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

Unto the state of Venice.

Gra. O upright judge! - Mark, Jew! - O learned judge!

Shy. Is that the law?

Por.

Thyself shalt see the act;

For, as thou urgest justice, be assured

Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest.

Gra. O learned judge!— Mark, Jew;—a learned judge! 10 Shy. I take this offer, then; pay the bond thrice,

And let the Christian go.

Bass.

Por. Soft!

Here is the money.

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

Gra. O Jew! an upright judge, a learned judge!
Por. Therefore prepare thee to cut off the flesh.
Shed thou no blood; nor cut thou less nor more
But just a pound of flesh; if thou tak'st more
Or less than a just 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.
Gra. A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew!

Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip.

Por. Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture. Shy. Give me my principal, and let me go. Bass. I have it ready for thee; here it is. Por. He hath refus'd it in the open court; He shall have merely justice, and his bond.

Gra. A Daniel, still say I, a second Daniel!

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I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.
Shy. Shall I not have barely my principal?

Por. 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.

Por.

Tarry, Jew;
The law hath yet another hold on you.

It is enacted in the laws of Venice,
If it be prov'd against an alien
That by direct or indirect attempts
He seek the life of any citizen,

The party 'gainst the which he doth contrive
Shall seize one half his goods; the other half
Comes to the privy coffer of the state;
And the offender's life lies in the mercy
Of the duke only, 'gainst all other voice.
In which predicament, I say thou stand'st;
For it appears by manifest proceeding,
That indirectly and directly too

Thou hast contriv'd against the very life
Of the defendant, and thou hast incurr'd
The danger formerly by me rehears'd.

Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the duke.

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Gra. Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang thyself: 25 And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state,

Thou hast not left the value of a cord;

Therefore thou must be hang'd at the state's charge. Duke. That thou shalt see the difference of our spirit,

I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.

For half thy wealth, it is Antonio's:
The other half comes to the general state,
Which humbleness may drive unto a fine.
Por. Ay, for the state, not for Antonio.

30

Shy. Nay, take my life and all; pardon not that: You take my house when you do take the prop That doth sustain my house; you take my life When you do take the means whereby I live.

Por. What mercy can you render him, Antonio? Gra. A halter gratis; nothing else, for God's sake. Ant. So please my lord the duke and all the court To quit the fine for one half of his goods,

I am content, so he will let me have

The other half in use, to render it,

Upon his death, unto the gentleman
That lately stole his daughter:

Two things provided more, that, for this favor,
He presently become a Christian;

The other, that he do record a gift,

Here in the court, of all he dies possess'd,
Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter.

Duke. He shall do this, or else I do recant

The pardon that I late pronounced here.

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10

15

Por. Art thou contented, Jew; what dost thou say? 20 Shy. I am content.

Por.

Clerk, draw a deed of gift.

Shy. I pray you give me leave to go from hence;

I am not well. Send the deed after me,

And I will sign it.

Duke.

Get thee gone, but do it.

Gra. In christening thou shalt have two godfathers; Had I been judge, thou shouldst have had ten more,

To bring thee to the gallows, not the font.

[Exit SHYLOCK.

25

LXXXIV.

THE MAJORITY AND THE REMNANT.

BY MATTHEW ARNOLD.'

THERE is a characteristic saying of Dr. Johnson, "Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel." The saying is cynical, many will call it brutal; yet it has in it something of plain, robust sense and truth. We do often see men passing themselves off as patriots who are in 5 truth scoundrels; we meet with talk and proceedings laying claim to patriotism which are these gentlemen's last refuge. We may all of us agree in praying to be delivered from patriots and patriotism of this sort. Short of such, there is, undoubtedly, sheltering itself 10 under the fine name of patriotism, a good deal of selfflattery and self-delusion which is mischievous. “ Things are what they are, and the consequences of them will be what they will be; why, then, should we desire to be deceived?" In that uncompromising sentence of Bishop 15 Butler's is surely the right and salutary maxim for both individuals and nations.

Yet there is an honorable patriotism which we should satisfy if we can, and should seek to have on our side. At home I have said so much of the characters of our 20 society and the prospects of our civilization that I can hardly escape the like topic elsewhere. Speaking in America, I cannot well avoid saying something about the prospects of society in the United States. It is a topic where one is apt to touch people's patriotic feel-25

ings. No one will accuse me of having flattered the patriotism of that great country of English people on the other side of the Atlantic, among whom I was born. Here, so many miles from home, I begin to reflect with tender contrition that perhaps I have not—I s will not say flattered the patriotism of my own countrymen enough, but regarded it enough. Perhaps that is one reason why I have produced so very little effect upon them. It was a fault of youth and inexperience. But it would be unpardonable to come in advanced life 10 and repeat the same error here. You will not expect impossibilities of me. You will not expect me to say. that things are not what, in my judgment, they are, and that the consequences of them will not be what they will be. I should make nothing of it; I should be a too 15 palpable failure. But I confess that I should be glad if in what I say here I could engage American patriotism on my side, instead of rousing it against me. And it so happens that the paramount thoughts which your great country raises in my mind are really and truly of a kind 20 to please, I think, any true American patriot, rather than to offend him.

The vast scale of things here, the extent of your country, your numbers, the rapidity of your increase, strike the imagination, and are a common topic for admiring 25 remark. Our great orator, Mr. Bright,' is never weary of telling us how many acres of land you have at your disposal, how many bushels of grain you produce, how many millions you are, how many more millions you will be presently, and what a capital thing this is for you.30 Now, though I do not always agree with Mr. Bright, I find myself agreeing with him here. I think I think your numbers afford a very real and important ground for satisfaction.

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