Ball. Yes, here I tender it for him in the court; Yea, twice the sum : if that will not suffice, I will be bound to pay it ten times o'er, On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart. If this will not suffice, it must appear That malice bears down truth. And I beseech you, Wrest once the law to your authority. To do a great right, do a little wrong; And curb this cruel devil of his will.

Por. It must not be ; there is no power in Venice; Can alter a decree established: 'Twill be recorded for a precedent; And many an error; by the same example, Will rush into the state :-It cannot be.

Sky. A Daniel come to judgment ! yea, a Daniel. O wise young judge, how do I honour thee!

Por. I pray you, let me look upon the bond.
Sby. Here'tis, most reverend doctor, here it is.
Por. Shylock, there's thrice thy mony offer'd

thee.
Shy. An owl, oath, I have an oath in heaven:
Shall I lay perjury upon my soul ?
No, not for Venice.

Por. Why, this bond is forfeit;
And lawfully by this the Jew may claim
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off
Nearest the merchant's heart. Be merciful;
Take thrice thy mony, bid me tear the bond.

Shy. When it is paid according to the tenour.-
It doch appear you are a worthy judge ;
You know the law; your exposition
Hath been most found I charge you by the law,
Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar,
Proceed to judgment. By my soul I swear,

8 Malice bears down truth.] Malice oppresses honesty, a true man in old language is an honest man.

We now call the jury good main and Irue. JOHNSON. Vol. III.

There

There is no power in the tongue of man
To alter me: I stay here on my bond.

Antb. Most heartily I do beseech the court
To give the judgment.

Por. Why, then thus it is :
You must prepare your bosom for his knife.

Sby. O noble judge ! O excellent young man !

Por. For the intent and purpose of the law
Hath full relation to the penalty,
Which here appeareth due upon the bond.
Shy. 'Tis very true.

O wife and upright judge! How much more elder art thou than thy looks!

Por. Therefore lay bare your bofom.

Sky. Ay, his breast; So says the bond ; doth it not, noble judge ? Nearest his heart, those are the very words. Por. It is fo. Are there balance here to weigh the

flesh ? Sby. I have them ready. Por. Have by fome surgeon, Shylock, on your

charge, To stop his wounds, lest he should bleed to death.

Shy. Is it so nominated in the bond ?
Por. It is not so express’d; but what of that?
’T were good, you do so much for charity.

Shy. I cannot find it ; 'tis not in the bond.
Pór. Conie, merchant, have you any thing to say?
Anth. But little : I am arm’d, and well prepar'd.

-Give me your hand, Bassanio, fare ye well!
Grieve not, that I am fallen to this for you ;
For herein fortune shews herfelf more kind,
Than is her custom. It is still her use,
To let the wretched man out-live his wealth,
To view with hollow eye, and wrinkled brow,
An age of poverty; from which lingering penance
Of such a misery doth she cut me off.
Commend me to your honourable wife :

Tell

Tell her the process of Anthonio's end;
Say, how I lov'd you ; speak me fair in death;
And when the tale is told, bid her be judge,
Whether Bassanio had not once a love.
Repent not you, that you shall lose your friend,
And he repents not, that he pays your debt;
For, if the Jew do cut but deep enough,
I'll pay it instantly with all my heart.

Bal. Anthonio, I am married to a wife,
Which is as dear to me as life itself;
But life itself, my wife, and all the world,
Are not with me esteem'd above thy life.
I would lose all; ay, sacrifice them all
Here to this devil, to deliver you.
Por. Your wife would give you little thanks for

that, If she were by, to hear you make the offer.

Gra. I have a wife, whom, I protest, I love : I would, she were in heaven, so she could Intreat some power to change this currish Jew.

Ner. 'Tis well, you offer it behind her back ; The wish would make else an unquiet house. Sby. These be the Christian husbands. I have a

daughter ; 'Would, any of the stock of Barrabas Had been her husband, rather than a Christian !

[ Aside. -We trifle time; I pray thee, pursue sentence. Por. A pound of that fame merchant's Aesh is

thine, The court awards it, and the law doth give it.

Sby. Most rightful judge !

Por. And you must cut this flesh from off his breast; The law allows it, and the court awards it. Sby. Most learned judge !-A sentence ;-come,

prepare. Por. Tarry a little; there is something else. -O 2

This

This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood;
The words exprelly are, a pound of flesh.
Then take thy bond, take thou thy pound of flesh;
But, in the cutting it, if thou doft shed
One drop of Christian blood : thy lands and goods
Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate
Unto the state of Venice.
Gra. O upright judge !—Mark, Jew;- learned

judge!
Shy. Is that the law ?

Por. Thyself shalt see the act : For, as thou urgest justice, be assur’d, Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desir'ft. Gra. O learned judge !--Mark, Jew-a learned

judge! Shy. I take this offer then ;-pay the bond thrice, And let the Christian go.

Bal. Here is the mony.

Por. Soft ; The Jew shall have all justice;—soft !—no hasteHe shall have nothing but the penalty.

Gra. O Jew! an upright judge, a learned judge !

Por. Therefore prepare thee to cut off the fesh. Shed thou no blood ; nor cut thou less, nor more, But just a pound of Aesh: if thou tak'st more Or less, than just a pound, be it but so much As makes it light or heavy in the substance, On the division of the twentieth part Of one poor scruple; nay, if the scale turn But in the estimation of a hair, Thou dieft, and all thy goods are confiscate.

Gra. A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew! -Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip. Por. Why doth the Jew pause?

-take thy forfeiture. Sby. Give me my principal, and let me go Bal. I have it ready for thee ; here it is. Por. He hath refus'd it in the open court;

He

He shall have merely justice, and his bond.

Gra. A Daniel, ftill say l; a second Daniel ! I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.

Sby. Shall I not barely have my principal ?

Pór. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture, To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.

Sby. Why, then the devil give him good of it! I'll stay no longer question.

Por. Tarry, Jew; The law hath yet another hold on you. It is enacted in the laws of Venice, If it be prov'd against an alien, That, by direct, or indirect attempts He seeks the life of any citizen, The party, 'gainst the which he doth contrive, Shall seize on half his goods; the other half Comes to the privy coffer of the state ; And the offender's life lies in the mercy Of the Duke only, 'gainst all other voice: In which predicament, I say, thou stand'it. For it appears by manifest proceeding, Thac indirectly, and directly too, Thou hast contriv'd against the very life Of the defendant; and thou hast incur'd The danger formerly by me rehears’d. Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke. Gra. Beg, that thou may'st have leave to hang

thyself:
And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state,
Thou hait not left the value of a cord;
Therefore, thou must be hang'd at the state's charge.
Duke. That thou may'st see the difference of our

spirit,
I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.
For half thy wealth, it is Anthonio's ;
The other half comes to the general state,
Which humbleness may drive unto a fine.

P0r

O 3