Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-03-27
SHYLOCK THE JEW


and cooled by the same winter ana
summer that Christians are If yoa
prick us do we not bleed? If you
tickle us do we net laugh? If you
poison us do we not die? And If you
injure us, shall we not revenge? If
4 Jew wrong a Christian he seeks re-
vensa and the Villany you Christians
teach me | shall execute. n can
see here is where he shows his pa
triotism, here is Il mixture of national
and individual resentment, AID not
withstanding this savage bond, he
proposes to Antonio, his feelings and
resentment have something decidedly
patriotic in them. His character Ger
tainly is tragic and back OF Z all he
must sometimes have felt he loss OF
those fixed delights, of house u
,ioln", Of friendship that viii not
break and love that viii not roam. 1t
IS the same force in the human breast
that makes men gods or demons.
lie seems to the casual reader 4
hardened individual with no regard
for anything save gold, but he car
| ricd in his heart the burdens of his
nation, he looked with pity on the
frailties and sufferings Of his people
driven from place to place, robbed Of
whatever they had accumulated, ANA
! here. justice should remove the balI-
| dage from his eyes and distinguished
between the vicious and the unfortu-
| nate. Had he been less unfortunate
he no doubt would have shown
| some disposition to relent, when Por-
tia begs him to show some mercy. as
for Portia being represented as the
beauty of the play she must be ac-
kn%oWledged as having superior intel
lect to any of the men concerned, Tor
she evidently has not lacked mind.
but opportunity, and as a last resort
il vas She who found the way to
reckon with these rash men, ma as
the age of muscle and miracles are
gone, soon woman will come into her
natural ~birthright. for Manervi at last
occupies Il higher niche than Hercu-
les. In one sense these two char
tiers appear as Beauty and the Beast.
But / think in the court where Shy
locks conscience sits as judge he will
stand acquitted. for he craved some
thing besides Antonio's gold, to sat
isfy him. He longed for those de-
lights of home n all the comforts OF
the 'lowly roof; he needed the pres
ence of melody and harmony, home
and friends, things expressive of the
secret life and rhythmical emotion of
the heart. Instead of these, his whole
life seemed g mixture of gall ana
pathos, and out IF such surroundings
came n character that might b.
broken but could not be bent
And to such natures often belong
That penetrative insight,
That firiner atmosphere,
Where FOOTBALLS of appointed things,
Are heard in forecast echoings,
Like wave beats from a viewless sea.
His character was but the result of
a system that is still maintained. The
world has always been divided into
two classes, those who are in a posi-
ton TO take an unfair advantage OF
others, and the unfortunate who are
oppressed by their more fortunate lei
loW-men. The world has its Shylocks
today, Us present conditions viii prove.
Not only do they demand, but under
existing laws obtain their pound of
flesh. The greed that prompts II
modern mill operators and captains
Of industry to obtain the very lives
Of so many helpless children in the
factories of the nation, represents q