Not satisfied, she again appeals to his pity in combination with his avarice,

"Be merciful!
Take thrice thy money,"

but the Jew is not moved.

Her own tenderness and

sweetness of character is so strong, that she remains unwilling to accept Shylock's inhumanity; she can scarcely credit the firmness of the Jew. She would that Antonio should appeal to him, and it is only after the failure of the merchant to move Shylock from his purpose, that she resolves the law shall have its course, knowing full well, that her husband's friend will be saved and the Jew will be ruined in reputation and in fortune. Portia is a true woman, one worthy of being loved, and one, who having chose her idol, would bestow upon it the whole of her affections.

Nerissa, Portia's fair attendant is but a subordinate part in the comedy, yet she serves to complete the picture. She is witty, playful, and charming, copying a part of her mistress' elegance, affecting a portion of her mental culture, and naturally, is not devoid of grace and good manners. She is quick in discrimination, fails not in the use of her tongue, and is in all respects an excellent match for Gratiano, for though not so boisterous in her manner, she is equally as playful and as ready for fun as he is.

Jessica, the pretty Jewess and Lorenzo's love, serves to work out the sunny side of the comedy. Her love for Lorenzo destroys her filial feeling, which is not of the strongest nature; a result which arises from her father valuing her less than the ducats and jewels he possessed. The light manner in which he held his daughter, is the only justification that can be pleaded

for her leaving him and taking away his property. The manner in which her father has secluded her from the world, his harshness and constant inveighing against the Christian race, causes her to act with duplicity. Her duplicity is made manifest in the scene when Shylock is going out to supper, and bids her not to thrust her

"head into the public street

To gaze on Christian fools with varnish'd faces;"

for in answer to her father's question,

"What says that fool of Hagar's offspring? ha!"

she replies knowing full well that the reply is not truthful

"His words were, Farewell, mistress; nothing else." This deceiveth the old man and awakens a little of his humanity, for it extracts from him an acknowledgment, "The patch is kind enough."

In this same scene she hath already agreed to elope; the time and means are arranged, and her answer to her father's proverb of

is,

"Fast bind, fast find,”

"Farewell; and if my fortune be not crost,

I have a father, you a daughter, lost.”—A. II. s. 5.

It is not to be wondered at that Jessica should act in the manner that she does, when we consider the circumstances in which she is placed. We feel that it is not right for children to revolt against their parents, but what are we to expect from children when parents forget to perform their duties towards their offspring. That Shylock failed to perform his parental duties is evident, and Shakspere with his usual truthfulness, in

the conduct of Jessica, shows the result of such a failure. In all things, irrespective of her conduct to her father, Shakspere has made Jessica good, kind and chaste. Her chastity cannot be questioned, and her modesty is shown in the elopement scene, when she is dressed in a page's garb, in her words,

"I am glad 'tis night, you do not look on me,
For I am much asham'd of my exchange."

Shakspere in his Romeo and Juliet has pourtrayed the same feeling in the famous balcony scene, when Juliet exclaims,

"The mask of night is on my face,

Else would a maiden blush bepaint my cheek."

The pretty Jewess, despite her want of deep filial feeling, is one of the most beautiful characters Shakspere has drawn. Her simplicity is so child-like and winning, her firm reliance upon her lover and her strong belief in his truthfulness, the romance of her position, and the veil of poetry with which both she and her husband are enveloped, all serve to win our sympathies, and to render her, if not a principal figure, at least a charming one in this most charming comedy.

Among the whole of Shakspere's productions there is none more perfect than this comedy, and there is none that keeps its hold upon the stage and is more frequently represented than this. It is full of interest. The reader and the spectator, until the trial scene is nearly ended, are full of anxiety and are kept in a state of great suspense, happily relieved by the defeat of the Jew's intent. The interest never flags, the action never stands still, all goes on, gradually accumulating in intensity until the climax is reached in the speech prior to the evasion set forth by Portia, and which evasion

relieves the feelings, and carries them from a state of doubt, despondency and despair into one of pleasure, joy and happiness.

A great absurdity is frequently committed by managers and star actors (?) finishing this comedy with the trial scene. Shylock, no more appearing among the dramatis persona, they have conceived the idea, that the piece should terminate with the fourth act, losing sight entirely of the underplot, so necessary to be developed to complete the chief character, Portia, and the characters of Antonio, Bassanio, Gratiano and the rest. By leaving out the fifth act, they also leave out some of the finest poetry of the comedy, for the language of Portia and Lorenzo overflows with poetic imagery and beautiful ideas. The playfulness evinced by Lorenzo and Jessica in their allusions to classic love stories, and their seeking to outvie each other in their protestations of love,-Lorenzo's apostrophe to music, the fictitious quarrel of Bassanio and Portia, Gratiano and Nerissa relative to their rings,-and the news which Portia gives Antonio

"of three of your argosies,

Are richly come to harbour suddenly.”

aptly finish a comedy, one of the highest among our bard's productions,-a comedy which abounds in incident, interest and humour, enthralling, and keeping enthralled both reader and spectator.

TIMON OF ATHENS.

"THE Life of Timon of Athens," was first printed in the folio of 1623, and the date of its production is assigned to the year 1610. There is but little external evidence so to affix the date, but the internal evidence will well serve this purpose, for it is written in the same elliptical condensation of style which distinguishes the plays of Henry VIII., Coriolanus, and The Winter's Tale. These plays are all characterised by peculiar contractions and they all belong to one period of writing. The twenty-eighth novel in Painter's Palace of Pleasure, is said to be one of the sources from whence this tragedy was derived, while an early play in which the character of Timon appears, has been supposed to be another source, and a passage in North's translation of Plutarch's Lives, serves for another. In neither the novel by Painter, nor in the early play, nor in North's translation, can we, however, find the Timon of Shakspere. Skottowe in his life of Shakspere, traces some remarkable coincidences between Shakspere's Timon and Lucian's Timon, or the Misanthrope; but they are accidental coincidences which have arisen irrespectively, for

*This play, which is a wretchedly poor production, was edited by the Rev. W. Dyce, for the Shakspere Society, and published in 1842.