No More Learning

]_ Damn him, let him chew on't!
Heav'n! where am I? beset with cursed fiends,
That wait to damn me! What a devil's man,
When he forgets his nature! --hush, my heart.

_[Renault and the Conspirators advance_

_Ren. _ My friends, 'tis late: are we assembled all?

_Spin. _ All--all!

_Ren. _ (C. ) Oh! you're men, I find,
Fit to behold your fate, and meet her summons.
To-morrow's rising sun must see you all
Decked in your honours. Are the soldiers ready?

_Pierre. _ 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:
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. _ (L. ) _[Aside. ]_ Oh, reverend cruelty! damned, bloody
villain!

_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;
This done, we'll give the general alarm,
Apply petards, and force the ars'nal gates;
Then fire the city round in several places,
Or with our cannon, if it dare resist,
Batter to ruin. But, above all, I charge you,
Shed blood enough; spare neither sex nor age,
Name nor condition: if there lives 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. _ _[Aside to R. ]_ Merciless, horrid slave! Ay, blood
enough!
Shed blood enough, old Renault! how thou charm'st me!

_Ren. _ But one thing more, and then farewell, till fate
Join us again, or sep'rate us forever:
But let us 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.
You droop, sir. _[To Jaffier. _

_Jaf. _ (L. C. ) No: with most profound attention
I've heard it all, and wonder at thy virtue.

_Ren. _ 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. _ (L. ) _[Aside,]_ Oh, Belvidera! take me to thy arms,
Ard show me where's my peace, for I have lost it.

_[Exit, L. D. _

_Ren. _ (L. C. ) Without the least remorse, then, let's resolve
With fire and sword t'exterminate these tyrants,
Under whose weight this wretched country labours.

_Pierre. _ (R. ) And may those Powers above, that are propitious
To gallant minds, record this cause, and bless it!

_Ren. _ (L. ) Thus happy, thus secure of all we wish for,
Should there, my friends, be found among us one
False to this glorious enterprise, what fate,
What vengeance, were enough for such a villain!

_Elliot. _ (R. C. ) Death here, without repentance--hell
hereafter!

_Ren. _ (C. ) Let that be my lot, if, as here I stand,
Listed by fate among her darling sons,
Tho' I had one only brother, dear by all
The strictest ties of nature,
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?

_Pierre. _ You've singled me, sir, out for this hard question,
As if 'twere 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. _ (R. C. ) 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.
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--

_Pierre. _ Well? _[Goes to Renault_

_Ren. _ And I could wish it--

_Pierre. _ Where?

_Ren. _ Buried in his heart.

_Pierre. _ 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;
Pull him from the dark hole, where he sits brooding
O'er his cold fears, and each man kill his share of him.

_Pierre. _ (L. ) Who talks of killing] Who's he'll shed
the blood,
That's dear to me? I'st you, or you, or you, sir?

_[Passing from L. to R. _

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 Renault. _

_Ren. _ (C. ) A coward! _[Handles his sword. _

_Pierre. _ (R. ) Put---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.

_Pierre. _ Again! Who's that?

_Spin. _ 'Twas I.

_Theo. _ And I.

_Ren. _ And I.

_Spin. _ And all.
Let's die like men, and not be sold like slaves.

_Pierre. _ (C. ) 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 sheaths?
Why do you not all brandish them like mine?
You fear to die, and yet dare talk of killing. _[Going, L. _

_Ren. _ (R. C. ) Go to the senate, and betray us--haste!
Secure thy wretched life; we fear to die
Less than thou dar'st be honest.

_Pierre. _ That's rank falsehood.
Fear'st thou not 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.
Faugh--how that stinks!

_[Exit Renault, R. _

"Thou die? thou kill my friend?
"Or thou? with that lean, withered, wretched face! "
Away, disperse all to your several charges,
And meet to-morrow, where your honour calls you.

_[Retiring to M. D. _

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!

_Spin. _ I fear we've been to blame,
And done too much.

_Theo. _ 'Twas too far urged against the man you love

_Elliot. _ Forgive us, gallant friend.

_Pierre. _ _[Advancing. ]_ 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;
Nay, he shall die, if you will take him from me;
For your repose, I'll quit my heart's best jewel;
But would not have him torn away by villains,
And spiteful villainy.

_Spin. _ _[And other Conspirators stand, R. ]_ No; may ye both
Forever live, and fill the world with fame!

_Pierre. _ Now, you're too kind. Whence arose all this discord?
Oh! what a dangerous precipice have we 'scaped!
How near a fall was all we'd long been building!
What an eternal blot had stained our glories,
If one, the bravest and the best of men,
Had fall'n a sacrifice to rash suspicion,
Butchered by those, whose cause he came to cherish!
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,
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 Conspirators, R. , Pierre L_

END OF ACT III.




ACT IV.

_Scene I. --A Street. _

_Enter Belvidera and Jaffier, L. _

_Jaf. _ (L. C. ) Where dost thou lead me? Ev'ry step I move,
Methinks I tread upon some mangled limb
Of a racked friend. Oh, my dear, charming ruin!
Whare are we wandering?

_Bel. _ (R. C. ) To eternal honour!
To do a deed, shall chronicle thy name
Among the glorious legends of those few
That have saved sinking nations. Every street
Shall be adorned with statues to thy honour:
And, at thy feet, this great inscription written--
"Remember him, thai 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 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 will
Of that infernal devil!
Last night, my love--

_Jaf. _ Name, name it not again:
Destruction, swift destruction,
Fall on my coward head, if
I forgive him!

_Bel. _ Delay no longer, then, but to the senate,
And tell the dismal'st story ever uttered;
Tell them what bloodshed, rapines, desolations,
Have been prepared;--how near's the fatal hour.
Save thy poor country, save the rev'rend blood
Of all its nobles, which to-morrow's dawn
Must else see shed!

_Jaf. _ Oh!

_Bel. _ 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.

_Jaf. _ By all Heav'n's powers, prophetic truth dwells in thee!
For every word thou speak'st, strikes through my heart,
Like a new light, and shows it how't has wandered--
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 friends? Ah! take me quickly,
Secure me well before that thought's renewed;
If I relapse once more, all's lost forever.

_Bel. _ Hast thou a friend more dear than Belvidera?

_Jaf. _ No: Thou'rt my soul itself; wealth, friendship,
honour!
All present joys, and earnest of all future,
Are summed in thee. _[Going, R. _

_Enter Captain and Guards, R. S. E. _

_Capt. _ Stand! who goes there?

_Bel. _ Friends.

_Capt. _ But what friends are you?

_Bel. _ Friends to the senate, and the state of Venice.

_Capt. _ 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.
Now the lot's cast, and, fate, do what thou wilt.

_[Exeunt Jaffier and Belvidera, guarded. _


_Scene II. --The Senate House. _

_The Duke of Venice, Priuli, and other Senators
discovered, sitting. _

_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?

_Priuli. _ (R. ) 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 heaven:
Heav'n knows, if yet there be an hour to come,
Ere Venice be no more.

_Duke. _ How!

_Priuli. _ Nay, we stand
Upon the very brink of gaping ruin.
Within this city's formed 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, fixed;
The swords, for aught I know, drawn ev'n this moment,
And the wild waste begun. From unknown hands
I had this warning: but, if we are men,
Let's not be tamely butchered, but do something
That may inform the world in after ages,
Our virtue was not ruined, though we were.

_[A noise within, L. _

_Capt. _ _[Within]_ Room, room, make room there for some
prisoners!

_Enter Officer, L. _

_Duke. _ Speak, speak, there! What disturbance?
Officer. A prisoner have the guards seized in the street,
Who says, he comes to inform this reverend council
About the present danger.

_Enter Officer, Jaffier Captain, and Guards, L. _

_All. _ Give him entrance. --_[Exit Officer. ]_ Well, who ate
you?

_Jaf. _ (L. ) A villain!
Would, every man that hears me,
Would deal so honestly, and own his title!

_Duke. _ 'Tis rumored, that a plot has been contrived
Against the state, and you've a share in't, too.
If you're a villain, to redeem your honour,
Unfold the truth, and be restored 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 fixed and sealed. 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 fears won't let you, nor 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 scared with threat'nings; boys are whipped
Into confessions: but a steady mind
Acts of itself, ne'er asks the body counsel.
Give him the tortures! --name but such a thing
Again, by heav'n, I'll shut these lips forever!
Nor all your racks, your engines, or your wheels,
Shall force a groan away, that you may guess at!

_[Crosses, M. _

_Duke. _ Name your conditions.

_Jaf. _ (R. ) For myself, full pardon,
Besides, the lives of two-and-twenty friends,
Whose names I have enrolled--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 ratified. Swear this,
And I'll unfold the secrets of your danger.

_Duke. _ Propose the oath.

_Jaf. _ (C. ) By all the hopes
You have of peace and happiness hereafter,
Swear!

_Duke. _ We swear.

_Jaf. _ And, as ye keep the oath,
May you and your posterity be blessed,
Or cursed, forever!

_Duke. _ Else be cursed forever

_Jaf. _ Then here's the list, and with't, the full disclosure

_[Delivers two papers to the Officer, who delivers them to
the Duke. _

Of all that threaten you.
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
To be at the house of the famed Grecian courtesan,
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 fast, ere I had known this minute!

_Duke. _ Captain, withdraw your prisoner.

_Jaf. _ Sir, _[To Officer,]_ 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, R_

Officer. _[Without. ]_ More traitors! room, room, room,
make room there!

_Duke. _ How's this?
The treason's
Already at the doors!

_Enter Officer and Captain, L. _

Officer. My lords, more traitors!
Seized in the very act of consultation:
Furnished with arms and instruments of mischief. --
Bring in the prisoners!

_Enter Spinosa, Elliot, Theodore, Durand, Mezzana,
Renault, and Pierre, in Chains, L. _

_Pierre. _ (L. ) You, my lords and fathers,
(As you are pleased to call yourselves,) of Venice;
If you set here to guide the course of justice,
Why these disgraceful chains upon the limbs
That have so often laboured in your service?
Are these the wreaths of triumph you bestow
On those that bring you conquest home, and honours?

_Duke. _ Go on! you shall be heard, sir.

_Pierre. _ (L. C. ) Are these the trophies I've deserved for
fighting
Your battles with confederated powers?
When winds and seas conspired to overthrow you,
And brought the fleets of Spain to your own harbours,
When you, great duke, shrunk trembling in your palace:
Stepped not I forth, and taught your loose Venetians
The task of honour, and the way to greatness?
Raised you from your capitulating fears
To stipulate the terms of sued-for peace?
And this my recompence! 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!

_[Goes to the table_.

_Duke. _ Know you one Jaffier?

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

_Duke. _ See him brought forth.

_Enter Captain, with Jaffier in Chains, R. _

_Pierre. _ 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're but one thing? These reverend tyrants, Jaffier
Do call us traitors. Art thou one, my brother?

_Jaf. _ (R. C. ) 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've crowned,
Has this cursed tongue o'erthrown.

_Pierre. _ (C. ) So, then, all's over:
Venice has lost her freedom, I my life.
No more! _[Crosses, L. _

_Duke. _ Say; will you make confession
Of your vile deeds, and trust the senate's mercy!

_Pierre. _ _[Returns to C. ]_ Cursed be your senate, cursed
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?

_Pierre. _ Death! honourable death!

_Ren. _ (L. ) Death's the best thing we ask, or you can
give.

_Duke. _ Break up the council. Captain, guard your prisoners.
Jaffier, you're free; but these must wait for judgment.

_[Exeunt Duke, Senators, Conspirators, and Officer. _

_Pierre.