Baff. Ere I ope his letter,

I pray you tell me how my good friend doth.
Sal. Not fick, my lord, unless it be in mind;
Nor well, unlefs in mind; his letter there
Will fhew you his eftate.

[Baffanio opens the letter. Gra. Neriffa, cheer yond ftranger: Bid her wel

come.

Your hand, Salanio; what's the news from Venice?
How doth that royal merchant, good Anthonio?
I know, he will be glad of our Success:

We are the Jafons, we have won the fleece.

Sal. Would you had won the fleece, that he hath loft!

Por. There are some shrewd Contents in yond fame paper,

That fteal the colour from Bassanio's cheek:

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

Of any conftant man. What, worse and worfe!
With leave, Baffanio, I am half yourself,
And I must have the half of any thing
That this fame Paper brings you.
Ba. 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 see

How much I was a braggart: when I told you,
My flate was nothing, I thould 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 mere 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,

Illuing

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 present 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 ftate,
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 fwear, To Tubal and to Chus his country-men,

That he would rather have Anthonio's flefh,
Than twenty times the value of the sum
That he did owe him; and I know, my lord,
If law, authority, and pow'r deny not,
It will go hard with poor Anthonio.

Por. Is it your dear friend, that is thus in trouble? Baff. The dearest friend to me, the kindest Man, 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?
Baff. 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 defcription

Shall

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 fhall you lie by Portia's fide
With an unquiet foul. You fhall have gold
Το 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 shall 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 ships have all mifcarry'd, my creditors grow cruel, my estate is very low, my bond to the Jew is forfeit; and fince, in paying it, it is impoffible I fhould 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! difpatch all Bufinefs, 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. [Exeunt.

Changes to a Street in Venice.

Enter Shylock, Solarino, Anthonio, and the Goaler.

Shy. GOA

OALER, look to him: tell not me of
mercy.

This is the fool, that lent out money gratis.
Goaler, look to him.

Anth. Hear me yet, good Shylock.

Shy.

Shy. I'll have my bond; speak not against my bond: I've 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 goaler, that thou art so fond To come abroad with him at his request. Anth. 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 foft and dull-ey'd fool, To fhake the head, relent, and figh and yield To chriftian interceffors. 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.

Anth. Let him alone,

I'll follow him no more with bootless pray'rs:
He feeks 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 fure, 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 juftice of the ftate;
Since that the trade and profit of the city
Confifteth of all nations. Therefore go,

The Duke cannot deny, &c.-] As the Reafon here given seems a little perplexed, it may be proper to explain it. If, fays he, the Duke ftop the Course of Law it will be attended with this Inconvenience, that stranger Merchants, by whom the Wealth and Power of this City is fupported, 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 stoped on any Pretence of Equity whatsoever.

Thefe

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

Well, goaler, on; pray God, Bassanio come
To fee me pay his debt, and then I care not! [Exeunt.

SCENE V.

Changes to BELMONT.

Enter Portia, Neriffa, Lorenzo, Jeffica, and Balthazar.
ADAM, although I speak it in your

Lor. M prefence,

You have a noble and a true conceit

Of God-like amity; which appears moft ftrongly
In bearing thus the abfence of your lord.
But if you knew to whom you fhew this honour,
How true a gentleman you send relief to,
How dear a lover of my lord your husband;
I know, you would be prouder of the work,
Than cuftomary 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,
Whofe fouls do bear an equal yoke of love,
There must needs be a like proportion
Of lineaments of manners, and of spirit;
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 bestowed,
In purchasing the semblance 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

The husbandry and manage of my house,
Until my lord's return. For mine own part,

I