"Is but too well acquainted with my weakness; "Knows, let it name but love, my melting heart *Dissolves within my breast; till with clos'd eyes "I reel into thy arms, and all's forgotten.

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Jaf. What shall I do?

"Bel. Tell me; be just, and tell me,

Why dwells that busy cloud upon thy face?

Why am I made a stranger? Why that sigh, "And I not know the cause? Why, when the world Is wrapp'd in rest, why chooses then my love

"To wander up and down in horrid darkness,

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Loathing his bed, and these desiring arms?

Why are these eyes blood-shot with tedious watching?

Why starts he now, and looks as if he wish'd "His fate were finish'd? Tell me, ease my fear; 250 "Lest, when we next time meet, I want the power To search into the sickness of thy mind,

"But talk as wildly then as thou look'st now. Jaf. Oh, Belvidera!

Bel. Why was I last night deliver'd to a villain? Jaf. Ha! a villain?

Bel. Yes, to a villain! Why at such an hour Meets that assembly, all made up of wretches, "That looks as hell had drawn them into league ?” Why, I in this hand, and in that a dagger, Was I deliver'd with such dreadful ceremonies? Το

o you, Sirs, and to your honours, I bequeath her, And with her this • Whene'er I prove unworthyYou know the rest--then strike it to her heart.

Oh! why's that rest conceal'd 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 the slaves;
Straight to the senate, tell 'em all I know,
All that I think, all that my fears inform me.
Jaf. Is this the Roman virtue; this the blood
That boasts its purity with Cato's daughter?
Would she have e'er betray'd her Brutus ?
Bel. No:

For Brutus trusted her. Wert thou so kind,
What would not Belvidera suffer for thee?

Jaf. I shall undo myself, and tell thee all.
"Bel. Look not upon me as I am, a woman:
"But as a bone, thy wife, thy friend; who long
"Has had admission to thy heart, and there

Study'd the virtues of thy gallant nature.

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"Thy constancy, thy courage, and thy truth,
"Have been my daily lesson: I have learn'd 'em,
"And, bold as thou, can suffer or despise

"The worst of fates for thee, and with thee share 'em."

Jaf. Oh, you divinest Powers look down and hear "My prayers! instruct me to reward this virtue!” 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:

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Then if thou should'st 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!

Jaf. Nay, the throats of the whole senate Shall bleed, my Belvidera. He, amongst us, That spares his father, brother, or his friend, Is damn'd. "How rich and beauteous will the face "Of ruin look, when these wide streets run blood! "I, and the glorious partners of my fortune, "Shouting, and striding o'er the prostrate dead, "Still to new waste; whilst thou, far off in safety, 'Smiling, shalt see the wonders of our daring;

"And when night comes, with praise and love receive

me.

Bel. Oh!

faf. Have a care, and shrink not even in thought: For if thou dost

Bel. 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! tho' his cruel nature

Has persecuted me to my undoing;

Driven me to basest wants; can I behold him,
With smiles of vengeance, butcher'd in his age?
The sacred fountain of my life destroy'd?
And can'st thou shed the blood that gave me being?
Nay, be a traitor too, and sell thy country?

Can thy great heart descend so vilely low,
Mix with hir'd slaves, bravoes, and common stabbers,
"Nose-slitters, alley-lurking villains!" join
With such a crew, and take a ruffian's wages,
To cut the throats of wretches as they sleep?
Jaf. Thou wrong'st me, Belvidera! I've engag'd
With men of souls; fit to reform the ills

Of all mankind: there's not a heart amongst them
But's stout as death, yet honest as the nature

Of man first made, e'er fraud and vice were fashion. Bel. What's he, to whose curst 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.
Jef, Speak on, I charge thee.

Bel. O my love! If e'er

Thy Belvidera's peace deserv'd thy care,

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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 pow'r of that old son of mischief;
No sooner was I lain on my sad bed,

F

But that vile wretch approach'd me, "loose, unbut

ton'd,

"Ready for violation:" Then my heart

Throbb'd with its fears: Oh, how I wept and sigh'd, And shrunk and trembled! wish'd in vain for him That should protect me! Thou, alas! wert gone. Jaf. Patience, sweet Heav'n, '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 my arms, then press 'd, and would have clasp'd

me;

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But with my cries, I scar'd his coward heart,
Till he withdrew, and mutter'd vows to hell.
These are thy friends! with these thy life, thy honour,
Thy love, all stak'd, and all will go to ruin.

Jaf. 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. 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?