The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1878-01-17

| ShliOd may udf6 buO
Oplnlou III q measure, our present dis
cussion is unaffected by it for the inn
portant thing with us, is-what did
Shakespeare believe Venice to have been2
The Council of Ten aOas an inquisitional
body but it had chiefly to do with in
ternational and state matters, and very
| little directly with the citizens. Inter
| national comfy was then unknown, and
political offenders were cruelty punished,
and no where more cruelty than at Ven
ice. But II this arbitrary council be-
came dangerous to the citizens they had
/ their remedy through the Great Council,
which was constituted by SO complex
| and careful process that it was scarcely
possible for dangerous or unpopular men
to get a seat in its chamber.
AS to the fairness of our quotations
we say further, that they certainly were
not garbled nor placed in a misleading
order. They were quite largely taken
from the last chapter of the book which
as Hallam himself says was designed
as supplemental to the rest =
''and to give a more adequate sense of
the spirit and character of the middle
ages" We did not expect to show
| Venice possessed of an admirable con-
constitution, judged by our more per-
| feet models. 1t was enough, if it was
one that could endure for centuries if
it was somewhat better than other coun-
tries at that time possessed and was
helped on by wise and far-seeing adj
nlinistration.
Therefore our summary from all the
history produced on both sides would
| be-That Venice was the most cosmo-
politan city of the time that she was at
least nominally a republic and not
| hot Low ca1rv
administered that she was quiet, peace
loving, law-abiding and jealous III her
pursuit and development of general
jurisprudence, and the law merchant;
that her religious antipathies were great
ly ameliorated by an enlarged intercourse
with mankind and further that ,Shdjts-
11eare shared the then 11reUate1at opinion
that hers aOas O arise gOre27anlest.
Now as to Shakspeare's conception,
both Of Venice, her laws, her admins
tration OF justice and of the character OF
Shylock, we refer our readers to the old
story written by the Italian Fiore1at5aao,
which furnished the poet with his plot
almost bodily. This story is too long
to quote entire, but we give the follow
ing: ''But as Venice was place where
justice was strictly administered, and the
Jew had his pretentions grounded on
public and received forms, nobody dared
to oppose him, and their only resource
was entreaty and when the merchants
of Venice applied to him, he was inhex<
ible." He was offered an hundred thou
sand Iucats, but the Jew told him, s'if
he would give him as much gold as the
city of Venice was worth, he would not
accept ;" and says he ''you know little
of me if you think I will desist from my
demand" This story can be found in
volume which we shall mention here
after, and it leaves little to be said on
the subject of this discussion.
Since writing our former article we
have written to a person in charge of
one of the best libraries in the State to
get the views Of commentators, We ars
informed that :sHudson is one Of the
very best Of recent commentators and
in his illustrative cut Of the Sd scene IN
Act III Shyiock is pictured a vigorous,
stalwart man, erect, independent and
resolute." An Intelligent friend has
kindly brongnt to us a copy of the book
above referred to, IdlIjs's Illustrated
Shakespeare. It was published in Lon
don ard New York and vas dedicated
to ", u. Afacready the great English
tragedan whose fame was won by per-
sonating Shylock. This volume con-
tains all illustrative cut entitled s1f'
Macready as ShyIock." We confess
we had a feeling of triumph when we
saw this picture 1t represents him as
walking on the streets and, in the Ian
guage of our critic, as ga man of excel
Lent physique, erect in form, having
a firm step, a flashing eye"
and one to be ''awed by no presence"
who could well be defiant 10 the duke,
. dlctatoIlal TO the Judge, Qontenlptuous
toward the spectators" He does not
appear beyond forty-fve or fifty years
Of age; he grasps vigorously his cane
with his right hand and his left is
clenched and held up menacingly in
front of his rotund chest his eye is
truly terrible. This picture ia an au-
thority the volume having been dedi-
Gated as it was, and marked, 'sMaeready
Testimonial" This volume belongs to
a lady Of this city and she, we doubt
not, will willing allow the very few who
read this article to examine the picture
and read the story which forms the plot
cf "Ierchont Of Venice" But this
same fsinteiligenS iriennid'' informs us
that he has heard Booth, The elder, In
the character of Shylock, and that his
rendition corresponds with Macready's.
It is said by some that Booth, the young
of Shyloclz, given by his father !;
but his rank as a tragedian does
not make him altogether an authority.
So the only great authorities in this
, country and England keep US company
| while we contemplate the ruin our
critic has wrought upon that "pretty
, structure, of pleasing exterior and seem
, ing solidity y and I might add that
Shakespeare himself may possibly return
, and grieve with US.
/ Now the age of Shylock. The infer
ence we made from the probable differ
/ enee in the age OF Jessiea and that of
her father was not made, without con-
temptation of the contingencies suggest
ed by our critic. But there was an utter
absence of proof of those contingencies
and hence we rejected them in the cal
culation. But is 1t said there are proofs
|. as to Shylock's age. We shall see.
, Shy. Well, thou shalt see, thy eyes shall be
thy Judge,
The difference of old shylock and Bassanio "
Shylock was soliloquizing. He had
already consumated his loan to Bassan
10. The difference referred TO was not
years, but difference il sagacity, fore
sight and cunning; and in these partic-
ulars he aUas old compared to Bassanio.
Again:
Shy. My own flesh and blood to rebel
Saiar. Gus upon IT, old eaTTionl rebels it al
these years2
, Our critic has italicized the word
''old'' from which we infer that he
supposes iSalaraaao, if he had been adj
dressing a man of fifty, would have
said;
. '.9ur upon it, young carrionI''
, And was he not justified in being sur