Wreft 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 pow'r in Venice
Can alter a decree eftablished.

"Twill be recorded for a precedent;

And many an error, by the fame example,
Will rush into the ftate. It cannot be.

Shy. A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel. O wife young judge, how do I honour thee! Por. I pray you, let me look upon the bond. Shy. Here 'tis, most rev'rend Doctor, here it is. Por. Shylock, there's thrice thy money offer'd thee. Shy. An oath, an oath,-I have an oath in heav'n. Shall I lay perjury upon my foul?

No, not for Venice.

Por. Why, this bond is forfeit;

And lawfully by this the few may claim
A pound of fleth, to be by him cut off
Nearest the merchant's heart. Be merciful,
Take thrice thy money, bid me tear the bond.
Shy. When it is paid according to the tenour.
It doth appear, you are a worthy judge;
You know the law: your expofition

Hath been moft found. I charge you by the law,
Whereof you are a well-deferving pillar,
Proceed to judgment. By my foul I fwear,
There is no power in the tongue of man
To alter me. I stay here on my bond.
Ant. Moft heartily I do befeech the Court
To give the judgment.

Por. Why, then thus it is:

You must prepare your bofom for his knife.

Shy. 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.
G 5

Shy. Ay, his breaft;

So fays the bond, doth it not, noble judge?
Nearest his heart, thofe are his very words.

Por. It is fo. Are there fcales, to weigh the flesh?
Shy. I have them ready.

Por. Have by fome furgeon, Shylock, on your charge, To ftop his wounds, left he fhould bleed to death. Shy. Is it fo nominated in the bond?

Por. It is not fo exprefs'd; but what of that? "Twere good, you do fo much for charity. Shy. I cannot find it; 'tis not in the bond. Por. Come, merchant, have you any thing to say? Ant. But little: I am arm'd, and well prepar'd. Give me your hand, Bassanio, fare you well! Grieve not, that I am fall'n to this for you: For herein fortune fhews herself more kind, Than is her cuftom. It is ftill 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 ling'ring penance Of fuch a mifery doth the cut me off. Commend me to your honourable wife; Tell her the process of Anthonio's end; Say, how I lov'd you; fpeak me fair in death: And when the tale is told, bid her be judge, Whether Baffanio had not once a love. Repent not you, that you fhall lofe your And he repents not, that he pays your debt; For if the few do cut but deep enough, I'll pay it inftantly with all my heart.

friend;

Be. 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, facrifice them all
Here to this devil, to deliver you.

Par. Your wife would give you little thanks for that, If the were by to hear you make the offer.

Gra. I have a wife, whom, I proteft, I love;

I would, fhe were in heaven, fo fhe could

Intreat

Intreat fome Pow'r to change this currish Jew.
Ner. 'Tis well, you offer it behind her back;
The wifh would make elfe an unquiet house.

Shy. These be the chriftian husbands. I've a daughter; Would any of the stock of Barrabas

Had been her husband, rather than a chriftian; [Afide. We trifle time; I pray thee, pursue fentence.

Por. A pound of that fame merchant's flesh is thine, The Court awards it, and the law doth give it. Shy. Moft rightful judge!

Por. And you must cut this. flesh from off his breast; The law allows it, and the Court awards it.

Shy. Moft learned judge! a fentence: come, prepare.
Por. Tarry a little, there is fomething elfe,
This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood,
The words exprefly 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 chriftian blood; thy lands and goods
Are, by the laws of Venice, confifcate

Unto the ftate of Venice.

Gra. O up-right judge! mark, Jew, O learned judge! Shy. Is that the law?

Por. Thyfelf fhall see the Act:

For as thou urgeft juftice, be affur'd,

Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desir'st.

Gra. O learned judge! mark, Jew, a learned judge! Shy. I take this offer then, pay the bond thrice, And let the christian go.

Baff. Here is the money.

Por. The few shall have all justice; soft! no haste; He fhall have nothing but the penalty.

Gra. O few! an upright judge, a learned judge! Por. Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh; Shed thou no blood, nor cut thou lefs, nor more, But just a pound of flesh: if thou tak’st more, Or lefs than a just pound, be't but so much As makes it light or heavy in the substance, On the divifion of the twentieth part Of one poor fcruple; nay, if the fcale turn

But

But in the estimation of a hair,

Thou dieft, and all thy goods are confifcate.
Gra. A fecond Daniel, a Daniel, Few!
Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip.

Por. Why doth the Few paufe? take the forfeiture.
Shy. Give me my principal, and let me go.
Baff. I have it ready for thee; here it is.
Por. He hath refus'd it in the open Court;
He shall have merely justice, and his bond.

Gra. A Daniel, ftill fay I; a fecond Daniel!
I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.
Shy. Shall I not barely have my principal?
Por. Thou fhalt have nothing but the forfeiture,
To be fo taken at thy peril, Jew.

Shy. Why then the devil give him good of it!
I'll ftay 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 feek the life of any citizen,

The party, 'gainst which he doth contrive,
Shall feize on half his goods; the other half
Comes to the privy coffer of the ftate;
And the offender's life lies in the mercy
Of the Duke only, 'gainft all other voice :
In which predicament, I fay, thou ftand't.
For it appears by manifeft proceeding,
That indirectly, and directly too,
Thou haft contriv'd against the very life
Of the defendant; and thou haft incurr'd
The danger formerly by me rehears'd.

Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the Duke.

Gra. Beg, that thou may'ft have leave to hang thyself; And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the ftate, Thou haft not left the value of a cord;

Therefore, thou must be hang'd at the state's charge. Duke. That thou may'ft fee the diff'rence of our fpirit, I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it;

For

For half thy wealth, it is Antonio's.
The other half comes to the general state,
Which humbleness may drive unto a fine.

Por. Ay, for the ftate; not for Anthonio.
Shy. Nay, take my life and all: pardon not that.
You take my house, when you do take the prop
That doth fustain my houfe: you take my life,
When you do take the means whereby I live.

Por. What mercy can you render him, Anthonio? Gra. A halter gratis; nothing elfe, for God's fake. Ant. So please my lord the Duke, (29) and all the Court, To quit the fine for one half of his goods,

I am content; so he will let me have

The other half in ufe, to render it
Upon his death unto the gentleman,
That lately stole his daughter.

Two things provided more, that for this favour
He prefently become a christian;

The other, that he do record a gift

Here in the Court, of all he dies poffefs'd,
Unto his fon Lorenzo and his daughter.

Duke. He fhall do this, or else I do recant

The pardon that I late pronounced here.

Por. Art thou contented, Jew? what doft thou fay

(29) So pleafe my lord the Duke,] The terms, which Anthonio prefcribes to be comply'd with by the few, have been reckon'd intricate and corrupt; and a different regulation has been advis'd: But, if I am not mistaken, they are to be thus understood. The Jew had forfeited his whole fubftance; one moiety thereof to go to the state, and the other to the defendant. Anthonio proposes, that the ftate fhould be content with fining him only that moiety, which was confifcated to them; that, as to the other, which Anthonio equally might claim to himfelf, he only defires to hold the benefit, paying intereft for it to the Jew during his life: and, upon the Jew's demife, to have it immediately vefted in his fon and daughter. Nor does Anthonio propofe any thing mean and ungenerous in this; he quits that right and property, which the law gave him, in the Jew's fubftance; and (with regard to his own great loffes,) is content to stand only as a borrower of it, upon the general foot of paying intereft: nor are the fon and daughter robb'd in this; fince, fetting afide Anthonio's claim by the Jew's forfeiture, their pretenfions could not take place, till the Jew's death and he takes care, their reverfionary right in it thould be secur'd by the Jew's recording a deed of gift to that purpose.

Shya