Enter SPINOSA, THEODORE, ELLIOTT, REVILLI-
DO, DURAND, BROMVEIL, and the rest With fire and sword t'exterminate these tyrants;
Under whose weight this wretched country la-

Ren. 'Tis a cold night, indeed, and I am aged; To gallant minds, record this cause and bless it. Full of decay and natural infirmities:

To-morrow's rising sun must see you all
Deck'd in your honours. Are the soldiers ready? If I'd not hazard all my future peace,
Pier. Áll, all.
And stab him to the heart before you. Who,
Ren. You, Durand, with your thousand Who would do less? Wouldst thou not,

No more of this, 'twill breed ill blood among us. Come but to-morrow, all your doubts shall end, Spin. Let us all draw our swords, and search And to your loves, me better recommend, That I've preser'vd your fame, and sav'd my

the house,

Pull him from the dark hole where he sits

brooding

O'er his cold fears, and each man kill his share

of him.
Pier. Who talks of killing? Who's he'll
shed the blood
That's dear to me? is't you, or you, or you, sir?
What, not one speak! how you stand gaping all
On your grave oracle, your wooden god there!
Yet not a word! Then, sir, I'll tell you a secret;
Suspicion's but at best a coward's virtue.

Ren. A coward!

friend.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.-The Rialto.

[Exeunt.

Enter JAFFIER and BELVIDERA.
Jaf. Where dost thou lead me? Every step
I move,

Methinks I tread upon some mangled limb Of a rack'd friend. Oh, my charming ruin! Where are we wandering? [To Renault. Bel. To eternal honour. [Handles his Sword. To do a deed shall chronicle thy name Pier. Put up thy sword, old man; Among the glorious legends of those few Thy hand shakes at it. Come, let's heal this breach; That have sav'd sinking nations. Thy renown I am too hot, we yet may all live friends. Shall be the future song of all the virgins, Spin. Till we are safe, our friendship can- Who by thy piety have been preserv'd From horrid violation. Every street Shall be adorn'd with statues to thy honour: And at thy feet this great inscription written, Remember him that propp'd the fall of Venice.

not be so.

Pier. Again! Who's that?
Spin. Twas I.
Theo. And I.

Ren. And I.

Omnes. And all.

Ren. Who are on my side?
Spin. Every honest sword.

Let's die like men, and not be sold like slaves.
Pier. One such word more, by heav'n I'll
to the senate,

And hang ye all, like dogs, in clusters.
Why peep your coward swords half out their

shells?

Why do you not all brandish them like mine?
You fear to die, and yet dare talk of killing.
Ren. Go to the senate, and betray us! haste!
Secure thy wretched life; we fear to die
Less than thou dar'st be honest.

Pier. That's rank falsehood.

Fear'st not thou death! Fie, there's a knavish itch
In that salt blood, an utter foe to smarting.
Had Jaffier's wife prov'd kind, he'd still been

true.

Faugh, how that stinks! thou die, thou kill my
friend!

Or thou! or thou! with that lean wither'd face.
Away, disperse all to your several charges,
And meet to-morrow where your honour calls

you.

I'll bring that man, whose blood you so much
thirst for,

And you shall see him venture for you fairly-
Hence! hence, I say. (Exit Renault, angrily.
Spin. I fear we've been to blame,
And done too much.

Theo. "Twas too far urg'd against the man
you lov'd.

Rev. Here, take our swords, and crush them
with your feet.
Spin. Forgive us, gallant friend.

Pier. Nay, now you've found

The

way to melt, and cast me as you will. Whence rose all this discord?

Oh, what a dangerous precipice have 'scap'd!

we

How near a fall was all we'd long been building!
What an eternal blot had stain'd our glories,
If one, the bravest and the best of men,
Had fall'n a sacrifice to rash suspicion,

Jaf. Rather, remember him, who, after all The sacred bonds of oaths, and holier friendship, In fond compassion to a woman's tears, Forgot his manhood, virtue, truth, and honour, To sacrifice the bosom that reliev'd him. Why wilt thou damn me?

Bel. Oh, inconstant man!

How will you promise; how will you deceive!
Do, return back, replace me in my bondage,
Tell all thy friends how dangerously thou
lov'st me,

And let thy dagger do its bloody office.
Or if thou think'st it nobler, let me live,
Till I'm a victim to the hateful lust
Of that infernal devil.
Last night, my love!

Jaf. Name it not again:

It shows beastly image to my fancy,
Will wake me into madness.
Destruction, swift destruction, fall on my coward
head.

Bel. Delay no longer then, but to the senate,
And tell the dismal'st story ever utter'd:
Tell 'em what bloodshed, rapines, desolations,
Have been prepar'd, how near's the fatal hour.
Save thy poor country, save the reverend blood
Of all its nobles, which to-morrow's dawn
Must else see shed.

Jaf. Oh! think what then may prove my lot: By all heav'ns powers, prophetic truth dwells in thee;

For every word thou speak'st, strikes through
my heart;

Just what thou'st made me, take me, Belvidera,
And lead me to the place where I'm to say
This bitter lesson; where I must betray
My truth, my virtue, constancy, and friends.
Must I betray my friend? Ah! take me quickly:
Secure me well before that thought's renew'd;
If I relapse once more, all's lost for ever.
Bel. Hast thou a friend more dear than Bel-
videra?

Jaf. No; thour't my soul itself; wealth,
friendship, honour,
All present joys, and earnest of all future,
Are summ'd in thee.

Butcher'd by those, whose cause he came to Come, lead me forward, now, like a tame lamb

cherish!

To sacrifice, Thus, in his fatal garlands

122

VENICE PRESERVED.

Deck'd fine and pleas'd, the wanton skips and

plays,

Trots by th' enticing, flatt'ring priestess' side,
And much transported with its little pride,
Forgets his dear companions of the plain;
Till, by her bound, he's on the altar lain,
Yet then too hardly bleats, such pleasure's in
the pain.

Enter Officer and six Guards.
there?
Offi. Stand! who goes

Bel. Friends.

Offi. But what friends are you?

Bel. Friends to the senate, and the state of
Venice.

Offi. My orders are to seize on all I find
At this late hour, and bring 'em to the council,
Who are now sitting.

Unfold the truth, and be restor'd with mercy.
Jaf. Think not, that I to save my life came
hither;

I know its value better; but in pity
To all those wretches whose unhappy dooms
Are fix'd and seal'd. You see me here before you,
The sworn and covenanted foe of Venice:
But use me as my dealings may deserve,
And I may prove a friend.

Duke. The slave capitulates,
Give him the tortures.

Jaf. That you dare not do;

Your fear won't let you, not the longing itch
To hear a story which you dread the truth of:
Truth, which the fear of smart shall ne'er get

from me.

Cowards are scar'd with threat'nings; boys are whipt Into confessions: but a steady mind Jaf. Sir, you shall be obey'd. Now the lot's cast, and, fate, do what thou Acts of itself, ne'er asks the body counsel. wilt. [Exeunt guarded. Give him the tortures! Name but such a thing Again, by heav'n I'll shut these lips for ever. SCENE II.-The Senate-house, where appear Not all your racks, your engines, or your sitting the DUKE of VENICE, PRIULI, and other Senators.

Duke. Antony, Priuli, senators of Venice,
Speak, why are we assembled here this night?
What have you to inform us of, concerns
The state of Venice, honour, or its safety?
Pri. Could words express the story I've to
tell you,
Fathers, these tears were useless, these sad tears
That fall from my old eyes; but there is cause
We all should weep, tear off these purple robes,
And wrap ourselves in sackcloth, sitting down
On the sad earth, and cry aloud to heav'n:
Heav'n knows, if yet there be an hour to come
Ere Venice be no more.

All Sen. How!

Pri. Nay, we stand

Upon the very brink of gaping ruin.
Within this city's form'd a dark conspiracy,
To massacre us all, our wives and children,
Kindred and friends, our palaces and temples
To lay in ashes: nay, the hour too fix'd;
The swords, for aught I know, drawn e'en
this moment,

And the wild waste begun. From unknown hands
I had this warning; but, if we are men,
Let's not be tamely butcher'd, but do something
That may inform the world, in after ages,
Our virtue was not ruin'd, though we were.

wheels,

Shall force a groan away, that you may guess at.
Duke. Name your conditions.
Jaf. For myself full pardon,
Besides the lives of two-and-twenty friends,
Whose names are here enroll'd—Nay, let their
crimes

Be ne'er so monstrous, I must have the oaths
And sacred promise of this reverend council,
That, in a full assembly of the senate
The thing I ask be ratify'd. Swear this,
And I'll unfold the secret of your danger.
Duke. Propose the oath.
Jaf. By all the hopes

Ye have of peace and happiness hereafter,
Swear.-Ye swear?

All Sen. We swear.

Jaf. And, as ye keep the oath,
May you, and your posterity be bless'd,
Or curs'd for ever.

All Sen. Else be curs'd for ever.
Jaf. Then here's the list, and with't the full
disclose

Of all that threatens you. [Delivers a Paper.
Now, fate, thou hast caught me.

Duke. Give order that all diligent search

be made

To seize these men, their characters are public; The paper intimates their rendezvous [A Noise without. To be at the house of a fam'd Grecian courtezan, Room, room, make room for some prisoners-Call'd Aquilina; see that place secur'd.

Enter Officer and Guards.

Duke. Speak, there. What disturbance?
Offi. Two prisoners have the guards seiz'd
in the street,

Who say, they come t'inform this reverend senate
About the present danger.

Enter JAFFIER and Officer.

You, Jaffier, must with patience bear till morning
To be our prisoner.

Jaf. Would the chains of death
Had bound me safe, ere I had known this minute.
Duke. Captain, withdraw your prisoner.
Jaf. Sir, if possible,

Lead me where my own thoughts themselves

may

lose me;

Where I may doze out what I've left of life,

All Sen. Give 'em entrance-Well, who are Forget myself, and this day's guilt and falsehood,

Jaf. A villain,

you?

Would every man, that hears me,
Would deal so honestly, and own his title.
Duke. 'Tis rumour'd, that a plot has been
contriv'd

Against this state; and you've a share in't too.
If you are a villain, to redeem your honour

Cruel remembrance, how shall I

thee?

appease (Exit guarded. Offi. [Without] More traitors; room, room, room, make room, there. Duke. How's this? guards! the gates, Where are our guards? Shut up

the treason's Already at our doors.

Enter Officer.

Seiz'd in the very act of consultation;

Offi. My lords, more traitors,

Pier. Death! honourable death!
Ren. Death's the best thing we ask, or you
can give,

Furnish'd with arms and instruments of mischief. No shameful bonds, but honourable death.
Bring in the prisoners.
Duke. Break up the council. Captain, guard
your prisoners.

Enter PIERRE, RENAULT, THEODORE, ELLIOTT, Jaffier, you're free, but these must wait for
REVILLIDO, and other Conspirators, in
Fetters.

Pier. You, my lords, and fathers
(As you are pleas'd to call yourselves), of Venice;
If you sit here to guide the course of justice,
Why these disgraceful chains upon the limbs
That have so often labour'd in your service?
Are these the wreaths of triumph ye bestow
On those, that bring you conquest home, and
honours?

Duke. Go on; you shall be heard, sir.
Ant. And be hang'd too, I hope.
Pier. Are these the trophies I've deserv'd
for fighting

Your battles with confederated powers?
When winds and seas conspir'd to overthrow

you;

And brought the fleets of Spain to your own
harbours;

When you, great duke, shrunk trembling in
your palace,
And saw your wife, the Adriatic, plough'd,
Like a lewd whore, by bolder than
prows yours,
Stepp'd not I forth, and taught your loose Ve-

netians

The task of honour, and the way to greatness?
Rais'd you from your capitulating fears
To stipulate the terms of su'd-for peace?
And this my recompense! if I'm a traitor,
Produce my charge; or show the wretch that's
base

And brave enough to tell me I'm a traitor.
Duke. Know you one Jaffier?

judgment.

[Exeunt all the Senators. Pier. Come, where's my dungeon? Lead me to my straw:

It will not be the first time I've lodg'd hard
To do the senate service.
Jaf. Hold, one moment.
Pier. Who's he disputes the judgment of
the senate?

Presumptuous rebel-on~ [Strikes Jaffier.
Jaf. By heav'n, you stir not!

I must be heard; I must have leave to speak.
Thou hast disgrac'd me, Pierre, by a vile blow:
Had not a dagger done thee nobler justice?
But use me as thou wilt, thou canst not wrong me,
for I am fallen beneath the basest injuries:
Yet look upon me with an eye of mercy,
With pity and with charity behold me:
But as there dwells a godlike nature in thee,
Listen with mildness to my supplications.

Pier. What whining monk art thou? what
holy cheat,

That wouldst encroach upon my credulous ears,
And cant'st thus vilely? Hence! I know thee not:
Leave, hypocrite.

Jaf. Not know me, Pierre?

Pier. No, I know thee not! What art thou?
Jaf. Jaffier, thy friend, thy once lov'd, valu'd

friend!

Though now deserv'dly scorn'd, and us'd most hardly.

Pier. Thou, Jaffier! thou, my once lov'd, valu'd friend!

[Conspirators murmur. By heav'ns thou liest; the man so call'd, my

Pier. Yes, and know his virtue.
His justice, truth, his general worth, and sufferings
From a hard father, taught me first to love him.

Enter JAFFIER, guarded.

Duke. See him brought forth.
Pier. My friend too bound! nay then
Our fate has conquer'd us, and we must fall.
Why droops the man whose welfare's so much
mine,

They're but one thing? These reverend tyrants,
Jaffier,

Call us traitors. Art thou one, my brother?
Jaf. To thee, I am the falsest, veriest slave,
That e'er betray'd a generous, trusting friend,
And gave up honour to be sure of ruin.
All our fair hopes, which morning was t' have
crown'd,

Has this curs'd tongue o'erthrown.
Pier. So, then all's over:

Venice has lost her freedom, I my life.
No more! Farewell!

Duke. Say; will you make confession
Of your vile deeds, and trust the senate's mercy?
Pier. Curs'd be your senate: curs'd your

constitution:

The curse of growing factions and divisions,
Still vex your councils, shake your public safety,
And make the robes of government you wear
Hateful to you, as these base chains to me.
Duke. Pardon, or death?

friend,

Was generous, honest, faithful, just, and valiant;
Noble in mind, and in his person lovely;
Dear to my eyes, and tender to my heart:
But thou, a wretched, base, false, worthless
coward,

Poor, even in soul, and loathsome in thy aspect;
All eyes must shun thee, and all hearts detest thee.
Pr'ythee avoid; nor longer cling thus round me,
Like something baneful, that my nature's chill'd at.
Jaf. I have not wrong'd thee, by these tears
I have not.

Pier. Hast thou not wrong'd me? Dar'st
thou call thyself

That once lov'd, valu'd friend of mine,
And swear thou hast not wrong'd me? Whence
these chains?

Whence the vile death which I may meet this
moment?

Whence this dishonour, but from thee, thou
false one?

Jaf. All's true; yet grant one thing, and
I've done asking.

Pier. What's that?

Jaf. To take thy life, on such conditions
The counsel have propos'd: thou, and thy friends,
May yet live long, and to be better treated.

Pier. Life! ask my life! confess! record myself
A villain, for the privilege to breathe
And carry up and down this cursed city,
A discontented and repining spirit,

124

Burthensome to itself, a few years longer;
To lose it, may be at last, in a lewd quarrel
For some new friend, treacherous and false
as thou art!

No, this vile world and I have long been jangling,
And cannot part on better terms than now,
When only men, like thee, are fit to live in't.
Jaf. By all that's just-

Pier, Swear by some other powers,
For thou hast broke that sacred oath too lately.
Jaf. Then, by that hell I merit, I'll not
leave thee,

Till, to thyself, at least thou'rt reconcil'd,
However thy resentment deal with me.
Pier. Not leave me!

Jaf. No; thou shalt not force me from thee.
Use me reproachfully, and like a slave;
Tread on me, buffet me, heap wrongs on wrongs
On my poor head; I'll bear it all with patience
Shall weary out thy most unfriendly cruelty:
Lie at thy feet, and kiss 'em, though they spurn me;
Till wounded by my sufferings, thou relent,
And raise me to thy arms, with dear forgiveness.
Pier. Art thou not-
Jaf. What?
Pier. A traitor?
Jaf. Yes.

Pier. A villain?
Jaf. Granted.

Pier. A coward, a most scandalous coward;
Spiritless, void of honour; one who has sold
Thy everlasting fame, for shameless life?
Jaf. All, all and more, much more: my faults
are numberless.

Pier. And wouldst thou have me live on
terms like thine;
Base, as thou art false-

Jaf. No; 'tis to me that's granted:
The safety of thy life was all I aim'd at,
In recompense for faith and trust so broken.
Pier. I scorn it more, because preserv'd by thee;
And, as when first my foolish heart took pity
On thy misfortunes, sought thee in thy miseries,
Reliev'd thy wants, and rais'd thee from the state
Of wretchedness, in which thy fate had plung'd
thee,

To rank thee in my list of noble friends;
All I receiv'd, in surety for thy truth,
Were unregarded oaths, and this, this dagger,
Giv'n with a worthless pledge, thou since hast
stol'n:

So I restore it back to thee again;
Swearing by all those pow'rs which thou hast
violated,

Never, from this curs'd hour to hold communion,
Friendship, or interest, with thee, though our
years

Were to exceed those limited the world.
Take it -farewell-for now I owe thee nothing.
Jaf. Say thou wilt live then.
Pier. For my life, dispose it

And here's the portion he has left_me:

[Holds the Dagger up.
This dagger. Well remember'd! with this dagger,
I gave a solemn vow of dire importance;
Parted with this, and Belvidera together.
Have a care, mem'ry, drive that thought no
further:

No, I'll esteem it as a friend's last legacy;
Treasure it up within this wretched bosom,
Where it may grow acquainted with my heart,
That when they meet, they start not from each
other.

So now for thinking—A blow, call'd a traitor,
villain,

Coward, dishonourable coward; fough!
Oh! for a long sound sleep, and so forget it.
Down, busy devil!

Enter BELVIDERA.
Bel. Whither shall I fly?
Where hide me and my miseries together?
Where's now the Roman constancy I boasted?
Sunk into trembling fears and desperation,
Not daring to look up to that dear face
Which us'd to smile, eve'n on my faults; but,
down,

Bending these miserable eyes on earth,
Must move in penance, and implore much mercy.
Jaf. Mercy! kind heav'n has surely endless

stores,

Hoarded for thee, of blessings yet untasted:
Oh, Belvidera! I'm the wretched'st creature
E'er crawl'd on earth.

My friend too, Belvidera, that dear friend,
Who, next to thee, was all my health rejoic'd in,
Has us'd me like a slave, shamefully us'd me:
'Twould break thy pitying heart to hear the story,
Bel. What has he done?
Jaf. Before we parted,

Ere yet his guards had led him to his prison,
Full of severest sorrows for his sufferings,
With eyes o'erflowing, and a bleeding heart,
As at his feet I kneel'd and su'd for mercy,
With a reproachful hand he dash'd a blow:
He struck me, Belvidera! by heav'n, he struck me!
Buffetted, call'd me traitor, villain, coward.
Am I a coward? Am I a villain? Tell me:
Thou'rt the best judge, and mad'st me, if I am so!
Damnation! Coward!

Bel. Oh! forgive him, Jaffier;
And, if his sufferings wound thy heart already,
What will they do to-morrow?
Jaf. Ah!

Bel. To-morrow,
When thou shalt see him stretch'd in all the
agonies

Of a tormenting and a shameful death;
His bleeding bowels, and his broken limbs,
Insulted o'er, by a vile, butchering villain;
What will thy heart do then? Oh! sure 'twill

stream,

Just as thou wilt, because 'tis what I'm tir'd with. Like my eyes now.
Jaf. Oh, Pierre!

Pier. No more.

Jaf. My eyes won't lose the sight of thee, But languish after thee, and ache with gazing. Pier. Leave me- -Nay, then thus, thus I throw thee from me;

Juf. What means thy dreadful story? Death,and to-morrow! Broken limbs and bowels! Bel. The faithless senators, 'tis they've de

creed it:

They say, according to our friends' request, They shall have death, and not ignoble bondage: And curses, great as is thy falsehood, catch Declare their promis'd mercy all has forfeited: [Exit False to their oaths, and deaf to intercession, Warrants are pass'd for public death to

Jaf. Amen.

thee.

He's gone, my father, friend, preserver,

morrow.