The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-09-18
ISCARIOT, SHYLock AND ARNOLD.
AN ORIGINAL VIEW OF THE CHAR
ACTER OF SHYLOCK.
Editor Representative:

Editor Representative.
In our list of names from which we
make selections for Odious comparisons,
the three above named stand at the head.
To characterize treason to sacred cause
betrayal infamous and cruel-We drop
upon Iscariot; his name is the synonym OF
concentrated malignanty, and in all tha
tongues Of the Christian world, language
staggers and falters in depicting his base
and perfidious act in handing the Messiah
over to the minions of Pontius Pilot and
the Roman power. However, Drawing the
terrors Of the church Catholic and Protes-
tant, secular schools of philosophy have
advanced theory in respect OF the act
for which Iscariot is condemned, at once
consistent and probably true. He be-
lieved that his master was the very God;
so believing, he thought the hand OF puny
man laid on Him would wither like a leafin
the fiery furnace; and when he saw Him
led away to Pilates judgment seat,
manacled prisoner, his great heart burst
in tender grief and he threw back into the
faces of the Roman grand jury the 80
pieces of silver which he had taken front
Lysias, chief of the Centurions, as bride
to show his band the haunts of Christ; and
more than this, it is urged that the act Of
Iscarot-the alleged betrayer-was an all
essential part If the plan of salvation,
and that without it, those Christian hier-
ophants who turned red in the face in
athematising Iscariot, would surely be
booked for their place of eternal torments.
For Arnold, little can be said in his de-
Tense. Perhaps his conscience worried
him for violating his oath of allegiance
to III. George; and then perhaps, he
thought a daring act Of perfidy would
shatter the cabals which were formed to
drive Washington from his command, and
unite all opposing factions, in dislodging
the British, and thereby saving their own
necks from the halter.
While there is enough in the case of Is
CARROT to go to the Indifferent panel of the
1,200,000,000 of the pagan world, think
in the case of Arnold, the court should
hold that the facts set up for a defense in
his case, # fact they are, are not so clearly
established that jury should be allowed
to pass upon them. Judgment, therefore,
should be entered of record against Ar
mold, and a rehearing denied.
l now take up the most wonderful char
acter of the three-a creation of the brain,
more intricte in human workmanship
than the tabled Mars, who, according to
the Grafton Of F. F. Davis, in his EXPOSE
ton exordium of a~few years since, was
evolved from the head of the cloud-com-
pell:ng Joye. Shylock, the Jew of the
Merchant of Venice Stands out upon the
drapery of real and ideal life, with an
intense personality. We all know Shy
lock, the Venetian Jew. His port and
mien is familiar to our every day life.
age cannot stale, nor custom wither, his
infinite varieties" We admire him and
we hate him. AS representative of his
tribe, he stands proudly without peer
since the days of Father Abraham. His
learning was profound, and his philosophy
rested upon the corner stone of the wis
dom of all ages. His faith in the Jehovah
of the Jews was as broad as the earth and
as high as the heavens. Clad in the garb'
of his tribe, he moved daily among the
merchants of all nations on the Rialto,
known to all as the possessor of great
wealth-loved by his kindred and hated
by Christians.
In the worlds judgment of this great
character as presented by SHAKESPEARE, he
is the lmpersonatiOn of concentrated
greed and avarice; next to Israel's God,
he worships gold, his daughter the lovely
yessica-and his ducats; these engrossed
his domestic life All other human pas
SONS are subordinated to gain. That the
great poet designed to give US character
saturated with avarice, is too true-but in
this respect, in the grand play, Shylock is
personated as Jew holding in utter con-
tempt all greed for gold when compared
with an entirely distinct attribute of the
human heart. l assume that in all of
Shakespere's characters, the leading
characteristics brought out with the great
est prominence should not be subordi-
mated to those of another cast. Othello is
our ideal of insane jealousy; Desdemona.
of devoted love; Falstaff, of brag, bonn
bast and cowardice; Richard Ill, of con-
summate plotting and villiany; of Lear.
heart lacerated by ingratitude; of Shy
lock, the arch fiend whose ruling passion
was revenge.
l have no purpose to follow out the plot
of the play, beyond illustrating the truth
of my claim. Bassnio, Christian Vene-
tlan merchant, went into the market to
borrow three thousand ducats. He
dropped down upon Shylock whom he
knew, and whom his friend Antonio had
rated for making hard bargains with men
who borrowed money. Shylock was an
gered at this but worse still, Antonio had
volded his rheum upon his beard-called
him Jew in derision, and now he was
a naughty su.tor for loan of money to
his friend Bassinio. The desire for re-
venge at once took possession of Shylock
-ducats and interest might go to the
dogs-he would now feed his revenge.
He tells Antonio he can have the mon
ey,-but reminds him of the indignities
he has sustained at his hands, " and for
these courtesies lends him thus much
monies" In a playful mood" Shylock
takes his Christian victim to a notary.
and their contract is evidenced by A
bond, in which he is to forfeit to his
creditor pound of flesh nearest his
heart II he fails to pay the debt at ma
tur1ty. No interest is asked and no sur
ETY. demanded. Surely this was not the
act of man eaten up with greed.
Quietly Shylock waited for payday to
arrive. Anxiously, from the Bridge Of
Sighs' Antonio watched the incoming
tides of the Adriatic to bear his argosies
TO the Venetian Quays. Payday arriv-
ed-not so the argosies.' The bond is for
feited-and Shylock speeds his way to a
Venetian court to obtain a decree to
that effect. The ducats are gone for
ov,1 ClvvI