the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven:
and he said, O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in
heaven above, or on earth beneath; who keepest covenant and mercy with
thy servants, that walk before thee with all their heart: who hast kept
with thy servant David my father that which thou didst promise him: yea,
thou spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as
it is this day. Now therefore, O LORD, the God of Israel, keep with thy
servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There
shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; if
only thy children take heed to their way, to walk before me as thou hast
walked before me. Now therefore, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray
thee, be verified, which thou spakest unto thy servant David my father.
But will God in very deed dwell on the earth? behold, heaven and the
heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I
have builded! Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and
to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the
prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee this day: that thine eyes
may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place
whereof thou hast said, My name shall be there: to hearken unto the
prayer which thy servant shall pray toward this place. And hearken thou
to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they
shall pray toward this place: yea, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling
place: and when thou hearest, forgive. If a man sin against his
neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and he
come and swear before thine altar in this house: then hear thou in
heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring
his way upon his own head; and justifying the righteous, to give him
according to his righteousness. When thy people Israel be smitten down
before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; if they turn
again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication unto
thee in this house: then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy
people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto
their fathers. When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because
they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and
confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them:
then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of
thy people Israel, when thou teachest them the good way wherein they
should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy
people for an inheritance. If there be in the land famine, if there be
pestilence, if there be blasting or mildew, locust or caterpiller; if
their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague,
whatsoever sickness there be; what prayer and supplication soever be
made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man
the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this
house: then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do,
and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou
knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the
children of men;) that they may fear thee all the days that they live
in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. Moreover concerning the
stranger, that is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a
far country for thy name's sake; (for they shall hear of thy great name,
and of thy mighty hand, and of thy stretched out arm:) when he shall
come and pray toward this house; hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place,
and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all
the peoples of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as doth thy
people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built
is called by thy name. If thy people go out to battle against their
enemy, by whatsoever way thou shalt send them, and they pray unto the
LORD toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which
I have built for thy name: then hear thou in heaven their prayer and
their supplication, and maintain their cause. If they sin against thee,
(for there is no man that sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and
deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captive unto the
land of the enemy, far off or near; yet if they shall bethink themselves
in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn again, and make
supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captive,
saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have dealt
wickedly; if they return unto thee with all their heart and with all
their soul in the land of their enemies, which carried them captive, and
pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers,
the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for
thy name: then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven
thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause; and forgive thy people
which have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein
they have transgressed against thee; and give them compassion before
those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them:
for they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest
forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: that thine
eyes may be open unto the supplication of thy servant, and unto the
supplication of thy people Israel, to hearken unto them whensoever
they cry unto thee. For thou didst separate them from among all the
peoples of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakest by
the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out
of Egypt, O Lord GOD.
And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this
prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of
the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward
heaven. And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a
loud voice, saying, Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his
people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed
one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses
his servant. The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers:
let him not leave us, nor forsake us: that he may incline our hearts
unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his
statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. And let
these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be
nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of
his servant, and the cause of his people Israel, as every day shall
require: that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD, he is
God; there is none else. Let your heart therefore be perfect with the
LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as
at this day. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered sacrifice
before the LORD.
II. INVITATION.
_From_ ISAIAH.
_Translated 1611--Revised 1885._
Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no
money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money
and without price. Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not
bread? and your labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently
unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself
in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear and your soul shall
live: and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure
mercies of David....
Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is
near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his
thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon
him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are
not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain cometh down
and the snow from heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the
earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, and giveth seed to the sower
and bread to the eater; so shall my word be that goeth forth out of my
mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that
which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it. For
ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and
the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees
of the field shall clap their hands. Instead of the thorn shall come up
the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree:
and it shall be to the LORD for a name, for an everlasting sign that
shall not be cut off.
III. THE TRIAL SCENE IN THE "MERCHANT OF VENICE."[A]
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE.--1564-1616.
_Scene_--A Court of Justice. _Present_--THE DUKE, the Magnificoes,
ANTONIO, BASSANIO, GRATIANO, SOLANIO, and others.
_Duke._ What, is Antonio here?
_Antonio._ Ready, so please your grace.
_Duke._ I am sorry for thee: thou art come to answer
A stony adversary, an inhuman wretch
Uncapable of pity, void and empty
From any dram of mercy.
_Antonio._ I have heard
Your grace hath ta'en great pains to qualify
His rigorous course; but since he stands obdurate,
And that no lawful means can carry me
Out of his envy's reach, I do oppose
My patience to his fury; and am arm'd
To suffer, with a quietness of spirit,
The very tyranny and rage of his.
_Duke._ Go one, and call the Jew into the court.
_Solanio._ He's ready at the door: he comes, my lord.
_Enter_ SHYLOCK.
_Duke._ Make room, and let him stand before our face.--
Shylock, the world thinks, and I think so too,
That thou but lead'st this fashion of thy malice
To the last hour of act; and then 'tis thought
Thou'lt show thy mercy and remorse, more strange
Than is thy strange apparent cruelty;
And where thou now exact'st the penalty,--
Which is a pound of this poor merchant's flesh,--
Thou wilt not only loose the forfeiture,
But, touch'd with human gentleness and love,
Forgive a moiety of the principal;
Glancing an eye of pity on his losses,
That have of late so huddled on his back,
Enough to press a royal merchant down
And pluck commiseration of his state
From brassy bosoms and rough hearts of flint,
From stubborn Turks and Tartars, never train'd
To offices of tender courtesy.
We all expect a gentle answer, Jew.
_Shylock._ I have possess'd your grace of what I purpose;
And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn
To have the due and forfeit of my bond:
If you deny it, let the danger light
Upon your charter and your city's freedom.
You'll ask me, why I rather choose to have
A weight of carrion flesh than to receive
Three thousand ducats; I'll not answer that;
But, say, it is my humor; is it answer'd?
What if my house be troubled with a rat,
And I be pleas'd to give ten thousand ducats
To have it ban'd? What, are you answer'd yet?
Some men there are love not a gaping pig;
Some, that are mad if they behold a cat;
And others, when the bagpipe sings i' the nose,
Cannot contain themselves: for affection,
Master of passion, sways it to the mood
Of what it likes, or loathes. Now, for your answer:
As there is no firm reason to be render'd,
Why he cannot abide a gaping pig;
Why he, a harmless necessary cat;
Why he, a woollen bagpipe,--but of force
Must yield to such inevitable shame
As to offend, himself being offended;
So can I give no reason, nor I will not,
More than a lodg'd hate and a certain loathing
I bear Antonio, that I follow thus
A losing suit against him. Are you answer'd?
_Bassanio._ This is no answer, thou unfeeling man,
To excuse the current of thy cruelty.
_Shylock._ I am not bound to please thee with my answer.
_Bassanio._ Do all men kill the things they do not love?
_Shylock._ Hates any man the thing he would not kill?
_Bassanio._ Every offence is not a hate at first.
_Shylock._ What, would'st thou have a serpent sting thee twice?
_Antonio._ I pray you, think you question with the Jew.
You may as well go stand upon the beach,
And bid the main flood bate his usual height;
You may as well use question with the wolf,
Why he hath made the ewe bleat for the lamb;
You may as well forbid the mountain pines
To wag their high tops, and to make no noise,
When they are fretted with the gusts of heaven;
You may as well do anything most hard,
As seek to soften that--than which what's harder?--
His Jewish heart: therefore, I do beseech you,
Make no more offers, use no further means,
But, with all brief and plain conveniency,
Let me have judgment, and the Jew his will.
_Bassanio._ For thy three thousand ducats here is six.
_Shylock._ If every ducat in six thousand ducats
Were in six parts, and every part a ducat,
I would not draw them; I would have my bond.
_Duke._ How shalt thou hope for mercy, rend'ring none?
_Shylock._ What judgment shall I dread, doing no wrong?
You have among you many a purchas'd slave,
Which, like your asses, and your dogs, and mules,
You use in abject and in slavish parts,
Because you bought them: shall I say to you,
Let them be free, marry them to your heirs?
Why sweat they under burdens? let their beds
Be made as soft as yours, and let their palates
Be season'd with such viands? You will answer,
"The slaves are ours:" so do I answer you:
The pound of flesh, which I demand of him,
Is dearly bought; 'tis mine, and I will have it:
If you deny me, fie upon your law!
There is no force in the decrees of Venice.
I stand for judgment: answer; shall I have it?
_Duke._ Upon my power I may dismiss this court,
Unless Bellario, a learned doctor,
Whom I have sent for to determine this,
Come here to-day.
_Solanio._ My lord, here stays without
A messenger with letters from the doctor,
New come from Padua.
_Duke._ Bring us the letters; call the messenger.
_Bassanio._ Good cheer, Antonio! What, man, courage yet!
The Jew shall have my flesh, blood, bones, and all,
Ere thou shalt lose for me one drop of blood.
_Antonio._ I am a tainted wether of the flock,
Meetest for death: the weakest kind of fruit
Drops earliest to the ground, and so let me:
You cannot better be employ'd, Bassanio,
Than to live still, and write mine epitaph.
_Enter_ NERISSA, _dressed like a lawyer's clerk._
_Duke._ Came you from Padua, from Bellario?
_Nerissa._ From both, my lord: Bellario greets your grace.
[_Presents a letter._
_Bassanio._ Why dost thou whet thy knife so earnestly?
_Shylock._ To cut the forfeiture from that bankrupt there.
_Gratiano._ Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew,
Thou mak'st thy knife keen; but no metal can,
No, not the hangman's axe, bear half the keenness
Of thy sharp envy. Can no prayers pierce thee?
_Shylock._ No, none that thou hast wit enough to make.
_Gratiano._ O, be thou damn'd, inexorable dog!
And for thy life let justice be accus'd.
Thou almost mak'st me waver in my faith,
To hold opinion with Pythagoras,
That souls of animals infuse themselves
Into the trunks of men: thy currish spirit
Govern'd a wolf, who, hang'd for human slaughter,
Even from the gallows did his fell soul fleet,
And, whilst thou lay'st in thy unhallow'd dam,
Infus'd itself in thee; for thy desires
Are wolfish, bloody, starv'd, and ravenous.
_Shylock._ Till thou canst rail the seal from off my bond,
Thou but offend'st thy lungs to speak so loud:
Repair thy wit, good youth, or it will fall
To cureless ruin. I stand here for law.
_Duke._ This letter from Bellario doth commend
A young and learned doctor to our court:--
Where is he?
_Nerissa._ He attendeth here hard by,
To know your answer, whether you'll admit him.
_Duke._ With all my heart.--Some three or four of you
Go give him courteous conduct to this place.--
Meantime the court shall hear Bellario's letter.
[Clerk reads.] _Your grace shall understand, that, at the receipt of
your letter, I am very sick: but, in the instant that your messenger
came, in loving visitation was with me a young doctor of Rome; his name
is Balthazar. I acquainted him with the cause in controversy between the
Jew and Antonio the merchant: we turned o'er many books together: he is
furnished with my opinion: which, bettered with his own learning, the
greatness whereof I cannot enough commend, comes with him, at my
importunity, to fill up your grace's request in my stead. I beseech you,
let his lack of years be no impediment to let him lack a reverend
estimation; for I never knew so young a body with so old a head. I leave
him to your gracious acceptance, whose trial shall better publish his
commendation._
_Duke._ You hear the learned Bellario, what he writes:
And here, I take it, is the doctor come.--
_Enter_ PORTIA, _dressed like a doctor of laws._
Give me your hand: came you from old Bellario?
_Portia._ I did, my lord.
_Duke._ You are welcome; take your place.
Are you acquainted with the difference
That holds this present question in the court?
_Portia._ I am informed, throughly of the cause.
Which is the merchant here, and which the Jew?
_Duke._ Antonio and old Shylock, both stand forth.
_Portia._ Is your name Shylock?
_Shylock._ Shylock is my name.
_Portia._ Of a strange nature is the suit you follow;
Yet in such rule that the Venetian law
Cannot impugn you as you do proceed.--
You stand within his danger, do you not? [_To_ ANTONIO.
_Antonio._ Ay, so he says.
_Portia._ Do you confess the bond?
_Antonio._ I do.
_Portia._ Then must the Jew be merciful.
_Shylock._ On what compulsion must I? Tell me that.
_Portia._ The quality of mercy is not strain'd;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless'd;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes:
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest: it becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown;
His sceptre shows the force of temporal power,
The attribute to awe and majesty,
Wherein doth sit the dread and fear of kings;
But mercy is above this sceptred sway;
It is enthroned in the hearts of kings,
It is an attribute to God himself;
And earthly power doth then show likest God's
When mercy seasons justice. Therefore, Jew,
Though justice be thy plea, consider this,--
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation: we do pray for mercy;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy. I have spoke thus much
To mitigate the justice of thy plea;
Which if thou follow, this strict court of Venice
Must needs give sentence 'gainst the merchant there.
_Shylock._ My deeds upon my head! I crave the law,
The penalty and forfeit of my bond.
_Portia._ Is he not able to discharge the money?
_Bassanio._ Yes, here I tender it for him in the court;
Yea, twice the sum: if that will not suffice,
I will be bound to pay it ten times o'er,
On forfeit of my hands, my head, my heart:
If this will not suffice, it must appear
That malice bears down truth. And I beseech you,
Wrest once the law to your authority:
To do a great right, do a little wrong;
And curb this cruel devil of his will.
_Portia._ It must not be; there is no power in Venice
Can alter a decree established:
'Twill be recorded for a precedent;
And many an error, by the same example,
Will rush into the state. It cannot be.
_Shylock._ A Daniel come to judgment! yea, a Daniel!
O wise young judge, how do I honour thee!
_Portia._ I pray you, let me look upon the bond.
_Shylock._ Here 'tis, most reverend doctor, here it is.
_Portia._ Shylock, there's thrice thy money offer'd thee.
_Shylock._ An oath, an oath, I have an oath in heaven:
Shall I lay perjury upon my soul?
No, not for Venice.
_Portia._ 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 tear the bond.
_Shylock._ 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.
_Antonio._ Most heartily I do beseech the court
To give the judgment.
_Portia._ Why, then, thus it is:
You must prepare your bosom for his knife;--
_Shylock._ O noble judge! O excellent young man!
_Portia._--For the intent and purpose of the law
Hath full relation to the penalty,
Which here appeareth due upon the bond.
_Shylock._ 'Tis very true: O wise and upright judge!
How much more elder art thou than thy looks!
_Portia._ Therefore, lay bare your bosom.
_Shylock._ Ay, his breast:
So says the bond:--doth it not, noble judge?--
"Nearest his heart:" those are the very words.
_Portia._ It is so. Are there balance here, to weigh
The flesh?
_Shylock._ I have them ready.
_Portia._ Have by some surgeon, Shylock, on your charge,
To stop his wounds, lest he do bleed to death.
_Shylock._ Is it so nominated in the bond?
_Portia._ It is not so express'd; but what of that?
'Twere good you do so much for charity.
_Shylock._ I cannot find it; 'tis not in the bond.
_Portia._ Come, merchant, have you anything to say?
_Antonio._ But little: I am arm'd, and well prepar'd.--
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 doth she cut me off.
Commend me to your honorable wife:
Tell her the process of Antonio's end;
Say how I lov'd you, speak me fair in death;
And, when the tale is told, bid her be judge
Whether Bassanio had not once a love.
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.
_Bassanio._ Antonio, I am married to a wife
Which is as dear to me as life itself;
But life itself, my wife, and all the world,
Are not with me esteem'd above thy life:
I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all
Here to this devil, to deliver you.
_Portia._ Your wife would give you little thanks for that,
If she were by, to hear you make the offer.
_Gratiano._ I have a wife, whom, I protest, I love:
I would she were in heaven, so she could
Entreat some power to change this currish Jew.
_Nerissa._ 'Tis well you offer it behind her back;
The wish would make else an unquiet house.
_Shylock._ [_Aside._] These be the Christian husbands! I have a daughter;
Would any of the stock of Barrabas
Had been her husband rather than a Christian!--
[_To_ PORTIA.] We trifle time; I pray thee, pursue sentence.
_Portia._ A pound of that same merchant's flesh is thine:
The court awards it, and the law doth give it.
_Shylock._ Most rightful judge!
_Portia._ And you must cut this flesh from off his breast:
The law allows it, and the court awards it.
_Shylock._ Most learned judge! A sentence!--Come, prepare.
_Portia._ 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 thou 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.
_Gratiano._ O upright judge!--Mark, Jew:--O learned judge!
_Shylock._ Is that the law?
_Portia._ Thyself shalt see the act:
For, as thou urgest justice, be assur'd
Thou shalt have justice, more than thou desirest.
_Gratiano._ O learned judge!--Mark, Jew:--a learned judge!
_Shylock._ I take this offer, then: pay the bond thrice,
And let the Christian go.
_Bassanio._ Here is the money.
_Portia._ Soft!
The Jew shall have all justice;--soft! no haste:--
He shall have nothing but the penalty.
_Gratiano._ O Jew! an upright judge, a learned judge!
_Portia._ 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 but 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.
_Gratiano._ A second Daniel, a Daniel, Jew!
Now, infidel, I have thee on the hip.
_Portia._ Why doth the Jew pause? Take thy forfeiture.
_Shylock._ Give me my principal, and let me go.
_Bassanio._ I have it ready for thee; here it is.
_Portia._ He hath refus'd it in the open court:
He shall have merely justice, and his bond.
_Gratiano._ A Daniel, still say I; a second Daniel!--
I thank thee, Jew, for teaching me that word.
_Shylock._ Shall I not have barely my principal?
_Portia._ Thou shalt have nothing but the forfeiture,
To be so taken at thy peril, Jew.
_Shylock._ Why, then the devil give him good of it!
I'll stay no longer question.
_Portia._ Tarry, Jew:
The law hath yet another hold on you.
It is enacted in the laws of Venice,
If it be prov'd against an alien
That by direct or indirect attempts
He seek the life of any citizen,
The party 'gainst the which he doth contrive
Shall seize one half his goods; the other half
Comes to the privy coffer of the state;
And the offender's life lies in the mercy
Of the duke only, 'gainst all other voice.
In which predicament, I say, thou stand'st;
For it appears, by manifest proceeding,
That, indirectly, and directly too,
Thou hast contriv'd against the very life
Of the defendant; and thou hast incurr'd
The danger formerly by me rehears'd.
Down, therefore, and beg mercy of the duke.
_Gratiano._ Beg that thou mayst have leave to hang thyself:
And yet, thy wealth being forfeit to the state,
Thou hast not left the value of a cord;
Therefore, thou must be hang'd at the state's charge.