Lor. Goodly lord, what a wit-snapper are you! then, bid them prepare dinner.

Laun. That is done too, sir; only, cover is the word. Lor. Will you cover then, sir?

Laun. Not so, sir, neither; I know my duty.

Lor. Yet more quarrelling with occasion? Wilt thou show the whole wealth of thy wit in an instant? I pray thee, understand a plain man in his plain meaning: go to thy fellows, bid them cover the table, serve in the meat, and we will come in to dinner.

Laun. For the table, sir, it shall be served in; for the meat, sir, it shall be covered; for your coming in to dinner, sir, why, let it be as humours and conceits shall govern. [Exit LAUNCELOT. Lor. O, dear discretion, how his words are suited! The fool hath planted in his memory An army of good words; and I do know A many fools, that stand in better place, Garnish'd like him, that for a tricksy word Defy the matter. How cheer'st thou, Jessica'? And now, good sweet, say thy opinion; How dost thou like the lord Bassanio's wife? Jes. Past all expressing. It is very meet, The lord Bassanio live an upright life, For, having such a blessing in his lady, He finds the joys of heaven here on earth; And, if on earth he do not mean it, then, In reason he should never come to heaven2. Why, if two gods should play some heavenly match,

1 HOW CHEER'ST thou, Jessica ?] "How far'st thou, Jessica ?" Roberts's 4to. alone.

2 And, if on earth he do not mean it, then,

In reason he should never come to heaven.] The old copies vary in this place. The 4to. by Roberts gives it as in our text: the 4to. by Heyes must be wrong, when it says,

"And, if on earth he do not mean it, it

In reason," &c.

The folio, 1623, makes sense out of the blunder of Heyes, by reading,

"And if on earth he do not mean it, it

Is reason, &c.

And on the wager lay two earthly women,

And Portia one, there must be something else
Pawn'd with the other, for the poor rude world
Hath not her fellow.

Lor.

Even such a husband

Hast thou of me, as she is for a wife.

Jes. Nay, but ask my opinion, too, of that.

Lor. I will anon; first, let us go to dinner. Jes. Nay, let me praise you, while I have a stomach. Lor. No, pray thee, let it serve for table-talk; Then, howsoe'er thou speak'st', 'mong other things I shall digest it.

Jes.

Well, I'll set you forth.

[Exeunt.

ACT IV.

SCENE I.

Venice. A Court of Justice.

Enter the DUKE; 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,
And that no lawful means can carry me
Out of his envy's reach', I do oppose
My patience to his fury, and am arm'd
To suffer with a quietness of spirit,

3 Then, HOWSOE'ER thou speak'st,] The folio and Heyes's 4to. have howsome'er.

4

- his ENVY's reach,] Enry, of old, was often used in the sense of hatred.

The very tyranny and rage of his.

Duke. Go one, and call the Jew into the court. Salan. He's ready at the door. He comes, my lord. Enter SHYLOCK.

Duke. Make room, and let him stand before our face.—
Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too,
That thou but lead'st this fashion of thy malice
To the last hour of act; and then, 'tis thought,
Thou'lt show thy mercy and remorse, more strange
Than is thy strange apparent cruelty;

And where thou now exact'st the penalty,
Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh,
Thou wilt not only lose the forfeiture3,

But, touch'd with human gentleness and love,
Forgive a moiety of the principal;
Glancing an eye of pity on his losses,
That have of late so huddled on his back,
Enow to press a royal merchant down,

And pluck commiseration of his state

From brassy bosoms, and rough hearts of flint,
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 ask me, why I rather choose 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

Thou wilt not only LOSE the forfeiture,] The old copies have “loose the forfeiture," and perhaps we ought to take loose in the sense of release.

To have it baned? 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 sings i' the nose,
Cannot contain their urine for affection:
Masters of passion sway 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 force
Must 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 Antonio, that I follow thus

A losing suit against him.

Bass. This is no answer,

Are

Are you answer'd? thou unfeeling man,

To excuse the current of thy cruelty.

Shy. I am not bound to please thee with my answer. Bass. Do all men kill the things they do not love? Shy. Hates any man the thing he would not kill? Bass. Every offence is not a hate at first.

Shy. What! would'st thou have a serpent sting thee twice?

Ant. I pray you, think you question with the Jew. You may as well go stand upon the beach, And bid the main flood bate his usual height; You may as well use question with the wolf,

6 Masters of passion sway it to the mood

Of what it likes, or loaths.] This passage has occasioned a good deal of controversy, but the difficulty seems to be to find a difficulty: in the old copies "sway" is printed sways, making a false concord, the nominative case being masters" the pronoun "it," of course, in both instances, agrees with "passion." Shylock, in the preceding lines, speaks of those who are not "masters of passion."

66

7 — a WOOLLEN bag-pipe,] This is the reading of every ancient copy; and as we know that at this day the bag is usually covered with woollen, the epithet is perfectly appropriate, without adopting the alteration of Steevens to swollen.

Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lambs;
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops, and to make no noise,
When they are fretten' with the gusts of heaven;
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.
Bass. For thy three thousand ducats here is six.
Shy. If every ducat in six thousand ducats
Were in six parts, and every part a ducat,

I would not draw them: I would have my bond.
Duke. How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering

none?

Shy. What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong?
You have among you many a purchas'd slave,
Which, like your asses, and your dogs, and mules,
You use in abject and in slavish parts,

Because you bought them :-shall I say to you,
Let them be free; marry them to your heirs?

You may as well use question with the wolf,

Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb ;] These lines afford another remarkable instance of variation in two different copies of the same edition of a play. In the 4to. by Heyes, belonging to the Duke of Devonshire, the passage runs thus:

"Well use question with the wolf,

The ewe bleat for the lamb ;"

whereas, in the copy of the same edition, the property of Lord Francis Egerton, the evident defect is supplied, and the lines stand as in our text. This change for the better must have been made while "The Merchant of Venice," "printed by I. R., for Thomas Heyes," was going through the press. On the other hand, the editors of the folio allowed the passage to stand,-

"Or even as well use question with the wolf,

The ewe bleat for the lamb ;"

which, if not nonsense, is imperfect sense. Roberts's 4to. fully confirms the words in the text, according entirely with the amended impression of Heyes.

When they are FRETTEN -] So both the old quartos, and there seems no reason to abandon the form of the participle, probably adopted by Shakespeare : if "fretten were not the original word, it is singular that it should be found in the two editions by Heyes and Roberts, evidently printed from different manuscripts.