"With purpose to be drefs'd in an opinion "Of wisdom, gravity, profound conceit; "As who fhould fay, I am Sir Oracle, "And when I ope my lips let no dog bark! "O my Anthonio, I do know of thofe, "That therefore only are reputed wife, "For faying nothing;" who, I'm very fure, If they should speak, would almost damn those ears, Which, hearing them, would call their brothers fools* I'll tell thee more of this another time: But fish not with this melancholy bait, For this fool's gudgeon, this opinion. Come, good Lorenzo; fare ye well a while; I'll end my exhortation after dinner.

Lor. Well, we will leave you then till dinner-time, I must be one of these fame dumb wife men; For Gratiano never lets me fpeak.

Gra. Well, keep me company but two years more, Thou shalt not know the found of thine own tongue. Anth. Farewel; I'll grow a talker for this gear. Gra. Thanks, i'faith; for filence is only commend

able

In a neat's tongue dry'd, and a maid not vendible. [Exeunt Gra. and Loren.

Anth. Is that any thing now?

Baff. Gratiano fpeaks an infinite deal of nothing, more than any man in all Venice his reafons are as two grains of wheat hid in two bushels of chaff; you fhall feek all day ere you find them; and when you have them, they are not worth the search,

Anth. Well; tell me now, what lady is the fame, To whom you fwore a fecret pilgrimage, That you to-day promis'd to tell me of?

Baf. 'Tis not unknown to you, Anthonio,

How much I have difabled mine eftate,
By fhewing fomething a more fwelling port,
Than my faint means would grant continuance;
Nor do I now make moan to be abridg'd
From fuch a noble rate; but my chief care
Is to come fairly off from the great debts,

*Alluding to what is faid in the gofpel, that whofoever shall fay to bis broker, Thou focl, fhall be in danger of hell-fire.

Wherein my time, fomething too prodigal,
Hath left me gaged to you, Anthonio,
I owe the most in money, and in love;
And from your love I have a warranty
T'unburthen all my plots and purposes,
How to get clear of all the debts I owe.
Anth. I pray you, good Baffanio, let me know it a
And if it ftand, as you yourfelf still do,
Within the eye of honour, be affur'd,
My purfe, my perfon, my extremeft means,
Lie all unlock'd to your occafions,

Bal. In my fchool-days, when I had lost one shaft, I fhot his fellow of the felf-fame flight.

The felf-fame way, with more advised watch,
To find the other forth; by vent'ring both,
I oft found both. I urge this childhood proof,
Because what follows is pure innocence.
I owe you much, and, like a witless youth,
That which I owe is loft; but if you please
To fhoot another arrow that felf way
Which you did fhoot the first, I do not doubt
As I will watch the aim, or to find both,
Or bring your latter hazard back again,
And thankfully reft debtor for the firft.

Anth. You know me well; and herein fpend but
time,

To wind about my love with circumftance;
And, out of doubt, you do me now more wrong,
In making question of my uttermoft,

Than if you had made waste of all I have.
Then do but fay to me, what I should do,
That in your knowledge may by me be done,
And I am prefs'd unto it; therefore, fpeak.

Baff. In Belmont is a lady richly left,
And the is fair, and, fairer than that word,
Of wond'rous virtues. Sometime from her
I did receive fair fpeechlefs meffages.
Her name is Portia, nothing undervalu'd
To Cato's daughter, Brutus' Portia.,

суса

Nor is the wide world ign'rant of her worth;
For the four winds blow in from every coaft
Renowned fuitors; and her funny locks

Hang

Hang on her temples like a golden fleece;
Which makes her feat of Belmont, Colchos' ftrond;
And many Jafons come in queft of her..
O my Anthonio, had I but the means,
To hold a rival place with one of them,
I have a mind prefages me fuch thrift*,
That I fhould queftionlefs be fortunate,

Anth. Thou know'ft, that all my fortunes are at fea, Nor have I money, nor commodity

To raise a prefent fum: therefore go forth;
Try what my credit can in Venice do;
That fhall be rack'd even to the uttermoft,
To furnish thee to Belmont, to fair Portia :
Go, prefently inquire, and fo will I,
Where money is; and I no question make,
To have it of my trust, or for my fake.

[Exeunt.

SCENE II. Changes to Belmont.

Three cafkets are fet out, one of gold, another of filver, and another of lead.

Enter Portia and Neriffa,

Por. By my troth, Neriffa, my little body is weary of this great world.

Ner. You would be, fweet Madam, if your miferies were in the fame abundance as your good fortunes are; and yet, for aught I fee, they are as fick that furfeit with too much, as they that ftarve with nothing: therefore it is no mean happiness to be feated in the mean; fuperfiuity comes fooner by white hairs, but competency lives longer.

Por. Good fentences, and well pronounce'd.
Ner. They would be better, if well follow'd. ⠀

Por. If to do were as eafy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor mens cottages princes' palaces. He is a good divine that follows his own inftructions: I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than to be one of the twenty to follow my own teaching. The brain may devife laws for the blood, but a hot temper leaps o'er

a cold decree; fuch a hare is madnefs the youth, tỏ fkip o'er the meshes of good counfel the cripple! But this reasoning is not in fashion to chufe me a husband: O me, the word, chufe! I may neither chufe whom I would, nor refuse whom I diflike; fo is the will of a living daughter curb'd by the will of a dead father. Is it not hard, Neriffa, that I cannot chufe one, nor refufe none?

Ner. Your father was ever virtuous; and holy men at their death have good infpirations: therefore the lottery that he hath devifed in thefe three chefts of gold, filver, and lead, (whereof who chufes his meaning, chufes you), will no doubt never be chofen by any rightly, but one whom you fhall rightly love But what warmth is there in your affection towards any of these princely fuitors that are already come?ent

Por. I pray thee, over-name them; and as thou nam'ft them, I will defcribe them; and, according to my defcription, level at my affection.

Ner. Firft, 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 fhoe him himself. I am much afraid my Lady his mother play'd falfe with a smith.

Ner. Then, there is the Count Palatine.

Por. He doth nothing but frown, as who fhould fay, If you will not have me, chufe. He hears merry tales, and fmiles not; I fear he will prove the weeping philos fopher when he grows old, being fo full of unmannerly fadness in his youth. I had rather be married to a death's head with a bone in his mouth, than to either of thefe. God defend me from thefe two!

Ner. How fay you by the French Lord, Monfieur Le Boun?

Por. God made him, and therefore let him pafs for a man ; in truth, I know it is a fin to be a mocker; but he! why, he hath a horse better than the Neapo litan's ; a better bad habit of frowning than the Count Palatine; he is every man in no man; if a throstle fing, he falls ftrait a capering; he will fence with his ownthadow. If I fhould marry him, I fhould marry twenty

hufbands.

husbands. If he would defpife me, I would forgive him; for if he love me to madnefs I fhall never requite him.

Ner. What fay you then to Faulconbridge, the young Baron of England?

Por. You know I fay nothing to him, for he under ftands not me, nor I him; he hath neither Latin, French,' nor Italian; and you may come into the court, and fwear, that I have a poor pennyworth in the English. He is a proper man's picture: but, alas! who can converfe with a dumb fhow? how oddly he is fuited! I think he bought his doublet in Italy, his round hose in France, his bonnet in Germany, and his behaviour every where.

Ner. What think you of the Scottish Lord, his neighbour?

Por. That he hath a neighbourly charity in him; for he borrow'd a box of the ear of the Englishman, and fwore he would pay him again when he was able. I think the Frenchman became his furety, and fealed under for another.

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

- Por. Very vilely in the morning when he is fober, and most vilely in the afternoon when he is drunk ; when he is beft, he is a little worse than a man; and when he is worst, he is little better than a beast; and the worst fall that ever fell, I hope I fhall make shift to go without him.

-Ner. If he fhould offer to chufe, and chufe the right cafket, you should refuse to perform your father's will, if you should refuse to accept him.

Por. Therefore, for fear of the worst, I pray thee, fet a deep glafs of Rhenifh wine on the contrary cafket; for if the devil be within, and that temptation without, I know he will chufe it. I will do any thing, Neriffa, ere I will be marry'd to a fpunge.

Ner. You need not fear, Lady, the having any of thefe lords: they have acquainted me with their determinations, which is, indeed, to return to their home, and to trouble you with no more fuit; unless you may

be