His soldiers, till I have consum'd 'em all with fire? What will you give him that procureth this?

Gov. Do but bring this to pass which thou pretendest,

Deal truly with us as thou intimatest,

And I will send amongst the citizens;
And by my letters privately procure
Great sums of money for thy recompence:
Nay more, do this, and live thou governor still.
BAR. Nay, do thou this, Ferneze, and be free;
Governor, I enlarge thee, live with me,
Go walk about the city, see thy friends:
Tush, send not letters to 'em, go thyself,
And let me see what money thou canst make;
Here is my hand that I'll set Malta free:
And thus we cast it: To a solemn feast
I will invite young Selim Calymath,
Where be thou present only to perform
One stratagem that I'll impart to thee,
Wherein no danger shall betide thy life,
And I will warrant Malta free for ever.

Gov. Here is my hand, believe me, Barabas,
I will be there, and do as thou desirest;
When is the time?

BAR. Governor, presently.

For Calymath, when he hath view'd the town,
Will take his leave and sail toward Ottoman.
Gov. Then will I, Barabas, about this coin,
And bring it with me to thee in the evening.

BAR. Do so, but fail not; now farewell Ferneze:

And thus far roundly goes the business:

Thus loving neither, will I live with both,
Making a profit of my policy;

And he from whom my most advantage comes,
Shall be my friend.

This is the life we Jews are us'd to lead;
And reason too, for Christians do the like:
Well, now about effecting this device:
First to surprise great Selim's soldiers,
And then to make provision for the feast,
That at one instant all things may be done,
My policy detests prevention :

To what event my secret purpose drives,

I know; and they shall witness with their lives.[Exit.

SCENE III.

Enter CALYMATH and BASHAWS.

CALY. Thus have we view'd the city, seen the sack,

And caus'd the ruins to be new repair'd,

Which with our bombards' shot and basilisk,

We rent in sunder at our entry :

And now I see the situation,

And how secure this conquer'd island stands
Inviron'd with the Mediterranean sea,
Strong countermin'd with other petty isles;
And toward Calabria back'd by Sicily,
Where Syracusian Dionysius reign'd;
Two lofty turrets that command the town;
I wonder how it could be conquer'd thus?

Enter a MESSENGER.

MESS. From Barabas, Malta's governor, I bring
A message unto mighty Calymath;
Hearing his sovereign was bound for sea,
To sail to Turkey, to great Ottoman,
He humbly would entreat your majesty
To come and see his homely citadel,

And banquet with him ere thou leav'st the isle.
CALY. To banquet with him in his citadel?
I fear me, messenger, to feast my train
Within a town of war so lately pillag'd,
Will be too costly and too troublesome :
Yet would I gladly visit Barabas,
For well has Barabas deserv'd of us.
MESS. Selim, for that, thus saith the
That he hath in store a pearl so big,
So precious, and withal so orient,
As be it valued but indifferently,
The price thereof will serve to entertain
Selim and all his soldiers for a month;
Therefore he humbly would intreat your highness
Not to depart till he has feasted you.

governor,

CALY. I cannot feast my men in Malta walls, Except he place his tables in the streets.

MESS. Know, Selim, that there is a monastery Which standeth as an out-house to the town: There will he banquet them, but thee at home, With all thy bashaws and brave followers.

CALY. Well, tell the governor we grant his suit, We'll in this summer evening feast with him.

MESS. I shall, my lord,

[Exit.

CALY. And now, bold bashaws, let us to our tents,

And meditate how we may grace us best

To solemnize our governor's great feast.

SCENE IV.

[Exeunt.

Enter GOVERNOR, KNIGHTS, DEL-BOSCO.

Gov. In this, my countrymen, be rul'd by me,
Have special care that no man sally forth
Till you shall hear a culverin discharg'd
By him that bears the linstock, kindled thus;
Then issue out and come to rescue me,
For haply I shall be in distress,

Or you released of this servitude.

KNIGHT. Rather than thus to live as Turkish thralls.

What will we not adventure?

Gov. On then, begone.

KNIGHT. Farewell, grave governor!

Enter BARABAS, with a hammer, above, very busy. BAR. How stand the cords? How hang these hinges, fast?

Are all the cranes and pulleys sure?

SERV. All fast.

BAR. Leave nothing loose, all levelled to my mind. Why now I see that you have art indeed.

There, carpenters, divide that gold amongst you:
Go swill in bowls of sack and muscadine !
Down to the cellar, taste of all my wines.

CARP. We shall, my lord, and thank you :

[Exeunt.

BAR. And if you like them, drink your fill and die: For so I live, perish may all the world. Now Selim Calymath return me word That thou wilt come, and I am satisfied.

Now sirrah, what, will he come?

Enter MESSENGER.

MES. He will; and has commanded all his men To come ashore, and march through Malta streets, That thou mayest feast them in thy citadel.

BAR. Then now are all things as my wish would have 'em,

There wanteth nothing but the governor's pelf,
And see, he brings it: Now, governor, the sum.
Enter GOVERNOR.

Gov. With free consent, a hundred thousand pounds.

BAR. Pounds say'st thou, governor, well, since it

is no more

I'll satisfy myself with that; nay, keep it still,
For if I keep not promise, trust not me.
And governor, now partake my policy:
First, for his army, they are sent before,
Enter'd the monastery, and underneath
In several places are field-pieces pitch'd,
Bombards, whole barrels full of gunpowder,
That on the sudden shall dissever it,

And batter all the stones about their ears,