How my heart swells, as even 'twould burst my bosom,
Fond of its goal, and labouring to be at thee!
Fond of its goal, and labouring to be at thee!
Thomas Otway
[_Exeunt.
_
[Illustration]
SCENE II. -_The Senate House. _
The Duke of VENICE, PRIULI, ANTONIO, _and eight_
_other_ Senators _discovered in session_.
_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?
_Priu. _ 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.
Heaven knows if yet there be an hour to come
Ere Venice be no more!
_All the Senators. _ How!
_Priu. _ 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 even 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.
[_Voices without_] Room, room, make room for some prisoners!
_2nd Senat. _ Let's raise the city.
_Enter_ Officer _and_ Guard.
_Priu. _ Speak there, what disturbance?
_Offi. _ Two prisoners have the guard seized in the streets,
Who say they come to inform this reverend Senate
About the present danger.
_All. _ Give them entrance. --
_Enter_ JAFFIER _and_ BELVIDERA, _guarded_.
Well; who are you?
_Jaff. _ A villain.
_Ant. _ Short and pithy.
The man speaks well.
_Jaff. _ 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; that you've a share in't too.
If you're a villain, to redeem your honour,
Unfold the truth, and be restored with mercy.
_Jaff. _ Think not that I, to save my life, come 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! [74]
Give him the tortures.
_Jaff. _ 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 threatenings; 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 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.
_Jaff. _ For myself full pardon,
Besides the lives of two and twenty friends [_Delivers a list. _
Whose names are here 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.
_All. _ We'll swear.
_Duke. _ Propose the oath.
_Jaff. _ By all the hopes
Ye have of peace and happiness hereafter,
Swear.
_All. _ We all swear.
_Jaff. _ To grant me what I've asked,
Ye swear?
_All. _ We swear.
_Jaff. _ And as ye keep the oath,
May you and your posterity be blessed,
Or cursed for ever!
_All. _ Else be cursed for ever!
_Jaff. _ Then here's the list, and with it the full disclose
Of all that threatens you. Now, fate, thou'st caught me.
[_Delivers another paper. _
_Ant. _ Why, what a dreadful catalogue of cut-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 courtesan,
Called Aquilina; see that place secured.
_Ant. _ What, my Nicky Nacky, hurry durry, Nicky
Nacky in the plot? --I'll make a speech. --
Most noble senators,
What headlong apprehension drives you on,
Right noble, wise, and truly solid senators,
To violate the laws and right of nations?
The lady is a lady of renown.
'Tis true, she holds a house of fair reception,
And though I say it myself, as many more
Can say as well as I--
_2nd Senat. _ My lord, long speeches
Are frivolous here, when dangers are so near us.
We all well know your interest in that lady;
The world talks loud on't.
_Ant. _ Verily, I have done,
I say no more.
_Duke. _ But, since he has declared
Himself concerned, pray, captain, take great caution
To treat the fair one as becomes her character,
And let her bed-chamber be searched with decency.
You, Jaffier, must with patience bear till morning
To be our prisoner.
_Jaff. _ Would the chains of death
Had bound me fast ere 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 through the low traditions of the vulgar,
And boys be taught to tell the tale of Jaffier.
_Duke. _ Captain, withdraw your prisoner.
_Jaff. _ 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!
[_Exeunt_ JAFFIER _and_
BELVIDERA, _guarded_.
[_Voices without_] More traitors; room, room, make room there.
_Duke. _ How's 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,
REVILLIDO, _and other_ Conspirators, _in fetters,_
_guarded_.
_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?
Are these the wreaths of triumphs ye bestow
On those that bring you conquests home, and honours?
_Duke. _ Go on; you shall be heard, sir.
_Ant. _ And be hanged, too, I hope.
_Pier. _ 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,
And saw your wife, the Adriatic, ploughed,
Like a lewd whore, by bolder prows than yours,
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 recompense? If I'm a traitor,
Produce my charge; or show the wretch that's base enough
And brave enough to tell me I'm a traitor.
_Duke. _ Know you one Jaffier? [_All the_ Conspirators _murmur_.
_Pier. _ 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.
_Re-enter_ JAFFIER, _guarded_.
_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're but one thing? These reverend tyrants, Jaffier,
Call us all traitors: art thou one, my brother?
_Jaff. _ 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;
The curse of growing factions and division
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?
_Pier. _ Death, honourable death!
_Ren. _ Death's the best thing we ask, or you can give.
_All Conspir. _ No shameful bonds, but honourable death.
_Duke. _ Break up the council. Captain, guard your prisoners.
Jaffier, you're free, but these must wait for judgment.
[_Exeunt all the_ Senators. [75]
<i>Pier. </i> Come, where's my dungeon? lead me to my straw:
It will not be the first time I've lodged hard
To do your Senate service.
<i>Jaff. </i> Hold one moment.
<i>Pier. </i> Who's he disputes the judgment of the Senate?
Presumptuous rebel--on-- [<i>Strikes</i> <sc>Jaffier</sc>.
<i>Jaff. </i> By Heaven, you stir not!
I must be heard, I must have leave to speak.
Thou hast disgraced 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;
Shut not thy heart against a friend's repentance,
But, as there dwells a godlike nature in thee,
Listen with mildness to my supplications.
<i>Pier. </i> 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.
Dissemble and be nasty: leave me, hypocrite.
<i>Jaff. </i> Not know me, Pierre?
<i>Pier. </i> No, know thee not: what art thou?
<i>Jaff. </i> Jaffier, thy friend, thy once loved, valued friend,
Though now deservedly scorned, and used most hardly.
<i>Pier. </i> Thou Jaffier! thou my once loved, valued friend?
By Heavens, thou liest! The man so called, my 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 chilled at.
<i>Jaff. </i> I have not wronged thee, by these tears I have not,
But still am honest, true, and hope, too, valiant;
My mind still full of thee: therefore still noble.
Let not thy eyes then shun me, nor thy heart
Detest me utterly: oh, look upon me,
Look back and see my sad, sincere submission!
How my heart swells, as even 'twould burst my bosom,
Fond of its goal, and labouring to be at thee!
What shall I do--what say to make thee hear me?
<i>Pier. </i> Hast thou not wronged me? dar'st thou call thyself
Jaffier, that once loved, valued friend of mine,
And swear thou hast not wronged me? Whence these chains?
Whence the vile death which I may meet this moment?
Whence this dishonour, but from thee, thou false one?
<i>Jaff. </i> All's true, yet grant one thing, and I've done asking.
<i>Pier. </i> What's that?
<i>Jaff. </i> To take thy life on such conditions
The Council have proposed: thou and thy friends
May yet live long, and to be better treated.
<i>Pier. </i> Life! ask my life? confess! record myself
A villain, for the privilege to breathe,
And carry up and down this cursèd city
A discontented and repining spirit,
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.
<i>Jaff. </i> By all that's just--
<i>Pier. </i> Swear by some other powers,
For thou hast broke that sacred oath too lately.
<i>Jaff. </i> Then, by that hell I merit, I'll not leave thee,
Till to thyself, at least, thou'rt reconciled,
However thy resentments deal with me.
<i>Pier. </i> Not leave me!
<i>Jaff. </i> 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 them, though they spurn me,
Till, wounded by my sufferings, thou relent,
And raise me to thy arms with dear forgiveness.
<i>Pier. </i> Art thou not--
<i>Jaff. </i> What?
<i>Pier. </i> A traitor?
<i>Jaff. </i> Yes.
<i>Pier. </i> A villain?
<i>Jaff. </i> Granted.
<i>Pier. </i> A coward, a most scandalous coward,
Spiritless, void of honour, one who has sold
Thy everlasting fame for shameless life?
<i>Jaff. </i> All, all, and more, much more: my faults are numberless.
<i>Pier. </i> And wouldst thou have me live on terms like thine?
Base as thou'rt false--
<i>Jaff. </i> No; 'tis to me that's granted.
The safety of thy life was all I aimed at,
In recompense for faith and trust so broken.
<i>Pier. </i> I scorn it more, because preserved by thee:
And as when first my foolish heart took pity
On thy misfortunes, sought thee in thy miseries,
Relieved thy wants, and raised thee from thy state
Of wretchedness in which thy fate had plunged thee,
To rank thee in my list of noble friends,
All I received in surety for thy truth
Were unregarded oaths, and this, this dagger,
Given with a worthless pledge thou since hast stolen,
So I restore it back to thee again;
Swearing by all those powers which thou hast violated,
Never from this cursed 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.
<i>Jaff. </i> Say thou wilt live then.
<i>Pier. </i> For my life, dispose it
Just as thou wilt, because 'tis what I'm tired with.
<i>Jaff. </i> O Pierre!
<i>Pier. </i> No more.
<i>Jaff. </i> My eyes won't lose the sight of thee,
But languish after thine, and ache with gazing.
<i>Pier. </i> Leave me--Nay, then thus, thus I throw thee from me,
And curses, great as is thy falsehood, catch thee!
[_Exeunt_ PIERRE _and_ Conspirators, _guarded_.
_Jaff. _ Amen! he's gone, my father, friend, preserver;
And here's the portion he has left me. [_Holds the dagger up. _
This dagger, well remembered; with this dagger
I gave a solemn vow of dire importance;
Parted with this and Belvidera together;--
Have a care, memory; drive that thought no farther;--
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, called traitor, villain,
Coward, dishonourable coward, faugh!
O for a long sound sleep, and so forget it!
Down, busy devil--
_Re-enter_ BELVIDERA.
_Belv. _ 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 used to smile even on my faults, but down
Bending these miserable eyes to earth,
Must move in penance, and implore much mercy.
_Jaff. _ Mercy! kind Heaven has surely endless stores,
Hoarded for thee, of blessings yet untasted.
Let wretches loaded hard with guilt as I am
Bow with the weight, and groan beneath the burthen;
Creep, with a remnant of that strength they've left,
Before the footstool of that Heaven they've injured.
O Belvidera! I'm the wretchedest creature
E'er crawled on earth: now, if thou'st virtue, help me;
Take me
Into thy arms, and speak the words of peace
To my divided soul, that wars within me
And raises every sense to my confusion;
By Heaven, I'm tottering on the very brink
Of peace, and thou art all the hold I've left.
_Belv. _ Alas! I know thy sorrows are most mighty;
I know thou'st cause to mourn, to mourn, my Jaffier,
With endless cries, and never-ceasing wailings;
Thou'st lost--
_Jaff. _ Oh, I have lost what can't be counted!
My friend too, Belvidera,--that dear friend,
Who, next to thee, was all my health rejoiced in,--
Has used me like a slave, shamefully used me;
'Twould break thy pitying heart to hear the story!
What shall I do? resentment, indignation,
Love, pity, fear, and memory how I've wronged him,
Distract my quiet with the very thought on't,
And tear my heart to pieces in my bosom.
_Belv. _ What has he done?
_Jaff. _ Thou'dst hate me, should I tell thee.
_Belv. _ Why?
_Jaff. _ Oh, he has used me--yet, by Heaven, I bear it!
He has used me, Belvidera--but first swear
That when I've told thee thou'lt not loathe me utterly,
Though vilest blots and stains appear upon me;
But still at least, with charitable goodness,
Be near me in the pangs of my affliction--
Not scorn me, Belvidera, as he has done.
_Belv. _ Have I then e'er been false, that now I'm doubted?
Speak, what's the cause I'm grown into distrust?
Why thought unfit to hear my love's complainings?
_Jaff. _ Oh!
_Belv. _ Tell me.
_Jaff. _ Bear my failings, for they're many.
O my dear angel! in that friend I've lost
All my soul's peace; for every thought of him
Strikes my sense hard, and deads it in my brains.
Wouldst thou believe it? --
_Belv. _ Speak.
_Jaff. _ 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,
Humbling myself almost beneath my nature,
As at his feet I kneeled, and sued for mercy,
Forgetting all our friendship, all the dearness
In which we've lived so many years together,
With a reproachful hand he dashed a blow:
He struck me, Belvidera--by Heaven, he struck me,
Buffeted, called me traitor, villain, coward.
Am I a coward? am I a villain? tell me:
Thou'rt the best judge, and madest me, if I am so.
Damnation! coward!
_Belv. _ Oh! forgive him, Jaffier;
And, if his sufferings wound thy heart already,
What will they do to-morrow?
_Jaff. _ Ha!
_Belv. _ To-morrow;
When thou shalt see him stretched 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
Like my eyes now.
_Jaff. _ What means thy dreadful story?
Death, and to-morrow! broken limbs and bowels!
Insulted o'er by a vile butchering villain!
By all my fears, I shall start out to madness,
With barely guessing, if the truth's hid longer.
_Belv. _ The faithless senators, 'tis they've decreed it:
They say, according to our friends' request,
They shall have death, and not ignoble bondage;
Declare their promised mercy all as forfeited;
False to their oaths, and deaf to intercession,
Warrants are passed for public death to-morrow.
_Jaff. _ Death! doomed to die! condemned unheard! unpleaded!
_Belv. _ Nay, cruellest racks and torments are preparing,
To force confessions from their dying pangs.
Oh, do not look so terribly upon me:
How your lips shake, and all your face disordered!
What means my love?
_Jaff. _ Leave me, I charge thee, leave me! strong temptations
Wake in my heart.
_Belv. _ For what?
_Jaff. _ No more; but leave me.
_Belv. _ Why?
_Jaff. _ Oh! by Heaven, I love thee with that fondness,
I would not have thee stay a moment longer
Near these cursed hands; are they not cold upon thee?
_Belv. _ No, everlasting comfort's in thy arms.
[_Pulls the dagger half out of his bosom,_
_and puts it back again. _
To lean thus on thy breast is softer ease
Than downy pillows decked with leaves of roses.
_Jaff. _ Alas! thou think'st not of the thorns 'tis filled with;
Fly ere they gall thee: there's a lurking serpent
Ready to leap and sting thee to thy heart:
Art thou not terrified?
_Belv. _ No.
_Jaff. _ Call to mind
What thou hast done, and whither thou hast brought me.
_Belv. _ Ha!
_Jaff. _ Where's my friend? my friend, thou smiling mischief?
Nay, shrink not, now 'tis too late; thou shouldst have fled
When thy guilt first had cause; for dire revenge
Is up, and raging for my friend. He groans!
Hark how he groans! his screams are in my ears
Already! see, they've fixed him on the wheel,
And now they tear him--Murder! perjured Senate!
Murder--Oh! --hark thee, traitress, thou'st done this;
Thanks to thy tears and false-persuading love,
[_Fumbling for his dagger. _
How her eyes speak! O thou bewitching creature!
Madness can't hurt thee: come, thou little trembler,
Creep even into my heart, and there lie safe;
'Tis thy own citadel--ha! --yet stand off:
Heaven must have justice, and my broken vows
Will sink me else beneath its reaching mercy;
I'll wink, and then 'tis done--
_Belv. _ What means the lord
Of me, my life and love? what's in thy bosom,
Thou grasp'st at so? Nay, why am I thus treated?
[_He draws the dagger, and offers to stab her. _
What wilt thou do? Ah, do not kill me, Jaffier!
Pity these panting breasts, and trembling limbs,
That used to clasp thee when thy looks were milder,[76]
That yet hang heavy on my unpurged soul,
And plunge it not into eternal darkness.
_Jaff. _ No, Belvidera; when we parted last,
I gave this dagger with thee as in trust
To be thy portion, if I e'er proved false.
On such condition was my truth believed;
But now 'tis forfeited, and must be paid for.
[_Offers to stab her again.
[Illustration]
SCENE II. -_The Senate House. _
The Duke of VENICE, PRIULI, ANTONIO, _and eight_
_other_ Senators _discovered in session_.
_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?
_Priu. _ 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.
Heaven knows if yet there be an hour to come
Ere Venice be no more!
_All the Senators. _ How!
_Priu. _ 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 even 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.
[_Voices without_] Room, room, make room for some prisoners!
_2nd Senat. _ Let's raise the city.
_Enter_ Officer _and_ Guard.
_Priu. _ Speak there, what disturbance?
_Offi. _ Two prisoners have the guard seized in the streets,
Who say they come to inform this reverend Senate
About the present danger.
_All. _ Give them entrance. --
_Enter_ JAFFIER _and_ BELVIDERA, _guarded_.
Well; who are you?
_Jaff. _ A villain.
_Ant. _ Short and pithy.
The man speaks well.
_Jaff. _ 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; that you've a share in't too.
If you're a villain, to redeem your honour,
Unfold the truth, and be restored with mercy.
_Jaff. _ Think not that I, to save my life, come 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! [74]
Give him the tortures.
_Jaff. _ 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 threatenings; 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 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.
_Jaff. _ For myself full pardon,
Besides the lives of two and twenty friends [_Delivers a list. _
Whose names are here 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.
_All. _ We'll swear.
_Duke. _ Propose the oath.
_Jaff. _ By all the hopes
Ye have of peace and happiness hereafter,
Swear.
_All. _ We all swear.
_Jaff. _ To grant me what I've asked,
Ye swear?
_All. _ We swear.
_Jaff. _ And as ye keep the oath,
May you and your posterity be blessed,
Or cursed for ever!
_All. _ Else be cursed for ever!
_Jaff. _ Then here's the list, and with it the full disclose
Of all that threatens you. Now, fate, thou'st caught me.
[_Delivers another paper. _
_Ant. _ Why, what a dreadful catalogue of cut-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 courtesan,
Called Aquilina; see that place secured.
_Ant. _ What, my Nicky Nacky, hurry durry, Nicky
Nacky in the plot? --I'll make a speech. --
Most noble senators,
What headlong apprehension drives you on,
Right noble, wise, and truly solid senators,
To violate the laws and right of nations?
The lady is a lady of renown.
'Tis true, she holds a house of fair reception,
And though I say it myself, as many more
Can say as well as I--
_2nd Senat. _ My lord, long speeches
Are frivolous here, when dangers are so near us.
We all well know your interest in that lady;
The world talks loud on't.
_Ant. _ Verily, I have done,
I say no more.
_Duke. _ But, since he has declared
Himself concerned, pray, captain, take great caution
To treat the fair one as becomes her character,
And let her bed-chamber be searched with decency.
You, Jaffier, must with patience bear till morning
To be our prisoner.
_Jaff. _ Would the chains of death
Had bound me fast ere 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 through the low traditions of the vulgar,
And boys be taught to tell the tale of Jaffier.
_Duke. _ Captain, withdraw your prisoner.
_Jaff. _ 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!
[_Exeunt_ JAFFIER _and_
BELVIDERA, _guarded_.
[_Voices without_] More traitors; room, room, make room there.
_Duke. _ How's 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,
REVILLIDO, _and other_ Conspirators, _in fetters,_
_guarded_.
_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?
Are these the wreaths of triumphs ye bestow
On those that bring you conquests home, and honours?
_Duke. _ Go on; you shall be heard, sir.
_Ant. _ And be hanged, too, I hope.
_Pier. _ 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,
And saw your wife, the Adriatic, ploughed,
Like a lewd whore, by bolder prows than yours,
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 recompense? If I'm a traitor,
Produce my charge; or show the wretch that's base enough
And brave enough to tell me I'm a traitor.
_Duke. _ Know you one Jaffier? [_All the_ Conspirators _murmur_.
_Pier. _ 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.
_Re-enter_ JAFFIER, _guarded_.
_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're but one thing? These reverend tyrants, Jaffier,
Call us all traitors: art thou one, my brother?
_Jaff. _ 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;
The curse of growing factions and division
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?
_Pier. _ Death, honourable death!
_Ren. _ Death's the best thing we ask, or you can give.
_All Conspir. _ No shameful bonds, but honourable death.
_Duke. _ Break up the council. Captain, guard your prisoners.
Jaffier, you're free, but these must wait for judgment.
[_Exeunt all the_ Senators. [75]
<i>Pier. </i> Come, where's my dungeon? lead me to my straw:
It will not be the first time I've lodged hard
To do your Senate service.
<i>Jaff. </i> Hold one moment.
<i>Pier. </i> Who's he disputes the judgment of the Senate?
Presumptuous rebel--on-- [<i>Strikes</i> <sc>Jaffier</sc>.
<i>Jaff. </i> By Heaven, you stir not!
I must be heard, I must have leave to speak.
Thou hast disgraced 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;
Shut not thy heart against a friend's repentance,
But, as there dwells a godlike nature in thee,
Listen with mildness to my supplications.
<i>Pier. </i> 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.
Dissemble and be nasty: leave me, hypocrite.
<i>Jaff. </i> Not know me, Pierre?
<i>Pier. </i> No, know thee not: what art thou?
<i>Jaff. </i> Jaffier, thy friend, thy once loved, valued friend,
Though now deservedly scorned, and used most hardly.
<i>Pier. </i> Thou Jaffier! thou my once loved, valued friend?
By Heavens, thou liest! The man so called, my 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 chilled at.
<i>Jaff. </i> I have not wronged thee, by these tears I have not,
But still am honest, true, and hope, too, valiant;
My mind still full of thee: therefore still noble.
Let not thy eyes then shun me, nor thy heart
Detest me utterly: oh, look upon me,
Look back and see my sad, sincere submission!
How my heart swells, as even 'twould burst my bosom,
Fond of its goal, and labouring to be at thee!
What shall I do--what say to make thee hear me?
<i>Pier. </i> Hast thou not wronged me? dar'st thou call thyself
Jaffier, that once loved, valued friend of mine,
And swear thou hast not wronged me? Whence these chains?
Whence the vile death which I may meet this moment?
Whence this dishonour, but from thee, thou false one?
<i>Jaff. </i> All's true, yet grant one thing, and I've done asking.
<i>Pier. </i> What's that?
<i>Jaff. </i> To take thy life on such conditions
The Council have proposed: thou and thy friends
May yet live long, and to be better treated.
<i>Pier. </i> Life! ask my life? confess! record myself
A villain, for the privilege to breathe,
And carry up and down this cursèd city
A discontented and repining spirit,
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.
<i>Jaff. </i> By all that's just--
<i>Pier. </i> Swear by some other powers,
For thou hast broke that sacred oath too lately.
<i>Jaff. </i> Then, by that hell I merit, I'll not leave thee,
Till to thyself, at least, thou'rt reconciled,
However thy resentments deal with me.
<i>Pier. </i> Not leave me!
<i>Jaff. </i> 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 them, though they spurn me,
Till, wounded by my sufferings, thou relent,
And raise me to thy arms with dear forgiveness.
<i>Pier. </i> Art thou not--
<i>Jaff. </i> What?
<i>Pier. </i> A traitor?
<i>Jaff. </i> Yes.
<i>Pier. </i> A villain?
<i>Jaff. </i> Granted.
<i>Pier. </i> A coward, a most scandalous coward,
Spiritless, void of honour, one who has sold
Thy everlasting fame for shameless life?
<i>Jaff. </i> All, all, and more, much more: my faults are numberless.
<i>Pier. </i> And wouldst thou have me live on terms like thine?
Base as thou'rt false--
<i>Jaff. </i> No; 'tis to me that's granted.
The safety of thy life was all I aimed at,
In recompense for faith and trust so broken.
<i>Pier. </i> I scorn it more, because preserved by thee:
And as when first my foolish heart took pity
On thy misfortunes, sought thee in thy miseries,
Relieved thy wants, and raised thee from thy state
Of wretchedness in which thy fate had plunged thee,
To rank thee in my list of noble friends,
All I received in surety for thy truth
Were unregarded oaths, and this, this dagger,
Given with a worthless pledge thou since hast stolen,
So I restore it back to thee again;
Swearing by all those powers which thou hast violated,
Never from this cursed 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.
<i>Jaff. </i> Say thou wilt live then.
<i>Pier. </i> For my life, dispose it
Just as thou wilt, because 'tis what I'm tired with.
<i>Jaff. </i> O Pierre!
<i>Pier. </i> No more.
<i>Jaff. </i> My eyes won't lose the sight of thee,
But languish after thine, and ache with gazing.
<i>Pier. </i> Leave me--Nay, then thus, thus I throw thee from me,
And curses, great as is thy falsehood, catch thee!
[_Exeunt_ PIERRE _and_ Conspirators, _guarded_.
_Jaff. _ Amen! he's gone, my father, friend, preserver;
And here's the portion he has left me. [_Holds the dagger up. _
This dagger, well remembered; with this dagger
I gave a solemn vow of dire importance;
Parted with this and Belvidera together;--
Have a care, memory; drive that thought no farther;--
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, called traitor, villain,
Coward, dishonourable coward, faugh!
O for a long sound sleep, and so forget it!
Down, busy devil--
_Re-enter_ BELVIDERA.
_Belv. _ 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 used to smile even on my faults, but down
Bending these miserable eyes to earth,
Must move in penance, and implore much mercy.
_Jaff. _ Mercy! kind Heaven has surely endless stores,
Hoarded for thee, of blessings yet untasted.
Let wretches loaded hard with guilt as I am
Bow with the weight, and groan beneath the burthen;
Creep, with a remnant of that strength they've left,
Before the footstool of that Heaven they've injured.
O Belvidera! I'm the wretchedest creature
E'er crawled on earth: now, if thou'st virtue, help me;
Take me
Into thy arms, and speak the words of peace
To my divided soul, that wars within me
And raises every sense to my confusion;
By Heaven, I'm tottering on the very brink
Of peace, and thou art all the hold I've left.
_Belv. _ Alas! I know thy sorrows are most mighty;
I know thou'st cause to mourn, to mourn, my Jaffier,
With endless cries, and never-ceasing wailings;
Thou'st lost--
_Jaff. _ Oh, I have lost what can't be counted!
My friend too, Belvidera,--that dear friend,
Who, next to thee, was all my health rejoiced in,--
Has used me like a slave, shamefully used me;
'Twould break thy pitying heart to hear the story!
What shall I do? resentment, indignation,
Love, pity, fear, and memory how I've wronged him,
Distract my quiet with the very thought on't,
And tear my heart to pieces in my bosom.
_Belv. _ What has he done?
_Jaff. _ Thou'dst hate me, should I tell thee.
_Belv. _ Why?
_Jaff. _ Oh, he has used me--yet, by Heaven, I bear it!
He has used me, Belvidera--but first swear
That when I've told thee thou'lt not loathe me utterly,
Though vilest blots and stains appear upon me;
But still at least, with charitable goodness,
Be near me in the pangs of my affliction--
Not scorn me, Belvidera, as he has done.
_Belv. _ Have I then e'er been false, that now I'm doubted?
Speak, what's the cause I'm grown into distrust?
Why thought unfit to hear my love's complainings?
_Jaff. _ Oh!
_Belv. _ Tell me.
_Jaff. _ Bear my failings, for they're many.
O my dear angel! in that friend I've lost
All my soul's peace; for every thought of him
Strikes my sense hard, and deads it in my brains.
Wouldst thou believe it? --
_Belv. _ Speak.
_Jaff. _ 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,
Humbling myself almost beneath my nature,
As at his feet I kneeled, and sued for mercy,
Forgetting all our friendship, all the dearness
In which we've lived so many years together,
With a reproachful hand he dashed a blow:
He struck me, Belvidera--by Heaven, he struck me,
Buffeted, called me traitor, villain, coward.
Am I a coward? am I a villain? tell me:
Thou'rt the best judge, and madest me, if I am so.
Damnation! coward!
_Belv. _ Oh! forgive him, Jaffier;
And, if his sufferings wound thy heart already,
What will they do to-morrow?
_Jaff. _ Ha!
_Belv. _ To-morrow;
When thou shalt see him stretched 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
Like my eyes now.
_Jaff. _ What means thy dreadful story?
Death, and to-morrow! broken limbs and bowels!
Insulted o'er by a vile butchering villain!
By all my fears, I shall start out to madness,
With barely guessing, if the truth's hid longer.
_Belv. _ The faithless senators, 'tis they've decreed it:
They say, according to our friends' request,
They shall have death, and not ignoble bondage;
Declare their promised mercy all as forfeited;
False to their oaths, and deaf to intercession,
Warrants are passed for public death to-morrow.
_Jaff. _ Death! doomed to die! condemned unheard! unpleaded!
_Belv. _ Nay, cruellest racks and torments are preparing,
To force confessions from their dying pangs.
Oh, do not look so terribly upon me:
How your lips shake, and all your face disordered!
What means my love?
_Jaff. _ Leave me, I charge thee, leave me! strong temptations
Wake in my heart.
_Belv. _ For what?
_Jaff. _ No more; but leave me.
_Belv. _ Why?
_Jaff. _ Oh! by Heaven, I love thee with that fondness,
I would not have thee stay a moment longer
Near these cursed hands; are they not cold upon thee?
_Belv. _ No, everlasting comfort's in thy arms.
[_Pulls the dagger half out of his bosom,_
_and puts it back again. _
To lean thus on thy breast is softer ease
Than downy pillows decked with leaves of roses.
_Jaff. _ Alas! thou think'st not of the thorns 'tis filled with;
Fly ere they gall thee: there's a lurking serpent
Ready to leap and sting thee to thy heart:
Art thou not terrified?
_Belv. _ No.
_Jaff. _ Call to mind
What thou hast done, and whither thou hast brought me.
_Belv. _ Ha!
_Jaff. _ Where's my friend? my friend, thou smiling mischief?
Nay, shrink not, now 'tis too late; thou shouldst have fled
When thy guilt first had cause; for dire revenge
Is up, and raging for my friend. He groans!
Hark how he groans! his screams are in my ears
Already! see, they've fixed him on the wheel,
And now they tear him--Murder! perjured Senate!
Murder--Oh! --hark thee, traitress, thou'st done this;
Thanks to thy tears and false-persuading love,
[_Fumbling for his dagger. _
How her eyes speak! O thou bewitching creature!
Madness can't hurt thee: come, thou little trembler,
Creep even into my heart, and there lie safe;
'Tis thy own citadel--ha! --yet stand off:
Heaven must have justice, and my broken vows
Will sink me else beneath its reaching mercy;
I'll wink, and then 'tis done--
_Belv. _ What means the lord
Of me, my life and love? what's in thy bosom,
Thou grasp'st at so? Nay, why am I thus treated?
[_He draws the dagger, and offers to stab her. _
What wilt thou do? Ah, do not kill me, Jaffier!
Pity these panting breasts, and trembling limbs,
That used to clasp thee when thy looks were milder,[76]
That yet hang heavy on my unpurged soul,
And plunge it not into eternal darkness.
_Jaff. _ No, Belvidera; when we parted last,
I gave this dagger with thee as in trust
To be thy portion, if I e'er proved false.
On such condition was my truth believed;
But now 'tis forfeited, and must be paid for.
[_Offers to stab her again.
