You that chufe not by the view,
Chance as fair, and chufe as true:
Since this fortune falls to you,
Be content, and feek no new.
If you be well pleas'd with this,
And bold your fortune for your blifs,
Turn you where your lady is,
And claim her with a loving kifs.
A gentle fcrowl; fair lady, by your leave;
I come by note to give, and to receive.
Like one of two contending in a prize,
That thinks he hath done well in people's eyes;
Hearing applause and univerfal fhout,
Giddy in fpirit, gazing ftill in doubt,
Whether thofe peals of praife be his or no;
So (thrice fair Lady) ftand I, even fo,
As doubtful whether what I fee be true,
Until comirm'd, fign'd, ratify'd by you.
Por. You fee me, Lord Baffanio, where I fland,
Such as I am tho' for myfelf alone,
I would not be ambitious in my wish,
To with myself much better; yet for you,
I would be treble twenty times myself,
A thoufand times more fair; ten thousand times
More rich; that, to ftand high in your account,
I might in virtues, beauties, livings, friends,
Exceed account: but the full fum of me
Is fome of fomething, which, to term in grofs,
Is an unlefon'd girl, unfchool'd, unpractis'd:
Happy in this, fhe is not yet fo old
But the may learn; more happy then in this,
She is not bred fo dull but she can learn;
Happiest of all, is, that her gentle spirit
Commits itself to your's to be directed,
As from her lord, her governor, her king:
Myfelf, and what is mine, to you and your's
Is now converted. But now I was the lord
Of this fair manfion, mafter of my fervants,
Queen o'er myself; and even now, but now,
This houfe, thefe fervants, and this fame my felf,
Are your's, my Lord: I give them with this ring, Which when you part from, lofe or give away, Let it prefage the ruin of your love,
And be my vantage to excl im on you.
Baf. Madam, you have bereft me of all words,
Only my blood fpeaks to you in my veins;
And there is fuch confufion in my pow'rs,
As, after fome oration fairly spoke
By a beloved prince, there doth appear
Among the buzzing pleafed multitude;
Where every fomething, being blent together,
Turns to a wild of nothing, fave of joy
Exprefs'd, and not exprefs'd. But when this ring
Parts from this finger, then parts life from hence;
O, then be bold to fay, Baffanio's dead.
Ner. My Lord and Lady, it is now our time,
That have flood by, and feen our withes profper,
To cry, Good joy, good joy, my Lord and Lady!
Gra. My Lord Baffanio, and my gentle Lady,
I wish you all the joy that you can with;
For, I am fure, you can with none from me
And when your Honours mean to folemnize
The bargain of your faith, I do befeech you,
Ev'n at that time I may be married too.
Baff. With all my heart, fo thou canft get a wife,
Gra. I thank your Lordship, you have got me one,
My eyes, my Lord, can look as fwift as your's;
You faw the miftrefs, I beheld the maid;
You lov'd, I lov'd; for intermiffion
No more pertains to me, my Lord, than you.
Your fortune ftood upon the cafket there;
And fo did mine too, as the matter falls:
For wooing here until I fweat again,
And fwearing, till my very roof was dry
With oaths of love; at laft, if promife lat,
I got a promise of this fair one here,
To have her love, provided that your fortune
Atchieved her miftrefs.
Por. Is this true, Neriffa?
Ner. Madam, it is, fo you fland pleas'd withal.
That is, diftin&t from me and my wishes.
Baf. And do you, Gratiano, mean good faith? Gra. Yes, faith, my Lord.
Baf. Our feaft fhall be much honour'd in your marriage.
Gra. We'll play with them, the firft boy for a
thousand ducats.
Ner. What, and stake down ?
Gra. No, we fhall ne'er win at that sport, and take down.
But who comes here? Lorenzo and his infidel ?
What, and my old Venetian friend, Salanio?
Enter Lorenzo, Jeffica, and Salanio.
Baff. Lorenzo and Salanio, welcome hither;
If that the youth of my new interest here
Have power to bid you welcome. By your leave,
I bid my very friends and country-men,
(Sweet Portia), welcome..
Por. So do I, my Lord; they are entirely welcome. Lor. I thank your Honour for my part, my Lord, My purpose was not to have feen you here;
But meeting with Salanio by the way,
He did intreat me, paft all faying nay,
To come with him along.
Sal. I did, my Lord,
And I have reafon for't; Signior Anthonio
Commends him to you.
Baff. Ere I ope his letter,
[Gives Baffanio a letter.
I pray you tell me how my good friend doth.
Sal. Not fick, my Lord, unless it be in mind;
Nor well, unless in mind; his letter there
Will fhew you his estate.
[Baffanio opens the letter. Gra. Neria, cheer yond ftranger: bid her wel
Your hand, Salanio; what's the news from Venice?
How doth that royal merchant, good Anthonio ?
I know he will be glad of our fuccefs:
We are the Jafons, we have won the fleece.
you had won the flecce that he hath loft!
Por. There are fome fhrewd contents in yond fame That steal the colour from Baffanio's check: [paper, Some dear friend dead; elfe nothing in the world Could turn fo much the conftitution
Of any conftant man. What, worse and worfe! -
With leave, Bassanio, I am half yourself,
And I must have the half of any thing
That this fame paper brings you.
Bag. Of fweet Portia !
Here are a few of the unpleasant'ft words
That ever blotted paper. Gentle Lady,
When I did first impart my love to you,
I freely told you, all the wealth I had
Ran in my veins, I was a gentleman :
And then I told you true; and yet, dear Lady,
Rating myfelf at nothing, you fhall fee
How much I was a braggart. When I told you,
My ftate was nothing, I fhould then have told you,
That I was worse than nothing. For indeed
I have engage'd myself to a dear friend,
Engage'd my friend to his mere enemy,
To feed my means. Here is a letter, Lady,
The paper, as the body of my friend;
And every word in it a gaping wound,
Iffuing life-blood. But is it true, Salanio?
Have all his ventures fail'd? what not one hit?
From Tripolis, from Mexico, from England,
From Lisbon, Barbary, and India?
And not one veffel 'fcap'd the dreadful touch
Of merchant-marring rocks?
Sal. Not one, my Lord.
Befides, it should appear, that if he had
The prefent money to difcharge the Jew,
He would not take it. Never did I know
A creature, that did bear the fhape of man,
So keen and greedy to confound a man.
He plies the Duke at morning and at night,
And doth impeach the freedom of the flate,
If they deny him justice. Twenty merchants,
The Duke himfelf, and the magnificoes
Of greatest port, have all perfuaded with him;
But none can drive him from the envious plea
Of forfeiture, of justice, and his bond.
Jef. When I was with him, I have heard him swear, To Tubal and to Chus his countrymen,
That he would rather have Anthonio's flesh,
Than twenty times the value of the fum
That he did owe him; and I know, my Lord,
If law, authority, and pow'r deny not,
It will go hard with poor Anthonio.
Por. Is it your dear friend that is thus in trouble?
Baf. The dearest friend to me, the kindeft
The beft-condition'd: an unweary'd fpirit
In doing courtefies; and one in whom
The ancient Roman honour more appears,
Than any that draws breath in Italy.
Por. What fum owes he the Jew?
Baf. For me three thousand ducats.
Por. What, no more?
Pay him fix thoufand, and deface the bond?
Double fix thoufand, and then treble that,
Before a friend of this defcription
Shall lofe a hair through my Baffanio's fault.
First, go with me to church, and call me wife,
And then away to Venice to your friend:
For never fhall you lie by Portia's fide
With an unquiet foul. You fhall have gold
To pay the petty debt twenty times over.
When it is paid, bring your true friend along;
My maid Neriffa and myfelf, mean time,
Will live as maids and widows: come, away!
For you fhall hence upon your wedding-day *.
But let me hear the letter of your friend.
Baff. reads. Sweet Raffanio, my ships have all mifcarry'd, my creditors grow cruel, my eftate is very low, my bond to the few is forfeit; and fince, in paying it, it is impoffible Ifhould live, all debts are cleared between you and me, if I might but fee you at my death; notwithstanding, ufe your pleasure: if your love do not perfuade you to come, let not my letter.
Bid your friends welcome, fhew a merry cheer;
Since you are dear bought, I wil love you dear,
But let me hear, &c.
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