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What traitor hears me, and says not, amen? 1
England hath long been mad, and scarr'd herself;
The brother blindly shed the brother's blood,
The father rashly slaughter'd his own son,
The son, compell'd, been butcher to the sire;
All this divided York and Lancaster,
Divided, in their dire division. -

O, now, let Richmond and Elizabeth,
The true succeeders of each royal house,
By God's fair ordinance conjoin together!
And let their heirs, (God, if thy will be so)
Enrich the time to come with smooth-fac'd peace,
With smilling plenty, and fair prosperous days!
Abate 2 the edge of traitors, gracious Lord,
That would reduce these bloody days again,
And make poor England weep in streams of blood!
Let them not live to taste this land's increase,
That would with treason wound this fair land's peace!
Now civil wounds are stopp'd, peace lives again:
That she may long live here, God say amen!

1. Whoever hears me, and says not amen, is a traitor.

2. i. e. diminish, or take away.

[Exeunt.

3. To reduce, to bring back; an obsolete sense of the word, derived from its original reducere.

LEIPZIG: PRINTED BY FERBER & SEYDEL.

4

THE

MERCHANT OF VENICE.

A COMEDY

BY

WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE.

WITH EXPLANATORY NOTES FOUNDED ON THE
BEST COMMENTATORS.

EDITED BY

R. H. WESTLEY.

LEIPZIG:

GUSTAVUS GRÆBNER.

1

But

to skip o'er the meshes of good counsel, the cripple. 1 this reasoning is not in the fashion2 to choose me a husband. O me! the word choose! I may neither choose whom I would, nor refuse whom I dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curbed by the will of a dead father. Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot choose one, nor refuse none?

3

Nerissa. Your father was ever virtuous, and holy men at their death have good inspirations; therefore the lottery, that he hath devised in these three chests of gold, silver, and lead (whereof who chooses his meaning, chooses you), will, no doubt, never be chosen by any rightly, but one whom you shall rightly love. But what warmth is there in your affection towards any of these princely suitors that are already come?

Portia. I pray thee, over-name them, and as thou namest them, I will describe them; and, according to my description, level at 5 affection. my Ner. First, there is the Neapolitan prince. Por. Ay, that's a colt, indeed, for he doth nothing but talk of his horse; and he makes it a great appropriation to his own good parts, that he can shoe him himself. I am much afraid, my lady his mother played false with a smith. Ner. Then, is there the county Palatine.

Por. He doth nothing but frown, as who should say, "An you will not have me, choose." He hears merry tales, and smiles not: I fear he will prove the weeping philosopher when he grows old, being so full of unmannerly sadness in his youth. I had rather be married to a death's head with a bone in his mouth, than to either of these. God defend me from these two!

Ner. How say you by the French lord, Monsieur Le Bon?

1. Mad youth skips over limping good counsel as a hare does over the net spread for him.

2. i. e. is not of the sort.

3. Will, inclination, and will, testament.

7. And he considers it as a peculiar attainment in the enumeration of his own good qualities, that he can shoe his horse himself.

8. County was formerly the same

4. To over-name, to name one after as count. This is an allusion to the the other.

5. Conjecture, or try to guess my love for them.

6. A colt is a young male horse. As here used it means, a young foolish fellow.

Count Albertus Alasco, a Polish Palatine, who was in London in 1583.

9. An, a contraction of and if; also frequently used before if as a

contraction of and.

man.

Portia. God made him, and therefore let him pass for a In truth, I know it is a sin to be a mocker; but, he! why, he hath a horse better than the Neapolitan's; a better1 bad habit of frowning than the count Palatine: he is every man in no man; if a throstle sing, he falls straight a capering: 2 he will fence with his own shadow. If I should marry him, I should marry twenty husbands. If he would despise me, I would forgive him; for if he love me to madness, I shall never requite him.

Nerissa. What say you, then, to Faulconbridge, the young baron of England?

Por. You know, I say nothing to him, for he understands not me, nor I him: he hath neither Latin, French, nor Italian; and you will come into the court and swear, that I have a poor penny-worth in the English. He is a proper 4 man's picture, but, alas! who can converse with a dumb show? How oddly he is suited! I think he bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behaviour every where.

5

Ner. What think you of the Scottish lord, his neighbour? Por. That he hath a neighbourly charity in him; for he borrowed a box of the ear of the Englishman, and swore he would pay him again, when he was able: I think, the Frenchman became his surety, and sealed under for another.

6

Ner. How like you the young German, the duke of Saxony's nephew?

Por. Very vilely in the morning, when he is sober, and most vilely in the afternoon, when he is drunk: when he is best, he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast. An the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I shall make shift to go without him."

Ner. If he should offer to choose, and choose the right casket, you should refuse to perform your father's will, if you should refuse to accept him.

1. Better, in a greater degree. 2. He immediately begins dancing. 3. Penny-worth, to denote a very small quantity. And you may take an oath in a court of justice that I understand but very little English.

5. Suited, dressed.

6. Alluding to the constant asof assistance, that the French gave sistance, or rather constant promises the Scots in their quarrels with the English.

7. And if the worst befall that ever befell, I hope I shall manage 4. A proper man was a handsome, (i. e. make it possible) not to have comely man.

him.

Portia. Therefore, for fear of the worst, I pray thee, set a deep glass of Rhenish wine on the contrary casket; for, if the devil be within, and that temptation without, I know he will choose it. I will do any thing, Nerissa, ere I will be married to a sponge.

Nerissa. You need not fear, lady, the having any of these lords: they have acquainted me with their determinations; which is indeed, to return to their home, and to trouble you with no more suit, unless you may be won by some other sort1 than your father's imposition, depending on the caskets.

Por. If I live to be as old as Sibylla, I will die as chaste as Diana, unless I be obtained by the manner of my father's will. I am glad this parcel of wooers are so reasonable; for there is not one among them but I dote on his very absence, and I pray God grant them a fair departure.

Ner. Do you not remember, lady, in your father's time, a Venetian, a scholar, and a soldier, that came hither in company of the Marquis of Montferrat?

Por. Yes, yes; it was Bassanio: as I think, so was he called.

Ner. True madam: he, of all the men that ever my foolish eyes looked upon, was the best deserving a fair lady. Port. I remember him well, and I remember him worthy

of thy praise. How now ? what news?

Enter a Servant.

Servant. The four strangers seek for you, madam, to take their leave; and there is a forerunner come from a fifth, the prince of Morocco, who brings word, the prince, his master, will be here to-night.

Por. If I could bid the fifth welcome with so good heart, as I can bid the other four farewell, I should be glad of his approach: if he have the condition 2 of a saint, and the complexion of a devil, I had rather he should shrive me than wive me. Come, Nerissa. Sirrah, go before. Whiles 3 we shut the gate upon one wooer, another knocks at the door. [Exeunt.

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1. In some other way than that 3. Whiles, with an s, is now obimposed by your father.

2. Condition, nature, disposition,

solete.

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