Por. He is well paid, that is well satisfied;
And I, delivering you, am satisfied,
And therein do account myself well paid:
My mind was never yet more mercenary.
I pray you, know me, when we meet again :
I wish you well, and so I take my leave.

Bass. Dear sir, of force I must attempt you farther: Take some remembrance of us, as a tribute, Not as a fee. Grant me two things, I pray you; Not to deny me, and to pardon me.

Por. You press me far, and therefore I will yield. Give me your gloves, I'll wear them for your sake; And, for your love, I'll take this ring from you.Do not draw back your hand; I'll take no more, And you in love shall not deny me this.

Bass. This ring, good sir?—alas, it is a trifle; I will not shame myself to give you this.

Por. I will have nothing else but only this; And now, methinks, I have a mind to it.

Bass. There's more depends on this, than on the value'. The dearest ring in Venice will I give you,

And find it out by proclamation;

Only for this, I pray you, pardon me.

Por. I see, sir, you are liberal in offers:

You taught me first to beg, and now, methinks,
You teach me how a beggar should be answer'd.
Bass. Good sir, this ring was given me by my wife;
And when she put it on she made me vow,
That I should neither sell, nor give, nor lose it.

Por. That 'scuse serves many men to save their gifts. An if your wife be not a mad woman,

And know how well I have deserv'd this ring,

She would not hold out enemy for ever,

For giving it to me.

Well, peace be with you.

[Exeunt PORTIA and NERISSA.

7 than on the value.] Roberts's 4to. has the line,

"There's more than this depends upon the value."

Ant. My lord Bassanio, let him have the ring:
Let his deservings, and my love withal,
Be valued 'gainst your wife's commandment.

Bass. Go, Gratiano; run and overtake him,
Give him the ring, and bring him, if thou can'st,
Unto Antonio's house.-Away! make haste.

Come, you and I will thither presently,
And in the morning early will we both
Fly toward Belmont. Come, Antonio.

[Exit GRATIANO.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II.

The Same. A Street.

Enter PORTIA and NERISSA.

Por. Inquire the Jew's house out, give him this deed, And let him sign it. We'll away to-night, And be a day before our husbands home. This deed will be well welcome to Lorenzo.

Enter GRATIANO.

Gra. Fair sir, you are well o'erta'en.

My lord Bassanio, upon more advice,

Hath sent you here this ring, and doth entreat
Your company at dinner.

Por.

That cannot be.

His ring I do accept most thankfully,

And so, I pray you, tell him: furthermore,

I

pray you, show my youth old Shylock's house. Gra. That will I do.

Ner.

Sir, I would speak with you.

I'll see if I can get my husband's ring, [TO PORTIA. Which I did make him swear to keep for ever.

8 His ring I do accept] "This ring," &c., Roberts's 4to.

Por. Thou may'st, I warrant. We shall have old swearing 9,

That they did give the rings away to men;

But we'll outface them, and outswear them too. Away! make haste: thou know'st where I will tarry. Ner. Come, good sir; will you show me to this house? [Exeunt.

ACT V. SCENE I.

Belmont. The Avenue to PORTIA'S House.

Enter LORENZO and JESSICA.

Lor. The moon shines bright.-In such a night as this,
When the sweet wind did gently kiss the trees,
And they did make no noise; in such a night,
Troilus, methinks, mounted the Trojan walls,
And sigh'd his soul toward the Grecian tents,
Where Cressid lay that night.

Jes.
In such a night,
Did Thisbe fearfully o'ertrip the dew;
And saw the lion's shadow ere himself,
And ran dismay'd away.

Lor.

In such a night,

Stood Dido with a willow in her hand

Upon the wild sea-banks, and wav'd her love

To come again to Carthage.

Jes.

Medea gather'd the enchanted herbs

That did renew old son.

Lor.

In such a night,

In such a night,

Did Jessica steal from the wealthy Jew,

And with an unthrift love did run from Venice,

As far as Belmont.

9 OLD swearing,] Of this augmentative in colloquial language, there are many instances in authors of the time.

Jes.

In such a night,

Did young Lorenzo swear he lov'd her well,
Stealing her soul with many vows of faith,
And ne'er a true one.

Lor.

In such a night,

Did pretty Jessica, like a little shrew,

Slander her love, and he forgave it her.

Jes. I would out-night you, did no body come; But, hark, I hear the footing of a man.

Enter STEPHANO.

Lor. Who comes so fast in silence of the night?
Steph. A friend.

Lor. A friend? what friend? your name, I pray you, friend?

Steph. Stephano is my name; and I bring word,
My mistress will before the break of day
Be here at Belmont: she doth stray about
By holy crosses, where she kneels and prays
For happy wedlock hours.

Lor.

Who comes with her?

Steph. None, but a holy hermit, and her maid.

I pray you, is my master yet return'd?

Lor. He is not, nor we have not heard from him.

But go we in, I pray thee, Jessica,

And ceremoniously let us prepare

Some welcome for the mistress of the house.

Enter LAUNCELOT.

Laun. Sola, sola! wo ha, ho! sola, sola!

Lor. Who calls?

Laun. Sola! did you see master Lorenzo, and mistress Lorenzo'? sola, sola!

Lor. Leave hallooing, man; here.

Laun. Sola! where? where?

Lor. Here.

-MASTER Lorenzo, and MISTRESS Lorenzo ?] The old copies have merely the letter M. for both master and mistress.

Laun. Tell him, there's a post come from my master, with his horn full of good news: my master will be here ere morning.

[Exit. Lor. Sweet soul', let's in, and there expect their

coming.

And yet no matter;-why should we go in?
My friend Stephano3, signify, I pray you,
Within the house, your mistress is at hand;
And bring your music forth into the air.—

[Exit STEPHANO.

How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
Here we will sit, and let the sounds of music
Creep in our ears: soft stillness, and the night,
Become the touches of sweet harmony.
Sit, Jessica look, how the floor of heaven
Is thick inlaid with patterns of bright gold';
There's not the smallest orb, which thou behold'st,
But in his motion like an angel sings,

Still quiring to the young-ey'd cherubins:
Such harmony is in immortal souls;
But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay
Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.

Enter Musicians.

Come, ho! and wake Diana with a hymn:

With sweetest touches pierce your mistress' ear,
And draw her home with music.

Music.

2 Sweet soul,] In all the old copies these two words are given to Launcelot; and though it may be right, it is so much more likely that they belong to Lorenzo, that we have had no hesitation in transferring them; in this respect following the example of Rowe, who originally made the change. The first line of Lorenzo's speech is incomplete without them.

3 My friend STEPHANO,] In the 4to. by Heyes, and in the folio, 1623, this name stands Stephen: in the 4to. by Roberts, rightly, Stephano.

Is thick inlaid with PATTERNS of bright gold ;] This is the text of the second folio: the first folio has pattens, as well as the 4to. by Heyes. The other 4to. has pattents. "Patterns" seems the right reading.

5 Doth grossly close IT IN,] Nothing can well be clearer than this reading, which is that of Heyes's 4to. The 4to. by Roberts, and the first folio, invert two words, and by printing in it instead of "it in," occasioned some confusion, which led to the insertion of long notes by the commentators. In the clause "Doth grossly close it in," the word it refers, of course, to the soul.