MERCHANT OF VENICE.

"Or so devote to Aristotle's checks."

UndoubtedlyEthics, the correction of Blackstone and Collier's folio.

"Balk logic with acquaintance that you have."

For 'Balk' the editors readtalk, but it is right.

"Her list in strifeful terms with him tobalk."

F. Q. iii. 2. 12.

"Gramercies, Tranio, well dost thou advise,If Biondello thou wert come on shore."

"Gramercies, Tranio, well dost thou advise,

If Biondello thou wert come on shore."

Here and elsewhere in this play, and nowhere else, the printer seems to have added ansto 'Gramercie.' I follow Collier's folio in readingnow werefor 'thou wert.'

"Goodgentlemen, importune me no further."

So I have printed it, butPrayorNowmight be better.

"Now, gentlemen, that I may soon make goodWhat I have said ... Bianca, get you in.""Gentlemen,Content ye; I am resolved. Go in, Bianca."

"Now, gentlemen, that I may soon make goodWhat I have said ... Bianca, get you in."

"Now, gentlemen, that I may soon make good

What I have said ... Bianca, get you in."

"Gentlemen,Content ye; I am resolved. Go in, Bianca."

"Gentlemen,

Content ye; I am resolved. Go in, Bianca."

"Their love is not so great, Hortensio."

The 3rd folio properly readOurfor 'Their.'

"Master, you look'd so longly on the maid."

As 'longly' occurs nowhere else, it is probably only a printer's error forlongingly, which I have given. This omissionof a syllable is by no means unusual. (See on M. for M. iv. 2; All's Well, i. 3.)

"Because she will not be annoy'd with suitors."

With Singer I readhefor 'she.'

"I will charm him first to keep his tongue."

We should perhaps readchargefor 'charm'; for it is the tongue that is charmed. We have, however,

"And by a pair of women of her own,Whom she had charm'd."

"And by a pair of women of her own,

Whom she had charm'd."

A King and no King, v. 4.

"Verona for a while I take my leaveof."

"I'll try how you can sol,la, fa, and sing it.—Help, masters, help!"

"I'll try how you can sol,la, fa, and sing it.—

Help, masters, help!"

'Masters' is the correction of Theobald formistressof the folio.Masterandmistressare confounded also in v. 1, and in Mer. of Ven. iv. 1, 2 Hen. IV. ii. 4, 2 Hen. VI. i. 3, Tim. ii. 2.Mistresswas frequently writtenmisteris, which may have been partly the cause of the confusion.

"That gives not half so great a blow to hear."

For 'to hear,' which makes very poor sense, Warburton most happily readto th' ear. He was equally happy in Tim. i. 2.

"For his own good and yours."

For 'yours' Thirlby most properly readours.

"Bion.He that has the two fair daughters?"

ForBion.I readGre., in which I had been anticipated by Capell, Tyrwhitt, and Heath; so that it is certain. In my Edition will be found the correct punctuation of the whole passage.

"And were his daughter fairer than she is."

There is either an aposiopesis or a line lost after this; I think the latter.

"What! this gentleman will out-talk us all."

There is apparently something wrong here. As 'what!' is almost invariably followed by an interrogative, I would read 'will this gentleman'; we might also insert an adj. before 'gentleman,' or readall of usfor 'us all.' The speech, however, as it is a single line, may be as the poet wrote it; I have therefore let it stand in my Edition.

"No, sir, but hear I do that he hath two."

To avoid the jingle we might read 'I do hear.'

"If it be so, sir, that you are the man."

I have no doubt that for 'that' we should readthen. (See Introd. p.68.)

"And if you break the ice, and do this seek."

For 'seek' I readdeed; Rowe readfeat.

"As the other in music andinmathematics."

"But, gentle sir, methinks you walk like a stranger."

Perhaps for 'sir' we should readsignior, and for 'walk'look.

"Sirrah!Lead these gentlemen to my daughters, and tell them both."

"Sirrah!

Lead these gentlemen to my daughters, and tell them both."

So we should arrange the passage.

"No such jade as you, if me you mean."

We might read 'Not suchajade.' Mr. Dyce reads, after Collier's folio, 'asbearyou,' which is better, and which I follow.

"'Tisin his tail.—'Tisin his tongue.—Whose tongue?"

"The gain I seek is quiet me the match."

For 'me' Rowe properly readin.

"Myself am struck in years I must confess."

There must be a line at least lost after this.

"Toset foot under thy table. Tut, a toy."

"Do get their children; but in this case of wooingA child shall get a sire, if I fail not of my cunning."

"Do get their children; but in this case of wooing

A child shall get a sire, if I fail not of my cunning."

Rime demands for 'cunning' the reading of Steevens,doing.Wooinganddoinghave already rimed in this scene. (See also Tr. and Cr. i. 2,ad fin.)

"Spit in the hole, man, and tuneitagain."

"To charge true rules for old inventions."

All are agreed to readchangewith 2nd folio; and as 'old' evidently makes no sense, Theobald readodd. With Rowe I prefernew. (See Introd. p.66.)

"Make friends, invite, and proclaim the banns."

The 2nd folio addsyes, Malonethem, Dyceguestsafter 'invite'; my own conjecture wasaye. Would it not be better, however, to read as I have done, "Make friendsbeinvited, and proclaim the banns"? There is an exactly similar omission ofbein All's Well, i. 3, where there can be no doubt. We might also read simply 'friends invited'; but I doubt, after all, if it were not best to read "Make invite friendstooand proclaim the banns," which would agree better with the character of the speaker.

"Master, master! news, and such news as you never heard of.—Is it new and old too? how may that be?"

"Master, master! news, and such news as you never heard of.—

Is it new and old too? how may that be?"

Is it quite evident thatoldhas been omitted in the first line. Rowe, who is followed, prefixed it to the first 'news.' I think it is better with the second, as in Collier's folio.

"Often burst, and now'srepaired with knots."

"And 'The Humours of forty Fancies.'"

Collier's folio reads "The Amours or forty Fancies."

"Were itnotbetter I should rush in thus...."

Sense and metre demand the negative. There is, I think, a break in sense at the end of the line.

"But, sir,to herlove concerneth us to addHer father's liking."

"But, sir,to herlove concerneth us to add

Her father's liking."

So I find Tyrwhitt also correctly completed the line.

"Signior Gremio,howcame you from the church."

"I'll tell you, sir Lucentio. When the priest."

For 'sir' we should most certainly readsignior. (See on Induction, sc. 1.)

"Having no other reason, etc."

This speech is prose in the 1st folio; in the 2nd it is arranged as verse, but not well. In my Edition I have rearranged it, as I find Reed also had done.

"My household stuff, my field, my barn,my granary."

S. Walker conjecturedmy grange; the Cambridge editorsmy garner.

"Out,outyou rogue! you pluck my foot awry."

"'Tis burnt, and so is all the meatthat's here."

I had also conjectured, like Capell, 'allthe rest of.'

"Is it possible, friend Licio, that [mistress] Bianca."

Pope also made this metric correction.MasterandMistressdo not occur in this play as titles.

"Never to marry with her, though she would entreatme."

"Would all the world but he had quite foreswornher."

Rowe also addedher.

"An ancient angel coming down the hill."

If 'angel' be right, it must mean that he was an angel of deliverance to them. Singer and Dyce quote from Cotgrave'sDictionary "Angelot à la grosse escaille.An old Angel, and by metaphor a fellow of the old, sound, honest, and worthy stamp." But how could Biondello know his character? Some readengle, properlyingle; but this is rather, comrade, bosom-friend. In Gascoigne's Supposes, from which this part of the play is taken, he is termed "good soul," and it may be that the poet's word here wasuncle—the conjecture also of a Mr. Bubier, in the Cambridge Edition—a term used of elderly persons. (See Indexs. v.Nuncle.) Just afterwards he is said to be "surely like a father" and (iv. 5) Katherine says to the real Vincentio "Now I perceive thou art a reverend father."

"Masterhe isa marcantant or a pedant."

'Marcantant' is the Italianmercante,mercatante, ormercadante. It may be corrupt.

"And what of him, Tranio?"

As this is so very abrupt and not very clear, we might conjecture an effacement ofwill you makeor something similar.

"That you are like to Sir Vincentio."

Here, again, the printer has put 'Sir' forSignior, and probably added the 'to' to make up the metre.

"Come, go with me to clothe you as becomes you."

The 2nd folio reads 'Go with me,sir.'

"Why then the mustard;andwithout the beef."

"I gave him no order; I gave him the stuffonly."

"Ay,ay, what else? and but I be deceiv'd."

"'Twere goodthathe were school'd—Fear you not him."

"To have him match'd; and if you please to likeitNo worse than I, upon some agreement,sir,Me shall you find ready and willingbothWith one consent to have her so bestow'd."

"To have him match'd; and if you please to likeit

No worse than I, upon some agreement,sir,

Me shall you find ready and willingboth

With one consent to have her so bestow'd."

Here is what seems to be a convincing proof of the effacement of the ends of lines in the MS. In the second line the 2nd folio insertedsirin the middle, and in the third it read 'mostready andmostwilling.' Lower down the ends of two lines more have been also effaced.

"The match is made and all is done;Your son shall have my daughter, with consent.—I thank you, sir, where then do you know best."

"The match is made and all is done;

Your son shall have my daughter, with consent.—

I thank you, sir, where then do you know best."

'Your son' belongs to first line; and as we have had (iii. 2) "And marry sweet Bianca with consent," we might complete the metre by reading 'withmy fullconsent'; but it is more probable, as this page of the MS. appears to have been injured, that the loss was at the end. I read ofme, Baptista, as (v. 1) we have "mine only son and heir to the lands ofme, signior Vincentio." In the next line 'know' is most probably a mere printer's error. I have in my Edition, givenhold, the reading of Collier's folio; but I think now that the right word istrow, which occurs more than once in Shakespeare in the sense of think, and which I find was also the conjecture of Hanmer.

"I cannot tell; exceptwhilethey are busied about."

The 1st folio hasexpect, which was rightly corrected in the 2nd.Whilewas properly supplied by Capell.

"The priest be ready [to come] against you come with your appendix."

Both sense and metre counsel the ejection of 'to come' caused by the following 'you come.'

"She will be pleased, then wherefore should I doubther?"

The rime evidently requires this addition, made also by Pope.

"And so it shall be still for Katherine."

'Still' is Ritson's correction ofsoin the folio.

"But softyou! company is coming here."

"And then come back to my master."

This is the reading of Capell, which I have followed;master's, that of Theobald, is perhaps better. The folio hasmistress: see on i. 2.

"I pray you tell signior Lucentio that his father is come from Padua."

Tyrwhitt, who has been followed by all succeeding editors, readsPisa, which is no doubt right; but the error was the poet's.

"Right sonunto the right Vincentio."

"Better once than never; for neveristoo late."

"And time it is when raging war is done,To smile at scapes and perils overblown."

"And time it is when raging war is done,

To smile at scapes and perils overblown."

The folio hascome; but both sense and rime demand 'done,' Rowe's correction. We might also, as Mr. Collier observes, readgone; and this is perhaps the best.

"Andhow likes Gremio these quick-witted folks?"

So also Capell.

"What!head and butt! a hasty-witted body."

"Let us each one sendinunto his wife."

"Oh!worse and worse; she will not come. O vile!"

"What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I amTo learn; and such a want-wit sadness makes of me."

"What stuff 'tis made of, whereof it is born, I am

To learn; and such a want-wit sadness makes of me."

"That courtesy to them,anddo them reverence."

"And see my wealthy Andrew docks in sand."

For 'docks' the editors read, after Rowe, 'dock'd'; but it is simpler to read 'dock,' thesbeing the usual printer's addition. We might even perhaps retain the text, reading 'see!'

"If they should speak'twould almost damn those ears."

"Come Nerissa. Sirrah, go before. Whiles we shut the gate upon one wooer, another knocks at the door."

Perhaps a rime and a seven-foot line were intended, in which case we should arrange thus, as Knight has also done;

"Comein, Nerissa. Sirrah, go before.Whiles we shut the gate upon one wooer, another knocks at the door."

"Comein, Nerissa. Sirrah, go before.

Whiles we shut the gate upon one wooer, another knocks at the door."

"Will you pleasure mein it? Shall I know your answer?"

"Mark you this Bassanio," etc.

This speech should be markedAside. It is so in my Edition.

"Hath a dog money? Is it possible?"

We should read 'monies,' the word Shylock always uses.

"Of usance for my monies, and you'll not hear me.This is kindthatI offer.—This were kindness."

"Of usance for my monies, and you'll not hear me.

This is kindthatI offer.—This were kindness."

So it should be arranged.

"Then is Alcides beaten by his page."

'page' is Theobald's undoubted correction; 4tos and folio readrage.

"First forward to the temple! After dinnerYour hazard shall be made."

"First forward to the temple! After dinner

Your hazard shall be made."

Surely 'temple' has no meaning here. Must not the poet have writtentable. In Lucrece (st. 168), in the Var. Shakespeare, "Her sacredtemple" is printed "Her sacredtable." I am not aware that any critic has observed this palpable error. The term 'table,' it may be observed, was much more used by our forefathers than by us. Thus in The Elder Brother (iii. 4) Miramont says to his brother, "May be I'll see yourtabletoo,"i.e.be of your dinner-party.

"Certainly the Jew is the very Devil's incarnation."

"Do you know me, father?"

Mr. Dyce thinks Shakespeare wrote 'notknow,' which occurs again in Lancelot's next speech. I have adopted his reading.

"If a Christian do not play the knave and get thee."

The 2nd folio properly readdid. (See on Jul. Cæs. ii. 2.) This change of tense was not unfrequent. We often meetseeforsaw.

"Well thou shalt see; thy eyes shall be thy judge."

It might be better to read 'thejudge.' Even at the present day printers confound these words.

"Will be worth a Jewès eye,"

I prefer this, the reading of the old copies, to 'Jewess,' Pope's reading, which is usually followed.

"How like a younker or a prodigal."

Rowe's correction for 'younger.'

"Go draw aside the curtains."

So also at end of scene; but as in sc. ix. it is 'curtain,' I ascribe thesto the printer.

"But more than these in love I do deserveher."

See also Capell.

"Gilded timber do worms infold."

Pope readwood mayfor 'timber do' of the 4tos and folio; Johnson, who is always followed, readtombs; I readwoods. The meaning is that gilded wooden work was often worm-eaten.

"And hindered meofhalf a million."

So also Warburton.

"Where? in Genoa?"

'Where' is Rowe's correction; the original editions readHere, which may be right.

"I speak too long, but 'tis to piece the time,To eke it, and to draw it out."

"I speak too long, but 'tis to piece the time,

To eke it, and to draw it out."

'Piece' is Rowe's correction forpeize, and is, I think, right.

"There is no vice so simple but assumes."

The originals all havevoice; 'vice' is a correction, and a true one, of the 2nd folio.

"Thus ornament is but the guiled shoreTo a most dangerous sea, the beautious scarfVeiling an Indian beauty."

"Thus ornament is but the guiled shore

To a most dangerous sea, the beautious scarf

Veiling an Indian beauty."

Unless we take it ironically—which is unworthy of the poet—'beauty' here is nonsense. It plainly owes its originto the preceding 'beautious.' Hanmer readdowdy; Sidney Walkergipsy—both bad. I read, with the utmost confidence,featureas the only word suited to the place. (SeeIndexs. v.) Mr. Spedding, I find, conjecturedvisageorfeature, apparently taking them to be synonymous.

"Nor none of thee, thou pale and common drudge."

For 'pale' Farmer readstale, perhaps needlessly.

"Thy paleness moves me more than eloquence."

Warburton readplainness, of which Mr. Dyce approves, and perhaps with reason. I have, however, made no change. Lead in fact never is pale; for its surface is always oxydized. Shakespeare, moreover, would hardly use the same term of two distinct substances. (See, however, on Rom. and Jul. ii. 5.)

"The Duke cannot deny the course of law,For the commodity that strangers haveWith us in Venice. If it be denied'Twill much impeach the justice of the state."

"The Duke cannot deny the course of law,

For the commodity that strangers have

With us in Venice. If it be denied

'Twill much impeach the justice of the state."

I thus point and amend the passage, as Capell had done, followed only, I believe, by Knight. I am rather dubious of 'justice,' and should preferinterestortraffic.

"From out the state of hellish misery."

I prefer 'misery,' the reading of the first 4to, tocruelty, that of the others and the folio.

"As I have ever found thee honest-true."

These compounds of two adjectives—the first being used adverbially—are not by any means uncommon. They are frequent in Shakespeare; in Fletcher's Hum. Lieut. (iii. 2) we have "serious-true," and in his Chances (ii. 1) "glorious-foolish." (See on 1 Hen. IV. iii. 1.)

"In speed to Padua; see thou render this."

All the old editions readMantua, but it is so certain that it must have been a mere slip of the poet or the printer thatTheobald's correction has been universally and properly adopted. (See on Hen. V. iii. Chor.)

"Unto the Tranect, to the common ferry."

Rowe, I think properly, readTraject(tragettoIt.).

"And if on earth he do not mean it, then."

Here 'it' seems to mean 'to live an upright life'; rather a harsh construction. It is not likely that the poet used 'mean' in the sense ofmenerFr., yet it seems to be used so sometimes in Piers Ploughman.

"Cannot contain their urine; for Affection,Masters of passion, sways it to the moodOf what it likes or loathes."

"Cannot contain their urine; for Affection,

Masters of passion, sways it to the mood

Of what it likes or loathes."

The original editions all read "Cannot contain their urine for affection;" but that this cannot be right is proved by the context. The only question then is, should we readMasterwith Thirlby, orMistresswith the same and Capell. Nothing (see Introd. p.59) is more common than the addition ofs, whilemasterandmistressare frequently confounded. (See on Taming of Shrew, i. 2.) On the whole, I prefermistress. In the last line I readshefor 'it,' evidently caused by that in the preceding line. For the meaning of 'affection,' seeIndexs. v.

"Why he a woollen bag-pipe."

The bag of the bag-pipe is no doubt generally covered at the present day with a piece of green baize, which is woollen; yet I incline with Hawkins and Steevens to readswollen; the s might easily have been lost, of which I think we have another example in the change ofswaytowag(Much Ado, v. 1).

"As to offend himself, being offended."

I prefer this punctuation.

"I pray you think you question with the Jew."

Though by reading 'aJew' we get sense, and Launce(Com. of Err. ii. 3) makes a Jew the type of hard-heartedness, and we have the same notion in Much Ado, ii. 3, I yet cannot but adhere tostint yourfor 'think you,' as I have given it in my Edition. It seems to me so much more forcible, and more suited to the calm resignation of Antonio; while in the other reading there is something of sneer or irony that is unpleasant. Nothing was easier than for the printer to readstint, the more unusual term, asthink, and then to makeyour youfor the sake of sense (see Introd. p.67), and as they are pronounced nearly alike. However,judicet lector.

"You may as well use question with the wolfWhy he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb."

"You may as well use question with the wolf

Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb."

This is the reading of the Bridgewater copy of Heyes' 4to, only readingbleakfor 'bleat'; in the Devonshire copy of that 4to it is:

"Well use question with the wolfThe ewe bleat for the lamb."

"Well use question with the wolf

The ewe bleat for the lamb."

In the folio:

"Or even as well use question with the wolf... The ewe bleat for the lamb."

"Or even as well use question with the wolf

... The ewe bleat for the lamb."

So editions vary!

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