Anth. Well, Shylock, fhall we be beholden to you?
Shy. Signior Anthonio, many a time and oft
In the Rialto you have rated me,

About my monies, and my ufances.
Still have I born it with a patient fhrug;
(For fufferance is the badge of all our tribe)
You call me, mifbeliever, cut-throat dog,
And spit upon my Jewith gaberdine;
And all for ufe of that, which is mine own.
Well, then, it now appears, you need my help;
Go to then-you come to me, and you say,
Shylock, we would have monies;-You fay fo;-
You that did void your rheum upon my beard,
And foot me, as you fpurn a ftranger cur
Over your threfhold;-monies is your fuit;
What should I fay to you? fhould I not say,
Hath a dog money? is it poffible,

A cur can lend three thousand ducats? or
Shall I bend low, and in a bondman's key,
With 'bated breath, and whispering humbleness,
Say this,-Fair Sir, you spit on me on Wednesday laft;
You spurn'd me fuch a day; another time
You call'd me dog; and for thefe curtefies
I'll lend you thus much monies?

Anth. I am as like to call thee fo again,
To fpit on thee again, to fpurn thee too.
If thou wilt lend this money, lend it not
As to thy friends, (for when did friendship takę
A breed of barren metal of his friend?)7
But lend it rather to thine enemy;

Who, if he break, thou may'ft with better face
Exact the penalty.

7 A breed of barren metal of his friend ?] A breed, that is intereft money bred from the principal. By the epithet barren, the author would inftruct us in the argument on which the advocates against ufury went, which is this, that money is a barren thing, and cannot like corn and cattle multiply itfelf. And to fet off the abfurdity of this kind of ufury, he put breed and barren in oppofition. WARBURTON.

Sby.

Shy. Why, look you, how you storm?

I would be friends with you, and have your love; Forget the fhames that you have ftain'd me with: Supply your prefent wants, and take no doit

Of ufance for my monies, and you'll not hear me; This is kind I offer.

Anth. This were kindness.

Shy. This kindnefs will I' fhow :----
Go with me to a notary, feal me there
Your fingle bond; and, in a merry sport,
If you repay me not on fuch a day,
In fuch a place, fuch fum, or fums, as are
Exprefs'd in the condition, let the forfeit
Be nominated for an equal pound

Of your fair flefh, to be cut off and taken
In what part of your body pleaseth me.

Anth. Content, in faith. I'll feal to fuch a bond,

And say, there is much kindness in the Jew.

Baff. You fhall not feal to fuch a bond for me, I'll rather dwell in my neceffity.

Anth. Why, fear not, man; I will not forfeit it; Within these two months (that's a month before This bond expires) I do expect return

Of thrice three times the value of this bond.
Shy. O father Abraham, what thefe Chriftians are!
Whofe own hard dealings teaches them fufpect
The thoughts of others! pray you, tell me this;
If he should break his day, what should I gain
By the exaction of the forfeiture?

A pound of man's flesh, taken from a man,
Is not fo eftimable, profitable neither,

As flesh of muttons, beefs, or goats. I fay,
To buy his favour I extend this friendship;

3 -dwell in my neceffity.] To davell feems in this place to mean the fame as to continue. To abide has both the fenies of babitation and continuance. JOHNSON.

VOL. III.

K

If

130

If he will take it, fo; if not, adieu;
And, for my love, I pray you wrong me not.
Anth. Yes, Shylock, I will feal unto this bond.
Shy. Then meet me forthwith at the notary's;
Give him direction for this merry bond,
And I will go and purse the ducats ftrait;
See to my house, left in the fearful guard
Of an unthrifty knave; and presently
I will be with you.

Anth. Hie thee, gentle Jew.

[Exit.

This Hebrew will turn Chriftian; he grows kind. Ball. I like not fair terms, and a villain's mind. Anth. Come on; in this there can be no difmay: My ships come home a month before the day.

9

[Exeunt.

left in the FEARFUL guard, &c.] But furely fearful was the most trufty guard for a house-keeper in a populous city; where houses are not carried by ftorm like fortreffes. For fear would keep them on their watch, which was all that was neceffary for the owner's fecurity. I fuppofe therefore Shakespeare

wrote,

FEARLESS guard.

i. e. careless; and this, indeed, would expofe his house to the only danger he had to apprehend in the day-time, which was clandeftine pilfering. This reading is much confirmed by the character he gives this guard, of an unthrifty knave, and by what he fays of him afterwards, that he was,

-a buge feeder:

Snail-flow in profit, but he fleeps by day

More than the wild cat

WARBURTON.

Dr. Warburton has forgotten that fearful is not only that which fears, but that which is feared or caufes fear. Fearful guard, is a guard that is not to be trufted, but gives cause of fear. To fear was anciently to give as well as feel terrours. JOHNSON. So in Hen. IV. P. I..

"A mighty and a fearful head they are."
I like not fair terms.] Kind words, good language.

STEEVENS.

JOHNSON.

ACT

ACT II. SCENE I

BELMON T.

Enter the Prince of Morocco, and three or four Follows ers accordingly with Portia, Neriffa, and her train. Flourish Cornets.

M

MOROCCO.

ISLIKE me not for my complexion,
The fhadow'd livery of the burnish'd fun,
To whom I am a neighbour, and near bred.
Bring me the fairest creature northward born,
Where Phoebus' fire scarce thaws the ificles,
And let us make incifion for your love,
To prove whofe blood is reddeft, his or mine.
I tell thee, lady, this afpect of mine

3

Hath fear'd the valiant; by my love, I fwear

2 To prove whose blood is reddeft, bis or mine.] To understand how the tawney prince, whofe favage dignity is very well fupported, means to recommend himself by this challenge, it must be remembered that red blood is a traditionary fign of courage: Thus Macbeth calls one of his frighted foldiers, a lilly liver'd Lown; again in this play, Cowards are faid to have livers as white as milk; and an effeminate and timorous man is termed a milk/cp. JOHNSON.

3 Hath fear'd the valiant ;] i. e. terrify'd. To fear is often ufed by our old writers, in this fenfe. So B. Jonfon, in Every Man in his Humour: "Make him a warrant, (he shall not go) "I but fear the knave."

So again in Hen. VI. 3d Part:

"Thou feeft what's paft, go fear thy king withal."

So again in the fame play;

"For Warwick was a bug that fear'd us all."

And again in Hen. IV. Part II.

"The people fear me, for they do obferve

"Unfather'd heirs, &c.

STEEVENS.

The best regarded virgins of our clime

Have lov'd it too. I would not change this hue,
Except to steal your thoughts, my gentle queen.
Por. In terms of choice I am not folely led
By nice direction of a maiden's eyes:
Befides, the lottery of my destiny

Bars me the right of voluntary chufing.
But, if my father had not fcanted me,

+ And hedg'd me by his will to yield myself
His wife, who wins me by that means I told you;
Yourself, renowned prince, then stood as fair,
As any comer I have look'd on yet,

For my affection.

Mor. Even for that I thank you;

Therefore, I pray you, lead me to the caskets,
To try my fortune. By this fcimitar,
That flew the Sophy, and a Perfian prince,
That won three fields of Sultan Solyman,
I would out-ftare the fterneft eyes that look,
Out-brave the heart moft daring on the earth,
Pluck the young fucking cubs from the fhe-bear,
Yea, mock the lion when he roars for prey,
To win thee, lady. But, alas the while!
If Hercules and Lichas play at dice
Which is the better man, the greater throw
May turn by fortune from the weaker hand:
So is Alcides beaten by his page;

And

↑ And hedg'd me by his wit-] I fuppofe we may fafely read, and hedg'd me by his will. Confined me by his will. JOHNSON. 5 That flew the Sophy, &c.] Shakespeare feldom escapes well when he is entangled with geography. The prince of Morocco must have travelled far to kill the Sophy of Perfia. JOHNSON.

6 So is Alcides beaten by his rage.] Though the whole set of editions concur in this reading, it is corrupt at bottom. Let us look into the poet's drift, and the hiftory of the perfons mentioned in the context. If Hercules, (fays he) and Lichas were to play at dice for the decifion of their fuperiority, Lichas, the weaker man, might have the better caft of the two. But how then is Alcides

beaten