(R. C.) 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.
     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;
     The laws (corrupted to their ends that make them,)
     Serve but for instruments of some new tyranny,
     That every day starts up, t'enslave us deeper.
     Now [Lays his hand on Jaffier's arm,] could this glorious
     cause but find out friends
     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. There's virtue in thy friendship,
     Would make the saddest tale of sorrow pleasing,
     Strengthen my constancy, and welcome ruin.

     Pierre. Then thou art ruined!

     Jaf. That I long since knew;
     I and ill fortune have been long acquainted.

     Pierre. I passed this very moment by thy doors,
     And found them guarded by a troop of villains;
     "The sons of public rapine were destroying."
     They told me, by the sentence of the law
     They had commission to seize all thy fortune:
     Nay, more, Priuli's cruel band had signed it.
     Here stood a ruffian, with a horrid face,
     Lording it o'er a pile of massy plate,
     Tumbled into a heap for public sale:
     There was another making villainous jests
     At thy undoing: he had ta'en possession
     Of all thy ancient, most domestic ornaments;
     Rich hangings, intermixed and wrought with gold
     The very bed, which, on thy wedding night,
     Received thee to the arms of Belvidera,
     The scene of all thy joys, was violated
     By the coarse hands of filthy dungeon villains,
     And thrown amongst the common lumber.

     Jaf.Now, thank heaven—

     Pierre. Thank heaven! for what?

     Jaf.That I'm not worth a ducat.

     Pierre. Curse thy dull stars, and the worse fate of Venice,
     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;
     Governed their roaring throats, and grumbled pity:
     I could have hugged the greasy rogues; they pleased me.

     Jaf. I thank thee for this story, from my soul;
     Since now I know the worst that can befall me.
     Ah, Pierre! I have a heart that could have borne
     The roughest wrong my fortune could have done me;
     But when I think what Belvidera feels,
     The bitterness her tender spirits taste of,
     I own myself a coward. Bear my weakness,
     If, throwing thus my arms about thy neck, [Embrace,
     I play the boy, and blubber in thy bosom.
     Oh, I shall drown thee with my sorrows.

     Pierre. Burn,
     First, burn and level Venice to thy ruin.
     What! starve, like beggars' brats, in frosty weather,
     Under a hedge, and whine ourselves to death!
     Thou, or thy cause, shall never want assistance,
     Whilst I have blood or fortune fit to serve thee:
     Command my heart, thour't every way its master.

     Jaf. 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!

     Jaf. Oh—

     Pierre. Well said, out with't—swear a little—

     Jaf. Swear! By sea and air; by earth, by heaven and hell,
     I will revenge my Belvidera's tears! [Both go to the R.     Hark thee, my friend—Priuli—is—a senator!

     Pierre. A dog!

     Jaf. Agreed.  [Return to C.
     Pierre. Shoot him!

     Jaf. With all my heart!
     No more—where shall we meet at night?

     Pierre. I'll tell thee:
     On the Rialto, every night at twelve,
     I take my evening's walk of meditation:
     There we two'll meet, and talk of precious mischief.

     Jaf. Farewell!

     Pierre. At twelve.

     Jaf.At any hour: my plagues
     Will keep me waking.