Spi. I fear we have been to blame, And done too much.

The. 'Twas too far urged against the man you love. All. Forgive us, gallant friend.

Pie. Nay, now you've found

The way to melt and cast me as you will.

O what a dangerous precipice have we 'scaped?
How near a fall was all we'd been long 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 !
O 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.

OTWAY.

VENICE PRESERVED.

Second Selection.

The DUKE OF VENICE and SENATORS. Enter OFFICER.

Duke. Speak, there! What disturbance?

Offi. 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.

All. Give him entrance. [Exit OFFICER.] Well, who are you?

Jaff. A villain!

Would every man that hears me

Would deal so honestly, and own his title!

Duke. 'Tis rumoured 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.

Jaff. 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.

Jaff. That you dare not do;

Your fears wont 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!
Nor all your racks, your engines, or your wheels,
Shall force a groan away that you may guess at !
Duke. Name your conditions.
Jaff. 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. We swear.

Jaff. Then here's the list, and with it 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 the place secured.

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!
Duke. Captain, withdraw your prisoner.

Jaff. 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.

Offi. [Without.] More traitors! Room, room; make

room there!

Duke. How's this?

The treason's

Already at the doors!

Enter OFFICER and CAPTAIN.

Offi. My lords, more traitors!

Seized in the very act of consultation;

Furnished with arms and instruments of mischief.-
Bring in the prisoner!

Enter PIERRE, in chains.

Pie. 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 triumph you bestow
On those that bring you conquest home, and honours ?
Duke. Go on! you shall be heard, sir.

Pie. 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 is my recompense! 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?

Duke. Know you one Jaffier?

Pie. 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.

Pie. 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 rev'rend tyrants, Jaffier, Call us traitors. Art thou one, my brother?

Jaff. To thee I am the falsest, veriest slave, That e'er betrayed a generous, trusting friend, gave up honour to be sure of ruin.

And

All our fair hopes, which morning was t' have crowned,
Has this cursed tongue o'erthrown.

Pie. So, then, all's over :

Venice has lost her freedom, I my life.
No more!

Duke. Say, will you make confession

Of your vile deeds, and trust the senate's mercy?
Pie. 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!

Pie. Death! honourable death!
Duke. Break up the council.

soners.

Captain, guard your pri

Jaffier, you're free; but he must wait for judgment.

[Exit DUKE and Senators.

P

Pie. Come, where's my dungeon?

straw:

Lead me to my

It will not be the first time I've lodged hard,

To do your senate service.

Jaff. Hold, one moment.

Pie. Who's he disputes the judgment of the senate? Presumptuous rebel! on

Jaff. By Heaven, you stir not!

[Strikes JAFFIER.

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,
And, as there dwells a godlike nature in thee,

Listen with mildness to my supplications.

Pie. What whining monk art thou? what holy cheat,
That would'st encroach upon my credulous ears,
And can'st thus vilely! Hence! I know thee not!
Jaff. Not know me, Pierre ?

Pie. No, know thee not. What art thou?

Jaff. Jaffier, thy friend,-thy once-loved, valued friend; Though now deservedly scorned, and used most hardly.

Pie. 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, loathsome in thy aspect;
All eyes must shun thee, and all hearts detest thee.
Prithee, avoid, nor longer cling thus round me,
Like something baneful, that my nature's chilled at.
Jaff. I have not wronged thee, by these tears I have not.
Pie. Hast thou not wronged me, dar'st thou call thyself
That once-loved, honest, 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?