I

In purchafing the femblance of my foul
From out the state 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 have toward heaven breath'd a fecret vow,
To live in prayer and contemplation,
Only attended by Neriffa here,

Until her husband and my lord's return.
There is a monaftery two miles off,

And there we will abide. I do defire you,

Not to deny this impofition;

The which my love, and fome neceffity
Now lays upon you.

Lor. Madam, with all my heart;

I fhall obey you in all fair commands.

Por. My people do already know my mind, And will acknowledge you and Jeffica

In place of lord Baffanio and myself.

So fare you well, till we fhall meet again.
Lor. Fair thoughts and happy hours attend on you!
Jef. I wish your ladyfhip all heart's content.
Por. I thank you for your wifh, and am well pleas'd
To with it back on you: fare you well, Jeffica.
[Exeunt Jef. and Lor.

Now, Balthazar,

This comes too near, &c.] In former editions,

This comes too near the praising of myself;

Therefore no more of it; here other things,
Lorenzo, I commit, &c.

Portia finding the reflections fhe had made came too near felfpraife, begins to chide herself for it; fays, She'll fay no more of that fort; but call a new fubject. The regulation I have made in the text was likewife prefcrib'd by Dr. Thirlby.

THEOBALD.

As

As I have ever found thee honeft, true,

So let me find thee ftill: Take this fame letter,
And use thou all the endeavour of a man,

* In fpeed to Padua; fee thou render this
Into my cousin's hand, doctor Bellario;

And, look, what notes and garments he doth give thee,

Bring them, I pray thee, with imagin'd speed
Unto the Traject, to the common ferry

3

Which trades to Venice: wafte no time in words,
But get
thee gone; I fhall be there before thee.
Balth. Madam, I go with all convenient speed.

Exit.

Por. Come on, Neriffa, I have work in hand, That you yet know not of: we'll fee our hufbands, Before they think of us.

Ner. Shall they fee us?

Por. They fhall, Neriffa; but in such a habit,
That they fhall think we are accomplished
With what we lack. I'll hold thee any wager,
When we are both apparell'd like young men,
prove the prettier fellow of the two,

I'll

And wear my dagger with the braver grace;
And speak between the change of man and boy,
With a reed voice; and turn two mincing steps
Into a manly ftride, and speak of frays,

2 In Speed to Mantua:] Thus all the old copies; and thus all the modern editors implicitly after them. But 'tis evident to any diligent reader, that we must restore, as I have done, In Speed to Padua: for it was there, and not at Mantua, Bellario liv'd. So afterwards;- A meffenger, wih letters from the Doctor, now come from Padua And again, Come you from Padua, from BelLario?-And again, It comes from Padua, from Bella io.fides, Padua, not Mantua, is the place of education for the civil law in Italy. THEOBALD.

-Be

3 Unto the Traja,] The old copies concur in reading, Unto the Tranet, which appears to be derived from tranare, and was very probably a word current in the time of our author.

N 2

STEEVENS.

Like

Like a fine bragging youth: and tell quaint lies,
How honourable ladies fought my love,
Which I denying, they fell fick and dy’d;
I could not do with all :-then I'll repent,
And with, for all that, that I had not kill'd them.
And twenty of thefe puny lies I'll tell,

That men fhall fwear, I have difcontinued fchool
Above a twelvemonth. I have in my mind.
A thousand raw tricks of thefe bragging Jacks,
Which I will practife.

Ner. Why, fhall we turn to men?

Por. Fie, what a question's that, If thou wert near a lewd interpreter ? But come, I'll tell thee all my whole device When I am in my coach; which stays for us At the park gate; and therefore haste away, For we must measure twenty miles to-day. [Exeunt.

Enter Launcelot and Jeffica.

Laun. Yes, truly:-for, look you, the fins of the father are to be laid upon the children; therefore, I promife you, I fear you. I was always plain with you; and fo now I fpeak my agitation of the matter: Therefore be of good cheer; for, truly, I think, you are damn'd. There is but one hope in it that can do you any good; and that is but a kind of a bastard hope neither.

Jef. And what hope is that, I pray thee?

Laun. Marry, you may partly hope that your father got you not, that you are not the Jew's daughter. Jef. That were a kind of bastard hope, indeed. So the fins of my mother fhall be vifited upon me.

Laun. Truly, then, I fear, you are damn'd both by father, and mother: thus when I fhun Scylla, your

father,

father, I fall into Charybdis, your mother: well, you are gone both ways.

Jef. I fhall be faved by my husband; he hath made me a Chriftian.

Laun. Truly, the more to blame he: we were Chriftians enough before, e'en as many as could well live one by another: This making of Chriftians will raife the price of hogs: if we grow all to be porkeaters, we shall not fhortly have a rafher on the coals for mony.

Enter Lorenzo.

Jef. I'll tell my husband, Launcelot, what you fay: Here he comes.

Lor. I fhall grow jealous of you shortly, Launcelot, if you thus get my wife into corners.

Jef. Nay, you need not fear us, Lorenzo; Launcelot and I are out: he tells me flatly, there is no mercy for me in heaven, because I am a Jew's daughter and he fays, you are no good member of the commonwealth; for, in converting Jews to Chriftians, you raise the price of pork.

Lor. I fhall anfwer that better to the commonwealth, than you can the getting up of the negro's belly the Moor is with child by you, Launcelot.

4

Laun. It is much, that the Moor fhould be more than reafon but if the be less than an honest woman, fhe is, indeed, more than I took her for.

Lor. How every fool can play upon the word! I think, the best grace of wit will shortly turn into filence; and difcourfe grow commendable in none but parrots. Go in, firrah; bid them prepare for dinner.

It is much that the Moor fhould be more, &c.] This brings to mind the quibbling epigram of Milton, which has no higher degree of humour to boast of.

Galli ex concubitu gravidam te Pontia Mori

Quis bene moratam morigeramque negat? STEEVENS.

Laun. That is done, fir; they have all stomachs. Lor. Goodly lord, what a wit-fnapper are you! then bid them prepare dinner.

Laun. That is done too, fir; only, cover is the word.

Lor. Will you cover then, fir?

Laun. Not fo, fir, neither; I know my duty.

Lor. Yet more quarrelling with occafion! wilt thou fhew 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, ferve in the meat, and we will come in to dinner.

Laun. For the table, fir, it shall be ferv'd in; for the meat, fir, it fhall be covered; for your coming in to dinner, fir, why, let it be as humours and con ceits fhall govern. [Exit Laun. Lor. O dear difcretion, how his words are fuited!' 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 trickfy word.
Defy the matter. How far'ft thou, Jeflica?
And now, good fweet, fay thy opinion,
How doft thou like the lord Baffanio's wife?

Jef. Paft all expreffing: It is very meet,
The lord Baffanio live an upright life;
For, having fuch a bleffing in his lady,
He finds the joys of heaven here on earth;
And, if on earth he do not mean it, then
In reafon, he fhould never come to heaven.
Why, if two Gods fhould play fome heavenly match,
And on the wager lay two earthly women,

And Portia one, there must be something else

How his words are fuited.] I believe the meaning is: What a feries or fuite of words he has independent of meaning; how one word draws on another without relation to the matter.

JOHNSON.
Pawn'd