Or shall I think in silver she's immur'd, Being ten times undervalued to tried gold? Was set in worse than gold. They have in England Stamped in gold,' but that's insculp'd upon; Lies all within.- Deliver me the key; Por. There, take it, prince, and if my form lie there, Then I am yours. Mor. [He unlocks the golden casket. O hell! what have we here? A carrion death, within whose empty eye All that glisters is not gold; Often have you heard that told: This is the angel referred to by Falstaff in his interview with the Chief Justice: "Not so, my lord; your ill angel is light." It appears to have been the national coin in Shakespeare's time. The custom of stamping an angel upon the coin is thus explained by Verstegan in his Restitution of Decayed Intelligence: "The name of Engel is yet at this present in all the Teutonic tongues as much as to say, an Angel; and if a Dutchman be asked how he would in his language call an Angel-like-man, he would answer. ein English-man. And such reason and consideration may have moved our former kings, upon their best coin of pure and fine gold, to set the image of an angel, which hath as well been used before the Norman Conquest, as since." Readers of Wordsworth will be apt to remember, in this connection, a fine passage 'n one of his Ecclesiastical Sonnets: "A bright-haired company of youthful slaves, Beautiful strangers, stand within the pale Who, having learnt that name, salvation craves H. Many a man his life hath sold, Young in limbs, in judgment old, Cold, indeed, and labour lost : [Exit. Then, farewell, heat; and welcome, frost. Portia, adieu! I have too griev'd a heart To take a tedious leave: thus losers part. Por. A gentle riddance. — Draw the curtains; go: Let all of his complexion choose me so. SCENE VIII. Venice. A Street. Enter SALARINO and SOLANIO. [Exeunt. Sal. Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail: With him is Gratiano gone along ; And in their ship, I am sure, Lorenzo is not. Sol. The villain Jew with outcries rais'd the Duke, Who went with him to search Bassanio's ship. Sal. He came too late, the ship was under sail; Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica : 66 · My daughter! — O my ducats! — O my daughter! Of double ducats, stol'n from me by my daughter! Sal. Why, all the boys in Venice follow him, Sal. Marry, well remember'd. I reason'd with a Frenchman yesterday, Who told me, —in the narrow seas, that part The French and English, there miscarried A vessel of our country, richly fraught: I thought upon Antonio, when he told me, And wish'd in silence that it were not his. Sol. You were best to tell Antonio what you Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him. hear: Sal. A kinder gentleman treads not the earth And for the Jew's bond, which he hath of me, Be merry; and employ your chiefest thoughts 2 As shall conveniently become you there." To slubber is to do a thing carelessly. Thus, in Fuller's Worthies of Yorkshire: " Slightly slubbering it over, doing something for show, and nothing to purpose." Likewise, in Song 21 of Drayton's Poly-Olbion : Not such as basely soothe the humour of the time, And slubberingly patch up some slight and shallow rhyme." H "Shows, tokens. See sc. 2, note 16. Turning his face, he put his hand behind him. He wrung Bassanio's hand; and so they parted. Ner. Quick, quick, I pray thee; draw the curtain straight: The prince of Arragon hath ta'en his oath, And comes to his election presently. Flourish of Cornets. Enter the Prince of Arragon, PORTIA, and their Trains. Por. Behold, there stand the caskets, noble prince: If you choose that wherein I am contain'd, Straight shall our nuptial rites be solemniz'd; Ar. I am enjoin'd by oath to observe three things First, never to unfold to any one Which casket 'twas I chose; next, if I fail The heaviness he is fond of, or cherishes. Por. To these injunctions every one doth swear, That comes to hazard for my worthless self. Ar. And so have I address'd' me. Fortune now To my heart's hope! - Gold, silver, and base lead. "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath." You shall look fairer, ere I give, or hazard. What says the golden chest? ha! let me see:- desire." What many men desire: 2 that many may be meant And well said too; for who shall go about To cozen fortune, and be honourable Without the stamp of merit! Let none presume O! that estates, degrees, and offices, Were not deriv'd corruptly! and that clear honour Prepared. By and of, being synonymous, were used by our ancestors indifferently. 3 Power. To jump is to agree with. |