to me of Hyacinthian games,
While rude Barbarians riot in our fields,
While Athens burns, while sacrilege invades
Our temples, while our ancestors we see
Torn from the grave? Pausanias, thou disgrace
To thy forefather Hercules, whose arm,
To friends a bulwark, was a scourge to foes,
What hast thou said? But, guardian to the son
Of that renown'd Leonidas, who fought
Beyond the isthmus, and for Greece expir'd,
If thou retain'st no rev'rence for his blood,
If thou dost scorn Lycurgus and his laws,
If holding liberty an empty name,
Art now in treaty with a lawless king,
No more of words. Athenians have their choice
To treat with Xerxes, or to distant climes
Expand the sail, resigning to their fate
Unfaithful, timid Grecians, who have lost
All claim to succour-Yet assume your swords!
My love for Greece solicits you in tears.
Be thou, Pausanias, general of all;
We in that noble warfare will refuse
No hardship-Ev'n thy arrogant command
I like the meanest soldier will abide.
Then Aëmnestus brief: O righteous man,
I feel thy wrongs; Laconia's shame I feel,
Which if delay still blackens, thou shalt lead
Me, the due victim of Athenian wrath,
Before those injur'd tribes, by me deceiv'd;
Where my own sword shall sacrifice the blood,
I pledg'd for Sparta's faith. Meantime withdraw;
I was thy guest in Athens, thou be mine.
Not till the day-spring Aëmnestus greets
His Attic friend: Our citizens are march'd;
All night my indefatigable toil
Hath urg'd the phalanx on; the various states
Within the isthmus will obey our call;
Now speed with me, o'ertake, inspect our host.
They both depart with Cimon. Sparta's camp,
Ere Phoebus couches, Aristides gains;
The marshall'd pupils of Lycurgus there
He, ever true to equity, applauds,
Who their disgraceful sloth in council blam'd.
Subordination, silent order held
Each in his place; in look, as virgins, meek,
Sedate they listen'd to their chiefs, as youth
To learning's voice in academic schools.
Thus in some fertile garden well-manur'd,
The regularity of plants and trees
Enrich'd with produce, on a stable root
Stands permanent, by skilful care dispos'd
At first, and sedulously watch'd. No vaunt
Offends the ear, nor supercilious frown
Of confidence the eye. Th' Athenian chief
Content returns; on Salamis receiv'd,
Cecropia's bands he marshals for the field.
The ravage still of Attica detain'd
Mardonius. Thorax of Larissa quits
His isthmian station; rapid in his course
To Gobryas' son these tidings he imparts:
The isle of Pelops musters all her pow'rs;
The isthmus swarms; forsake this rocky land
For cavalry unfit; collect thy force
To face the Grecians on Cadmean plains.
Her sleepy sword at last has Sparta rous'd,
Replies Mardonius? On Cadmean plains
The Persian trump shall sound; Cithæron's hill,
Asopian banks, shall soon repeat the notes
Triumphal. Swift he rushes back to Thebes,
Ere Phoebus darted his solstitial heat.
As some hot courser, who from pasture led
Replete with food and courage, spurns the ground
In confidence and pride, no sooner meets
His wonted rider, than admits the rein;
Such was Mardonius, when from Theban gates
Masistius thus address'd him: Be inform'd,
That Macedonia's sov'reign is arriv'd,
With his fair consort. Her to Delphi's walls
I guarded, there deliver'd to her lord,
Who hath conducted fifty thousand Greeks
In arms, auxiliar to thy camp. The queen,
Now at a fabric old, to Dircè built,
Close by her fountain, and beset with shade,
Dwells in retreat, which careful thou avoid.
But tell me, son of Gobryas, whither flown
Was all thy magnanimity, when flames
A second time laid stately Athens low?
Though disappointed, couldst thou deem a crime
Her constancy, refusing to betray
A common cause? Mardonius, thou dost hope
To conquer; why a city of renown,
Which in her beauty would have grac'd our sway,
Hast thou reduc'd to ashes? Oh! reflect,
What fires of stern resistance and revenge
This act hath lighted in such gallant hearts.
That pow'r eternal, by the hallow'd name
Of Horomazes worshipp'd in our clime,
Who earth and seas and firmament controuls,
With all therein, looks down not less on Greece,
Than Persia, both his creatures. Just and wise,
Intemp'rate deeds in either he resents.
Mardonius answer'd: By that pow'r I swear,
Thou to a Grecian almost art transform'd
By intercourse with yon religious hill
Of thy admir'd Melissa. Do I blame?
Ah! no; too awful art thou to incur
My censure. O Masistius, I confess
Thy genius purer, more sublime, than mine;
I often err, thou never-But, dear friend,
I am dejected ever when thou chid'st;
Yet thee, my chiding monitor, should fate
Snatch from Mardonius, he would rise no more.
I only seek to warn thee, not deject,
Rejoins Masistius; turn to other cares;
Greece is in arms; address thee to thy charge.
This said, to council they in Thebes proceed.

End of the Twenty-second Book