There can be no doubt that the play was new in 1598

The two stories interwoven by it are med iæval myths; the germ of each is in Latin in the collection of the "Gesta Romanorum," and the story of the Jew was developed in the direction of Shakespeare's play as the "Adventures of Giannetto" in a collection of Italian tales called the "Pecorone," produced in 1378 by one of the imitators of Boccaccio's "Decameron," Ser Giovanni Fiorentino. This is an Italian collection of which there is no known translation into English that could have been seen by Shakespeare. In 1579, in his pamphlet against the stage as "The School of Abuse," Stephen Go on referred to a play known as "The Jew," which set forth "the greedine of worldly choosers, and the bloody minds of usurers." So it may be that a previous play, now lost, had interwoven the tales of the caskets and the pound of flesh, and that the transmuting power of Shakespeare's genius was exercised upon this. Morley , English Writers, X. 238 [Poor versions and adaptations of "The Merchant of Venice" were made by Dryden, Otway, Shad well, Lansdowne, and others, which held the stage until 1741, when Macklin restored Shakspere. See Shylock .] Merchant's Tale, The. One of Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales." It is the story of the deception of an old husband by a young wife with the friendly a istance of an enchanted tree. The original is Eastern: an account of the Indo-Persian, Turkish, Arabian, Singhalese, and other versions of it is given in the Chaucer Society's "Originals and Analogues. The Latin versions are Boc caccio's and Caxton's; the immediate source of Chaucer's version, however, is thought to be the Latin fable of Adolphe (about 1315). Pope modernized it as “January and May. Mercia (mer's hiä). [ML., from AS. Mierce, Myrce , Merce , pl., the people, Mierena land or rice , the land of the Mercians, from mearc , mark, border.] An ancient Anglian kingdom in the interior of England, which lay south of Nor thumb ria and north of We ex, and reached westward to the Welsh "Mark." It was founded probably in the second half of the 6th century; was flour ishing under Penda and his succe ors in the 7th century the attained the overlordship under Ethelbald and Offa 8th century; pa ed under the supremacy of We ex about 827; and later was one of the great earldoms until the Norman conquest. Mercié Mercié (mer-syā'), Marius Jean Antoine. Born at Toulouse, Oct. 30, 1845. A French sculptor, a pupil of Falguière and Jouffroy. He gained the prix de Rome in 1868. Among his works are the statue of "David" (1872)," Dalila" (1872: a bust in bronze), "Gloria victis" (1874: bought by the state and placed in the Square Montholon), "Le loup, la mère et l'enfant" (1875: a bas-relief), "David avant le combat' abat" and "Fleur de Mai" (1876), "Le génie des arts" (1877: for the Guichet des Tuileries), tomb of Michelet at Père-laChaise (1879), and "Judith" (1880: a portrait). Mercier (mer-syā'), Louis Sébastien. Born at Paris, June 6, 1740: died at Paris, April 25, 1814. A French littérateur and politician. Mercier, Philip. Born at Berlin, 1689: died at London, July 18, 1760. An English portrait painter. He was a pupil of Antoine Pesne at Berlin; and librarian in 1727. He was a clever painter in the style of Watteau. His portrait of Peg Woffington is in the Garrick Club. went to London 1716; and was appointed court painter Mercile Parliament, The. An English parliament of 1388: so named on account of the cruelty exercised by it toward the adherents of Richard II. Merck (merk), Johann He in rich. Born at Darmstadt, Germany, April 11, 1741: committed suicide, June 27, 1791. A German literary critic and author, a friend of Herder and Goethe. He exercised great influence upon the life of the latter. Mercurius Aulicius (mèr-kū'ri-us a-lish'i-us). A journal in the Royalist interest which was written and published by Sir John Birken head at Oxford while the king and court were there. The first number was i ued in Jan., 1642, and it appeared continuously till 1645, after which it was i ued occasionally as weekly. It has never been reprinted or edited. Birken head received very little help from others. In lit. erary quality it is far superior to the "Mercurius Britannicus. Dict. Nat . Biog . Mercury (mėr'kū-ri). [L. Mercurius , Mercury (the deity and the planet): so called (apparently) as the god of trade, from merx , merchandise.] 1. In Roman mythology, the name of a Roman divinity who became identified with the Greek Hermes. He was the son of Jupiter and Maia, and was the herald and amba ador of Jupiter. As a god of darkne , Mercury is the tutelary deity of thieves and tricksters; he became also the protector of herdsmen, the god of science, commerce, and the arts and graces of life, and the patron of travelers and athletes. It was he who guided the shades of the dead to their final abiding-place. He is represented in art as a young man, usually wearing a winged hat and the talaria or winged sandals, and bearing the caduceus or pastoral staff, and often a purse. 2. The innermost planet of the solar system. Its mean distance from the sun is 0.387 that of the earth. The inclination (7 degrees) and the eccentricity (0.2056) of its orbit are exceeded only by some of the minor planets. Its diameter is only 3,000 miles, or about of that of the earth; its volume is to that of the earth as 1 to 18.5. It performs its sidereal revolution in 88 days, its synodical in 116. Its proximity to the sun prevents its being often seen with the naked eye. The ma of Mercury, though as yet not very precisely determined, is le than that of any other planet (asteroids excepted). According to Schiaparelli it rotates on its axis in the same way as the moon does, once in each orbital revolution. Mercury, Belvedere. A Greek statue of the period of full development of Hellenic sculpture, in the Vatican, Rome. The statue is undraped except for a himation wound about the left arm and shoulder. Mercury Fastening his Sandal. An antique marble statue, undraped, in the Glyptothek at Munich. Mercutio (mér-kū'shiō). In Shakspere's "Romeo and Juliet," the friend of Romeo. He is endowed with courage, an easy mind, wit, fancy, and a light heart. Mercutio is, I think, one of the best instances of such a comic person as may reasonably and with propriety be admitted into tragedy.