Merchant of Syracuse, plead no more.
I am not partial to infringe our laws.
partial disposed, minded, inclined
The enmity and discord which of late
Sprung from the rancorous outrage of your Duke
To merchants, our well-dealing countrymen,
well-dealing fair-dealing, conducting business well
Who, wanting guilders to redeem their lives,
Have sealed his rigorous statutes with their bloods,
Excludes all pity from our threatening looks.
For since the mortal and intestine jars
'Twixt thy seditious countrymen and us
It hath in solem synods been decreed
Both by the Syracusians and ourselvs
To admit no traffic to our adverse towns.
Nay, more:
If any born at Ephesus be seen
At any Syracusian marts and fairs;
Again, if any Syracusian born
Come to the bay of Ephesus, he dies,
His goods confiscate to the Duke's dispose,