No More Learning

And canst thou shed the blood that gave me being?
Nay, be a traitor too, and sell thy country?
Can thy great heart descend so vilely low,
Mix with hired slaves, bravos, and common stabbers,
Nose-slitters, alley-lurking villains--join
With such a crew, and take a ruffian's wages,
To cut the throats of wretches as they sleep?

_Jaff. _ Thou wrong'st me, Belvidera! I've engaged
With men of souls, fit to reform the ills
Of all mankind: there's not a heart amongst them,
But's stout as death, yet honest as the nature
Of man first made, ere fraud and vice were fashions.

_Belv. _ What's he to whose cursed hands last night thou gavest me?
Was that well done? Oh! I could tell a story
Would rouse thy lion-heart out of its den,
And make it rage with terrifying fury.

_Jaff. _ Speak on, I charge thee!

_Belv. _ O my love! if e'er
Thy Belvidera's peace deserved thy care,
Remove me from this place--last night, last night!

_Jaff. _ Distract me not, but give me all the truth.

_Belv. _ No sooner wert thou gone, and I alone,
Left in the power of that old son of mischief;
No sooner was I lain on my sad bed,
But that vile wretch approached me, loose, unbuttoned,
Ready for violation: then my heart
Throbbed with its fears: oh, how I wept and sighed,
And shrunk and trembled, wished in vain for him
That should protect me! Thou, alas! wert gone.

_Jaff. _ Patience, sweet Heaven! till I make vengeance sure.

_Belv. _ He drew the hideous dagger forth thou gavest him,
And with upbraiding smiles, he said, "Behold it;
This is the pledge of a false husband's love":
And in my arms then pressed, and would have clasped me;
But with my cries I scared his coward-heart,
Till he withdrew, and muttered vows to hell.
These are thy friends! with these thy life, thy honour,
Thy love, all's staked, and all will go to ruin!

_Jaff. _ No more: I charge thee keep this secret close;
Clear up thy sorrows, look as if thy wrongs
Were all forgot, and treat him like a friend,
As no complaint were made. No more; retire,
Retire, my life, and doubt not of my honour;
I'll heal its failings and deserve thy love.

_Belv. _ Oh, should I part with thee, I fear thou wilt
In anger leave me, and return no more.

_Jaff. _ Return no more! I would not live without thee
Another night, to purchase the creation.

_Belv. _ When shall we meet again?

_Jaff. _ Anon, at twelve:
I'll steal myself to thy expecting arms,
Come like a travelled dove, and bring thee peace.

_Belv. _ Indeed?

_Jaff. _ By all our loves!

_Belv. _ 'Tis hard to part:
But sure no falsehood ever looked so fairly.
Farewell--remember twelve. [_Exit. _

_Jaff. _ Let Heaven forget me
When I remember not thy truth, thy love.
How cursed is my condition! tossed and justled
From every corner; fortune's common fool,
The jest of rogues, an instrumental ass
For villains to lay loads of shame upon,
And drive about just for their ease and scorn.

_Enter_ PIERRE.

_Pier. _ Jaffier!

_Jaff. _ Who calls?

_Pier. _ A friend, that could have wished
To have found thee otherwise employed: what, hunt
A wife on the dull foil! sure a staunch husband
Of all hounds is the dullest. Wilt thou never,
Never be weaned from caudles and confections?
What feminine tale hast thou been listening to
Of unaired shirts, catarrhs and toothache got
By thin-soled shoes? Damnation! that a fellow,
Chosen to be a sharer in the destruction
Of a whole people, should sneak thus in corners
To ease his fulsome lusts, and fool his mind!

_Jaff. _ May not a man then trifle out an hour
With a kind woman, and not wrong his calling?

_Pier. _ Not in a cause like ours.

_Jaff. _ Then, friend, our cause
Is in a damned condition: for I'll tell thee,
That canker-worm called lechery has touched it;
'Tis tainted vilely. Wouldst thou think it, Renault.
(That mortified, old, withered, winter-rogue)
Loves simple fornication like a priest?
I found him out for watering at my wife:
He visited her last night, like a kind guardian.
Faith, she has some temptations, that's the truth on't.

_Pier. _ He durst not wrong his trust?

_Jaff. _ 'Twas something late, though,
To take the freedom of a lady's chamber.

_Pier. _ Was she in bed?

_Jaff. _ Yes, faith, in virgin sheets
White as her bosom, Pierre, dished neatly up,
Might tempt a weaker appetite to taste.
Oh, how the old fox stunk, I warrant thee,
When the rank fit was on him!

_Pier. _ Patience guide me!
He used no violence?

_Jaff. _ No, no! out on't, violence!
Played with her neck, brushed her with his gray beard,
Struggled and towzed, tickled her till she squeaked a little,
May be, or so--but not a jot of violence.

_Pier. _ Damn him!

_Jaff. _ Ay, so say I: but hush, no more on't;
All hitherto is well, and I believe
Myself no monster,[71] yet: though no man knows
What fate he's born to. Sure 'tis near the hour
We all should meet for our concluding orders.
Will the ambassador be here in person?

_Pier. _ No; he has sent commission to that villain,
Renault, to give the executing charge;
I'd have thee be a man, if possible,
And keep thy temper; for a brave revenge
Ne'er comes too late.

_Jaff. _ Fear not, I'm cool as patience:
Had he completed my dishonour, rather
Than hazard the success our hopes are ripe for,
I'd bear it all with mortifying virtue.

_Pier. _ He's yonder coming this way through the hall;
His thoughts seem full.

_Jaff. _ Pr'ythee retire, and leave me
With him alone: I'll put him to some trial,
See how his rotten part will bear the touching.

_Pier. _ Be careful then. [_Exit. _

_Jaff. _ Nay, never doubt, but trust me. --
What, be a devil! take a damning oath
For shedding native blood! can there be a sin
In merciful repentance? O this villain!

_Enter_ RENAULT.

_Ren. _ Perverse! and peevish! what a slave is man,
To let his itching flesh thus get the better of him!
Despatch the tool her husband--that were well--
Who's there?

_Jaff. _ A man.

_Ren. _ My friend, my near ally!
The hostage of your faith, my beauteous charge
Is very well.

_Jaff. _ Sir, are you sure of that?
Stands she in perfect health? beats her pulse even?
Neither too hot nor cold?

_Ren. _ What means that question?

_Jaff. _ Oh, women have fantastic constitutions,
Inconstant as their wishes, always wavering,
And never fixed. Was it not boldly done,
Even at first sight to trust the thing I loved--
A tempting treasure too! --with youth so fierce
And vigorous as thine? --but thou art honest.

_Ren. _ Who dares accuse me?

_Jaff. _ Cursed be him that doubts
Thy virtue! I have tried it, and declare,
Were I to choose a guardian of my honour,
I'd put it in thy keeping; for I know thee.

_Ren. _ Know me?

_Jaff. _ Ay, know thee: there's no falsehood in thee,
Thou look'st just as thou art: let us embrace.
Now wouldst thou cut my throat, or I cut thine?

_Ren. _ You dare not do it.

_Jaff. _ You lie, sir.

_Ren. _ How!

_Jaff. _ No more.
'Tis a base world, and must reform, that's all.

_Enter_ SPINOSA, THEODORE, ELIOT, REVILLIDO,
DURAND, BRAINVILLE, _and the rest of the_
_Conspirators. _

_Ren. _ Spinosa! Theodore!

_Spin. _ The same.

_Ren. _ You are welcome!

_Spin. _ You are trembling, sir.

_Ren. _ 'Tis a cold night indeed, I am aged,
Full of decay and natural infirmities:
We shall be warm, my friend, I hope, to-morrow.

_Re-enter_ PIERRE.

_Pier. _ [_Aside to_ JAFFIER. ] 'Twas not well done thou shouldst
have strokèd him,
And not have galled him.

_Jaff. _ [_Aside to_ PIERRE. ] Damn him! let him chew on it.
Heaven! where am I? beset with cursèd fiends,
That wait to damn me. What a devil's man,
When he forgets his nature! Hush, my heart!

_Ren. _ My friends, 'tis late; are we assembled all?
Where's Theodore?

_Theo. _ At hand.

_Ren. _ Spinosa?

_Spin. _ Here.

_Ren. _ Brainville?

_Brain. _ I'm ready.

_Ren. _ Durand and Brabe?

_Dur. _ Command us;
We are both prepared.

_Ren. _ Mezzana, Revillido,
Ternon, Retrosi?
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?

_All. _ All, all.

_Ren. _[72] 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 a hundred more, must gain the Secque;
With the like number, Brainville, 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.

_Jaff. _ [_Aside. _] O 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; whilst Revillido,
Mezzana, 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 dare resist,
Batter it 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.

_Jaff. _ [_Aside. _] Merciless, horrid slave! --[_Aloud. _]
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 separate us 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.
Let us remember, through what dreadful hazards
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, the busiest searchers ne'er could follow
Those subtle tracks which puzzled all suspicion.
You droop, sir.

_Jaff. _ 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 forerun
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.

_Jaff. _ O Belvidera, take me to thy arms,
And show me where's my peace, for I have lost it. [_Exit. _

_Ren. _ Without the least remorse, then, let's resolve
With fire and sword to exterminate these tyrants;
And when we shall behold those cursed tribunals
Stained by the tears and sufferings of the innocent,
Burning with flames, rather from Heaven than ours;
The raging, furious, and unpitying soldier
Pulling his reeking dagger from the bosoms
Of gasping wretches; death in every quarter,
With all that sad disorder can produce,
To make a spectacle of horror; then,
Then let us call to mind, my dearest friends,
That there is nothing pure upon the earth;
That the most valued things have most allays,[73]
And that in change of all those vile enormities,
Under whose weight this wretched country labours,
The means are only in our hands to cure them.

_Pier. _ And may those powers above that are propitious
To gallant minds record this cause, and bless it!

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

_Eliot. _ Death here without repentance, hell hereafter.

_Ren. _ Let that be my lot, if as here I stand,
Listed by fate amongst her darling sons,
Though I had one only brother, dear by all
The strictest ties of nature; though one hour
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? wouldst not thou, Pierre, the same?

_Pier. _ 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. _ 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 amongst 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.

_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--[_To_ RENAULT]--I'll tell you a secret;--
Suspicion's but at best a coward's virtue!

_Ren. _ A coward! [_Handles his sword. _

_Pier. _ 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.

_Pier. _ Again? who's that?

_Spin. _ 'Twas I.

_Theo. _ And I.

_Rev. _ And I.

_Eliot. _ 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; hasten,
Secure thy wretched life; we fear to die
Less than thou darest 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 proved kind, he had still been true.
Faugh! how that stinks!
Thou die! thou kill my friend! or thou, or thou;
Or thou, with that lean, withered, wretched 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 urged against the man you loved.

_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.
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 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 you are too kind. Whence 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 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,
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. _

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

FOOTNOTES:

[68] The character of Antonio is a satire upon Sir Anthony
Ashley-Cooper (b. 1621), one of the greatest Liberal statesmen of his
time, but unscrupulous, machiavellic, and shifty. Mulgrave (_Essay
on Satire_) calls him our little Machiavel; for his was the "fiery
soul which, working out its way, Fretted the pigmy body to decay,
And o'er-informed the tenement of clay" (Dryden's _Absalom_). He was
first a Royalist, then a Parliamentarian, later contributed to the
Restoration; after this a Tory, and finally a Whig. He was a member
of the "Cabal" administration, and was created by Charles II. first
Baron Ashley, and then Earl of Shaftesbury. He was Lord Chancellor in
1672, and to him we owe the Habeas Corpus Act; he also contributed
materially to make our judges independent of the Crown. He persecuted
the Catholics under pretext of the Popish Plot; promoted the Exclusion
Bill against the Duke of York, afterwards James II. , as a Catholic;
and advocated Monmouth's (son of Charles II. by Lucy Walters) claim to
legitimacy. In 1681 he was impeached and sent to the Tower on a charge
of high treason, but acquitted. He was, however, forced to retire to
Holland, where he died in 1683.

[69] This was precisely the age of Lord Shaftesbury. He died in the
following year.

[70] Judgest.

[71] _i. e. _ Cuckold.

[72] This scene, particularly the charge of Renault, is closely
imitated from Saint-Réal.

[73] Alloys.




ACT THE FOURTH.


SCENE I. --_A Public Place. _

_Enter_ JAFFIER _and_ BELVIDERA.

Jaff. Where dost thou lead me?
Every step I move,
Methinks I tread upon some mangled limb
Of a racked friend. O my dear charming ruin!
Where are we wandering?

_Belv. _ To eternal honour;
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. "

_Jaff. _ 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?

_Belv. _ O 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 me;
And let thy dagger do its bloody office.
O, that kind dagger, Jaffier, how 'twill look
Stuck through my heart, drenched in my blood to the hilts!
Whilst these poor dying eyes shall with their tears
No more torment thee;--then thou wilt be free.
Or if thou think'st it nobler, let me live
Till I'm a victim to the hateful lust
Of that infernal devil, that old fiend
That's damned himself, and would undo mankind.
Last night, my love!

_Jaff. _ Name, name it not again;
It shows a beastly image to my fancy,
Will wake me into madness. O, 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!