To Tubal, and to Chus, his countrymen,
That he would rather have Antonio's flesh,

Than twenty times the value of the sum
* That he did owe him : and I know, my lord,

If law, authority, and power deny not,
It will go hard with poor Antonio.
Por. Is it your dear friend, that is thus in trou-

ble?
Bass. The dearest friend to me, the kindeft man,
The best condition’d and unwearied fpirit
In doing courtesies; and one in whom
The ancient Roman honour more appears,
Than

any

that draws breath in Italy.
Por. What fum owes he the Jew ?
Bass. For me, three thousand ducats.
Por.

What, no more?
Pay him fix thousand, and deface the bond;
Double fix thousand, and then treble that,
Before a friend of this description
Shall lose a hair through Bassanio's fault.
First, go with me to church, and call me wife;
And then away to Venice to your friend;
For never shall you lie by Portia's fide
With an unquiet foul. You shall have gold
To

debt twenty times over;
When it is paid, bring your true friend along:
My maid Nerissa, and myself, mean time,
Will live as maids and widows. Come, away;
For you shall hence upon your wedding-day:
Bid

your friends welcome, show a merry cheer;' Since you are dear bought, I will love you dear. But let me hear the letter of your friend.

pay

the petty

- cheer;] i. e. countenance. So, in A Midjummer-Nighi's Dream, Vol. V.

Po

161: “ That liv'd, that lov'd, that lik'd, that look'd with cheer." Ses pote on this passage. STE8VENS,

BASS. [reads.] Sweet Bessanio, my ships have all miscarried, my creditors grow cruel, my estate is very low, my bond to the Jew is forfeit; and since, in paying it, it is impossible I fould live, all debts are cleared between you and I, if I might but see you at my death: notwithstanding, use your pleasure : if your love do not persuade you to come, let not my letter.

Por. O love, despatch all business, and be gone. Bass. Since I have your good leave to go away,

I will make haste: but, till I come again, No bed shall e'er be guilty of my stay,

No rest be interposer 'twixt us twain. [Exeunt.

Enter SHYLOCK, SALANIO, ANTONIO, and Gaoler.
Shr. Gaoler, look to him; Tell not me of

mercy;
This is the fool that lent out money gratis ;-
Gaoler, look to him.
ANT.

Hear me yet, good Shylock. Shr. I'll have my bond; speak not against my

bond; I have sworn an oath, that I will have my bond: Thou call’dst me dog, before thou had'st a cause : But, fince I am a dog, beware my fangs : The duke shall grant me justice.—I do wonder, Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art so fond?

and 1,] This inaccuracy, I believe, was our author's Mr. Pope reads—and me. MALONE.

-lo fond] i. e. fo foolith. So, in the old comedy of Mother Bombie, 1594, by Lyly: " that the youth seeing her fair cheeks, may be enamoured before they hear her fund fpeech." STEEVENS.

6

7

To come abroad with him at his request.:

Ant. I pray thee, hear me speak.
Shr. I'll have my bond; I will not hear thee

speak: l'll have my bond; and therefore speak no more. I'll not be made a soft and dull-ey'd fool, To shake the head, relent, and ligh, and yield To christian interceffors. Follow not ; I'll have no speaking ; I will have my bond.

[Exit SHYLOCK.
Salan. It is the most impenetrable cur,
That ever kept with men.
Ant.

Let him alone;
I'll follow him no more with bootless prayers.
He seeks my life; his reason well I know;
I oft deliver'd from his forfeitures
Many that have at times made moan to me;
Therefore he hates me.
Salan.

I am sure, the duke
Will never grant this forfeiture to hold.

Ant. The duke cannot deny the course of law; For the commodity that ftrangers have With us in Venice, if it be denied,"

8_dull-ey'd fool,] This epithet dull-ey'd is bestowed on melancholy in Pericles, Prince of Tyre. STEVENS.

9 The duke cannot deny, &c.] As the reason here given seems a little perplex'd, it may be proper to explain it. If, says he, the duke stop the course of law, it will be attended with this inconvenience, that stranger merchants, by whom the wealth and power of this city is supported, will cry out of injustice. For the known ftated law being their guide and security, they will never bear to have the current of it itopped on any pretence of equity whatsoever.

WARBURTON. - For the commodity that Arangers have

With us in Venice, if it be denied, &c.] i. c. for the denial of those rights to ftrangers, which render their abode at l'enice so

Will much impeach the justice of the state;
Since that the trade and profit of the city
Confifteth of all nations. Therefore, go :
These griefs and losses have so 'bated me,
That I shall hardly spare a pound of flesh
To-morrow to my bloody creditor.-
Well, gaoler, on :-Pray God, Bassanio come
To see me pay his debt, and then I care not!

[Excúnt. SCENE IV.

Belmont. A Room in Portia's House.

nter Portia, Nerissa, Lorenzo, Jessica, and

BALTHAZAR.

Lor.Madam, although I speak it in your presence,
You have a noble and a true conceit
Of god-like amity; which appears most strongly
In bearing thus the absence of your lord.
But, if you knew to whom you show this honour,
How true a gentleman you send relief,
How dear a lover of my lord your husband,
I know, you would be prouder of the work,
Than customary bounty can enforce you.

Por. I never did repent for doing good,
Nor shall not now : for in companions
That do converse and waste the time together,

commodious and agreeable to them, would much impeach the juftice of the state. The consequence would be, that strangers would not reside or carry on traffick here; and the wealth and itrength of the state would be diminished. In The Hiftorye of Italye, by W. Thomas, quarto, 1567, there is a section On ihe libertee of Araun. gers at Venice. MALONE.

Whose fouls do bear an equal yoke of love,
There must be needs a like proportion
Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit;
Which makes me think, that this Antonio,
Being the bosom lover of my lord,"

2 Whofe fouls do bear an equal yoke, &c.] The folio, 1623, readsegal, which, I believe, in Shakspeare's time was commonly used for equal. So it was in Chaucer's :

“ I will presume hym fo to dignifie

" Yet be not egall.” Prol. to The Remedy af Love. Again, in Gorboduc:

“ Sith all as one do bear you egall faith,” STEBVENS. 3 Of lineaments, of manners, &c.] The wrong pointing has made this fine sentiment nonsense. As implying that friendship could not only make a fimilitude of manners, but of faces. The true sense is, lineaments of manners, i. e, form of the manners, which, says the speaker, must needs be proportionate. WARBURTON.

The poet only means to say, that corresponding proportions of body and mind are necesary for those who spend their time together. So, in K. Henry IV. P. II:

“ Dol, Why doth the prince love him fo then?

“ Fal, Because their legs are both of a bigness," &c. Every one will allow that the friend of a toper should have a trong head, and the intimate of a sportsman fuch an athletic con. ftitution as will enable him to acquit himself with reputation in the exercises of the field. The word lineaments was ufed with great laxity by our ancient writers. In The learned and true Asertion of the Original, Life, &c. of King Arthur, translated from the Latin of John Leland, 1582, it is used for the human frame in general. Speaking of the removal of that prince's bones -he calls them Arthur's lincaments three times translated; and again, all the lineaments of them remaining in that mojt stately tomb, javing the frin bones of the king and queen, &c.

Again, in Greene's Farewell to Follie, 1617: “ Nature hath fo curiously performed his charge in the lineaments of his body," &c.

Again, in Chapman's translation of the twenty-third book of
Homer's Iliad:

.fo over-labour'd were
“ His goodly lineaments with chase of Hector," &c.

STEEVENS. the bosom lover of my lord,] In our author's time this term was applied to those of the same sex who had an esteem for each other. Ben Jonson concludes one of his letters to Dr. Donne, by