followers of Christ. The hate of Shylock to Christians displays itself almost as soon as he enters. In reply to Bassanio's invitation, he breaks out into invectives, sneers at Jesus, and says he will do anything but eat, drink, and pray with a Christian. His deep hatred of Antonio in particular, is most forcibly displayed, and his reasons are made most apparent,-firstly, because of his lending "out money gratis;" secondly, because "he is a Christian;" and thirdly, because Antonio hates his "sacred nation ;" and he rails

"Even there where merchants most do congregate,
On me, my bargains, and my well-won thrift,
Which he calls interest. Cursed be my tribe,
If I forgive him.”—A. 1. s. 3.

Shylock's enumeration of the insults which he has received, both in word and deed, awakens most strongly his desire of revenge; and should he "catch him once upon the hip," he will "feed fat the ancient grudge" he bears him. His willingness to lend the money, not for interest, but simply for the bond "of a pound of flesh," betrays his anxiety to have Antonio in his power, for he calculates the probability and possibility of the merchant's ventures on the main being swallowed up by the "yesty waves that confound navigation," and then, true to his hatred, he will have his bond and his bond alone.

In the scene with Jessica, A. II. s. 5, the same feeling breaks forth in Shylock, when telling her he is "Bid forth to supper.

There are my keys. But wherefore should I go?

I am not bid for love; they flatter me:

But yet I'll go in hate, to feed upon

The prodigal Christian."

No fear of consequences can overcome this feeling. Above all others it is paramount; the portents which

affect him, do not so, sufficiently, to rule him. He is "right loth to go," but go he will, though

"There is some ill a-brewing towards his rest.”

His dreaming "of money bags" will not deter him, so strong is his hatred of Christians; and this feeling is also the cause of his parting with the fool, because he parts with him

"To one that I would have him help to waste

His borrowed purse."

The money-loving side of Shylock's character is most masterly shown in the speeches of Salanio when describing the Jew. Shylock in money matters is cautiously circumspect and full of meanness. He loves his money for the results which flow from its possession and for the importance which it adds to his position on the Rialto where "merchants most do congregate." He is the very opposite of Antonio in matters of wealth, for the princely merchant values it, chiefly for the sake of his friends and is therefore disinterested, while the Jew loveth it for its own sake and for the good bargains it enables him to drive. His love of money, and his less love of his daughter, are truthfully displayed in his exclamations,

"My daughter! O my ducats! O O my daughter!
Fled with a Christian! O my Christian ducats!
Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter!
A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats,

O double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter!
And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones,
Stolen by my daughter! Justice! find the girl!
She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats!"

A. II. s. 8.

In the opening part of scene 1, A. 3, above all things rises the loss of his ducats. His money to him

is of more consequence than the loss of his daughter. He cares not so much for her, it is not the loss of her that makes him furious, it is the ducats she has taken, the ducats it hath cost him to pursue her. If she were dead at his feet, he would not care, so long as she had the jewels in her ears, or "the ducats in her coffin." It is the loss of the jewels and the ducats which preys upon him, for there is no spark of humanity left in his nature, it is completely absorbed, swallowed up in his love of money and his hatred of the Christian world.

In this scene, the hate which Shylock bears Antonio, wells up till it bubbles over. Every insult, every wrong, whether real or imaginary-he remembers, and upon the head of Antonio will he pour out the vial of his wrath. He is determined not to spare him, he will have his "pound of flesh," if only to "bait fish withal." His appeal to Salarino relative to the hopes, desires, and feelings of a Jew being equally the same as those of a Christian, only serves to whet his appetite, and make him the more resolved to vent the whole of his hatred of the Christian race upon the person of the "royal merchant," Antonio. This hatred rises to the topmost height, when Shylock learns from Tubal the intelligence relative to Antonio. His present losses he recks not of; all those losses can be made up again, for by working out his revenge on the merchant, in compelling him to fulfil his bond, he "will have the heart of him, for were he out of Venice, I can make what merchandize I will." This sordid feeling which is one of the great features in the Jewish character, in conjunction with his hatred of the Christian world, wholly destroys all love for his child, and he leaves the scene, directing Tubal to fee him "an officer," without revert

ing to her who had rebelled against him, who had forsaken his house and left him a childless man; for childless he must become, his daughter being compelled to abjure her father's creed and accept the Christian one, before she could be married.

In scene 3, A. III. the hatred of Shylock is still further developed. He is solely intent upon his bond. No tears shall move him from his purpose. He will not be told of mercy; he is sworn against it. His solemn oath, the oath of his nation, is pledged to have his bond, and have it he will: he'll

"not be made a soft and dull-eyed fool,

To shake the head, relent, and sigh, and yield
To Christian intercessors.'

His passionate exclamation of "Follow not," shows that he is determined not to be moved from his purpose; he will not listen any longer, for he leaves, saying,

"I'll have no speaking: I will have my bond."

The trial scene is one of the finest in the comedy, and throughout this scene Shylock has the best of the argument. The law is in his favour. He has both that and justice on his side, for the signing of the bond is the voluntary act of Antonio, an act, the result of which was foretold him before he signed it, and of which he himself was perfectly cognizant. In the law lieth Shylock's power, to that he appeals, the law in its letter not in relation to its spirit. He discards all feelings of humanity, and demands the fulfilment of the letter of the law. In this scene the coolness and firmness of Shylock is magnificently pourtrayed. His coolness, by the excellent manner in which he answers both the Duke, Bassanio and the others who seek to drive him from his purpose; and he displays his firm

ness, by his positive expressions of standing by the law and the law only. His intense hatred of Antonio, because he is a Christian, and also because he has injured him in trade, so bind up Shylock, that all feeling for human-kind is dried up within him, and he desires nought, and will accept nought less, than the "penalty and forfeit of his bond." When by an evasion, owing to an omission in the wording of the bond, his desires are overthrown and his purpose defeated, his firmness giveth not way; it does not yield until the means whereby he lives are taken from him, when his whole wealth is wrested from him and given partly to his foe, and partly to his daughter and her husband, then his physical-not mental-nature yields, and he asketh for

"Leave to go from hence;

I am not well: send the deed after me,
And I will sign it."

This physical prostration lasts but an instant, for when he is leaving the stage, the taunts of Gratiano awaken once more his fierce hatred of the Christian race, and he gathers himself together, and turning round upon his tormentor, fixes upon him a look of intense hate and ineffable scorn, and thus leaves the busy scene to be seen no more.

Antonio, the sad, here used in the sense of grave, yet gentle merchant, is most firmly and truthfully drawn by the master's hand. He is no mere trader, no "petty trafficker," he is truly of that great merchant class, whose commercial spirit and enterprise effected changes of such a character as to influence, direct and rule the destinies of nations. His dealings with the world are of the most honorable kind. His charity, his