ehold their parent any where.

_Mar._ I would that they beheld their father in
A place which would not mingle fear with love,
To freeze their young blood in its natural current.
They have fed well, slept soft, and knew not that
Their sire was a mere hunted outlaw. Well, 370
I know his fate may one day be their heritage,
But let it only be their _heritage_,
And not their present fee. Their senses, though
Alive to love, are yet awake to terror;
And these vile damps, too, and yon _thick green_ wave
Which floats above the place where we now stand--
A cell so far below the water's level,
Sending its pestilence through every crevice,
Might strike them: _this is not their_ atmosphere,
However you--and you--and most of all, 380
As worthiest--_you_, sir, noble Loredano!
May breathe it without prejudice.

_Jac. Fos._ I had not
Reflected upon this, but acquiesce.
I shall depart, then, without meeting them?

_Doge_. Not so: they shall await you in my chamber.

_Jac. Fos._ And must I leave them--_all_?

_Lor._ You must.

_Jac. Fos._ Not one?

_Lor._ They are the State's.

_Mar._ I thought they had been mine.

_Lor._ They are, in all maternal things.

_Mar._ That is,
In all things painful. If they're sick, they will
Be left to me to tend them; should they die, 390
To me to bury and to mourn; but if
They live, they'll make you soldiers, senators,
Slaves, exiles--what _you_ will; or if they are
Females with portions, brides and _bribes_ for nobles!
Behold the State's care for its sons and mothers!

_Lor._ The hour approaches, and the wind is fair.

_Jac. Fos._ How know you that here, where the genial wind
Ne'er blows in all its blustering freedom?

_Lor._ 'Twas so
When I came here. The galley floats within
A bow-shot of the "Riva di Schiavoni." 400

_Jac. Fos._ Father! I pray you to precede me, and
Prepare my children to behold their father.

_Doge_. Be firm, my son!

_Jac. Fos._ I will do my endeavour.

_Mar._ Farewell! at least to this detested dungeon,
And h