_Ber. F._ By this time they are; But they have orders not to strike, until They have command from you through me in person. 70 _Doge_. 'Tis well.--Will the morn never put to rest These stars which twinkle yet o'er all the heavens? I am settled and bound up, and being so, The very effort which it cost me to Resolve to cleanse this Commonwealth with fire, Now leaves my mind more steady. I have wept, And trembled at the thought of this dread duty; But now I have put down all idle passion, And look the growing tempest in the face, As doth the pilot of an Admiral Galley:[438] 80 Yet (wouldst thou think it, kinsman?) it hath been A greater struggle to me, than when nations Beheld their fate merged in the approaching fight, Where I was leader of a phalanx, where Thousands were sure to perish--Yes, to spill The rank polluted current from the veins Of a few bloated despots needed more To steel me to a purpose such as made Timoleon immortal,[439] than to face The toils and dangers of a life of war. 90 _Ber. F._ It gladdens me to see your former wisdom Subdue the furies which so wrung you ere You were decided. _Doge_. It was ever thus With me; the hour of agitation came In the first glimmerings of a purpose, when Passion had too much room to sway; but in The hour of action I have stood as calm As were the dead who lay around me: this They knew who made me what I am, and trusted To the subduing power which I preserved 100 Over my mood, when its first burst was spent. But they were not aware that there are things Which make revenge a virtue by reflection, And not an impulse of mere anger; though The laws sleep, Justice wakes, and injured souls Oft do a public right with private wrong, And justify their deeds unto themselves.-- Methinks the day breaks--is it not so? look, Thine eyes are clear with youth;--the air puts on A morning freshness, and, at least to me, 110 The sea looks greyer through the lattice. _Ber. F._ True, The morn is dappling in the sky.[er][440]