Dagolino, Doro, Bertram, Fedele Trevisano, Calendaro, Antonio Delle Bende, etc., etc.

Cal. (entering). Are all here?

Dag. All with you; except the three

On duty, and our leader Israel,

Who is expected momently.

Cal. Where's Bertram?

Ber. Here!

Cal. Have you not been able to complete

The number wanting in your company?

Ber. I had marked out some: but I have not dared

To trust them with the secret, till assured

That they were worthy faith.

Cal. There is no need

Of trusting to their faith; who, save ourselves

And our more chosen comrades, is aware10

Fully of our intent? they think themselves

Engaged in secret to the Signory,[421]

To punish some more dissolute young nobles

Who have defied the law in their excesses;

But once drawn up, and their new swords well fleshed

In the rank hearts of the more odious Senators,

They will not hesitate to follow up

Their blow upon the others, when they see

The example of their chiefs, and I for one

Will set them such, that they for very shame20

And safety will not pause till all have perished.

Ber. How say you? all!

Cal. Whom wouldst thou spare?

Ber. I spare?

I have no power to spare. I only questioned,

Thinking that even amongst these wicked men

There might be some, whose age and qualities

Might mark them out for pity.

Cal. Yes, such pity

As when the viper hath been cut to pieces,

The separate fragments quivering in the sun,

In the last energy of venomous life,

Deserve and have. Why, I should think as soon30

Of pitying some particular fang which made

One in the jaw of the swoln serpent, as

Of saving one of these: they form but links

Of one long chain; one mass, one breath, one body;

They eat, and drink, and live, and breed together,

Revel, and lie, oppress, and kill in concert,—

So let them die as one! [do]

Dag. Should one survive,

He would be dangerous as the whole; it is not

Their number, be it tens or thousands, but

The spirit of this Aristocracy40

Which must be rooted out; and if there were

A single shoot of the old tree in life,

'Twould fasten in the soil, and spring again

To gloomy verdure and to bitter fruit.

Bertram, we must be firm!

Cal. Look to it well

Bertram! I have an eye upon thee.

Ber. Who

Distrusts me?

Cal. Not I; for if I did so,

Thou wouldst not now be there to talk of trust:

It is thy softness, not thy want of faith,

Which makes thee to be doubted.

Ber. You should know50

Who hear me, who and what I am; a man

Roused like yourselves to overthrow oppression;

A kind man, I am apt to think, as some

Of you have found me; and if brave or no,

You, Calendaro, can pronounce, who have seen me

Put to the proof; or, if you should have doubts,

I'll clear them on your person!

Cal. You are welcome,

When once our enterprise is o'er, which must not

Be interrupted by a private brawl.

Ber. I am no brawler; but can bear myself60

As far among the foe as any he

Who hears me; else why have I been selected

To be of your chief comrades? but no less

I own my natural weakness; I have not

Yet learned to think of indiscriminate murder

Without some sense of shuddering; and the sight

Of blood which spouts through hoary scalps is not

To me a thing of triumph, nor the death

Of man surprised a glory. Well—too well

I know that we must do such things on those70

Whose acts have raised up such avengers; but

If there were some of these who could be saved

From out this sweeping fate, for our own sakes

And for our honour, to take off some stain

Of massacre, which else pollutes it wholly,

I had been glad; and see no cause in this

For sneer, nor for suspicion!

Dag. Calm thee, Bertram,

For we suspect thee not, and take good heart.

It is the cause, and not our will, which asks

Such actions from our hands: we'll wash away80

All stains in Freedom's fountain!

Enter Israel Bertuccio, and the Doge, disguised.

Dag. Welcome, Israel.

Consp. Most welcome.—Brave Bertuccio, thou art late—

Who is this stranger?

Cal. It is time to name him.

Our comrades are even now prepared to greet him

In brotherhood, as I have made it known

That thou wouldst add a brother to our cause,

Approved by thee, and thus approved by all,

Such is our trust in all thine actions. Now

Let him unfold himself.

I. Ber. Stranger, step forth!

[The Doge discovers himself.

Consp. To arms!—we are betrayed—it is the Doge!90

Down with them both! our traitorous captain, and

The tyrant he hath sold us to.

Cal. (drawing his sword). Hold! hold!

Who moves a step against them dies. Hold! hear

Bertuccio—What! are you appalled to see

A lone, unguarded, weaponless old man

Amongst you?—Israel, speak! what means this mystery?

I. Ber. Let them advance and strike at their own bosoms,

Ungrateful suicides! for on our lives

Depend their own, their fortunes, and their hopes.

Doge. Strike!—If I dreaded death, a death more fearful100

Than any your rash weapons can inflict,

I should not now be here: Oh, noble Courage!

The eldest born of Fear, which makes you brave

Against this solitary hoary head!

See the bold chiefs, who would reform a state

And shake down senates, mad with wrath and dread

At sight of one patrician! Butcher me!

You can, I care not.—Israel, are these men

The mighty hearts you spoke of? look upon them!

Cal. Faith! he hath shamed us, and deservedly,110

Was this your trust in your true Chief Bertuccio,

To turn your swords against him and his guest?

Sheathe them, and hear him.

I. Ber. I disdain to speak.

They might and must have known a heart like mine

Incapable of treachery; and the power

They gave me to adopt all fitting means

To further their design was ne'er abused.

They might be certain that who e'er was brought

By me into this Council had been led

To take his choice—as brother, or as victim.120

Doge. And which am I to be? your actions leave

Some cause to doubt the freedom of the choice.

I. Ber. My Lord, we would have perished here together,

Had these rash men proceeded; but, behold,

They are ashamed of that mad moment's impulse,

And droop their heads; believe me, they are such

As I described them.—Speak to them.

Cal. Aye, speak;

We are all listening in wonder.[dp]

I. Ber. (addressing the conspirators). You are safe,

Nay, more, almost triumphant—listen then,

And know my words for truth.

Doge. You see me here,130

As one of you hath said, an old, unarmed,

Defenceless man; and yesterday you saw me

Presiding in the hall of ducal state,

Apparent Sovereign of our hundred isles,[dq] [422]

Robed in official purple, dealing out

The edicts of a power which is not mine,

Nor yours, but of our masters—the patricians.

Why I was there you know, or think you know;

Why I am here, he who hath been most wronged,

He who among you hath been most insulted,140

Outraged and trodden on, until he doubt

If he be worm or no, may answer for me,

Asking of his own heart what brought him here?

You know my recent story, all men know it,

And judge of it far differently from those

Who sate in judgement to heap scorn on scorn.

But spare me the recital—it is here,

Here at my heart the outrage—but my words,

Already spent in unavailing plaints,

Would only show my feebleness the more,150

And I come here to strengthen even the strong,

And urge them on to deeds, and not to war

With woman's weapons; but I need not urge you.

Our private wrongs have sprung from public vices,

In this—I cannot call it commonwealth,

Nor kingdom, which hath neither prince nor people,

But all the sins of the old Spartan state[dr]

Without its virtues—temperance and valour.

The Lords of Lacedæmon were true soldiers,[ds]

But ours are Sybarites, while we are Helots,160

Of whom I am the lowest, most enslaved;

Although dressed out to head a pageant, as

The Greeks of yore made drunk their slaves to form

A pastime for their children. You are met

To overthrow this Monster of a state,

This mockery of a Government, this spectre,

Which must be exorcised with blood,—and then

We will renew the times of Truth and Justice,

Condensing in a fair free commonwealth

Not rash equality but equal rights,170

Proportioned like the columns to the temple,

Giving and taking strength reciprocal,

And making firm the whole with grace and beauty,

So that no part could be removed without

Infringement of the general symmetry.

In operating this great change, I claim

To be one of you—if you trust in me;

If not, strike home,—my life is compromised,

And I would rather fall by freemen's hands

Than live another day to act the tyrant180

As delegate of tyrants: such I am not,

And never have been—read it in our annals;

I can appeal to my past government

In many lands and cities; they can tell you

If I were an oppressor, or a man

Feeling and thinking for my fellow men.

Haply had I been what the Senate sought,

A thing of robes and trinkets,[423] dizened out

To sit in state as for a Sovereign's picture;

A popular scourge, a ready sentence-signer,190

A stickler for the Senate and "the Forty,"

A sceptic of all measures which had not

The sanction of "the Ten,"[424] a council-fawner,

A tool—a fool—a puppet,—they had ne'er

Fostered the wretch who stung me. What I suffer

Has reached me through my pity for the people;

That many know, and they who know not yet

Will one day learn: meantime I do devote,

Whate'er the issue, my last days of life—

My present power such as it is, not that200

Of Doge, but of a man who has been great

Before he was degraded to a Doge,

And still has individual means and mind;

I stake my fame (and I had fame)—my breath—

(The least of all, for its last hours are nigh)

My heart—my hope—my soul—upon this cast!

Such as I am, I offer me to you

And to your chiefs; accept me or reject me,—

A Prince who fain would be a Citizen

Or nothing, and who has left his throne to be so.210

Cal. Long live Faliero!—Venice shall be free!

Consp. Long live Faliero!

I. Ber. Comrades! did I well?

Is not this man a host in such a cause?

Doge. This is no time for eulogies, nor place

For exultation. Am I one of you?

Cal. Aye, and the first among us, as thou hast been

Of Venice—be our General and Chief.

Doge. Chief!—General!—I was General at Zara,

And Chief in Rhodes and Cyprus,[425] Prince in Venice:

I cannot stoop—that is, I am not fit220

To lead a band of—patriots: when I lay

Aside the dignities which I have borne,

'Tis not to put on others, but to be

Mate to my fellows—but now to the point:

Israel has stated to me your whole plan—

'Tis bold, but feasible if I assist it,

And must be set in motion instantly.

Cal. E'en when thou wilt. Is it not so, my friends?

I have disposed all for a sudden blow;

When shall it be then?

Doge. At sunrise.

Ber. So soon?230

Doge. So soon?—so late—each hour accumulates

Peril on peril, and the more so now

Since I have mingled with you;—know you not

The Council, and "the Ten?" the spies, the eyes

Of the patricians dubious of their slaves,

And now more dubious of the Prince they have made one?

I tell you, you must strike, and suddenly,

Full to the Hydra's heart—its heads will follow.

Cal. With all my soul and sword, I yield assent;

Our companies are ready, sixty each,240

And all now under arms by Israel's order;

Each at their different place of rendezvous,

And vigilant, expectant of some blow;

Let each repair for action to his post!

And now, my Lord, the signal?

Doge. When you hear

The great bell of Saint Mark's, which may not be

Struck without special order of the Doge

(The last poor privilege they leave their Prince),

March on Saint Mark's!

I. Ber. And there?—

Doge. By different routes

Let your march be directed, every sixty250

Entering a separate avenue, and still

Upon the way let your cry be of War

And of the Genoese Fleet, by the first dawn

Discerned before the port; form round the palace,

Within whose court will be drawn out in arms

My nephew and the clients of our house,

Many and martial; while the bell tolls on,

Shout ye, "Saint Mark!—the foe is on our waters!"

Cal. I see it now—but on, my noble Lord.

Doge. All the patricians flocking to the Council,260

(Which they dare not refuse, at the dread signal

Pealing from out their Patron Saint's proud tower,)

Will then be gathered in unto the harvest,

And we will reap them with the sword for sickle.

If some few should be tardy or absent, them,

'Twill be but to be taken faint and single,

When the majority are put to rest.

Cal. Would that the hour were come! we will not scotch,[426]

But kill.

Ber. Once more, sir, with your pardon, I

Would now repeat the question which I asked270

Before Bertuccio added to our cause

This great ally who renders it more sure,

And therefore safer, and as such admits

Some dawn of mercy to a portion of

Our victims—must all perish in this slaughter?

Cal. All who encounter me and mine—be sure,

The mercy they have shown, I show.

Consp. All! all!

Is this a time to talk of pity? when

Have they e'er shown, or felt, or feigned it?

I. Ber. Bertram,

This false compassion is a folly, and280

Injustice to thy comrades and thy cause!

Dost thou not see, that if we single out

Some for escape, they live but to avenge

The fallen? and how distinguish now the innocent

From out the guilty? all their acts are one—

A single emanation from one body,

Together knit for our oppression! 'Tis

Much that we let their children live; I doubt

If all of these even should be set apart:

The hunter may reserve some single cub290

From out the tiger's litter, but who e'er

Would seek to save the spotted sire or dam,

Unless to perish by their fangs? however,

I will abide by Doge Faliero's counsel:

Let him decide if any should be saved.

Doge. Ask me not—tempt me not with such a question—

Decide yourselves.

I. Ber. You know their private virtues

Far better than we can, to whom alone

Their public vices, and most foul oppression,

Have made them deadly; if there be amongst them300

One who deserves to be repealed, pronounce.

Doge. Dolfino's father was my friend, and Lando

Fought by my side, and Marc Cornaro shared[dt] [427]

My Genoese embassy: I saved the life[du]

Of Veniero—shall I save it twice?

Would that I could save them and Venice also!

All these men, or their fathers, were my friends

Till they became my subjects; then fell from me

As faithless leaves drop from the o'erblown flower,

And left me a lone blighted thorny stalk,310

Which, in its solitude, can shelter nothing;

So, as they let me wither, let them perish!

Cal. They cannot co-exist with Venice' freedom!

Doge. Ye, though you know and feel our mutual mass

Of many wrongs, even ye are ignorant[dv]

What fatal poison to the springs of Life,

To human ties, and all that's good and dear,

Lurks in the present institutes of Venice:

All these men were my friends; I loved them, they

Requited honourably my regards;320

We served and fought; we smiled and wept in concert;

We revelled or we sorrowed side by side;

We made alliances of blood and marriage;

We grew in years and honours fairly,—till

Their own desire, not my ambition, made

Them choose me for their Prince, and then farewell!

Farewell all social memory! all thoughts

In common! and sweet bonds which link old friendships,

When the survivors of long years and actions,

Which now belong to history, soothe the days330

Which yet remain by treasuring each other,

And never meet, but each beholds the mirror

Of half a century on his brother's brow,

And sees a hundred beings, now in earth,

Flit round them whispering of the days gone by,

And seeming not all dead, as long as two

Of the brave, joyous, reckless, glorious band,

Which once were one and many, still retain

A breath to sigh for them, a tongue to speak

Of deeds that else were silent, save on marble——340

Oimé Oimé! [428]—and must I do this deed?

I. Ber. My Lord, you are much moved: it is not now

That such things must be dwelt upon.

Doge. Your patience

A moment—I recede not: mark with me

The gloomy vices of this government.

From the hour they made me Doge, the Doge they made me—

Farewell the past! I died to all that had been,

Or rather they to me: no friends, no kindness,

No privacy of life—all were cut off:

They came not near me—such approach gave umbrage;350

They could not love me—such was not the law;

They thwarted me—'twas the state's policy;

They baffled me—'twas a patrician's duty;

They wronged me, for such was to right the state;

They could not right me—that would give suspicion;

So that I was a slave to my own subjects;

So that I was a foe to my own friends;

Begirt with spies for guards, with robes for power,

With pomp for freedom, gaolers for a council,

Inquisitors for friends, and Hell for life!360

I had only one fount of quiet left,

And that they poisoned! My pure household gods[429]

Were shivered on my hearth, and o'er their shrine

Sate grinning Ribaldry, and sneering Scorn.[dw]

I. Ber. You have been deeply wronged, and now shall be

Nobly avenged before another night.

Doge. I had borne all—it hurt me, but I bore it—

Till this last running over of the cup

Of bitterness—until this last loud insult,

Not only unredressed, but sanctioned; then,370

And thus, I cast all further feelings from me—

The feelings which they crushed for me, long, long[dx]

Before, even in their oath of false allegiance!

Even in that very hour and vow, they abjured

Their friend and made a Sovereign, as boys make

Playthings, to do their pleasure—and be broken![dy]

I from that hour have seen but Senators

In dark suspicious conflict with the Doge,

Brooding with him in mutual hate and fear;

They dreading he should snatch the tyranny380

From out their grasp, and he abhorring tyrants.

To me, then, these men have no private life,

Nor claim to ties they have cut off from others;

As Senators for arbitrary acts

Amenable, I look on them—as such

Let them be dealt upon.

Cal. And now to action!

Hence, brethren, to our posts, and may this be

The last night of mere words: I'd fain be doing!

Saint Mark's great bell at dawn shall find me wakeful!

I. Ber. Disperse then to your posts: be firm and vigilant;390

Think on the wrongs we bear, the rights we claim.

This day and night shall be the last of peril!

Watch for the signal, and then march. I go

To join my band; let each be prompt to marshal

His separate charge: the Doge will now return

To the palace to prepare all for the blow.

We part to meet in Freedom and in Glory!

Cal. Doge, when I greet you next, my homage to you

Shall be the head of Steno on this sword!

Doge. No; let him be reserved unto the last,400

Nor turn aside to strike at such a prey,[dz]

Till nobler game is quarried: his offence

Was a mere ebullition of the vice,

The general corruption generated

By the foul Aristocracy: he could not—

He dared not in more honourable days

Have risked it. I have merged all private wrath

Against him in the thought of our great purpose.

A slave insults me—I require his punishment

From his proud master's hands; if he refuse it,410

The offence grows his, and let him answer it.

Cal. Yet, as the immediate cause of the alliance

Which consecrates our undertaking more,

I owe him such deep gratitude, that fain

I would repay him as he merits; may I?

Doge. You would but lop the hand, and I the head;

You would but smite the scholar, I the master;

You would but punish Steno, I the Senate.

I cannot pause on individual hate,

In the absorbing, sweeping, whole revenge,420

Which, like the sheeted fire from Heaven, must blast

Without distinction, as it fell of yore,

Where the Dead Sea hath quenched two Cities' ashes.

I. Ber. Away, then, to your posts! I but remain

A moment to accompany the Doge

To our late place of tryst, to see no spies

Have been upon the scout, and thence I hasten

To where my allotted band is under arms.

Cal. Farewell, then,—until dawn!

I. Ber. Success go with you!

Consp. We will not fail—Away! My Lord, farewell!430

[The Conspirators salute the Doge and Israel Bertuccio, and retire, headed by Philip Calendaro.

The Doge and Israel Bertuccio remain.