_Doge_. All things are so to mortals; who can read them Save he who made? or, if they can, the few And gifted spirits, who have studied long That loathsome volume--man, and pored upon Those black and bloody leaves, his heart and brain,[bf] But learn a magic which recoils upon The adept who pursues it: all the sins We find in others, Nature made our own; All our advantages are those of Fortune; 340 Birth, wealth, health, beauty, are her accidents, And when we cry out against Fate, 'twere well We should remember Fortune can take nought Save what she _gave_--the rest was nakedness, And lusts, and appetites, and vanities, The universal heritage, to battle With as we may, and least in humblest stations,[bg] Where Hunger swallows all in one low want,[bh] And the original ordinance, that man Must sweat for his poor pittance, keeps all passions 350 Aloof, save fear of famine! All is low, And false, and hollow--clay from first to last, The Prince's urn no less than potter's vessel. Our Fame is in men's breath, our lives upon Less than their breath; our durance upon days[bi] Our days on seasons; our whole being on Something which is not _us_![56]--So, we are slaves, The greatest as the meanest--nothing rests Upon our will; the will itself no less[bj] Depends upon a straw than on a storm; 360 And when we think we lead, we are most led,[57] And still towards Death, a thing which comes as much Without our act or choice as birth, so that Methinks we must have sinned in some old world, And _this_ is Hell: the best is, that it is not Eternal. _Mar._ These are things we cannot judge On earth. _Doge_. And how then shall we judge each other, Who are all earth, and I, who am called upon To judge my son? I have administered My country faithfully--victoriously-- 370 I dare them to the proof, the _chart_ of what She was and is: my reign has doubled realms; And, in reward, the gratitude of Venice Has left, or is about to leave, _me_ single. _Mar._ And Foscari? I do not think of such things, So I be left with him. _Doge_. You shall be so; Thus much they cannot well deny. _Mar._ And if They should, I will fly with him. _Doge_. That can ne'er be. And whither would you fly? _Mar._ I know not, reck not-- To Syria, Egypt, to the Ottoman-- 380 Any where, where we might respire unfettered, And live nor girt by spies, nor liable To edicts of inquisitors of state. _Doge_. What, wouldst thou have a renegade for husband, And turn him into traitor?