Dro. S O, my old master! who hath bound him here ? Abb. Whoever bound him, I will loose his bonds,

And gain a husband by his liberty :—

Speak, old Ægeon, if thou be'st the man
That hadst a wife once called Æmilia,
That bore thee at a burden two fair sons:
O, if thou be'st the same Ægeon, speak,
And speak unto the same Emilia !

Egeon. If I dream not, thou art Æmilia,
If thou art she, tell me, where is that son
That floated with thee on the fatal raft?

Abb. By men of Epidamnum, he, and I,
And the twin Dromio, all were taken up;
But, by and by, rude fishermen of Corinth
By force took Dromio, and my son from them,
And me they left with those of Epidamnum :
What then became of them, I cannot tell;
I, to this fortune that you see me in.

Duke. Why, here begins his morning story right:
These two Antipholus's, these two so like,
And these two Dromio's, one in semblance,-
Besides her urging of her wreck at sea,-
These are the parents to these children,
Which accidentally are met together.
Antipholus, thou cam'st from Corinth first?

Ant. S. No, sir, not I; I came from Syracuse.
Duke. Stay, stand apart; I know not which is which.
Ant. E. I came from Corinth, my most gracious lord.
Dro. E. And I with him.

Ant. E. Brought to this town by that most famous

warrior

Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle.

Adr. Which of you two did dine with me to-day?
Ant. S. I, gentle mistress.

Adr. And are you not my husband?

Ant. E. No, I say nay to that.

Ant. S. And so do I, yet did she call me so;
And this fair gentlewoman, her sister here,
Did call me brother :-What I told you then,
I hope, I shall have leisure to make good;
If this be not a dream, I see, and hear.

Ang. That is the chain, sir, which you had of me.
Ant. S. I think it be, sir; I deny it not.

Ant. E. And you, sir, for this chain arrested me.

Ang. I think I did, Sir; I deny it not.

Adr. I sent you money, sir, to be your bail,
By Dromio; but I think he brought it not.
Dro. E. No, none by me.

Ant. S. This purse of ducats I receiv'd from you,
And Dromio, my man, did bring them me :
I see, we still did meet each other's man,
And I was ta'en for him, and he for me,

And thereupon these Errors are arose.

Ant. E. These ducats pawn I for my father here.
Duke. It shall not need, thy father hath his life.
Cour. Sir, I must have that diamond from you.
Ant. E. There, take it; and much thanks for my good
cheer.

Abb. Renowned duke, vouchsafe to take the pains
To go with us into the abbey here,

And hear at large discoursed all our fortunes :-
And all that are assembled in this place,
That by this sympathized one day's error
Have suffer'd wrong, go, keep us company,
And we shall make full satisfaction.-
Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail
Of
you my sons; nor, till this present hour,
My heavy burdens are delivered:-

The duke, my husband, and my children both,
And you the calendars of their nativity,

Go to a gossip's feast, and go with me;

After so long grief, such nativity!

Duke. With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast.

[Exeunt Duke, Abbess, GEON, Courtezan, Merchant, ANGELO, and Attendants. Dro. S. Master, shall I fetch your stuff from shipboard? Ant. E. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou embark'd? Dro. S. Your goods, that lay at host, sir, in the Centaur. Ant. S. He speaks to me; I am your master, Dromio: Come, go with us; we'll look to that anon:

Embrace thy brother there, rejoice with him.

[Exeunt ANTIPHOLUS S. and E. ADR. and Luc. Dro. S. There is a fat friend at your master's house, That kitchen'd me for you to-day at dinner;

She now shall be my sister, not my wife.

Dro. E. Methinks, you are my glass and not my brother:

I see by you, I am a sweet-faced youth.
Will you walk in to see their gossiping?
Dro. S. Not I, sir; you are my elder.

Dro. E. That's a question: how shall we try it? Dro. S. We will draw cuts for the senior: till then lead thou first.

Dro. E. Nay, then thus :

We came into the world, like brother and brother; And now let's go hand in hand, not one before another.

[Exeunt.

[6] On a careful revision of the foregoing scenes, I do not hesitate to pronounce them the composition of two very unequal writers. Shakespeare had undoubtedly a share in them; but that the entire play was no work of his, is an opinion which (as Benedick says) "fire cannot melt out of me; I will die in it at the stake." Thus, as we are informed by Aulus Gellius, Lib. III. cap. 3, some plays are absolutely ascribed to Plautus, which in truth had only been (retractata et expolitata) retouched and polished by him. STEEVENS.

MERCHANT OF VENICE.