Where's Theodore?

all?

Theod. At hand.

Ren. Spinosa.

Spin. Here.

Ren. Bramveil.

Brom. I'm ready.

Ren. Durand and Brabe.
Dur. Command us.
We are prepared.

Omnes. All; all.

Ren. Mezzano, Revillido,

Ternon, Retrosi! Oh! you are men, I find,
Fit to hold your fate, and meet her summons.
To-morrow's rising sun must see you all
Decked in your honours. Are the soldiers ready?
Pier. All, all.

Ren. You, Durand, with your thousand, must

possess

St. Mark's; you, captain, know your charge already;

Tis to secure the ducal palace: You,
Brabe, with an hundred more, must gain the
Secque :

With the like number, Bramveil, to the Procurale;

Be all this done with the least tumult possible, "Till in each place you post sufficient guards : Then sheathe your swords in every breast you

meet.

Jaf. Oh! reverend cruelty damned bloody villain ! [Aside.

Ren. During this execution, Durand, you Must in the midst keep your battalia fast; And, Theodore, be sure to plant the cannon That may command the streets; whilst Revillido, Messano, Ternon, and Retrosi guard you. This done, we'll give the general alarm, Apply petards, and force the arsenal gates; Then fire the city round in several places, Or with our cannon (if it do resist) Batter to ruin. But above all I charge you, Shed blood enough; spare neither sex nor age, Name nor condition; if there live a senator After to morrow, though the dullest rogue, That e'er said nothing, we have lost our ends. If possible, let's kill the very name Of senator, and bury it in blood.

Jaf. Merciless, horrid slave-Ay, blood enough! Shed blood enough, old Renault! how thou charmest me!

Ren. But one thing more, and then farewell, till fate

Join us again, or separate us for ever:
First let's embrace. Heaven knows, who next
shall thus

Wing ye together; but let's all remember,
We wear no common cause upon our swords:
Let each man think, that on his single virtue
Depends the good and fame of all the rest;
Eternal honour, or perpetual infamy.

VOL. I.

Propitious fortune hitherto has led us :
How often on the brink of some discovery
Have we stood tottering, yet still kept our ground
So well, that the busiest searchers ne'er could
follow

Those subtle tracks, which puzzled all suspicion.
You droop, sir.

Jaf. No; with most profound attention

I've heard it all, and wonder at thy virtue.

Ren. Though there be yet few hours 'twixt
them and ruin,

Are not the senate lulled in full security,
Quiet and satisfied, as fools are always?
Never did so profound repose fore-run
Calamity so great. Nay, our good fortune
Has blinded the most piercing of mankind,
Strengthened the fearfullest, charmed the most
suspectful,

Confounded the most subtle: for we live,
We live, my friends, and quickly shall our life
Prove fatal to these tyrants. Let's consider,
That we destroy oppression, avarice,
A people nursed up equally with vices
And loathsome lusts, which nature most abhors,
And such as without shame she cannot suffer.

Jaf. Oh, Belvidera! take me to thy arms, And shew me where's my peace, for I have lost it! [Exit.

Ren. Without the least remorse, then, let's re

Had given us birth, one fortune fed our wants,
One only love, and that but of each other,
Still filled our minds; could I have such a friend
Joined in this cause, and had but ground to fear
He meant foul play; may this right hand drop
from me,

If I'd not hazard all my future peace,
And stab him to the heart before you. Who,
Who would do less? Would'st thou not, Pierre,
the same?

Pier. You've singled me, sir, out for this hard
question,

As if it were started only for my sake:
Am I the thing you fear? Here, here's my bosom,
Search it with all your swords. Am I a traitor?
Ren. No; but I fear your late commended
friend

Is little less. Come, sirs, 'tis now no time
To trifle with our safety. Where's this Jaffier?
Spin. He left the room just now, in strange

disorder.

Ren. Nay, there is danger in him; I observed him;

During the time I took for explanation,

He was transported from most deep attention,
To a confusion which he could not smother;
His looks grew full of sadness and surprise,
All which betrayed a wavering spirit in him,
That laboured with reluctancy and sorrow.
What's requisite for safety must be done
With speedy execution; he remains

Yet in our power: I, for my own part, wear
A dagger

Pier. Well.

Ren. And I could wish it

Pier. Where?

Ren. Buried in his heart.

Pier. Away; we're yet all friends;

No more of this, 'twill breed ill blood among us. Spin. Let us all draw our swords, and search the house,

Ren. And I.

Om. 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 Heaven 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 darest be honest.

Pier. That's rank falsehood. Fearest not thou death! Fie, there's a knavish itch

In that salt blood, an utter foe to smarting.
Had Jaffier's wife proved kind, he'd still been

true.

Spin. Forgive us, gallant friend.

Pier. Nay, now you've found

The way to melt, and cast me as you will.
I'll fetch this friend, and give him to your mercy:

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

Pier. Who talks of killing? Who is he, will shed the blood,

That's dear to me? is it 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.

[To Ren. Ren. A coward!- [Handles his sword. Pier. Put up thy sword, old man; Thy hand shakes at it. Come, let's heal this breach;

I am too hot, we yet may all live friends.
Spin. Till we are safe, our friendship cannot

be so.
Pier. Again! Who's that?
Spin. 'Twas I.

The. And I.

For your repose, I'll quit my heart's best jewel; But would not have him torn away by villains, And spiteful villany.

Spin. No, may you both

For ever live, and fill the world with fame.

Pier. Now ye are too kind. Where rose all

this discord?

Oh, what a dangerous precipice have we 'scaped! How near a fall was all we had long been building!

What an eternal blot had stained our glories,
If one, the bravest and the best of men,
Had fallen a sacrifice to rash suspicion,
Butchered by those, whose cause he came to che-
rish!

Oh! could you know him all, as I have known him;

How good he is, how just, how true, how brave, You would not leave this place till you had seen

him;

Humbled yourselves before him, kissed his feet,

And gained remission for the worst of follies. Come but to-morrow, all your doubts shall end, And to your loves me better recommend,

That I've preserved your fame, and saved my friend. [Exeunt.

SCENE I.-The Rialto.

Enter JAFFIER and Belvidera.

To do a deed, shall chronicle thy name
Among the glorious legends of those few,
That have saved sinking nations. Thy renown
Shall be the future song of all the virgins,
Who, by thy piety, have been preserved
From horrid violation. Every street
Shall be adorned with statues to thy honour;
And at thy feet this great inscription written,
Remember him, that propped the fall of Venice.
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 relieved 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 lovest

Last night, my love!

Jaf. Name it not again!

It shews a beastly image to my fancy,
Will wake me into madness. Oh, the villain!
That durst approach such purity as thine
On terms so vile: Destruction, swift destruction,
Fall on my coward head, and make my name
The common scorn of fools, if I forgive him!
If I forgive him? If I not revenge
With utmost rage, and most unstaying fury,
Thy sufferings, thou dear darling of my life.

Bel. Delay no longer then, but to the senate,
And tell the dismallest story ever uttered:
Tell them what bloodshed, rapines, desolations,
Have been prepared: how near's the fatal hour.

3

Of murderers are whetting for this moment. Think, thou already hearest their dying screams; Think, that thou see'st their sad distracted mothers,

Kneeling before thy feet, and begging pity: With torn dishevelled hair, and streaming eyes, Their naked mangled breasts, besmeared with blood;

And even the milk, with which their fondled babes Softly they hushed, dropping in anguish from them; Think thou seest this, and then consult thy heart. Jaf. Oh!

Bel. Think too, if you lose this present mi

nute,

What miseries the next day brings upon thee':
Imagine all the horrors of that night;
Murder and rapine, waste, and desolation,
Confusedly raging: Think, what then may prove
My lot; the ravisher may then come safe,
And 'midst the terror of the public ruin,
Do a damned deed; perhaps may lay a train
To catch thy life: Then where will be revenge,
The dear revenge, that's due to such a wrong?

Jaf. By all heaven's powers, prophetic truth dwells in thee!

For every word thou speakest, strikes through my heart,

Like a new light, and shews it, how it has wandered.

Just what thou hast made me, take me, Belvidera,

And lead me to the place, where I am 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 renewed;
If I relapse once more, all is lost for ever.

Bel. Hast thou a friend more dear than Belvidera?

Jaf. No; thou art my soul itself; wealth, friendship, honour,

All present joys, and earnest of all future,
Are summed in thee. Methinks, when in thy

arms,

Thus leaning on thy breast, one minute's more Than a long thousand years of vulgar hours. Why was such happiness not given me pure? Why dashed with cruel wrongs, and bitter warnings?

Come, lead me forward, now, like a tame lamb To sacrifice. Thus, in his fatal garlands

Jaf. Friends, Belvidera! Hide me from my friends!

By Heaven, I would rather see the face of hell, Than meet the man I love.

Offi. But what friends are you?

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

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

Jaf. Sir, you shall be obeyed.

Hold, brute, stand off! none of your paws upon

[A noise without.

Room, room, make room for some prisoners
Sen. Let us raise the city,

Enter Officer and Guards.

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

Who say, they come to inform this reverend

senate'

About the present danger.

Enter JAFFIER and Officer.

All. Give them entrance-Well, who are you? Juf. A villain.

Ant. Short and pithy.

The man speaks well.

Jaf. Would every man, that hears me, Would deal so honestly, and own his title.

Duke. Tis rumoured, that a plot has been contrived

Against this state; and you have a share in it too. If you are a villain, to redeem your honour Unfold the truth, and be restored with mercy.

Juf. 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 fixed and sealed. You may see here before

whipt

Into confessions: but a steady mind
Acts of itself, ne'er asks the body counsel.
Give him the torture! Name but such a thing
Again, by heaven I'll shut these lips for ever.
Not all your racks, your engines, or your wheels,
Shall force a groan away, that you may guess at.
Ant. A bloody-minded fellow, I'll warrant;
A damned bloody-minded fellow.
Duke. Name your conditions.
Jaf. For myself full pardon,
Besides the lives of two and twenty friends,
Whose names are here enrolled-Nay, let their

crines

Be ne'er so monstrous, I must have the oaths
And sacred promise of this reverend council,
The thing I ask be ratified. Swear this,
And I'll unfold the secret of your danger.
All. We'll swear.

Duke, Propose the oath.
Jaf. By all the hopes

Ye have of peace and happiness hereafter, Swear.

All. We all swear.

Jaf. To grant me what I have asked,

Ye swear?

All. We swear.

Jaf. And, as ye keep the oath,

May you, and your posterity be blessed,
Or cursed for ever.

Jaf. Then here's the list, and with it the full disclose

Of all, that threatens you. [Delivers a paper. Now, Fate, thou hast caught me.

Ant. Why, what a dreadful catalogue of cutting throats is here! I'll warrant you, not one of these fellows but has a face like a lion.. I dare not so much as read their names over.

Duke. Give order, that all diligent search be
made

To seize these men; their characters are public;
The paper intimates their rendezvous
To be at the house of a famed Grecian courtezan,
Called Aquilina; see that place secured.

You, Jaffier, must with patience bear, till morning,

To be our prisoner.

Jaf. Would the chains of death

Had bound me safe, e'er I had known this minute!

I've done a deed will make my story hereafter
Quoted in competition with all ill ones:
The history of my wickedness shall run
Down thro' the low traditions of the vulgar,
And boys be taught to tell the tale of Jaffier.

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, Forget myself, and this day's guilt and falsehood. Cruel remembrance! how shall I appease thee? [Exit guarded. room, room,

Offi. [Without.] More traitors; room, make room there. Duke. How is this? guards!

Where are our guards? Shut up the gates, the

treason's

Already at our doors.

Enter Officer,

Offi. My lords, more traitors, Seized in the very act of consultation ; Furnished with arms and instruments of mischief. Bring in the prisoners.

Enter PIERRE, RENAULT, THEODORE, ELIOT, REVELLIDO, and other Conspirators, in fetters. Pier. You, my lords, and fathers

(As you are pleased 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 laboured in your service?

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 conquered us, and we must fall. Why droops the man, whose welfare's so much mine,

They are 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 betrayed a generous, trusting friend, And gave up honour to be sure of ruin. All our fair hopes, which morning was to have crowned,

Has this cursed 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. Cursed be your senate! cursed your constitution!

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

Pier. Death! honourable death!

Ren, Death's the best thing we ask, or you can give;