Bishop Hall in his Satires, published in 1597. There if he can with termes Italianate, And Camden having given us a specimen of the Lord's Prayer in old English, has these words. "Hitherto will our sparkfull youth laugh at their great grand-fathers English, who had more care to do well than to speak minion-like; and left more glory to us by their exploiting great actes, than we shall by our forging new words and uncouth phrases*." A learned gentleman, one R. C. [Carew] who has addressed a letter to Camden, inserted in that author's Remains, thus speaks. "So have our Italian travellers brought us acquainted of their sweet-relished phrases; VOL. I. * Remains. Artic. Languages. N even we seeke to make our good of our late Spanish enemie, and fear as little the hurt of his tongue as the dint of his sword".Again, "we within these sixty years have incorporated so many Latin and French words, as the third part of our tongue consisteth now in them." And Ascham in his Schole-master informs us, that not only the language, but the manners of Italy had totally infected his country-men, where he is describing the Italianized Englishman*. * The same author acquaints us, that about this time an infinite number of Italian books were translated into English; among the rest were many Italian novels, the translations of which Shakespeare manifestly made use of for some of his plots. Those who have undertaken to point out the books from whence Shakespeare borrowed his plots, have not, I think, been able to discover the source from whence he drew the story of his Merchant of Venice; which, in all probability, is founded upon the following ancient ballad, which I met with in a large collection. Mus. Ashmol. Oxon. Cod. impress. A. Wood. Our author's disapprobation of this practice appears more fully from his own words, where he expressly hints that Chaucer's lan A SONG, shewing the crueltie of GERNUTUS a Jewe, who lending to a merchant an hundred crownes, would have a pound of his fleshe, because he could not pay him at the time appointed. In Venice towne not long agoe, A cruell Jewe did dwell; As Italian writers tell. Gernutus called was the Jewe, &c. The whole song would be too prolix for this place. Ì shall transcribe only the close of the story; having premised, that the cunning and rapacious Jew is represented, in our ballad, to have lent an eminent merchant of Venice an hundred crowns, upon a bond, in which promise of payment is made within a year and a day; under the forfeiture of a pound of the merchant's flesh, in case of non-payment: that the merchant, on account of his ships being detained by contrary winds, was unable to perform his contract at the time appointed that the affair was referred to a judge; that the friends of the merchant offered ten thousand crowns to absolve him, but that the Jew obstinately persisted in his demand of the forfeited pound of flesh. guage, which he so closely copied, was the pure English. Then said the judge, Yet good, my friend, The bloudie Jewe now readie is, With whetted blade in hand, And as he was about to strike In him the deadlie blow, Stay (quoth the judge) thy crueltie, Sith needs thou wilt thy forfeit have See that thou shed no drop of bloud, -Dan Chaucer well of English undefilde*. 4. 2. 32. For if thou doe, like murderer For if thou take or more or lesse Thou shalt be hanged presentlie, Gernutus nowe waxt franticke mad, Quoth he, at last, ten thousand crownes And so I grant to sette him free The judge doth answer make, * A learned and sagacious lexicographer gives a very different account of the purity of Chaucer's style.— Chaucerus, pessimo exemplo, integris vocum plaustris ex eadem Gallia in nostram linguam invectis; eam, nimis antea a Normannorum victoria adulteratam, omni fere nativa gratia et nitore spoliavit, pro genuinis coloribus fucum illinens, pro vera facie larvam induens."Skinner, Præfat. ad Etymolog. Ling. Anglic. |