Enter Shylock. Duke. Make room, and let him ftand before our face. Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too, That thou but lead'it this fashion of thy malice To the last hour of act; and then 'tis thought, Thou'lt few thy mercy and remorse more strange, Than is thy strange apparent cruelty. And where thou now exa&t'st the penalty, Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh, Thou wilt not only lose the forfeiture, But, touch'd with human gentleness and love, Forgive a moiety of the principal, Glancing an eye of pity on his loftes, That have of late so huddled on his back, Enough to press a royal merchant down; And pluck commiseration of his state From brafly bosoms, and rough hearts of Aint; From stubborn Turks and Tartars, never train'd To offices of tender courtesy. 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 Upon your charter, and your city's freedom. You'll ak me, why I rather chuse to have A weight of carrion flesh, than to receive Three thousand ducats ! I'll not answer that. But say, it is my humour, is it answer'd ? What if my house be troubled with a rat, And I be pleas'd to give ten thousand ducats To have it bane'd? what, are you answer'd yet? Some men there are, love not a gaping pig; Some, that are mad, if they behold a cat; And others, when the bag-pipe fings i' th nose, Cannot contain their urine for affection. (24)

Masterlels (24) Cannot contain their urine for affection.

Masterless passion fways it to the mood Of what it likes, or loaths.] Mafterless paffion was firft Mr. Roxe's

*

or,

Masterless passion fways it to the mood
Of what it likes, or loaths. Now for your

answer :
As there is no firm reason to be render'd,
Why he cannot abide a gaping pig;
Why he, a harmless necessary cat;
Why he, a woollen bag-pipe ; but of forcé
reading, (on what authority, I am at a loss to know;} which Mr.
Pope has since copied. And tho' I have not difturb'd the text, yet, I
muft obferve, I don't know what word there is to which this relative
[it, in the 2d line) is to be referr'd. The ingenious Dr. Thirlby, there-
fore, would thus adjust the passage.

Cannot cantain their urine ; for affection,

* Master of paffion, Juays it &c. Mistress. Ard then it is governd of paffion: and the two old Quartos and Foliog read Mafters of paffion, &c.

It may be objected, that affećtion and pafion are synonomous terms, and mean the same thing, I agree, they do at this time. But I observe, the writers of our author's age made a sort of distinction : considering the one as the cause, the other as the effe£t. And then, in this place, affection will stand for that sympatby or antipatby of foul, by which we are provok'd to shew a liking or disgust in the working of our paffions, B. Jobnfon, in his Sejanus, seems to apply the terms thus :

- He hath ftudied Affeftion's pasions, knows their springs, their ends, Which way, and whether they will

work.
So much, in support of Dr. Tbirlby's regulation of the passage. My
ingenious friend Mr. Warburton is for pointing, and writing it, as in
the old editions : but for giving it a different turn in the poet's drift
and meaning. I come now to his reading and opinion.

Cannot contain their urine for effection,
Masters of paffion (way it to be mood

Of wbat it likes, or loaths.
Observe, he is here only speaking of the different power of founds,
' and the influence they have upon the human mind; and then con-

cludes, the masters of paffion (for fo he finely calls musicians) sway • the paffions, or affections, as they please : Our poet then having, no • doubt, in his mind the great effects that Timotheus, and other an

cient musicians, are said to have wrought by the power of musick. • This puts me in mind of a passage of Collier, in his essay on mufick; ' who supposes it possible by a right chosen composition (aut, concord) ' of founds to inspire affright, terror, cowardise, and consternation ; ' in the same manner that, now, chearfulness, and courage, is affifted * by contrary compofitions'.

Thus far Mr. Warburton. I shall submit the passage, for the pre-
sent, to the opinion and determination of the publick; upon which,
I may hereafter venture with more safety to ascertain it,
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Muft

.

Muft yield to such inevitable shame,
As to offend, himself being offended ;
So can I give no reason, nor I will not,
More than a lodg’d hate and a certain loathing
I bear Anthonio, that I follow thus
A losing suit against him. Are you answer'd ?

Bal. This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,
T'excuse the current of thy cruelty.

Shy. I am not bound to please thee with my answer.
Ball. Do all men kill the thing they do not love?
Shy. Hates any man the thing he would not kill?
Bal. Ev'ry offence is not a hate at first.
Shy. What, would'nt thou have a serpentsting thee twice?

Ant. I pray you, think you question with a Jew.
You may as well go stand upon the beach,
And bid the main flood bate his usual height.
You may as well use quest on with the wolf,
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb.
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops, and to make no noise,
When they are fretted with the gusts of heav'n.
You may as well do any thing most hard,
As seek to soften that, (than which what's harder!)
His Jewish heart. Therefore, I do beseech you,
Make no more offers, use no farther means;
But with all brief and plain conveniency
Let me have judgment, and the Jew his will.

Bal. For thy three thousand ducaţs here is fix.

Shy. If ev'ry ducat in fix thousand ducats Were in fix parts, and ev'ry part a ducat, I would not draw them, I would have

my

bond, Duke. How shalt thou hope for mercy, rend'ring none?

Shy. What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong? You have among you many a purchas'd llave, Which, like your asses, and your dogs, and mules, You use in abject and in slavish part, Because you bought them. Shall I say to you, · Let them be free, marry them to your heirs ? Why sweat they under burdens ? let their beds Be mnade ás soft as yours, and let their palates

Be

Be feason'd with such viands ; you will answer,
The flaves are ours. So do I answer you;
The pound of flesh, which I demand of him,
Is dearly bought, 'tis mine, and I will have it.
If you deny me, fie, upon your law!
There is no force in the decrees of Venice:
I stand for judgment; answer ; fhall I have it?

Duke. Upon my pow'r I may dismiss this Court,
Unless Bellario, a learned Doctor,
Whom I have sent for to determine this,
Come here to-day,

Sal. My Lord, here stays, without,
A messenger with letters from the Doctor,
New come from Padua.

Duke. Bring us the letters, call the messenger.
Bal. Good cheer, Anthonio ; what, man, courage yet:
The Jew shall have my Aeth, blood, bones, and all,
Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop,

blood. Ant. I am a tainted weather of the flock, Meeteft for death : the weakeft kind of fruit Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me. You cannot better be employ'd, Balanio, Than to live ftill, and write mine epitaph.

Enter Nerisa, drefi'd like a Lawyer's Clerk. Duke. Came you from Padua, from Bellario? (25) Ner. From both, my lord: Bellario greets your Grace. Bal. Why dost thou whet thy knife so earneftly? Sby. To cut the forfeit from that bankrupt there. Gra. Not on thy foale, but on thy soul, harsh Jew, (26)

Thou

(25) From both i my lord Bellario greets your Grace.] Thus the two old Folios and Mr. Pope in his 4to, had inaccurately pointed this pafsage, by which a doctor of laws was at once rais'd to the dignity of the

peerage. I set it right in my SHAKESPEARE reffor’d, as Mr. Pope has since done from thence in his last edition.

(26) Not on thy foale, but on tby soul, barsh Jew,] I was obliged, from the authority of the old Folias, to restore this conceit, and jinglé upon two words alike in found, but differing in sense. Gratiano thus rates the Jew; ' Tho? thou thinkest, that thou t whetting thy knife

on the goale of thy shoe, yet it is upon thy foul, thy immortal part, that thou do'f it, thou inexorable man!' There is no room to doubt

G 3

but

Thou mak'At thy knife keen; for no metal can,
No, not the hangman's ax, bear half the keenness
Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee?

Shy. No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.

Gra. O be thou damn'd, inexorable dog,
And for thy life let justice be accus'd!
Thou almost mak’ft me waver in

my

faith,
'To hold opinion with Pythagoras,
That souls of animals infuse themselves
Into the trunks of men., Thy currith spirit
Govern’d a wolf, who, hang’d for human slaughter,
Ev’n from the gallows did, his fell foul fleet,
And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallow'd dam,
Infus’d itself in thee: for thy desires
Are wolfish, bloody, starv'd, and ravenous.
Shy. 'Till thou canst rail the seal from off my

bond,
Thou but offend't thy lungs to speak so loud.
Repair thy wit, good youth, or it will fall

To cureleis ruin. I stand here for law. (27)
but this was our author's antithefis; as it is usual fo with him to play
on words in this manner: and that from the mouth of his moft serious
characters. So in Romeo and Juliet ;

-You have dancing shoes,
With nimble foales; I have a foul of lead,

I hat stakes me to the ground; I cannot move.
And again, immediately after.

I am too fore enpierced with his shaft,

To soare with his light feathers. So in King Jobn:

O, lawful let it be, That I have room with Rome to curse awhile! And, in Julius Cæfar;

Now is it Rome, indeed; and room enough,

When there is in it but one only man. But this sort of jingle is too perpetual with our author to need any farther instances.

(27) To careless ruin.] This, I am sure, is a signal inftance of Mr. Pope's carelessness, for both the old 4tos have it cæreless. The players in their edition, for some particular whim, chang'd the word to endless; which Mr. Roze has copied, because, i presume, he had never seen the old Quartos. Our author has used this epithet, curto less, again in his poem, call’d, Tarquin and Lucrece. St. 111.

O, hateful, vaporous and foggy night!
Since thou art guilty of my cureless crime.

Duke.

1

G

.