Or shall I think in silver she's immur'd,

Being ten times undervalued to tried gold?
O sinful thought! Never so rich a gem

Was set in worse than gold. They have in England
A coin, that bears the figure of an angel
Stamped in gold,' but that's insculp'd upon;
But here an angel in a golden bed

Lies all within. - Deliver me the key;

Here do I choose, and thrive I as I may !

Por. There, take it, prince, and if my form lie

there,

Then I am yours.

Mor.

[He unlocks the golden casket.

O hell! what have we here?

A carrion death, within whose empty eye
There is a written scroll: I'll read the writing.

All that glisters is not gold;

Often have you heard that told:

This is the angel referred to by Falstaff in his interview with the Chief Justice: "Not so, my lord; your ill angel is light." It appears to have been the national coin in Shakespeare's time. The custom of stamping an angel upon the coin is thus explained by Verstegan in his Restitution of Decayed Intelligence: "The name of Engel is yet at this present in all the Teutonic tongues as much as to say, an Angel; and if a Dutchman be asked how he would in his language call an Angel-like-man, he would answer, ein English-man. And such reason and consideration may have moved our former kings, upon their best coin of pure and fine gold, to set the image of an angel, which hath as well been used before the Norman Conquest, as since." Readers of Wordsworth will be apt to remember, in this connection, a fine passage 'n one of his Ecclesiastical Sonnets :

"A bright-haired company of youthful slaves,
Beautiful strangers, stand within the pale
Of a sad market, ranged for public sale,
Where Tiber's stream the immortal City laves:
ANGLI by name; and not an ANGEL waves
His wing, who could seem lovelier to man's eye
Than they appear to holy Gregory;

Who, having learnt that name, salvation craves
For Them, and for their Land."

H.

Many a man his life hath sold,
But my outside to behold:
Gilded tombs do worms infold.
Had you been as wise as bold,
Young in limbs, in judgment old,
Your answer had not been inscroll'd:
Fare you well; your suit is cold.

Cold, indeed, and labour lost :

Then, farewell, heat; and welcome, frost.

Portia, adieu!

I have too griev'd a heart

To take a tedious leave: thus losers part.

[Exit.

Por. A gentle riddance. — Draw the curtains; go:

Let all of his complexion choose me so.

[Exeunt.

SCENE VIII. Venice. A Street.

Enter SALARINO and SOLANIO.

Sal. Why, man, I saw Bassanio under sail :
With him is Gratiano gone along;
And in their ship, I am sure, Lorenzo is not.

Sol. The villain Jew with outcries rais'd the Duke, Who went with him to search Bassanio's ship.

Sal. He came too late, the ship was under sail;
But there the Duke was given to understand,
That in a gondola were seen together

Lorenzo and his amorous Jessica :
Besides, Antonio certified the Duke,
They were not with Bassanio in his ship.

Sol. I never heard a passion so confus'd,
So strange, outrageous, and so variable,
As the dog Jew did utter the streets:

66

My daughter! O my ducats! — O my daughter! Fled with a Christian? - O my Christian ducats! Justice! the law! my ducats, and my daughter! A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats,

Of double ducats, stol'n from me by my daughter!
And jewels! two stones, two rich and precious stones,
Stol'n by my daughter! Justice! find the girl!
She hath the stones upon her, and the ducats!"
Sal. Why, all the boys in Venice follow him,
Crying, his stones, his daughter, and his ducats.
Sol. Let good Antonio look he keep his day,
Or he shall pay for this.

Sal.

Marry, well remember'd.

I reason'd with a Frenchman yesterday,

--

Who told me,
in the narrow seas, that part
The French and English, there miscarried
A vessel of our country, richly fraught:
I thought upon Antonio, when he told me,
And wish'd in silence that it were not his.

Sol. You were best to tell Antonio what you hear; Yet do not suddenly, for it may grieve him.

Sal. A kinder gentleman treads not the earth
I saw Bassanio and Antonio part :

Bassanio told him, he would make some speed
Of his return: he answer'd "Do not so;
Slubber not business for my sake, Bassanio,
But stay the very riping of the time;

And for the Jew's bond, which he hath of me,
Let it not enter in your mind of love :
Be merry; and employ your chiefest thoughts
To courtship and such fair ostents of love

2

As shall conveniently become you there."
And even there, his eye being big with tears,

To slubber is to do a thing carelessly. Thus, in Fuller's Worthies of Yorkshire: Slightly slubbering it over, doing something for show, and nothing to purpose." Likewise, in Song 21 of Drayton's Poly-Olbion:

Not such as basely soothe the humour of the time,

And slubberingly patch up some slight and shallow rhyme." H 3 Shows, tokens. See sc. 2, note 16.

Turning his face, he put his hand behind him.
And with affection wondrous sensible

He wrung Bassanio's hand; and so they parted.
Sol. I think he only loves the world for him.
I pray thee, let us go, and find him out,
And quicken his embraced heaviness 3
With some delight or other.

3

Sal.

Do we so.

[Exeunt

SCENE IX. Belmont.

A Room in PORTIA'S House.

Enter NERISSA, with a Servant.

Ner. Quick, quick, I pray thee; draw the curtain

straight:

The prince of Arragon hath ta'en his oath,

And comes to his election presently.

Flourish of Cornets.

Enter the Prince of Arragon,

PORTIA, and their Trains.

Por. Behold, there stand the caskets, noble prince: If you choose that wherein I am contain'd, Straight shall our nuptial rites be solemniz'd; But if you fail, without more speech, my lord, You must be gone from hence immediately.

Ar. I am enjoin'd by oath to observe three things First, never to unfold to any one

Which casket 'twas I chose; next, if I fail
Of the right casket, never in my life

To woo a maid in way of marriage; lastly,
If I do fail in fortune of my choice,
Immediately to leave you and be gone.

The heaviness he is fond of, or cherishes.

Por. To these injunctions every one doth swear, That comes to hazard for my worthless self.

Ar. And so have I address'd' me. Fortune now To my heart's hope! - Gold, silver, and base lead. "Who chooseth me must give and hazard all he hath."

You shall look fairer, ere I give, or hazard.

What says the golden chest? ha! let me see: — "Who chooseth me shall gain what many men desire."

What many men desire:

2

that many may be meant

By the fool multitude, that choose by show,

Not learning more than the fond eye doth teach;
Which pries not to the interior, but, like the martlet,
Builds in the weather on the outward wall,

Even in the force and road of casualty.
I will not choose what many men desire,
Because I will not jump with common spirits,
And rank me with the barbarous multitudes.
Why, then to thee, thou silver treasure-house;
Tell me once more what title thou dost bear :
"Who chooseth me shall get as much as he de
serves:"

And well said too; for who shall go about
To cozen fortune, and be honourable

Without the stamp of merit! Let none presume
To wear an undeserved dignity.

O! that estates, degrees, and offices,

Were not deriv'd corruptly! and that clear honour Were purchas'd by the merit of the wearer!

How many then should cover, that stand bare!

Prepared.

By and of, being synonymous, were used by our ancestors

indifferently.

3 Power.

To jump is to agree with.