Shy.

Ju.

By our holy Sabbath, I have sworn,
To have the due and forfeit of my bond.

This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,
To excuse the current of thy cruelty.
Shy. I am not bound to please thee with my answer.
You'll ask me why I rather choose to have
A weight of carrion flesh, than to receive
Three thousand ducats. I'll not answer that:
But say it is my humor. Is it answered?
What if my house be troubled with a rat,
And I be pleased to give ten thousand ducats
To have it baned? What, are you answered yet?
Some men there are, love not a gaping pig;
Some, that are mad, if they behold a cat;
As there is no firm reason to be rendered,
Why one can not abide a gaping pig;
Another, a harmless, necessary cat;
So can I give no reason, and I will not,
More than a lodged hate, and a certain loathing
I bear Antonio, that I follow thus

A losing suit against him.

+

Ju. Do all men kill the things they do not love?
Shy. Hates any man the thing he would not kill?
Ant. For thy three thousand ducats, here are six.
Shy. If every ducat in six thousand ducats

bond.

Were in six parts, and every part a ducat, I would not draw them, I would have Ju. How shalt thou hope for mercy, rendering none?

my

Shy. The pound of flesh which I demand of him,
Is dearly bought; is mine; and I will have it:
If you deny me, fy upon your law !

I stand for judgment; answer; shall I have it?
Ju. Antonio, do you confess the bond?
Ant. I do.

Ju. Then must the Jew be merciful.

Shy. On what compulsion must I? tell me that.
Ju. The quality of mercy is not strained;

It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath; it is twice blessed;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.
Shy. My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.

Ju.

Is he not able to discharge the money?

Ant. Yes, here I tender it to him in the court;
Yea, twice and thrice the sum.

Shy. I'll have my bond, I will not take thy offer.
Ju. There is no power in Venice

Can alter a decree established.

Shy. O wise, wise Judge, how do I honor thee!
Ju. I pray you let me look upon the bond.

(Gives it to the Judge.)
Shy. Here't is, most reverend doctor,* here it is.
Ju. Shylock, there's thrice thy money offered thee.
Shy. An oath, an oath, I have in heaven:

Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?

No, not for Venice.

Ju. Why, this bond is forfeit:

And lawfully by this the Jew may claim
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off
Nearest the merchant's heart; be merciful;
Take thrice the money; bid me tear the bond.
Shy. When it is paid according to the tenor.
You know the law, your exposition
Hath been most sound.

There is no power in the tongue of man
To alter me: I stand here on my bond.
Ant. Most heartily do I beseech the court
To give the judgment.

Ju. Why, then, thus it is.

You must prepare your bosom for his knife.
Shy. O noble Judge!

Ju. For the intent and purpose of the law
Hath full relation the penalty,

Which here appeareth due unto the bond.
Shy. 'Tis very true: O wise and upright Judge!
Ju. Therefore, lay bare your bosom.
Shy. Ay, his breast:

(To Antonio.)

So says the bond; does it not, noble Judge? Nearest his heart, those are the very words. Ju. It is so. Are there balance here, to weigh The flesh?

Shy. I have them ready.

This word here means a learned man.

Ju.

Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge,
To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.
Shy. Is it so nominated in the bond?

Ju. It is not so expressed; but what of that?
'T were good you do so much in charity.
Shy. I can not find it; 't is not in the bond.
Ju. Come, merchant, have you any thing to say?
Ant. But little; I am armed and well prepared.

Ju. Shylock! A pound of that same merchant's flesh is thine!
The court awards it, and the law doth give it.

Shy. Most rightful Judge!

Ju. And you must cut the flesh from off his breast;
The law allows it, and the court awards it.

Shy. Most learned Judge! A sentence: come, prepare.
Ju. Tarry a little; there is something else.

This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood;
The words expressly are, a pound of flesh;
But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed

One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods
Are, by the law of Venice, confiscate

Unto the State of Venice.

Shy. Is that the law?

Ju. Thyself shalt see the act;

For, as thou urgest justice, be assured

Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest.
Shy. I take his offer, then; pay the bond thrice,
And let the Christian go.

Ju. The Jew shall have all justice; soft! no haste!
He shall have nothing but the penalty.

Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh.
Shed thou not blood; nor cut thou less nor more,
Than just one pound; be it but so much

As makes it light or heavy, in the substance,
Or the division of the twentieth part

Of one poor scruple; nay, if the scale do turn
But in the estimation of a hair,

Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate.
Why doth the Jew pause? take thy forfeiture.

Shy. Give me my principal, and let me go.
Ju. Thou hast refused it in the open court;

Thou shalt have merely justice, and the bond.
Shy. Shall I not barely have my +principal?

Ju. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture,
To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.

Shy. Why, then, the devil give him good of it!
I'll stay no longer question.

Ju. Tarry, Jew:

The law hath yet another hold on you.
It is enacted in the laws of Venice,
If it be proved against an alien,
That by direct or indirect attempts,
He seeks the life of any citizen,

The party 'gainst the which he doth contrive,
Shall seize one half his goods; and the other half
Comes to the privy coffer of the State,

And the offender's life lies in the mercy

Of the court only.

Shy. Take my life, then, and all, and pardon not that.
You do take my house, when you do take the prop
That doth sustain my house; you take my life,
When you do take the means by which I live.

Ju. The court in mercy spares thy life,
But the forfeiture of thy estate

Comes not within our power to remedy;
The law is strict in its demands of justice.
Are you contented, Jew? what dost thou say?
Shy. I pray you, give me leave to go from hence;
I am not well; O give me leave to go
Where I may die in peace:

Since what I hold dearer than my life,
Is taken from me.

Ju. The court has mercy
Go, repent, and live,

on your life ;

And with a softer heart, remember mercy too.

SHAKSPEARE.

QUESTIONS.Why did Shylock choose the pound of flesh rather than the payment of his debt? What does he mean by saying “my deeds upon my head?" In whose favor does the judge decide? How does he eventually relieve Antonio from his danger? How is Shylock punished? Was his punishment just? Why?

In the last three lines, which are the verbs? Which of them is in the indicative mode? Which are in the imperative mode? What does the word indicative mean? Why is this mode so called? What does the word imperative mean? See Pinneo's Analytical Grammar, page 63.

LESSON LXXIII.

REMARK.-Be careful not to read in a faint and low tone, but give due force and emphasis to each word.

PRONOUNCE the following words correctly. (The fault consists in inserting a vowel between consonants which should coalesce): Supply, not sup-pul-ly: press, not per-ess: prose, not per-ose: ca-pri-cious, not ca-per-i-cious: Dry-den, not Der-y-den: bright-er, not ber-ight-er: flights, not ful-ights:

Par'-al-lel, n. a comparison made. 2. Al-lot'-ed, p. granted, given. La'-tent, a. secret, hidden. E-ject'-ed, v. dismissed, cast out. 3. Punc-til'-ious, a. very particular. 6. Scho-las'-tic, a. scholar-like.

7. Pred-e-ces'-sor, n. one who has gone before another in the same capacity. Ex-u'-ber-ance, n. an overflowing quantity.

8. In-ert', a. powerless, inactive.

9. Dil'-a-to-ry, a. slow, delaying.

PARALLEL BETWEEN POPE AND DRYDEN.

1. POPE professed to have learned his poetry from Dryden, whom, whenever an opportunity was presented, he praised through his whole life with unvaried liberality; and perhaps his character may receive some illustration, if he be compared with his master.

+

2. Integrity of understanding, and nicety of discernment, were not allotted in a less proportion to Dryden than to Pope. The rectitude of Dryden's mind was sufficiently shown by the dismission of his poetical prejudices, and the rejection of unnatural thoughts and rugged numbers. But Dryden never desired to apply all the judgment that he had. He wrote, and professed to write, merely for the people; and when he pleased others, he contented himself. He spent no time in struggles to rouse latent powers; he never attempted to make that better which was already good, nor often to mend what he must have known to be faulty. He wrote, as he tells us, with very little consideration: when occasion or necessity called upon him, he poured out what the present moment happened to supply, and, when once it had passed the press, ejected it from his mind; for, when he had no pecuniary interest, he had no further solicitude.

+

3. Pope was not content to satisfy; he desired to excel, and therefore always endeavored to do his best; he did not court the