Why comest thou to tell me at this hour,

And not before?

Bertram.

I cannot answer this.

Wilt thou go forth despite of this true warning?

Lioni. I was not born to shrink from idle threats, The cause of which I know not: at the hour

Of council, be it soon or late, I shall not

Be found among the absent.

Bertram.

Say not so!

Once more, art thou determined to go forth?

Lioni. I am. Nor is there aught which shall impede me! Bertram. Then Heaven have mercy on thy soulFarewell!

[Going.

Lioni. Stay-there is more in this than my own safety Which makes me call thee back; we must not part thus: Bertram, I have known thee long.

From childhood, signor,

Bertram.
You have been my protector: in the days
Of reckless infancy, when rank forgets,
Or, rather, is not yet taught to remember
Its cold prerogative, we played together;

Our sports, our smiles, our tears, were mingled oft;
My father was your father's client, I

His son's scarce less than foster-brother; years
Saw us together-happy, heart-full hours!—
Oh God! the difference 'twixt those hours and this!
Lioni. Bertram, 'tis thou who hast forgotten them.
Bertram. Nor now, nor ever; whatso'er betide,
I would have saved you: when to manhood's growth
We sprung, and you, devoted to the state,
As suits your station, the more humble Bertram
Was left unto the labours of the humble,
Still you forsook me not; and if my fortunes
Have not been towering, 'twas no fault of him

Who oft-times rescued and supported me
When strugling with the tides of circumstance
Which bear away the weaker: noble blood
Ne'er mantled in a nobler heart than thine
Has proved to me, the poor plebeian Bertram.
Would that thy fellow senators were like thee!

Lioni. Why, what hast thou to say against the senate?
Bertram. Nothing.

Lioni.

I know that there are angry spirits

And turbulent mutterers of stifled treason
Who lurk in narrow places, and walk out
Muffled to whisper curses to the night;
Disbanded soldiers, discontented ruffians,
And desperate libertines who brawl in taverns;
Thou herdst not with such: 'tis true, of late
I have lost sight of thee, but thou wert wont
To lead a temperate life, and break thy bread
With honest mates, and bear a cheerful aspect.
What hath come to thee? in thy hollow eye
And hueless cheek, and thine unquiet motions,
Sorrow and shame and conscience seem at war
To waste thee?

Bertram.

Rather shame and sorrow light

On the accursed tyranny which rides
The very air in Venice, and makes men

Madden as in the last hours of the plague

Which sweeps the soul deliriously from life!

[Bertram;

Lioni. Some villains have been tampering with thee,
This is not thy own language, nor own thoughts;
Some wretch has made thee drunk with disaffection:

But thou must not be lost so; thou wert good
And kind, and art not fit for such base acts
As vice and villainy would put thee to:

Confess confide in me-thou know'st my nature---

What is it thou and thine are bound to do,

Which should prevent thy friend, the only son
Of him who was a friend unto thy father,
So that our good will is a heritage
We should bequeath to our posterity
Such as ourselves received it, or augmented;

I say, what is it thou must do, that I

Should deem thee dangerous, and keep the house
Like a sick girl?

Bertram.

I must be gone.

Lioni.

Nay, question me no further;

And I be murder'd!-say,

Was it not thus thou said'st, my gentle Bertram?

Bertram. Who talks of murder? what said I of murder? 'Tis false! I did not utter such a word.

Lioni. Thou did❜st not: but from out thy wolfish eye, So chang'd from what I knew it, there glares forth The gladiator. If my life's thine object,

Take it-I am unarmed, and then away!

I would not hold my breath on such a tenure
As the capricious mercy of such things

As thou and those who have set thee to thy task-work.
Bertram. Sooner than spill thy blood, I peril mine:

Sooner than harm a hair of thine, I place
In jeopardy a thousand heads, and some
As noble, nay, even nobler than thine own.

Lioni. Ay, is it even so? Excuse me, Bertram,
I am not worthy to be singled out

From such exalted hecatombs-who are they
That are in danger, and that make the danger?
Bertram. Venice, and all that she inherits, are
Divided like a house against itself,

And so will perish ere to-morrow's twilight!
Lioni. More mysteries, and awful ones! But now,

Or thou, or I, or both it may be, are

Upon the verge of ruin; speak once out,

And thou art safe and glorious: for 'tis more
Glorious to save than slay, and slay i' the dark too-
Fie, Bertram! that was not a craft for thee!

How would it look to see upon a spear

The head of him whose heart was open to thee,
Borne by thy hand before the shuddering people?
And such may be thy doom; for here I swear,
What'er the peril or the penalty

Of thy denunciation, I go forth,

Unless thou dost detail the cause and show
The consequence of all which led thee here!
Bertram. Is there no way to save thee? minutes fly,
And thou art lost!-thou! my sole benefactor,
The only being who was constant to me

Through every change. Yet, make me not a traitor!
Let me save thee-but spare my honour!

Lioni.

Can lie the honour in a league of murder?
And who are traitors save unto the state?

Where

[ing

Bertram. A league is still a compact, and more bindIn honest hearts when words must stand for law; And in my mind, there is no traitor like He whose domestic treason plants the poniard Within the breast which trusted to his truth. Lioni. And who will strike the steel to mine? Bertram.

Not I;

I could have wound my soul up to all things
Save this. Thou must not die! and think how dear

Thy life is, when I risk so many lives,

Nay, more, the life of lives, the liberty
Of future generations, not to be

The assassin thou miscall'st me;-once, once more
I do adjure thee, pass not o'er thy threshold!

Lioni. It is in vain-this moment I go forth.

Bertram. Then perish Venice rather than my friend! I will disclose ensnare-betray-destroy

Oh, what a villain I become for thee!

Lioni. Say, rather thy friend's saviour and the state's!Speak-pause not-all rewards, all pledges for

Thy safety and thy welfare; wealth such as
The state accords her worthiest servants; nay,
Nobility itself I guarantee thee,

So that thou art sincere and penitent.

[thee

Bertram. I have thoght again: it must not be—I love Thou knowest it-that I stand here is the proof, Not least though last; but having done my duty By thee, I now must do it by my country! Farewell!-we meet no more in life!-farewell! Lioni. What, ho! Antonio-Pedro-to the door

See that none pass-arrest this man!

Enter Antonio and other armed Domestics, who seize Bertram. Lioni (continues.)

Take care

He hath no harm; bring me my sword and cloak,
And man the gondola with four oars—quick—

We will unto Giovanni Gradenigo's,

[Exit Antonio.

And send for Marc Cornaro:-fear not, Bertram;
This needful violence is for thy safety,

No less than for the general weal.

Bertram.

Bear me a prisoner?

Where wouldst thou