How much I was a braggart : When I told you,
My state was nothing, I should then have told you,
That I was worse than nothing. For, indeed,
I have engag'd myself to a dear friend,
Engag'd my friend to his meer enemy,
To feed

my means. Here is a letter, lady, The

paper as the body of my friend,
And every word in it a gaping wound,
Issuing life-blood. But is it true, Salanio ?
Have all his ventures fail'd ? what not one hit?
From Tripolis, from Mexico, from England,
From Lisbon, Barbary, and India ?
And not one veffel 'scap'd the dreadful touch
Of merchant-marring rocks?

Sal. Not one, my lord, ,
Besides, it should appear, that if he had
The present money to discharge the Jew,
He would not take it. Never did I know
A creature, that did bear the the shape of man,
So keen and greedy to confound a man.
He plies the duke at morning, and at night.
And doth impeach the freedom of the state,
If they deny him justice. Twenty merchants,
The duke himself and the magnificoes
Of greatest port, have all persuaded with him;
But none can drive him from the envious plea
Of forfeiture, of justice, and his bond.

Jes. When I was with him, I have heard him swear,
To Tubal, and to Chus, his country-men,
That he would rather have Anthonio'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 Anthonio.

Por. Is it your dear friend, that is thus in trouble? Bal. The dearest friend to me; the kindest man,

The

3

s The best condition'd :-an unweary'd spirit
In doing courtefies ; and one in whom
The ancient Roman honour more appears,
Than any that draws breath in Italy.

Por. What sum owes he the Jew?
Ball. 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 my 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 Porcia's side
With an unquiet soul. You shall have gold
To pay the petty 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, shew a merry cheer;
Since you are dear bought, I will love you dear.
But let me hear the letter of

your

friend. Bas. reads. SWEET Bassanio, my fuips have all mij

carry'd, ny creditors grow cruel, my effalt is very low, my bond to the few is forfeit; and since, in paying it, is impossible I should live, all debts are cleared between ycu and me, if I might but fee you at my death. Notwithstanding, use your pleasure: if your love do not persuade you to come, let not my letter.

s The beft condition'd AND un weary'd Spirit

In doing courtefies ;-)
To be read and pointed thus,
The best condition'd: an unweary'd Spirit.

WARBURTON

Pori

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

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

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

SCENE III.

Changes to a Street in Venice. Enter Sbylock, Solarino, Anthonio, and the Gaoler. Shy. Gaoler, look to him;---Tell not me of

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

Anib. Hear me yet, good Shylock.
Shy. I'll have my bond; speak not against my bond:
I have sworn an oath, that I will have my bond.
Thou call’dft me dog, before thou had'tt a cause ;
But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs.
The duke shall grant are justice. I do wonder,
Thou naughty gaoler, that thou are o fo fond
To come abroad with him at his request.

Antb. I pray thee, hear me speak.
Sby. 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 figh, and yield
To Christian intercessors. Follow not ;
I'll have no speaking ; I will have my bond.

[Exit Shylock. Sola. It is the most impenetrable cur, That ever kept with men.

lo fond,] i.e. fo foolin.

STEEVENS.

Anth.

Anth. 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.

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

Anth. The duke cannot deny the course of law;?
For the commodity that strangers have
With us in Venice, if it be deny'd,
Will much impeach the justice of the state ;
Since that the trade and profit of the city
Confisteth 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 ! [Exeunt.

SCENE IV.

B E L M O N T. Enter 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 shew this honour,

? The duke connct deny, &c.-] As the reason here given seems a little perplexed, it may be proper to explain it. If, says he, the duke stop the course of law it will be attended with this in. convenience, 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 stopped on any pretence of equity whatsoever. WARBURTON.

How

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 of doing good,
And shall not now: for in companions
That do converse and waste the time together,
Whose souls do bear an equal yoke of love,
There must needs be a like proportion
Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit ; o
Which makes me think, that this Anthonio,
Being the bosom-lover of my lord,
Must needs be like my lord. If it be so,
How little is the cost I have bestow'd,

. Wbose fouls do bear an equal yoke, &c ) The folio 1623, reads egal, which I believe in Shakespeare'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 of Love. So in Gorboduc:

“ Sith all as one do bear you egall faith.” Steevens. 9. 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 mangers, but of facts. The true fense is, lineaments of manners, i. e. form of the mariners, which, says the speaker, must need be proportionate.

WARBURTON. The poet only means to say, that corresponding proportions of body and mind are necesary for those who s; end their rime together. Every one will allow that the friend of a toper should have a strong head, and the intimate of a sportsman such an athletic constitution as will enable him to acquit himself with reputation in the exercises of the field. The word lineaments was used with great laxity by our ancient writers. In “ The learned and true Assertion 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 Arohur's lineaments three times translated; and again, all the lineaments of them remaining in ibat rnolfate y tumb, Javing ibe fhin bones of the king and queen, &c. STEEVENS. VOL. III. N

In