When those who were their menials, and perform'd All offices of drudgery, are gone? Let these men be arrested, and their bodies Detained as hostages for Egypt's safety. _Pharaoh to Moses_.—Hear'st thou? _Moses_.—I grieve that thou who hast beheld God's visits unto Egypt mark'd with ruin, Canst reason yet, and listen too to others, As if it were with me, and not my Maker, Thou had'st to deal. Do I not know these magi— Their priestly craft and worthless jugglery? Presume not too far on thy power t' oppress. Though proof against remorse for what is past— Though deaf unto the cries of slaves in bondage, And dumb when words of freedom should be spoken, Prince, be not blind to thine own dearest interests— Stake not thy life, thy honor and thy crown, Thy people's safety, and thy kingdom's strength, Upon the words of the most shallow fools That ever tempted man to his destruction. Trust not their crooked policy, which bids thee Prefer _convenient wrong_ to truth and justice; Do that thy conscience whispers thee is right, And leave the rest to him who sent me hither. The God of Israel is the God of Egypt, And though unhonored, careth for her sons. _Pharaoh to Arbaces_.—Arbaces, give thy counsel. _Arbaces_.—King of Egypt, The sharpest evils need the sharpest cures. Here, in the very grasp of thy great power, Stands open-mouth'd rebellion; all the chiefs And advocates of Hebrew discontent Are now before thee: speak but thou the word, And ere an hour be past, their traitorous heads Shall grace thy palace wall, and their torn limbs Be sent through Goshen and the land of Egypt, A dreadful warning—and my life shall answer For peace hereafter, and most tame submission From all thy Hebrew vassals. _Pharaoh, to Moses_.—Hearest thou? _Moses_.—I hear, and smile to hear it. God of mercy! Look not with utter scorn on thy creation, Nor let thy anger rise, that these poor worms With barely light to view the rapid stream On which they drift from time to eternity, Must purple it with blood, and freely deal Death and extermination on each other, As though thy uncreated power and thunders Were all thy own, and thou hadst never been. _Pharaoh, to Arbaces_.—T' imprison him and let him live, were folly— And I have yielded to my sister's prayers He should not die, unless the Hebrews rise In servile war against us. (_To Moses_.) Thou mayst leave me, And go where'er thou choosest; but thy people Go not in peace while I am king of Egypt.