Thomas Otway

“ 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! ”

“ 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. ”

“ If lost, disgraceful ruin. Pierre. Ten thousand men are armed at your nod, Commanded all by leaders fit to guide A battle for the freedom of the world: This wretched state has starved them in its service; And, by your bounty quickened, they're resolved To serve your glory, and revenge their own: They've all their different quarters in this city, Watch for the alarm, and grumble 'tis so tardy. Beda. I doubt not, friend, but thy unwearied diligence Has still kept waking, and it shall have ease; After this night, it is resolved, we meet No more, till Venice owns us for her lords. Pierre. ”

“ To take thy life, on such conditions The council have proposed: thou, and thy friends, May yet live long, and to be better treated. Pierre. Life! ask my life! confess! record myself A villain, for the privilege to breathe, And carry up and down this cursed city, A discontented and repining spirit, Burdensome 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 art fit to live in't. ”

“ He that pretends to most, too, has least share in't Tis a ragged virtue. Honesty! no more on't. Jaf. Sure, thou art honest? [11] Pierre. So, indeed, men think me; But they're mistaken, Jaffier; I'm a rogue, As well as they; A fine, gay, bold-faced villain as thou seest me! 'Tis true. I pay my debts, when they're contracted; I steal from no man; would not cut a throat To gain admission to a great man's purse; Would not betray my friend, To get his place or fortune; I scorn to flatter A blown-up fool above me, or crush the wretch beneath me; Yet, Jaffier, for all this, I am a villain. ”

“ A villain! Pierre. Yes, a most notorious villain; To see the sufferings of my fellow-creatures, And own myself a man; to see our senators Cheat the deluded people with a show Of liberty, which yet they ne'er must taste of. They say, by them our hands are free from fetters; Yet whom they please, they lay in basest bonds; Bring whom they please to infamy and sorrow; Drive us, like wrecks, down the rough tide of power, Whilst no hold's left to save us from destruction. ”

“ I've now not fifty ducats in the world, Yet still I am in love, and pleased with ruin. Oh, Belvidera! Oh! she is my wife— And we will bear our wayward fate together, But ne'er know comfort more. Enter Pierre, L. S. E. Pierre. (L. C.) My friend, good morrow; How fares the honest partner of my heart? What, melancholy! not a word to spare me! Jaf. (C.) I'm thinking, Pierre, how that damned starving quality, Called honesty, got footing in the world. Pierre. Why, powerful villainy first set it up, For its own ease and safety. Honest men Are the-soft easy cushions on which knave's Repose and fatten. ”

“ Nature made thee To temper man: we had been brutes without you! Angels are painted fair to look like you: There's in you all that we believe of heaven; Amazing brightness, purity, and truth, Eternal joy, and everlasting love! [Embrace. Bel. If love be treasure, we'll be wondrous rich; Oh! lead me to some desert, [Part,] wide and wild, Barren as our misfortunes, where my soul May have its vent, where I may tell aloud To the high heavens, and ev'ry list'ning planet, With what a boundless stock my bosom's fraught. Jaf. [Taking her hand.] Oh, Belvidera! ”

“ Elliot, thou once hadst virtue. I have seen Thy stubborn temper bend with godlike goodness, Not half thus courted. 'Tis thy nation's glory To hug the foe that offers brave alliance. Once more, embrace, my friends— United thus, we are the mighty engine, Must twist this rooted empire from its basis. Totters it not already? Elliot. (L.) 'Would 'twere tumbling! Beda. Nay, it shall down: this night we seal its ruin. Enter Pierre, L. D. Oh, Pierre! thou art welcome. [22] Come to my breast; for, by its hopes, thou look'st Lovelily dreadful; and the fate of Venice Seems on thy sword already. ”

“ To do it right, oh, Jaffier! then might'st thou Not wear those seals of woe upon thy face; The proud Priuli should be taught humanity, And learn to value such a son as thou art. I dare not speak, but my heart bleeds this moment. Jaf. Cursed be the cause, though I, thy friend, be part on't: Let me partake the troubles of thy bosom, For I am used to misery, and perhaps May find a way to sweeten't to thy spirit. Pierre. [Turns, L. and looks over a shoulder.] Too soon 'twill reach thy knowledge— Jaf. Then from thee Let it proceed. ”

“ Pierre. (C.) Yes, if I thought thou wert not to be cherished To a nobler purpose, I would be that friend: [Lays his hand on Jaffier's arm But thou hast better friends; friends, whom thy wrongs Have made thy friends; friends, worthy to be called so. I'll trust thee with a secret. There are spies This hour at work. But, as thou art a man, Whom I have picked and chosen from the world, [19] Swear that thou wilt be true to what I utter; And when I've told thee that, which only gods, And men like gods, are privy to, then swear, No chance, or change, shall wrest it from thy bosom. ”

“ 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! ”

“ 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. Jaf. Death! doomed to die! condemned unheard! unpleaded! Bel. Nay, cruel'st racks and torments are preparing To force confession 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? Jaf. Leave me, I charge thee, leave me! ”

“ Pour down your blessings on this beauteous head, Where everlasting sweets are always springing, With a continual giving hand: let peace, Honour, and safety, always hover round her: Feed her with plenty; let her eyes ne'er see A sight of sorrow, nor her heart know mourning; Crown all her days with joy, her nights with rest, Harmless as her own thoughts; and prop her virtue To bear the loss of one that too much loved ”

“ All that bear this are villains, and I one, Not to rouse up at the great call of nature, And check the growth of these domestic spoilers, That make us slaves, and tell us 'tis our charter! [Walks, L. Jaf. I think no safety can be here for virtue, And grieve, my friend, as much as thou, to live In such a wretched state as this of Venice, Where all agree to spoil the public good, And villains fatten with the brave man's labours. Pierre. [Returns to L. C.] We've neither safety, unity, nor peace, For the foundation's lost of common good; Justice is lame, as well as blind, amongst us ”

“ No; there's a secret pride in bravely dying. Pierre. Rats die in holes and corners, dogs run mad Man knows a braver remedy for sorrow— Revenge, the attribute of gods; they stamped it, With their great image, on our natures. Die! Consider well the cause that calls upon thee, And, if thou'rt base enough, die then. Remember Thy Belvidera suffers; Belvidera! Die!—damn first!—What! be decently interred In a church-yard, and mingle thy brave dust— With stinking rogues, that rot in winding-sheets, Surfeit-slain fools, the common dung o'th' soil! ”

“ 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 [40] 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. ”

“ What can I do? [Crosses to R. D. Pierre. Canst thou not kill a senator? Jaf. By all my wrongs, thou talk'st as if revenge Were to be had! and the brave story warms me. [Crosses, L. Pierre. Swear, then! Jaf. I do, [Kneels, L. C.] by all those glittering stars, And yon great ruling planet of the night! By all good spirits above, and ill below! [20] By love and friendship, dearer than my life, No power, nor death, shall make me false to thee! Pierre. Here we embrace, and I'll unlock my heart. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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! ”

“ A council's held hard by, where the destruction Of this great empire's hatching; there I'll lead thee. But be a man; for thou'rt to mix with men Fit to disturb the peace of all the world, And rule it when tis wildest. Jaf. I give thee thanks For this kind warning. Yes, I'll be a man; And charge thee, Pierre, whene'er thou see'st my fears Betray me less, to rip this heart of mine Out of my breast, and show it for a coward's. Come, let's be gone, for from this hour I chase All little thoughts, all tender human follies, Out of my bosom: vengeance shall have room— Revenge! ”

“ Pierre. Curse thy dull stars, and the worse fate of Venice, [13] Where brothers, friends, and fathers, all are false; Where there's no truth, no trust; where innocence Stoops under vile oppression, and vice lords it. Hadst thou but seen, as I did, how, at last, Thy beauteous Belvidera, like a wretch That's doomed to banishment, came weeping forth, Whilst two young virgins, on whose arms she leaned, Kindly looked up, and at her grief grew sad, As if they catched the sorrows that fell from her: Ev'n the lewd rabble, that were gathered round To see the sight, stood mute when they beheld her ”

“ Were all mankind villains, They'd starve each other; lawyers would want practice, Cut-throats, reward: each man would kill his brother Himself; none would be paid or hanged for murder. Honesty! 'twas a cheat, invented first To bind the hands of bold deserving rogues, That fools and cowards might sit safe in power, And lord it uncontrolled above their betters. Jaf. Then honesty is but a notion? Pierre. ”

“ Enter Pierre, R. Pierre. Jaffier! Jaf. (L.) Who calls? Pierre. (R. C.) A friend, that could have wished [30] T' have found thee otherwise employed. "What, hunt A wife, on the dull soil! Sure, a stanch husband, Of all hounds is the dullest. Wilt thou never, Never be weaned from caudles and confections? What feminine tales hast thou been listening to, Of unaired shirts? catarrhs, and tooth-ache, got By thin-soled shoes? Damnation! than a fellow, Chosen to be a sharer in the destruction Of a whole people, should sneak thus in corners, To waste his time, and fool his mind with love! ”