manded him into his prefence, and with a smile asked him, For what reafon, he had compared the mule to him? Ruggieri, answered, My reafon is plain, you give where you ought not to give, and where you ought to give, you give nothing; in the fame manner the mule would not ftale where the ought, and where the ought not, there fhe faled. The king faid upon this, If I have not rewarded you as I have many, do not entertain a thought that I was infenfible to your great merit; it is Fortune who hindered me; fhe is to blame, and not I; and I will fhew you manifeftly that I speak truth. My difcontent, fir, proceeds not, anfwered Ruggieri, from a defire of being enriched, but from your not having given the fmalleft teftimony to my deferts in your service; nevertheless, your excufe is valid, and I am ready to fee the proof you mention, though I can easily believe you without it. The king conducted him to a hall, where he had already commanded two large caskets, fhut clofe, to be placed: and before a large company, told Ruggieri, that in one of them was contained his crown, fceptre, and all his jewels, and that the other was full of earth: choose which of them you like beft, and then you will fee that it is not I, but your fortune that has been ungrateful. Ruggieri chofe one. It was found to be the cafket full of earth. The king faid to him with a smile, Now you may fee, Ruggieri, that what I told you of fortune is true; but for your fake I will oppofe her with all my ftrength. You have no intention, I am certain, to live in Spain, therefore I will offer you no preferment here; but that cafket which fortune denied you, fhall be yours in defpight of her: carry it with you into your own country, fhew it to your friends and neighbours, as my gift to you; and you have my permiflion to boast, that it is a reward of your virtues.

Of the MERCHANT OF VENICE, the ftyle is even and eafy, with few peculiarities of diction, or anomalies of conftruction. The comick part raises laughter, and the ferious fixes expectation. The probability of either

one

one or the other ftory cannot be maintained. The u nion of two actions in one event is in this drama emi. nently happy. Dryden was much pleafed with his own address in connecting the two plots of his Spanish Friar, which yet, I believe, the critick will find excelled by this play. JOHNSON.

1800 a

MERCHANT OF VENICE.

MEN.

Duke of Venice,.

Prince of Morocco.

Prince of Arragon,

ANTHONIO, the Merchant of Venice.
BASSANIO, his Friend
SALANIO,

} F

SALARINO, Friends to Anthonio and Bassanio.
GRATIANO,

LORENZO, in love with Jeffica.

SHYLOCK, a Jew.

TUBAL, a Jew.

LAUNCELOT, a Clown, Servant to the Jew.
GOBBO, Father to Launcelot.

SALERIO, a Meffenger from Venice.

LEONARDO, Servant to Bassanio.

BALTHAZAR,

} Servants

BALTHAZAR, Servants to Portia.
STEPHANO,

PORTIA, an Heiress.

WOMEN.

NERISSA, Waiting-Maid to Portia,

JESSICA, Daughter to Shylock.

Senators of Venice, Officers, Jailor, Servants, and other Attendants.

SCENE, partly at Venice, and partly at Belmont, the Seat of Portia.

ACT I.

SCENE I. A Street in Venice.

Enter ANTHONIO, SALARINO, and SALANIO.

Anthonio.

IN footh, I know not why I am fo fad ;
It wearies me; you fay, it wearies you;
But how I caught it, found it, or came by it,
What ftuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born,
I am to learn:

And fuch a want-wit fadness 'makes of me,
That I have much ado to know myself.

Sal. Your mind is toffing on the ocean;
There, where your argofies with portly fail-
Like figniors and rich burghers on the flood,
Or as it were the pageants of the fea-
Do overpeer the petty traffickers,

That curtly to them, do them reverence,
As they fly by them with their woven wings.
Sala. Believe me, fir, had I fuch venture forth,
The better part of my affections would
Be with my hopes abroad. I fhould be still
Plucking the grafs, to know where fits the wind;
Prying in maps for ports, and piers, and roads
And every object that might make me fear
Misfortunes to my ventures, out of doubt,
Would make me fad.

Sal. My wind, cooling my broth,
A 2

;

Would