My maid Nerissa, and myself, mean time,

Will live as maids and widows. Come, away;
For you shall hence, upon my wedding-day:
But let me hear the letter of your friend.
Bas. (reads.)

'Sweet Bassanio, 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 should live, all debts are cleared between you and me, 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.
Bas. 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,
Nor rest be interposer 'twixt us twain.

[Exeunt.

SCENE IV.-VENICE. THE COLUMNS OF ST. MARK. (c).

Enter SHYLOCK, SALARINO, ANTONIO, and GAOLER.

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

Ant.

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'dst me dog, before thou had'st a cause: But, since I am a dog, beware my fangs:

18

The duke shall grant me justice.—I do wonder,
Thou naughty gaoler, that thou art so fond
To come abroad with him at his request.

Ant. I pray thee, hear me speak.

Shy. I'll have my bond; I will not hear thee speak: I'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 sigh, and yield

To Christian intercessors. Follow not;

f

I'll have no speaking; I will have my bond. [Exit SHYLOCK. Salar. It is the most impenetrable cur

Will never grant this forfeiture to hold.

Ant. The duke cannot deny the course of law,19 For the commodity that strangers have

With us in Venice, if it be denied,

"Twill much impeach the justice of the state;20
Since that the trade and profit of the city
Consisteth of all nations.

Well, gaoler, on :-Pray heaven, Bassanio come
To see me pay his debt, and then I care not.

[Exeunt.

SCENE V.-SALOON OF THE CASKETS IN PORTIA'S HOUSE AT BELMONT.

Enter PORTIA, NERISSA, LORENZO, JESSICA, and

BALTHAZAR.

Lor. Madam, although I speak it in your presence,

19 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 stated law being their guide and security, they will never bear to have the current of it stopped on any pretence of equity whatsoever.-WARBURTON.

20 For the commodity that strangers have

With us in Venice, if it be denied, &c.] Id est, for the denial of those rights to strangers, which render their abode at Venice so commodious and agreeable to them, would much impeach the justice of the state. The consequence would be, that strangers would not reside or carry on traffick here; and the wealth and strength of the state would be diminished. In the Historye of Italye, by W. Thomas, quarto, 1567, there is a section On the libertee of straungers, at Venice -MALONE.

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.

This comes too near the praising of myself;
Therefore, no more of it: hear other things."
Lorenzo, I commit into your hands

The husbandry and manage of my house,
Until my lord's return for mine own part,
I have toward heaven breath'd a secret vow,
To live in prayer and contemplation,
Only attended by Nerissa here;

There is a monastery two miles off,
And there we will abide. I do desire you
Not to deny this imposition;

To which my love, and some necessity,
Now lays upon you.

Lor.

Madam, with all my heart,

I shall obey you in all fair commands.

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

In place of lord Bassanio and myself.

So fare you well, till we shall meet again.

Lor. Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you!
Jes. I wish your ladyship 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, Jessica!

Now, Balthazar,

Exeunt JESSICA and LORENZO.

As I have ever found thee honest, true,

So let me find thee still: Take this same letter;
See thou render this

21

hear other things.] Id est, she'll say no more in self-praise, but will refer to a new subject.

Into my cousin's hand, doctor Bellario;

22

And, look, what notes and garments he doth give thee
Bring them, I pray thee, with imagin'd speed
Unto the tranect,23 to the common ferry

Which trades to Venice :-waste no time in words,
But get thee gone; I shall be there before thee.
Bal. Madam, I.go with all convenient speed.
Por. Come on, Nerissa; I have work in hand,
That you yet know not of: we'll see our husbands,
Before they think of us.

Ner.

Shall they see us?
Por. They shall, Nerissa:
But come, I'll tell thee all my whole device
When I am in my coach, which stays for us
At the park gate; and therefore haste away,
For we must measure twenty miles to-day.

[Exit.

[Exeunt.

22 with imagin'd speed] Id est, with celerity, like that of imagination.

23 Unto the tranect,] Probably this word means the tow-boat of the ferry.

END OF ACT THIRD.

HISTORICAL NOTES TO ACT THIRD.

(A) The present stone structure superseded an older one of, wood. This celebrated edifice was commenced in 1588.

Our

(B) That the swan uttered musical sounds at the approach of death was credited by Plato, Chrysippus, Aristotle, Euripides, Philostratus, Cicero, Seneca, and Martial. Pliny, Ælian, and Athenæus, among the ancients, and Sir Thomas More among the moderns, treat this opinion as a vulgar error. Luther believed in it. See his Colloquia, par. 2, p. 125, edit. 1571, 8vo. countryman, Bartholomew Glanville, thus mentions the singing of the swan: "And whan she shal dye and that a fether is pyght in the brayn, then she syngeth, as Ambrose sayth," De propr. rer. 1. xii., c. 11. Monsieur Morin has written a dissertation on this subject in vol. v. of the Mem. de l'acad. des inscript. There are likewise some curious remarks on it in Weston's Specimens of the conformity of the European languages with the Oriental, p. 135; in Seelen Miscellanea, tom. 1. 298; and in Pinkerton's Recollections of Paris, ii. 336.-Douce's illustrations.

(c) These two magnificent granite columns, which adorn the Piazzetta of St. Mark, on the Molo or Quay, near the Doge's Palace, were among the trophies brought by Dominico Michieli on his victorious return from Palestine in 1125; and it is believed that they were plundered from some island in the Archipelago. A third pillar, which accompanied them, was sunk while landing. It was long before any engineer could be found sufficiently enterprising to attempt to rear them, and they were left neglected on the quay for more than fifty years. In 1180, however, Nicolo Barattiero, a Lombard, undertook the task, and succeeded. Of the process which he employed, we are uninformed; for Sabellico records no more than that he took especial pains to keep the ropes continually wetted, while they were strained by the weight of the huge marbles. The Government, more in the lavish spirit of Oriental bounty, than in accordance with the calculating sobriety of European patronage, had promised to reward the architect by granting whatever boon, consistent with its honour, he might ask.

* Doglioni fixes the erection of these columns in 1172, Sabellico in 1174, the common Venetian Guide-books, a few years later. The Abbate Garaccioli, writes the name of the engineer Starrattoni.