Scene.—A Room in the House of Aquilina.
  Enter Belvidera, L. S. E.

  Bel. I'm sacrificed! I'm sold—betrayed to shame!
  inevitable ruin has enclosed me!
  He, that should guard my virtue, has betrayed it;—
  Left me—undone me! Oh, that I could hate him!—
  Where shall I go? Oh, whither, whither wander?

  Enter Jaffier, R.

  Jaf. (R. C.) Can Belvidera want a resting-place,
  When these poor arms are open to receive her?
  There was a time—

  Bel. (C.) Yes, yes, there was a time
  When Belvidera's tears, her cries and sorrows,
  Were not despised; when, if she chanced to sigh,
  Or look but sad——There was, indeed, a time,
  When Jaffier would have ta'en her in his arms,
  Eased her declining head upon his breast,
  And never left her, till he found the cause.
  But well I know why you forsake me thus;
  I am no longer fit to bear a share
  In your concernments: my weak female virtue
  Must not be trusted: 'tis too frail and tender. [Crosses, R.

  Jaf. Oh, Portia, Portia, what a soul was thine!

  Bel. [Returns to L. C.] That Portia was a woman; and
  when Brutus,
  Big with the fate of Rome (Heav'n guard thy safety!)
  Concealed from her the labours of his mind,
  She let him see her blood was great as his,
  Flowed from a spring as noble, and a heart
  Fit to partake his troubles, as his love.
  Fetch, fetch that dagger back, the dreadful dower
  Thou gav'st last night, in parting with me; strike it
  Here to my heart; and as the blood flows from it,
  Judge if it run not pure as Cato's daughter's.

  Jaf. (R.) Oh, Belvidera!

  Bel. (C.) Why was I last night delivered to a villain?

[27] Jaf. Ha! a villain?

  Bel. (R.) Yes, to a villain! Why, at such an hour,
  Meets that assembly, all made up of wretches,
  That look as hell had drawn them into league?
  Why, I in this hand, and in that, a dagger,
  Was I delivered with such dreadful ceremonies?
  "To you, sirs, and your honours, I bequeath her,
  And with her, this: Whene'er I prove unworthy—
  You know the rest—then strike it to her heart."
  Oh! [Turns from him.] why's that rest concealed from
  me? Must I
  Be made the hostage of a hellish trust?
  For such, I know I am; that's all my value.
  But, by the love and loyalty I owe thee,
  I'll free thee from the bondage of these slaves!
  Straight to the senate—tell them all I know, [Going, L.
  All that I think, all that my fears inform me.

  Jaf. (C.) Is this the Roman virtue? this the blood,
  That boasts its purity with Cato's daughter?
  Would she have e'er betrayed her Brutus? [Going to her

  Bel. (L.) No;
  For Brutus trusted her. [Leans on him.] Wert thou so kind,
  What would not Belvidera suffer for thee?

  Jaf. I shall undo myself, and tell thee all—
  Yet think a little, ere thou tempt me further;
  Think I've a tale to tell will shake thy nature,
  Melt all this boasted constancy thou talk'st of,
  Into vile tears and despicable sorrows;
  Then, if thou shouldst betray me—

  Bel. Shall I swear?

  Jaf. No, do not swear: I would not violate
  Thy tender nature with so rude a bond;
  But, as thou hop'st to see me live my days,
  And love thee long, lock this within thy breast:
  I've bound myself, by all the strictest sacraments,
  Divine and human—

  Bel. Speak!

  Jaf. To kill thy father—

  Bel. My father! [Part.]

  Jaf. Nay, the throats of the whole senate
  Shall bleed, my Belvidera. He, amongst us,
[28] That spares his father, brother, or his friend,
  Is damned.

  Bel. Oh!

  Jaf. Have a care, and shrink not even in thought
  For, if thou dost—

  Bel. (L. C.) I know it: thou wilt kill me.
  Do! strike thy sword into this bosom: lay me
  Dead on the earth, and then thou wilt be safe.
  Murder my father! Though his cruel nature,
  Has persecuted me to my undoing,
  Driven me to basest wants; can I behold him,
  With smiles of vengeance, butchered in his age?
  The sacred fountain of my life destroyed?
  And canst thou shed the blood that gave me being?

  [Leans on him

  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,
  Join such a crew, and take a ruffian's wages,
  To cut the throats of wretches as they sleep? [Part.

  Jaf. (R. C.) 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 among them,
  But's stout as death, yet honest as the nature
  Of man first made, ere fraud and vice were fashion.

  Bel. (L.) What's he, to whose cursed hands last night
  thou gav'st 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!

  Jaf. (C.) Speak on, I charge thee!

  Bel. Oh, my love! [Leaning on him,] if e'er
  Thy Belvidera's peace deserved thy care,
  Remove me from this place. Last night! last night!

  Jaf. Distract me not, but give me all the truth!

  Bel. No sooner wert thou gone, and I alone,
  Left in the power of that old son of mischief;
  No sooner was I laid on my sad bed,
  But that vile wretch approached me. Then my heart
  Throbbed with its fears;—
  Oh, how I wept and sighed,
[29] And shrunk, and trembled! wished, in vain, for him
  That should protect me! Thou, alas, wast gone!

  Jaf. [Turning, R.] Patience, sweet Heaven, till I make
  vengeance sure!

  Bel. He drew the hideous dagger forth, thou gav'st him,
  And, with upbraiding smiles, he said, "Behold it:
  This is the pledge of a false husband's love:"
  And in his 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.

  [Rush into each other's arms.

  These are thy friends! [Part]with
  these thy life: thy honour,
  Thy love, all staked—and all will go to ruin!

  Jaf. (C.) 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.

  Bel. (L.) Oh! should I part with thee, I fear thou wilt
  In anger leave me, and return no more.

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

  Bel. When shall we meet again?

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

  Bel. Indeed!

  Jaf. By all our loves!

  Bel. 'Tis hard to part:
  But sure no falsehood ever looked so fairly.
  Farewell! remember twelve. [Exit, L. D.

  Jaf. (C.) Let Heav'n forget me,
  When I remember not thy truth, thy love!

  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!

  Jaf. (L. C.) May not a man, then, trifle out an hour
  With a kind woman, and not wrong his calling!

  Pierre. (R.) Not in a cause like ours.

  Jaf. 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've found him out at watering for my wife;
  He visited her last night, like a kind guardian;
  Faith, she has some temptations, that's the truth on't.

  Pierre. (R. C.) He durst not wrong his trust!

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

  Pierre. Was she in bed?

  Jaf. Yes, 'faith! in virgin sheets,
  "White as her bosom, Pierre; dished neatly up,—
  "Might tempt a weaker appetite to taste."

  Pierre. Patience guide me!
  He used no violence?

  Jaf. No, no: out on't, violence!
  Played with her neck; brushed her with his grey beard;
  Struggled and touzed; tickled her till she squeaked a little,
  May be, or so—but not a jot of violence—

  Pierre. [Runs to R. D.] Damn him!
  Jaf. Ay, so say I: but, hush, no more on't!
  Sure it is near the hour
  We all should meet for our concluding orders:
  Will the ambassador be here in person?

  Pierre. (R. C.) No, he has sent commission to that villain.

[31] Ren. 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.

  Jaf. (C.) Fear not; I'm cool as patience.

  Pierre. He's yonder, coming this way, through the hall:
  His thoughts seem full.

  Jaf. 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.

  Pierre. Be careful, then.

  Jaf. Nay, never doubt, but trust me.

  [Exit Pierre, R. U. E.

  What! be a devil, take a damning oath
  For shedding native blood? Can there be sin,
  In merciful repentance? Oh, this villain! [Retires up, C.

  Enter Renault, L. U. E.

  Ren. (L. C.) 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?

  Jaf. A man. [Advancing

  Ren. My friend, my near ally,
  The hostage of your faith, my beauteous charge, is very
  well.

  Jaf. (R. C.) 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!

  Jaf. Oh! women have fantastic constitutions,
  Inconstant in their wishes, always wavering,
  And never fixed. Was it not boldly done,
  Ev'n 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!

  Jaf. Cursed be he 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.

[32] Ren. Know me!

  Jaf. Ay, know thee.—There's no falsehood in thee;
  Thou look's just as thou art. Let us embrace.—
  Now, wouldst thou cut my throat, or I cut thine!

  Ren. You dare not do't!

  Jaf. You lie, sir!

  Ren. How!

  Jaf. No more.—
  'Tis a base world, and must reform; that's all.

  Enter Spinosa, Elliot, Theodore, Durand,
  and Mezzana.

  Ren. Spinosa, Theodore, you are welcome.

  Spin. You are trembling, sir.

  Ren. 'Tis a cold night, indeed; and I am aged;
  Full of decay, and natural infirmities.
  We shall be warm, my friends, I hope, to-morrow.

  [Renault and Conspirators retire and confer.

  Enter Pierre, r.

  Pierre. [To Jaffier.] 'T was not well done; thou shouldst
  have stroked him,
  And not have galled him. [Retires to the others

  Jaf. (C.) [In front.] 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.

[33] 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.

[34] 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.

[35] 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,
[36] 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