ughter!
A sealed bag, two sealed bags of ducats,
Of double ducats, stolen from me by my daughter!
And jewels, two stones, two rich and precious stones
Stolen by my daughter! Justice! Find the girl!
She hath the stones upon her and the ducats!"_

The frantic raging of the old broken down, soul lacerated Jew, only brought
from that Christian audience, laughter, yells, and howling jeers. The mob
spirit was there, and the appeal for justice by Shylock fell upon deaf ears
and stony hearts.

Portia still holds court for her hand and heart at beautiful "Belmont,"
setting like an Egyptian Queen in the circling, blooming hills of the blue
Adriatic.

The Prince of Arragon comes to the choice of caskets, and with lofty words
in praise of virtue, says:

_"Let none presume to wear an undeserved dignity.
O, that estates, degrees, and offices,
Were not obtained corruptly! and that clear honor
Were purchased by the merit of the wearer!
How many then should cover, that stand bare!
How many be commanded that command!
How much low corruption would then be gleaned
From the true seed of honor! and how much honor
Picked from the chaff and ruin of the times!"_

The Globe Theatre shook with applause at this fine political speech of the
Prince, and may be well contemplated in the State transactions of to-day.

The Prince unlocks the silver casket, and finds a portrait of a blinking
idiot; and departing exclaims:

_"Some there be that shadows kiss,
Such have but a shadow's bliss;
There be fools alive I wis--
Silvered o'er, and so was this!"_

Portia soliloquizes:

_"Thus hath the candle singed the moth
Of these deliberate fools, when they do choose,
They bare their wisdom by their wit to lose."_

And Nerissa, the bright waiting maid, says:

_"The ancient saying is no heresy;--
Hanging and wiving go by destiny!"_

The third act opens with a street in Venice, and friends of Antonio bemoan
the reported loss of several of his ships at sea, which will cause his
default and ruin, by the demands of Shylock.

Salarino says to the Jew:

_"Why, I am sure if he forfeit, thou wilt not
Take his flesh; what's that good for?"_

Shylock now begins to gloat over his prospect of a dire vengeance upon the
Christian Antonio, and replies to Salarino:

_"To bait fish withal; if it will feed nothing else,
It will feed my revenge!