Marino Faliero (Act 3 Scene 2)

Scene II.—The House where the Conspirators meet. 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 aware Fully of our intent? they think themselves Engaged in secret to the Signory, 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 shame 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 soon 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! 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 Aristocracy 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 know 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 myself 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 those 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 away 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! 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 fearful 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, 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. 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. 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, 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, 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, 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, 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 Without its virtues—temperance and valour. The Lords of Lacedæmon were true soldiers, But ours are Sybarites, while we are Helots, 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, 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 tyrant 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, dizened out To sit in state as for a Sovereign's picture; A popular scourge, a ready sentence-signer, A stickler for the Senate and "the Forty," A sceptic of all measures which had not The sanction of "the Ten," 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 that 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. 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, Prince in Venice: I cannot stoop—that is, I am not fit 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? 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, 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 sixty 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, (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, But kill. Ber. Once more, sir, with your pardon, I Would now repeat the question which I asked 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, and 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 cub 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 them One who deserves to be repealed, pronounce. Doge. Dolfino's father was my friend, and Lando Fought by my side, and Marc Cornaro shared My Genoese embassy: I saved the life 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, 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 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; 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 days 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—— Oimé Oimé!—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; 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! I had only one fount of quiet left, And that they poisoned! My pure household gods Were shivered on my hearth, and o'er their shrine Sate grinning Ribaldry, and sneering Scorn. 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, And thus, I cast all further feelings from me— The feelings which they crushed for me, long, long 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! 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 tyranny 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; 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, Nor turn aside to strike at such a prey, 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, 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, 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!          [The Conspirators salute the Doge and Israel Bertuccio, and retire, headed by Philip Calendaro. The Doge and Israel Bertuccio remain. I. Ber. We have them in the toil—it cannot fail! Now thou'rt indeed a Sovereign, and wilt make A name immortal greater than the greatest: Free citizens have struck at Kings ere now; Cæsars have fallen, and even patrician hands Have crushed dictators, as the popular steel Has reached patricians: but, until this hour, What Prince has plotted for his people's freedom? Or risked a life to liberate his subjects? For ever, and for ever, they conspire Against the people, to abuse their hands To chains, but laid aside to carry weapons Against the fellow nations, so that yoke On yoke, and slavery and death may whet, Not glut, the never-gorged Leviathan! Now, my Lord, to our enterprise;—'tis great, And greater the reward; why stand you rapt? A moment back, and you were all impatience! Doge. And is it then decided! must they die? I. Ber. Who? Doge. My own friends by blood and courtesy, And many deeds and days—the Senators? I. Ber. You passed their sentence, and it is a just one. Doge. Aye, so it seems, and so it is to you; You are a patriot, a plebeian Gracchus— The rebel's oracle, the people's tribune— I blame you not—you act in your vocation; They smote you, and oppressed you, and despised you; So they have me: but you ne'er spake with them; You never broke their bread, nor shared their salt; You never had their wine-cup at your lips: You grew not up with them, nor laughed, nor wept, Nor held a revel in their company; Ne'er smiled to see them smile, nor claimed their smile In social interchange for yours, nor trusted Nor wore them in your heart of hearts, as I have: These hairs of mine are grey, and so are theirs, The elders of the Council: I remember When all our locks were like the raven's wing, As we went forth to take our prey around The isles wrung from the false Mahometan; And can I see them dabbled o'er with blood? Each stab to them will seem my suicide. I. Ber. Doge! Doge! this vacillation is unworthy A child; if you are not in second childhood, Call back your nerves to your own purpose, nor Thus shame yourself and me. By Heavens! I'd rather Forego even now, or fail in our intent, Than see the man I venerate subside From high resolves into such shallow weakness! You have seen blood in battle, shed it, both Your own and that of others; can you shrink then From a few drops from veins of hoary vampires, Who but give back what they have drained from millions? Doge. Bear with me! Step by step, and blow on blow, I will divide with you; think not I waver: Ah! no; it is the certainty of all Which I must do doth make me tremble thus. But let these last and lingering thoughts have way, To which you only and the night are conscious, And both regardless; when the Hour arrives, 'Tis mine to sound the knell, and strike the blow, Which shall unpeople many palaces, And hew the highest genealogic trees Down to the earth, strewed with their bleeding fruit, And crush their blossoms into barrenness: This will I—must I—have I sworn to do, Nor aught can turn me from my destiny; But still I quiver to behold what I Must be, and think what I have been! Bear with me. I. Ber. Re-man your breast; I feel no such remorse, I understand it not: why should you change? You acted, and you act, on your free will. Doge. Aye, there it is—you feel not, nor do I, Else I should stab thee on the spot, to save A thousand lives—and killing, do no murder; You feel not—you go to this butcher-work As if these high-born men were steers for shambles: When all is over, you'll be free and merry, And calmly wash those hands incarnadine; But I, outgoing thee and all thy fellows In this surpassing massacre, shall be, Shall see and feel—oh God! oh God! 'tis true, And thou dost well to answer that it was "My own free will and act," and yet you err, For I will do this! Doubt not—fear not; I Will be your most unmerciful accomplice! And yet I act no more on my free will, Nor my own feelings—both compel me back; But there is Hell within me and around, And like the Demon who believes and trembles Must I abhor and do. Away! away! Get thee unto thy fellows, I will hie me To gather the retainers of our house. Doubt not, St. Mark's great bell shall wake all Venice, Except her slaughtered Senate: ere the Sun Be broad upon the Adriatic there Shall be a voice of weeping, which shall drown The roar of waters in the cry of blood! I am resolved—come on. I. Ber. With all my soul! Keep a firm rein upon these bursts of passion; Remember what these men have dealt to thee, And that this sacrifice will be succeeded By ages of prosperity and freedom To this unshackled city: a true tyrant Would have depopulated empires, nor Have felt the strange compunction which hath wrung you To punish a few traitors to the people. Trust me, such were a pity more misplaced Than the late mercy of the state to Steno. Doge. Man, thou hast struck upon the chord which jars All nature from my heart. Hence to our task!