I know he will be glad of our fuccefs;

We are the Jasons, we have won the fleece.

Sal. Would you had won the fleece that he hath loft! Por. There are fome fhrewd contents in yon' fame paper;

"That steal the colour from Baffanio's check:

Some dear friend dead; elfe nothing in the world
Could turn fo much the conftitution

Of any constant man. What, worse and worse !—
With leave, Bassanio; I am half yourself,
And I muft have the half of any thing
That this fame paper brings you.
Baff. O fweet Portia,

Here are a few of the unpleasant'ft words,
That ever blotted paper! Gentle lady,
When I did firft impart my love to you,
I freely told you, all the wealth I had
Ran in my veins, I was a gentleman;
And then I told you true and yet, dear lady,
Rating myself at nothing, you shall fee

How much I was a braggart: When I told you
My state was nothing, I should then have told you
That I was worfe than nothing: for, indeed,
I have engag'd myfelf 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,
Iffuing 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 'fcap'd the dreadful touch
Of merchant-marring_rocks?

Sal. Not one, my lord.

Befides, it should appear, that if he had
The prefent money to discharge the Jew,
He would not take it. Never did I know
A creature, that did bear 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 juftice: twenty merchants,
The duke himself, and the magnificoes

Of greatest port, have all perfuaded with him;
But none can drive him from the envious plea
Of forfeiture, of justice, and his bond.

Jef. When I was with him, I have heard him swear, To Tubal, and to Chus, his countrymen,

That he would rather have Anthonio's flesh,
Than twenty times the value of the fum
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 kindeft man,
The beft condition'd :-an unweary'd fpirit
In doing courtelies; and one in whom
The ancient Roman honour more appears,
Than any that draws breath in Italy.
Por. What fum owes he the Jew?
Baff. For me, three thousand ducats.
Por. What, no more?

Pay him fix thousand, and deface the bond:
Double fix thoufand, and then treble that,
Before a friend of this defcription

Shall lose a hair through my Baffanio's fault.
Firft, go with me to church, and call me wife;
And then away to Venice to your friend;
For never fhall you lie by Portia's fide
With an unquiet foul. You fhall have gold
To pay the petty debt twenty times over:
When it is paid, bring your true friend along :
My maid Neriffa, and myself, mean time,
Will live as maids and widows. Come,-away!
For you fhall hence upon your wedding-day:
Bid your friends welcome, fhew a merry cheer;
Since you are dear bought, I will love you dear.—
But let me hear the letter of your friend.

Baff. [reads.] Sweet Baffanio, my fhips have all mifcarried, my creditors grow cruel, my eftate is very low, my bond to the few is forfeit; and fince in paying it, it is impoffible I should live, all debts are cleared between you and me, if I might but fee you at my death: NotwithStanding, ufe your pleasure: if your love do not perfuade you to come, let not my letter.

Por. O love, dispatch all business, and be gone.

Baff. Since I have your good leave to go away,
I will make hafte: but, till I come again,
No bed fhall e'er be guilty of my stay,
No reft be interpofer 'twixt us twain.

A Street in Venice.

SCENE III.

[Exeunt.

Enter SHYLOCK, SOLARINO, AnTHONIO, and the Gaoler.

Shy. Gaoler, look to him :-Tell not me of This is the fool that lent out money gratis ;Gaoler look to him.

Anth. Hear me yet, good Shylock.

mercy ;

Shy. I'll have my bond; fpeak not against my
I have fworn an oath that I will have my bond:
Thou call'dft me dog before thou hadst a cause ;
But fince I am a dog, beware my fangs :
The duke fhall grant me juftice.-I do wonder,
Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art fo fond
To come abroad with him at his request.

Anth. I pray thee, hear me speak.

bond ;

Shy. I'll have my bond ;-I will not hear thee speak :I'll have my bond; and therefore fpeak no more.

I'll not be made a foft and dull-ey'd fool,

To shake the head, relent, and figh, and yield

To Chriftian interceffors. Follow not;

I'll have no speaking; I will have my bond. [Exit SHY. Sola. It is the moft impenetrable cur

That ever kept with men.

Anth. Let him alone;

I'll follow him no more with bootlefs prayers:

He feeks my life; his reafon 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 fure the duke

Will never grant this forfeiture to hold.

Anth. The duke cannot deny the courfe of law;

For the commodity that strangers have

With us in Venice, if it be deny'd,

Will much impeach the juftice of the ftate;
Since that the trade and profit of the city
Confifteth of all nations. Therefore, go;
VOL. II. E

Thefe griefs and loffes have fo 'bated me,
That I shall hardly spare a pound of flesh
To-morrow to my bloody creditor.—

Well, gaoler, on :-Pray God, Baffanio come

To fee me pay his debt, and then I care not. [Exeunt.

Belmont.

SCENE IV.

Enter PORTIA, NERISSA, LORENZO, JESSI
CA, 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 fhew 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 of doing good,
And fhall not now: for in companions
That do converfe and waste the time together,
Whofe fouls do bear an equal yoke of love,
There muft needs be a like proportion
Of lineaments, of manners, and of spirit ;[4]
Which makes me think that this Anthonio,
Being the bofom lover of my lord,
Muft needs be like my lord: If it be fo,
How little is the coft I have bestow'd
In purchafing the femblance of my foul
From out the ftate of hellish cruelty?
This comes too near the praifing of myself;
Therefore no more of it. Hear other things.-
Lorenzo, I commit into your hands

[4] The poet only means to fay, That correfponding proportions of body and mind are neceffary for thofe who fpend their time together. Every one will allow that the friend of a toper fhould have a ftrong head, and the intimate of a sportsman such an athletic conftitution as will enable him to acquit himself with reputation in the exercifes of the field. The word Lineaments was used with great laxity by our ancient writers. In "The learned and true Affertion of the Original, Life, &c. of King Arthur, tranflated from the Latin of John Leland, 1582," it is ufed for the human frame in general. Speaking of the removal of that prince's bones, he calls them "Arthur's lineaments three times tranflated"; and again," all the lineaments of them remaining in that most stately tomb, faving the shin bones of the king and queen," &c. STEEV.

The husbandry and manage of my houfe,
Until my lord's return. For mine own part,
I have toward heaven breath'd a fecret vow
To live in prayer and contemplation,
Only attended by Neriffa here,

Until her husband and my lord's return.
There is a monaftery two miles off,
And there we will abide. I do defire you,
Not to deny this impofition;

The which my love, and fome neceffity,
Now lays upon you.

Lor. Madam, with all my heart;

I fhall obey you in all fair commands.

Por. My people do already know my mind, And will acknowledge you and Jeffica

In place of lord Baffanio and myself.

So fare you well, till we fhall meet again.

Lor. Fair thoughts, and happy hours attend on you ! Jef. I with your ladyfhip all heart's content.

Por. I thank you for your wish, and am well pleas'd To wish it back on you: fare you well, Jeffica.[Exeunt JESSICA and LORENZO.

Now, Balthazar,

As I have ever found thee horest, true,

So let me find thee ftill: Take this fame letter,
And ufe thou all the endeavour of a man

In fpeed to Padua ; see thou render this

Into my coufin's hand, doctor Bellario ;

And, look, what notes and garments he doth give thee, Bring them, I pray thee, with imagin'd speed

Unto the traject, to the common ferry

Which trades to Venice :-wafte no time in words,

But get thee gone; I fhall be there before thee.

Balth. Madam, I go with all convenient fpeed. [Exit. Por. Come on, Neriffa; I have work in hand That you yet know not of: we'll see our husbands Before they think of us.

Ner. Shall they fee us?

Por. They fhall, Neriffa; but in such a habit
That they fhall think we are accomplished
With what we lack. I'll hold thee any wager,
When we are both apparell'd like young men,
I'll prove the prettier fellow of the two,
And wear my dagger with the braver grace ;