choosers, and the bloody minds of usurers. ,,These plays, says Gosson, (for he mentions athers with it) are goode and sweete plays," etc. It is therefore not improbable that Shakspeare new-wrote his piece, on the model already men tioued, and that the elder performance, being inferior, was permitted to drop silently into oblivion. This play of Shakspeare had been exhibited before the year 1598, as appears from Meres's Wits Treasury, where it is mentioned with eleven more of our author's pieces. It was enter'd on the books of the Stationers' Company, July 22, in the same year.. It could not have been printed earlier, because it was not yet licensed. The old song of Gernutus the Jew of Venice, is published by Dr. Percy in the first volume of his Reliques of ancient English Poetry and the ballad intituled, The Murtherous lyfe and terrible death of the rich Jewe of Malta; and the tragedy on the same subject, were both entered on the Sta tioners' books, May 1594. STEEVEns. The story was taken from an old translation of The Gesta Romanorum, first printed by, Wynkyn de Worde. The book was very popular, bande de Shakspeare has closely copied some of the dan-b guages an additional argument, if we wanted vit, co of his track of reading. Three vessels are exhi-f bited to a lady for her choice. The first was made of pure gold, well beset with precious stones without, and within full of dead men's bones; and there-upon was engraven this posie:- Whoso chuseth me, shall find that he deserveth, Tho second vessel was made of fine silver, filled with earth and worms; the superscription was thus Whoso chuseth me, shall find that his nature desireth. The third vessel was made of lead, 7 shall The full within of precious stones, and thereupon was insculpt this posie: Whoso chuseth me, $ find that God hath disposed for him. lady after a comment upon each, chuses the leaden vessel. In a MS. of Lidgate, belonging to my very learned friend, Dr. Askew, I find a Tale of two Marchants of Egipt and of Baldad, ex Gestis Romanorum. Leland therefore could not be the original author, as Bishop Tanner suspected. He lived a century after Lidgate. FARMER. The two principal incidents of this play are to be found separately in a collection of odd stories, which were very popular, at least five hundred years ago, under the title of Gesta Romanorum. The first, Of the bond, is in ch. xlviii. of the copy which I chuse to refer to, as the complet est of any which I have yet seen. MS. Harl. n. 2270. A knight there borrows money of a merchant, upon condition of forfeiting all his flesh for non-payment. When the penalty is exacted before the judge; the knightis mistress, disguised, in forma viri et vestimentis pretiosis induta, comes into court, and, by permission of the judge, endeavours to mollify the merchant. She first offers him his money, and then the double of it, etc. to all which his answer is. Conventionem meam volo habere, Puella, cum hoc audisset, ait coram omnibus, Domine mi judex, da rectum judicium super his quae vobis dixero, Vos scitis quod miles nunquam se obligabat ad aliud per literam nisi quod mercator habeat po. testatem carnes ab ossibus scindere, sine sanguini! effusione, de quo nihil erat prolocutumbo Statim mittat manum in eum; si vero sanguinem effuderit, Rex contra eum astiónem habet. Mercator, cum hoc audisset, ait; daté' mihi pecuniam et omném :actionem vei'temitto. Ait puella, Amen dico tibi, nullum denarium habebis) - ➡pone ergo manum in eum, ita ut sanguinem non effundas. Mercator vero Avidens se confusum abscessit; . et sic "vita militis salvata sest, et inllum denarium dedit. The other incident, of the caskets, is in ch. reix of the same collection A King of Apulia sends, his daughter to be married to the son of an Emperor of Rome. After some adventures, (which are nothing to the present purpose,) she sis/ brought before the Emperor; who says to her, ,,Puella, propter amorem filii mei multa adversa sustinuisti Tamen si digna fueris ut uxor ejus siscito probabo. Et fecit fiera tria vasa. PRIMUM fuit de auro purissimo et lapidibus pretiosis interius ex omni parte, et plenum ossibus mortuo rum; et exterius erat subscriptio; Qui me elegeerit, in me inveniet quod meruit. SECUNDUM vas erat de argento puro et gemmis pretiosis, plenum terra; et exterius erat subscriptio: Qui me'elegerit, in me inveniet quod natura appetit. TERTIUM vas de plumbo plenum lapidibus pretiosis interius et gemmis nobilissimis; et, exterius erat subscriptio talis: Qui me elegerit, in me inveniet quod deus disposuit. Ista tria ostendit puellae, et dixit, si unum ex istis elegeris in quo commodum, et proficuum est, filium meum habe. bis. Si vero elegeris quod nec tibi nec aliis est commodum, ipsum non habebis." The young lady, after mature consideration of the vessels and their inscriptions, chuses the leaden, which being opened, and found to be full of gold and precious stones, the Emperor says:,,Bona puella, bene elegisti ideo filium meum habebis." Lane. From this abstract of these two stories, I think yit appears sufficiently plain that they are the nempte originals of the two incidents in this play. That of the caskets Shakspeare might take, from Athe, English Gesta Romanorum, as Dr. Farmer has observed; and that of the bond might come to him from the Pecorone; but upon the whole I am rather inclined to suspect, that he has followed some hitherto unknown novelist, who had saved him the trouble of working up the two stories into one. TYRWHITT. This comedy, I believe, was written in the beginning of the year, 1598. Meres's book was not published till the end of that year. See An Attempt to ascertain the order of Shakspeare's plays. MALONĖ. Page 103, 1. 3. In the old editions in quarto, for J. Roberts, 1600, and in the old folio, 1625, there is no enumeration of the persons. è It was first made by Mr. Rowe. JOHNSON. 187 In the old P. 103, 1. 9. Salanio,] It is not easy to deter mine the orthography of this name. editions the owner of it is called Salino, and Solanio. STEEVENS, P. 105, l. 17. Salerio,] This character I have restored to the Personae Dramatis, The name appears in the first folio: the description is taken from the quarto. ŠTEEVENS. P. 104, 1. 12. Argosies] A name given in our author's time to ships of great burthen, probably galleons, such as the Spaniards now use in their West India trade. JOHNSON. In Ricaut's Maxims of Turkish Polity, ch. xiv. it is said, Those vast carracks called argosies, which are so much famed for the vastness of their burthen and bulk, were corruptly so deno >minated from Ragosies," i, e. ships of Ragusa, a city and territory on the gulph of Venice, tri butary to the Porte. If my memory does not fail me, the Ragusans lent their last great ship to the King of Spain for the Armada, and it was lost on the coast of Ireland. Shakspeare, as Mr. Heath observes, has given the name of Ragozine to the pirate in Measure for Measure. STEEVENS. P. 104, 1. 21-22. I should be still Plucking the grass, to know where sits the wind;] By holding up the grass, or any light body that will bend by a gentle blast, the direction of the wind is found. ,,This way I used in shooting. When I was in the myddle way betwixt the markes, which was an open place, there I toke a fethere, or a lyttle grasse, and so learned how the wind stood. Ascham. JOHNSON. P. 105, 1. 6. And see my wealthy Andrew -] The name of the ship. JOHNSON. P. 105, 1..7. In Bullokar's English Expositor, 1616, to vail, is thus explained: „It means to put off the hat, to strike sail, to give sign of submission." STEEVENS. --P. 105, 1. 34. Here Shakspeare shews his knowledge in the antique. By two-headed Janus is meant those antique bifrontine heads, which gene rally represent a young and smiling face, together with an old and wrinkled one, being of Pan and Bacchus; of Saturn and Apollo, etc. These are not uncommon in collections of Antiques: aud in the books of the antiquaries, as Montfancon, Spanheim, etc. WARBURTON. |