It may be doubted whether he quite strictly adhered to the requisite condition, when he demanded that games of chance, hitherto forbidden throughout the capital, might be played in the space between the columns: perhaps with a reservation to himself of any profits accruing from them. His request was granted, and the disgraceful monopoly became established; but afterward, in order to render the spot infamous, and to deter the population from frequenting it, it was made the scene of capital executions; and the bodies of countless malefactors were thus gibbeted under the very windows of the palace of the chief magistrate. A winged lion in bronze, the emblem of St. Mark, was raised on the summit of one of these columns; and the other was crowned with a statue of St. Theodore, a yet earlier patron of the city, armed with a lance and shield, and trampling on a serpent. A blunder, made by the statuary in this group, has given occasion for a sarcastic comment from Amelot de la Houssaye. The saint is sculptured with the shield in his right hand, the lance in his left; a clear proof, says the French writer, of the unacquaintance of the Venetians with the use of arms; and symbolical that their great council never undertakes a war of its own accord, nor for any other object than to obtain a good and secure peace. The satirist has unintentionally given the republic the highest praise which could flow from his pen. Happy, indeed, would it have been for mankind, if Governments had never been actuated by any other policy. De la Houssaye informs us also that the Venetians exchanged the patronage of St. Theodore for that of St. Mark, from like pacific motives; because the first was a soldier and resembled St. George, the tutelary idol of Genoa.-Sketches of Venetian History. ACT IV. SCENE I-VENICE. A COURT OF JUSTICE.(4) The DUKE, (B) the MAGNIFICOES' ANTONIO, BASSANIO, GRATIANO, SALARINO, SALANIO, and others. Duke. What is Antonio here? Ant. Ready, so please your grace. Duke. I am sorry for thee: thou art come to answer A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch, Uncapable of pity, void and empty From any dram of mercy. Ant I have heard Your grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify His rigorous course; but since he stands obdurate, Out of his envy's reach,2 I do oppose Duke. Go one, and call the Jew into the court. Enter SHYLOCK. Duke. Make room, and let him stand before our face. Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so, too, 2 1 Magnificoes,] Coryat calls the nobles of Venice Clarissimoes. envy's reach,] Envy, in this place, means hatred or malice. That thou but lead'st this fashion of thy malice And where thou now exact'st the penalty, But touch'd with human gentleness and love, And pluck commiseration of his state From brassy bosoms, and rough hearts of flint, From stubborn Turks and Tartars, never train'd We all expect a gentle answer, Jew. Shy. I have possess'd your grace of what I purpose ;And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn, To have the due and forfeit of my bond: If you deny it, let the danger light 3 remorse,] Id est, pity. 5 6 apparent cruelty:] That is, seeming cruelty; not real. I'll not answer that; But, say, it is my humour ;] The Jew being asked a question which the law does not require him to answer, stands upon his right, and refuses; but afterwards gratifies his own malignity by such answers as he knows will aggravate the pain of the enquirer. I will not answer, says he, as to a legal or serious question,but, since you want an answer, will this serve you?-JOHNSON. Some men there are love not a gaping pig;7 Some, that are mad if they behold a cat ; As there is no firm reason to be render'd So can I give no reason, nor I will not, A losing suit against him. Are you answer'd? To excuse the current of thy cruelty. Shy. I am not bound to please thee with my answer. Shy. What, would'st thou have a serpent sting thee twice? You may as well go stand upon the beach, And bid the main flood bate his usual height; As seek to soften that (than which what's harder?) 7 — a gaping pig ;] By a gaping pig, Shakespeare, I believe, meant a pig prepared for the table; for in that state is the epithet, gaping, most applicable to this animal. So, in Fletcher's Elder Brother "And they stand gaping like a roasted pig." A passage in one of Nashe's pamphlets (which perhaps furnished our author with his instance), may serve to confirm the observation: "The causes conducting unto wrath are as diverse as the actions of a man's life. Some will take on like a madman, if they see a pig come to the table. Sotericus, the surgeon, was eholerick at the sight of sturgeon," &c. Pierce Pennylesse his Sup plication to the Devil, 1592.-MALONE. question with the Jew.] To question is to converse. But, with all brief and plain conveniency, I would not draw them, I would have my bond. Because you bought them :- -Shall I say to you, The slaves are ours :-So do I answer you. There is no force in the decrees of Venice: Whom I have sent for to determine this, Come here to day. Grand Capt. My lord, here stays without A messenger, with letters from the doctor, New come from Padua." Duke. Bring us the letters:-Call the messenger. Bas. Good cheer, Antonio! What, man! courage yet! The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all, Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood. Ant. I am a tainted wether of the flock, Meetest for death; the weakest kind of fruit Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me : You cannot better be employ'd, Bassanio, Than to live still, and write mine epitaph. Enter NERISSA, dressed like a lawyer's clerk. Duke. Came you from Padua, from Bellario? Padua is the place of education for the civil law in Italy. |