The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1895-09-25
MORE ABOUT SHYLOCK.

MORE ABOUT SHYLOCK.
Judge WEIGH has added an addenda to
the article Of his which we published last
week, giving his Interpretation OF the
character of Shylock and two other noted
characters Iscariot and Arnold.
AS the play of Hamlet with Hamlet
omitted" would be incomplete without
this addenda, we copy from advanced
sheets of Welch's Diary:
Dropping the sometimes egotistical
est editorial "we,'' we will add, that we
have no idea of reforming the worlds
view respecting Shylock. When the boss
asses set up bray, the herds chorus; to
set a new note is to invite kicks. Shy
lock, who spurned money in the presence
of patriotic ambition to rebuke a series
Of wanton and studied insults to his ma
ton, his religion and his person, shall
stand in the pillory of the Christian world
until the name of Shakespeare is forgot
ten, and literature buried in the vortex
of a world in ruins. The man who said
IL
years of Cod was a chronic optimist, if
not unconsciously pious liar.
Having published the above criticism
without specially consulting numerous
opinions on the play, we hunted up all
within our reach, only to find that our
cut of the cloth did not follow the warp
Of the loom. Among them we found that
German metaphysician, philosopher and
scholar, who dropped down on this planet
in 1766-(7?) had under the inspiration of
his beer-mug and tobacco-pipe, not only
dragged Shakespeare to light from the
moss which had grown over him in Brit;
ain by translating hts works, but had
dealt with this very question. Herr
Schlegel, in speaking of Shylock, says:
'"The desire Of revenging the expressions
and humiliations suffered by his nation is,
after avarice (s:c), his principal spring of
action Here lies the issue. We deny,
it will be observed, that in the play, ShyA
lock exhibits a single feature of Java
rice'-on the contrary, we claim that his
every act pointedly negatives avarice or
a desire for pecuniary gain Of any sort.
True, we have Antonio's word that Shy
lock was usurer-but when was It that
Christians did not lie about the nation
that gave them theVirgin Mary and Jesus
Christ? True, too, Shylock loaned his
money and took usufruct for it; any rate
of interest is usury-it may or may not
be extortionate-that depends" to cut it
short.
We learn from the speech of the prince.
of Morocco in the casket scene, that in
Shylock's time the ratio between silver
and gold was Lon to 1; we do not know, but
we think, Venice had no usury laws. Al
early as the 18th century, her ports wera
free to the ships of all nations. Under
such conditions, a down-East Yankee
Praise-God Barebones would have dis
counted Shylock in making his money
loaned pay tribute-and had gold and sill
yer been "ewes and rams" instead, his
tricks" would have distanced Jacob with
hts peeled poles in marking the eanlings
of Laban's focks.
The Christian worlds Interpretation of
the character of Shylock, has comprised
Unreasonable injury to the nationless de-
scendant of Shiek Abraham; add to this
the fact that he refuses to attune his high.
bred nose to the nasal twang of Sankey's
hymns-to shout GLORY to God" at Meth
odist campmeetings, and rejects Christ as
his mediator-and we strike at the root
Of a spirit of uncharita bleness in strange
accord with the life and teachings of the
lowly NaZarine. A heart open to feel
others pangs cannot but bleed intellectual
blood at the multiplied wrongs inflicted
upon the head of the unoffending Jew in
whose naughty veins ran the vital fluid
of ancient priests, heroes and prophets
who had communed face to face with Je
hovah, and who conveyed messages to
Israel's ear from His throne-nay, more,
the common inheritor of the life-g:ving
current which followed the Roman spear
on the heights of Calvary. Those artful
conspirators, Bassanio and AntOnio-1tal-
ian brigands-assisted an adventurer to
steal the Jews Jessica, desolating his
home, and divided with the state the ac
cretions of his life. DID his acts justify
this double outrage3 Had Antonio
treated Kentucky colonel as he treated
the Venetian Hebrew. the ferryman of
hell would have had job without delay.
But Antonio was a Christian-Shylock,
Jew!-as to Bassanio, he was an ire
sponsible borrower of money, and no
doubt the ducats offered the Jew were
bogus.
AS Shylock eschewed pork, these Chris
tians deemed it a virtue to initiate the
greed of a hog.
But the awful Bond! Compare it with
the bonds which our most Christian ex-
cellency, Grover Cleveland, has executed
in binding the Gentiles of the United
States The gap in Herr Shylock's bond
IS filled; ample provision is made for
blood N cutting away the pound of flesh,
nice discrimination in adjusting the scales
is flanked by allowing Is per centum of d
margin! Thus we Christians profit by
the mistakes of Inf1del Pagans, and thank
God at the expense of the knees of our
breeches that we are not of the tribes
:ol, ho I'D int fho To-
of the olive and the grape.