Por. I pray you, let me look upon the bond.
Shy. Here 'tis, most reverend doctor; here it is.
Por. Shylock, there's thrice thy money offered thee.
Shy. An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven:
Shall I lay perjury 1 upon my soul?

No, not for Venice.

Por.

Why, this bond is forfeit;

And lawfully by this the Jew may claim.
A pound of flesh, to be by him cut off
Nearest the merchant's heart.-Be merciful,
Take thrice thy money; bid me teâr the bond.
Shy. When it is paid according to the tenor.?
It doth appear you are a worthy judge;
You know the law, your exposition

Hath been most sound. I charge you by the law,
Whereof you are a well-deserving pillar,
Proceed to judgment: by my soul I swear
There is no power in the tongue of man
To alter me. I stay here on my bond.
Ant. Most heartily I do beseech the court
To give the judgment.

Por.

Why, then, thus it is: You must prepare your bosom for his knife.

Shy. O noble judge! O excellent young man! Por. For the intent and purpose of the law Hath full relation to the penalty,

Which here appeareth due upon the bond.

Shy. 'Tis very true. O wise and upright judge! How much more elder art thou than thy looks! Por. Therefore lay bare your bosom.

Ay, his breast

Shy.
So says the bond;-doth it not, noble judge?
Nearest his heart; those are the very words.
Por. It is so. Are there balance here, to weigh
The flesh?

Shy. I have them ready.

Por. Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge,

To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.

Per'ju ry, false swearing.

2 Těn'or, purport; meaning; intention.

Shy. Is it so nominated in the bond?

Por. It is not so expressed: but what of that? "Twere good you do so much for charity.

Shy. I can not find it; 'tis not in the bond.
Por. Come, merchant, have you any thing to say?
Ant. But little: I am armed, and well prepared.
Give me your hand, Bassanio; fare you well.
Grieve not that I am fallen to this for you;
For herein Fortune shows herself more kind
Than is her custom. It is still her use

To let the wretched man outlive his wealth,
To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow
An age of poverty: from which lingering penance
Of such a misery she doth cut me off.

Repent not you that you shall lose your friend,
And he repents not that he pays your debt;
For, if the Jew do cut but deep enough,

I'll pay it instantly with all my heart.

Shy. We trifle time: I pray thee pursue sentence.

Por. A pound of that same merchant's flesh is thine :

The court awards it, and the law doth give it.

Shy. Most rightful judge!

Por. And you must cut this flesh from off his breast: The law allows it, and the court awards it.

Shy. Most learnèd judge!—A sentence: come, prepare. Por. Tarry a little: there is something else. This bond doth give thee here no jot of blood;

The words expressly are, a pound of flesh:

Take then thy bond, take then thy pound of flesh;

But, in the cutting it, if thou dost shed

One drop of Christian blood, thy lands and goods

Are, by the laws of Venice, confiscate

Unto the state of Venice.

Grat. O upright judge !-Mark, Jew!-O learned judge! Shy. Is that the law?

Por.

Thyself shall see the act:

For, as thou urgest justice, be assured

Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest.

Grat. O learned judge!-Mark, Jew: a learned judge!

Shy. I take this offer then pay the bond thrice And let the Christian go.

Bass.

Por. Soft!

Here is the money.

The Jew shall have all justice: soft! no haste:
He shall have nothing but the penalty.

Grat. O Jew! an upright judge! a learnèd judge!
Por. Therefore, prepare thee to cut. off the flesh:
Shed thou no blood; nor cut thou less nor more,
But just a pound of flesh: if thou tak❜st more
Or less than a just pound-be it by so much
As makes it light or heavy in the substance,
Or the division of the twentieth part

Of one poor scruple; nay, if the scale do turn
But in the estimation of a hair-

Thou diest, and all thy goods are confiscate.

Grat. A second Daniel; a Daniel, Jew!

Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip.

Por. Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.
Shy. Give me my principal, and let me go.
Bass. I have it ready for thee; here it is.
Por. He hath refused it in the open court:
He shall have merely justice and his bond.

Grat. A Daniel, still say I; a second Daniel!
I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.
Shy. Shall I not barely have my principal?
Por. Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture,
To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.

Shy. Why then, I'll stay no longer question.

Por. Tarry, Jew:

The law hath yet another hold on you.

It is enacted in the laws of Venice

If it be proved against an alien 1
That, by direct or indirect attempts,
He seek the life of any citizen,

The party 'gainst the which he doth contrive
Shall seize one-hälf his goods: the other half

Comes to the privy coffer of the state;

'Al'ien, a foreigner.

And the offender's life lies in the mercy
Of the duke only, 'gainst all other voice.
In which predicament1 I say thou stand'st:
For it appears by manifest proceeding
That indirectly, and directly too,

Thou hast contrived against the very life
Of the defendant; and thou hast incurred
The danger formerly by me rehearsed.
Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the duke.

Duke. That thou shalt see the difference of our spirit,
I pardon thee thy life before thou ask it.
For hälf thy wealth, it is Antonio's :
The other half comes to the general state,
Which humbleness may drive unto a fine.

Por. Ay, for the state; not for Antonio.

Shy. Nay, take my life and all; pardon not that:
You take my house when you do take the prop
That doth sustain my house; you take my life
When you do take the means whereby I live.

Por. What mercy can you render him, Antonio?
Ant. So please my lord the duke, and all the court,
To quit the fine for one-half of his goods;

I am content, so he will let me have
The other half in use, to render it,
Upon his death, unto the gentleman
That lately stole his daughter,
If for this grace he do record a gift,
Here in the court, of all he dies possessed,
Unto his son Lorenzo and his daughter.

Duke. He shall do this; or else I do recant

The pardon that I late pronounced here.

Por. Art thou contented, Jew? what dost thou say?
Shy. I am content.

1 Pre dĭc’a ment, condition; particular situation or state.

2 William Shakspeare, the greatest of English dramatists and poets,

SHAKSPEARE.

and one of the greatest of all time, was born in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, in April, 1564, and died there April 23, 1616.

THE

SECTION XXVII.

I.

103. FOES IN THE CAMP.

HE winter at Valley Forge1 was, indeed, the darkest period of all that "time which tried men's souls." The Continental paper-money was so depreciated in value that an officer's pay would not keep him in clothes. Many, having spent their entire fortunes in the war, were now compelled to resign, in order to get a living. The men were encamped in cold, comfortless huts, with little food or clothing. Frequently there was only one suit of clothes for two soldiers, which they would take turns in wearing.

2. Bârefooted, they left on the frozen ground their tracks in blood. Few had blankets. Numbers were compelled to sit by their fires all night. Their fuel they were compelled to carry on their backs from the woods where they cut it. Straw could not be obtained. Soldiers who were enfeebled by hunger and benumbed by cold slept on the bare earth, and sickness followed such exposure. Within three weeks, two thousand men were rendered unfit for duty. With no change of clothing, no suitable food, and no medicines, death was the only relief.

3. The story of the American Revolution is incomplete, unless a peep be taken behind the scenes and some of the secret but unparalleled difficulties experienced by the true heroes of the day be thoroughly understood. Valley Forge was only a part of the dark back-ground of the long struggle for independence. It is a common ide'ȧ that ours is a degenerate age; that 1776 was a time of honor and honesty, of sincerity and devotion. To think this is to undervalue the achievements of our Revolutionary sires, as well as to erect a false standard with which to compare the present. Whoever supposes that the spirit of union and of sacrifice was unanimous among even the great actors in the drama of Independence, utterly fails to compre

1 Valley Forge, a place, about twenty miles from Philadelphia, where Washington established his

headquarters during the winter of 1777-78, while the British under General Howe were at Philadelphia.