Mercy Otis Warren

“ In a state of nature, the savage may throw his poisoned arrow at the man whose soul exhibits a transcript of benevolence that upbraids his own ferocity, and may boast his bloodthirsty deed among the hordes of the forest without disgrace; but in a high stage of civilization, where humanity is cherished, and politeness is become a science, for the dark assassin then to level his blow at superior merit, and screen himself in the arms of power, reflects an odium on the government that permits it, and puts human nature to the blush. ”

“ As well I knew, not wealth, or crowns, or life, Nor thy superiour charms, would tempt abuse Of confidence thus plac'd in honour's breast. Donna Maria
Immortal powers!---am I a debtor made For the last blissful moment of my life, To him my soul, of all mankind, abhors? Conde Haro
The debt was cancell'd when he call'd me, friend, And bade me, with a tender, gentle hand, Wipe off Maria's tears, and save her son, And guard them both from peril and disgrace: Not honour's self, or gratitude, or love, Can plead a claim his merit don't erase. ”

“ Ah!---if thou can'st retrieve so brave a life, Protect Maria, and her infant son; Let them not languish in a servile land, To watch the nod of some imperious lord. Then tell the gazing citizens, who o'er My breathless corpse, before the morrow close, Will weep, and sigh, and curse my hapless fate, That they have cherish'd many valiant sons, Who amply may avenge my early death, And teach the world that fortune ne'er stands still:--- In the routine of her uncertain wheel, She soon may jilt her fondled, favour'd sons. ”

“ No superstitious dread should ere pervade The royal bosom of a Roman prince; Encircled deep by faithful veteran bands Who wait his fiat, and observe his nod, To feed his pleasures, or to blast his foes; To light the capitol, or guard the state, Or make the empire tremble at his frown. Valentinian
The noble Ætius, of princely birth, Possess'd a soul by Roman valour warm'd, That won the plaudits both of friends and foes; The legions lov'd---the citizens ador'd, And all will murmur at his sudden fall: Yet more I fear Petronius's rage, Than all the city, senators, or troops. ”

“ When virtue's vanquish'd, justice bids us spare, And lend compassion to an hapless foe. I ne'er will tinge the field with human blood, If milder means can bloodless victory win. Don Velasco
Adieu, my son---my soul is all on fire. Proud glory waits to make thy name immortal, By promis'd triumphs ere the morrow close. Conde Haro
Urg'd on by thee, by glory and renown, I'll serve my sov'reign as a soldier ought, And take the field against my former friends, But in the hero ne'er forget the man. ”

“ He feels no pang but for Eudocia's sake; Yet jealousy has wak'd a war within; Resentment, love, and rage, by turns distract, And make his soul a chaos of despair. Maximus
Will he o'ercome this painful struggle In a noble breast?---Can he renounce her charms? When filial tears are leagu'd with just revenge, When duty, fame, and glory combat love, Will the fond lover act the hero's part, And snatch the princess from a rival's arms, Mid'st blood and slaughter, and the fresh grown yews His sword may strew around her father's tomb? ”

“ Hunneric
Not less than thee, I hate the Roman name: Command thy terms---though they're to govern Rome, To wear a crown---to reign in Gaul or Spain; Both by the cross, and by the ancient gods, Here is my signet---claim thine own reward. Traulista
What if within this garden lies conceal'd The rival of thy love? Hunneric
The game more easy---more secure the prey: By all the blood Genseric's arm has spilt, The traitor dies before the morning dawns. ”

“ Donna Maria
Away, thou coward!---cringing, dastard slave! Go fawn on kings, and boast thy prowess there; Tell that the brave, who ne'er could meanly bend, By cowardice were hurry'd to the block: 'Twas coward fear that hasten'd Juan's death: As fortune play'd him once a losing game, Thou durst not let him live another day. Lest his good genius might have lent the means To extricate his country and himself, Thou'st added murder to thy list of crimes. Conde Haro
Reproach like this from any tongue but thine, Should on itself recoil, and blast the lip That wounds my honour---ne'er before impeach'd. ”

“ Enwraps the mind in superstition's veil, While freedom dies on his all conquering sword; Or spreads victorious-her expanded wing, And shrouds the rights which reason lends to man. I give my life a cheerful sacrifice; 'Tis a just debt my country may demand. And if I fall in such a glorious cause, I'll boast my lot;---let future pens record Don Juan's arm once shook a tyrant's throne. 'Twas on the spot, where now Toledo stands Our ancestors defeated Pompey's troops; And in the height of Rome's exalted fame, Numantia's plains have smok'd with Roman blood. ”

“ The expense of blood and treasure, lavished for the purchase of freedom, should teach Americans to estimate its real worth, nor ever suffer it to be depreciated by the vices of the human mind, which are seldom single. The sons of America ought ever to bear in grateful remembrance the worthy and of patriots who first supported an opposition to the tyrannical measures of Great Britain. Though some of them have long since been consigned to the tomb, a tribute of gratitude is ever due to their memory, while the advantage of freedom and independence are felt by their latest posterity. ”

“ A hopeless passion gnawing on my peace, And cankering my soul against the man I once esteem'd my friend---though now a foe, He's virtue's friend where'er he meets her name. The moral sense, that checks the wayward will, Now witness bear---I'm master of myself:--- I'll meet him in the field on equal terms; No base desire, or any lawless wish, Shall more obtrude to interrupt my peace:--- But honour, justice, duty to my king, Shall wield my sword, and lead to spotless fame. ”

“ But nations pouring from their frozen dens, Rough, naked boors, from every northern wild, Untutor'd, or by nature, or by art, With scarce a trait that speaks the species man, Except the semblance of the human form, Must be the chosen scourge, by heaven design'd, To chasten Rome for that tyrannick sway Usurp'd and stretch'd o'er all her wide domain, And proudly held by her remorseless sword; Her insolence, her stubbornness of soul, That trod down nations, trampled on the necks Of mighty kings, and taught her weaker foes. ”

“ Stop'd on the way---forbid on pain of death, With their complaints---their idle tales of wrong--- T'invade the regal dignity of thrones, Or whisper murmurs in a monarch's ear. Resentment, and a noble thirst of fame, Must rouse the bold, reanimate the brave, And brace the arm with vigour to repel These bold invasions on great nature's rights. Don Pedro Ghiron
Has then the band of Dutch and Flemish race, Who hover round, clos'd up the monarch's ear, And steel'd his heart against the cries of Spain? Ambition low' ring on a lordly brow May yet subdue the citizens of Spain. ”

“ Gaudentius
Alas! my faithful Cassio---thou'rt too late, Yet as a soldier will I sell my life. (Enter Hunneric and Traulista)
(Gaudentius makes a furious pass and mortally wounds Traulista)
Traulista
Death to my hopes---damnation to his hand!--- Gaudentius
Oh! heavens! Traulista---art thou the villain--- Traitor---dastard---slave---lurking in secret, To betray thy friends? Traulista
Coward, come on--- To brave in words thou may'st a dying man; Yet know I've life enough to dash to hell, And send thy puny soul to Pluto's shades, For daring once to threat Traulista's life. ”

“ The Deity enwraps his dark decrees Beyond the ken of man's presumptuous eye:--- Yet souls sublime, serenely look abroad, And bid the howling tempests rage in vain. Though livid lightnings blaze from north to south, The tempests of this last tremendous night Are as the breeze that wafts the gentle bark Down the still tide, when every gale is hush'd--- If my Maria's mind supports its poise, And smiles, superiour to the shocks of fate, They cannot reach the soul that spurns the world--- Its tinsel'd toys---its titles, and its wealth. ”

“ Alas! the gath'ring storm---what chosen blasts, Heaven's vengeance next pours down, is with the gods. Eudocia
The death of Ætius augurs ill to Rome; His soul, too firm to fear, or Goths, or Huns; Too great to be corrupted, or deceiv'd, Sooth'd their rough passions, balanc'd their ambition; They lov'd, they fear'd, and will avenge his death. Placidia
When jealousy's at war with wild ambition, And reason quits the helm amid the storm, The furious hurricane of passion swells Till ev'ry sail hurls on to sure perdition. ”

“ The energetic operation of this sanguine temper was never more remarkably exhibited than in the change instantaneously wrought in the minds of men by the capture of Trenton at so unexpected a moment. From the state of mind bordering on despair, courage was invigorated, every countenance brightened, and the nervous arm was outstretched, as if by one general impulse, all were determined to drive the hostile invaders, that had plundered their villages, and dipped the remorseless sword in the bosom of the innocent victims of their fury, from off the American shores. ”

“ There's nought, true courage prompts the brave to do, Or virtue justifies, or honour calls, But what I dare attempt. But if it mars the peace of Rome--- Edoxia
The peace of Rome is an ideal thing; Lost in the tide of every shameful vice, Rapine and blood; and violence and lust But mock the story of her ancient fame. Canst thou a moment balance in the scale The tranquil scenes of harmony and peace, With all the lustre that adorns a crown? Eudocia gives an empire with her hand. ”

“ Genseric
Hymenial songs must cheer these drooping maids--- They each shall choose a Goth or Vandal lord, And rase the lineage of the Roman name In the warm grots of Asdrubal and Hanno, For which their ancestors in Carthage bled, And armies perish'd in the Lybian sands. Leo
Now thou art master of the Roman world, Let clemency bespeak thee more a king, Than all thy triumphs o'er subjected Rome. Genseric
The multitude disarm'd---I leave their lives; Plebeian slaves may tremble and retire; But all of noble or patrician blood, Of ev'ry age and sex, my prisoners are. ”

“ Francis, hold---nor cowardly revolt From nature's post, assign'd by nature's lord. Heaven has decreed the just, the brave, should die, But 'tis a dastard soul that fears to live. Don Francis
Life lost all worth in her expiring sigh--- Adieu, my friend, for time has lost its charms. The free born mind mounts upwards with the gods, And soars and spurns a base, ignoble world. (Dies)
Conde Haro
Alas! the horrors of this awful hour--- What misery's entail'd on all mankind But those who rise and view life from the stars!--- Oh! ”

“ Donna Maria
I see distress on every side I turn; Some sad dejection marks the soldiers brow; Though veterans in arms, they fear the king, And tremble at the frown of majesty:--- The nobles all, though emulous of fame, Are jealous, proud---are turbulent and rash--- The people fierce, yet ever prone to change, Today the cap of liberty's toss'd up--- Tomorrow torn and given to the winds, And all their leaders, by the fickle throng Are sacrific'd by violence, or fraud. ”

“ But how did'st thou escape thy gloomy cell?--- Or by what means elude the watchful guard?--- Don Francis
In sables clad, my face bedew'd with tears, The guards suppos'd I was thy noble sire, Who had permission to embrace his son, Ere death had seal'd an heirless father's woe. But on parole, I have De Haro's leave To fly to Charles, and in Velasco's name, To sue for pardon from the emperor's hand, And claim my bride by his Zelinda's ring:--- He gave me both his signet and command, And bade me on the moment haste away; The next he said perhaps betray'd to death. ”

“ False glory throbs within thy beating breast--- Thy lifted sword displays its whetted point, Not to dispel the fierce, barbarian Moor, Or chase the alien from these blighted shores: It wounds the sons---the citizens of Spain. Conde Haro
Upbraid me not---nor sharpen thus the pangs That rankle here, and wound thy brother's breast, Words cannot paint---nor can Louisa feel, The agonizing pains that pierce my heart. Donna Louisa
What can disturb the hero arm'd for fame?--- The prince's favour, and his father's love, Anticipate the glory he pursues. ”

“ The sun beams play to lighten thee to fame; hill tops smile, and each propitious gale, Wafts victory onward, with expanded wing, To crown the glory of Velasco's house. Conde Haro
Unhappy Spain, by civil factions torn, Assaulting friends, while foreigners invade. Her burning cities, and her reeking sons, Are drench'd in blood, our valour should protect; While fierce disunion scowls on every brow, And rancour whets the sword against ourselves, The Turkish banners spread the German plains, And France, resolv'd to humble Charles's pride, Unites the crescent with the sacred cross. ”

“ A man thus injur'd never can forgive. Heraclius
He lov'd Ardelia with the purest flame; Indeed she was, for innocence and truth, For elegance, true dignity, and grace, The fairest sample of that ancient worth Th' illustrious matrons beasted to the world When Rome was fam'd for every glorious deed. But she's no more! Valentinian
Hah! slave, forbear--- Mean'st thou to try my love, or wake my fears? Say thou at once---suspense I ne'er could bear. Heraclius
Despair, resentment, agonizing grief, This morn have clos'd the period of a life Too pure and spotless for the Roman world. ”

“ Heaven blast a wretch, whose fierce barbarick heart Would violate in thought so chaste a fame--- A purity allied to heaven itself. Alas! the charms that have subdu'd my heart Have something more than human in their birth. Traulista
Then why profanely sigh for charms divine? Think thee of Bleda's hospitable dames, Won without wooing---thine without a sigh; But if ye choose to wanton in the west, And hang upon the dimpled smile of love, A day, perhaps, or less, brings on the scenes That level all the bars round birth and beauty, Or innocence and elevated worth. ”

“ After the failure of these brilliant hopes, little more was done through the summer in the middle and eastern department, except by skirmishing parties which served only to keep up the hope of conquest on the side of Britain, while it preserved alive some military ardor in the American army. But so uncertain are the events of war that the anticipation of success, the pride of victory, or the anguish of disappointment, alternately play on the passions of men, until the convulsion gives place to tranquility and peace or to the still solemnity of melancholy, robbed of all its joys. ”

“ Oh! live Gaudentius---live for Rome's defence; Nor rob thy country of so brave an arm. Not crowns, or sceptres, or the world besides, Has aught to balance with my love for thee; Yet urge no more---fly hence and save thyself--- One parting sigh---one solemn, last adieu--- Then, for thy country's sake, forget Eudocia Gaudentius
Not till the pulse of life forgets to play, And death's cold dews pervade my quivering lip. Within this garden will I find a grave, Unless my princess dares an enterprise, Which lost this night, may never more return ”

“ But shall Maria shroud herself in grief, And sink beneath life's disappointed hopes, A feeble victim to her own despair?--- A soul, inspir'd by freedom's genial warmth, Expands---grows firm---and by resistance, strong: The most successful prince that offers life, And bids me live upon ignoble terms, Shall learn from me that virtue seldom fears.--- Death kindly opes a thousand friendly gates, And freedom waits to guard her votaries through. ”

“ Donna Maria
So dangerous a foe has Spain ne'er seen Since from the brindled North, the savage hords Pour'd from their frozen hives, where gendering storms Have rush'd, and swell'd fair Ebro's banks with blood. Don Juan De Padilla
We have been free e'er since the mighty Goths, In barb'rous swarms, compell'd the peaceful swain To bare his breast, and meet the stranger's sword; The raw and hardy peasants of the field, Train'd up to arms, inur'd to feats of war, Op'd their full veins and wash'd in native gore The field, the village, and their father's tombs, Ere they establish'd liberty and peace. ”

“ Spurn these soft fetters---fly the fond disguise, Ere it unnerves the vigour of thine arm--- Let freedom be the mistress of thy heart:--- She calls to arms, and bids us draw the sword:--- Come, clear thy brow, and whet the pointed steel, To crush the foes of liberty and Spain. Don Francis
I would suspend, but ne'er exterminate The noblest passion of the human soul; That softens the ferocious brest of man, And checks the ruder billows of the mind. ”

“ Though he's in friendship, gen'rous and sincere, Yet injur'd once, implacably he hates: 'Twou'd beggar language to describe his pride, His strength of passion when arous'd to rage; Inexorable vengeance tears his soul Constant and noble, as a god he loves, But as a furious fiend, rewards his foes; Nought but their death can cool his passions down. Heraclius
Petronius Maximus returns no more To interrupt the pleasures of the court: Ardelia dead---the funeral pile burnt down--- Her ashes gather'd in a golden urn; He in despair has left the imperial city. ”

“ The blood of innocence had already crimsoned over the fields which had teemed for the nourishment of Britain, who, instead of listening to the groans of an oppressed country, had recently wrung out the tears of anguish, until the inhabitants of the plundered towns were ready to quit the elegances of life and take refuge in the forest to secure the unimpaired possession of those privileges which they considered as a grant from heaven, that no earthly potentate had a right to seize with impunity.
The bulk of mankind have indeed, in all countries in their turn, been made the prey of ambition. ”