I was enforc'd to send it after him: Had you been there, I think, you would have begg'd Por. Let not that doctor e'er come near my I'll not deny him any thing I have, No, not my body nor my husband's bed: house : Lie not a night from home; watch me like Argus: Now, by mine honour, which is yet mine own, Ner. And I his clerk; therefore be well advis'd How you do leave me to mine own protection. Gra. Well, do you so: let not me take him, then ; For if I do, I'll mar the young Ant. I am th' unhappy subject of these quarrels. Por. Sir, grieve not you; you're welcome notwithstand ing. Bass. Portia, forgive me this enforced wrong; And, in the hearing of these many friends, I swear to thee, even by thine own fair eyes, Wherein I see myself, Mark you but that! In both my eyes he doubly sees himself; In each eye, one :-swear by your double self, Bass. Nay, but hear me : Pardon this fault, and by my soul I swear I never more will break an oath with thee. Ant. I once did lend my body for his wealth; Will never more break faith advisedly. Por. Then you shall be his surety. Give him this; And bid him keep it better than the other. Ant. Here, Lord Bassanio; swear to keep this ring. Bass. By heaven, it is the same I gave the doctor! Por. I had it of him: pardon me, Bassanio; For, by this ring, the doctor lay with me. Ner. And pardon me, my gentle Gratiano; For that same scrubbed boy, the doctor's clerk, In lieu of this, last night did lie with me.(87) Gra. Why, this is like the mending of highways In summer, when(88) the ways are fair enough: What, are we cuckolds ere we have deserv'd it? Por. Speak not so grossly.-You are all amaz'd: Here is a letter, read it at your leisure; It comes from Padua, from Bellario: There you shall find that Portia was the doctor; Shall witness I set forth as soon as you, There you shall find three of your argosies Are richly come to harbour suddenly: You shall not know by what strange accident Bass. Were you the doctor, and I knew you not? Unless he live until he be a man. Bass. Sweet doctor, you shall be my bedfellow : When I am absent, then lie with my wife. Ant. Sweet lady, you have given me life and living; For here I read for certain that my ships Are safely come to road. Por. How now, Lorenzo ! My clerk hath some good comforts too for you. Ner. Ay, and I'll give them him without a fee.— There do I give to you and Jessica, From the rich Jew, a special deed of gift, Por. It is almost morning, Gra. Let it be so: the first inter❜gatory [Exeunt. P. 345. (1) The old eds. have " "rich burghers of the flood," on the flood."-Corrected by Steevens; who compares, in As you like it, "native burghers of this desolate city." (Douce defends "on," informing us that here the Venetians are alluded to!) P. 346. (4) “Enrobe the roaring waters with my silks;” Mr. W. N. Lettsom thinks that something is wanting between this line and the next. I have little doubt that Shakespeare wrote "In love! fie, fie!" So Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector.-The old eds. have "would." "Write,” says Walker (Crit. Exam. &c. vol. ii. p. 139),“ dumb-wise; for dumb wise men would be pronounced dumb wisemen." The old eds. have "It is that any thing now:"—an explanation of which inexplicable reading may be found in Mr. Collier's note ad l.-"It' appears to me a mere blunder for I,' i. e. Ay! an ironical interjection. As to the rest of this short speech, nothing can be more awkward than is that any thing' for 'is there any thing in that?' and 'now' is worse than superfluous. On the other hand, it may be said against Johnson's conjecture 'new,' that it does not so exactly accord with Bassanio's phrase, an infinite deal of nothing.' It is, however, quite common for speakers to wrest the meaning of a preceding speech for the sake of a retort: when this happens in a written dialogue, it is only an imitation of nature; but it is a fault in the writer to prepare the way for a retort by previously introducing awkward phraseology." W. N. LETTSOM. P. 349. (10) "and by adventuring both, Qu. "and, venturing both"? P. 349. (11) "wilful" Warburton would read "witless;" Mr. Collier's Ms. Corrector "wasteful." P. 351. (12) The old eds. have "trassell." "throstle" P. 354. (13) "land-thieves and water-thieves," The old eds. have "water theeues, and land theeues." So Walker (Crit. Exam. &c. vol. iii. p. 53).-The old eds. have "you" and "he." Perhaps repeated by mistake from the preceding line.-Hanmer, and Walker (Crit. Exam. &c. vol. i. p. 303) read "godly." Here the old eds. have "spet:" but to follow them (as several recent editors do) is only to introduce inconsistency of spelling into a modern edition; for the folio has "spit" in Measure for Measure, act ii. sc. 1; As you like it, act iii. sc. 2, act iv. sc. 1; Taming of the Shrew, act iii. sc. 1; Winter's Tale, act iv. sc. 2, &c. &c. The old eds. have "wit" (which early transcribers and printers frequently confound with "wil").—Steevens did not displace the original reading because "wit" formerly signified "sagacity or power of mind."-Compare "the will of a dead father," p. 350; "perform your father's will," p. 352; “my father's will," ibid. So Heyes's quarto and the folio.-Mr. Knight, adopting the reading of Roberts's quarto," conclusions," observes that "to try confusions is not very intelligible," -a remark which shows that, like the printer of that quarto, he did not perceive the joke intended here. |