Mira. How came we afhore?

Pro. By providence divine.

Some food we had, and some fresh water, that A noble Neapolitan, Gonzalo,

Out of his charity, being then appointed

Master of this defign, did give us, with

Rich garments, linens, ftuffs, and neceffaries,

Which fince have fteeded much. So of his gentleness,
Knowing I lov'd my books, he furnish'd me

From my own library, with volumes that
I prize above my Dukedom.

Mira. Would I might

But ever see that man!

Pro. Now, I arise :

Sit ftill, and hear the laft of our fea forrow.
Here in this island we arriv'd, and here

Have I, thy school-mafter, made thee more profit
Than other Princes can, that have more time
For vainer hours, and tutors not so careful.

Mira. Heav'ns thank for't! And now, I pray,

You, Sir,

you

(For ftill 'tis beating in my mind) your reafon For raifing this fea-ftorm?

Pro. Know thus far forth,

By accident moft ftrange, bountiful fortune,
Now my dear lady, hath mine enemies
Brought to this fhore: and, by my prescience
I find, my Zenith doth depend upon
A moft aufpicious ftar; whofe influence
If now I court not, but omit, my fortunes

Will ever after droop. Here ceafe more questions
Thou art inclin'd to fleep. 'Tis a good dulnefs, (7)
And give it way-a fide. I know thou canst not chufe-
[Miranda Лleeps.
Come away, fervant, come; I'm ready now:
Approach, my Ariel, come.

(7) Dr. Warburton rightly obferves, that this Sleepinefs which Profpero by his Art had brought upon Miranda, and of which he knew not how foon the Effect would begin, makes him queftion her so often whether the is attentive to his story.

SCENE

SCENE III.

Enter Ariel.

Ari. All hail, great mafter! grave Sir, hail! I

come

To answer thy best pleasure: Be't to fly;

To fwim; to dive into the fire; to ride

On the curl'd clouds: to thy ftrong bidding task
Ariel, and all his quality.

Pro. Haft thou, fpirit,

Perform'd to point the tempeft that I bad thee?
Ari. To every article.

I boarded the King's fhip: now on the beak, (8)
Now in the waste, (9) the deck, in every cabin,
Sometimes, I'd divide,
And burn in many places; on the top-maft,

I flam'd amazement.

The yards, and bolt-fprit, would I flame diftinctly; Then meet and join. Joe's lightnings, the precurfors Of dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary

And fight out-running were not; the fire and cracks Of fulphurous roaring the moft mighty Neptune Seem'd to befiege, and make his bold waves tremble; Yea, his dread trident thake.

Pro. My brave fpirit!

Who was fo firm, fo conftant, that this coyle
Would not infect his reason?

Ari. Not a foul

But felt a fever of the mad, and plaid (1)
Some tricks of defperation: all, but mariners,
Plung'd in the foaming brine, and quit the veffel,
Then all a-fire, with me: the King's fon Ferdinand,
With hair up-staring (then like reeds, not hair)

(8) The Beak was a strong pointed body at the head of the ancient gallies; it is used here for the forecafile, or the boltfprit.

(9) The part between the quarter-deck and the forecastle. (1) In all the later editions this is changed to a Fever of the Mind, without Reafon or Authority, nor is any Notice given of an Alteration.

Was

Was the firft man, that leap'd; cry'd, "hell is empty; "And all the devils are here."

Pro. Why, that's my fpirit!
But was not this nigh fhore?
Ari. Close by, my Master.
Pro. But are they, Ariel, fafe?
Ari. Not a hair perish'd:

On their fuftaining garments not a blemish,
But fresher than before: And as thou badst me,
In troops I have difpers'd them 'bout the isle:
The King's fon have I landed by himself,
Whom I left cooling of the air with fighs,
In an odd angle of the ifle, and fitting,
His arms in this fad knot.

Pro. Of the King's fhip

The mariners, fay, how thou haft difpos'd,
And all the rest o' th' fleet?

Ari. Safely in harbour

Is the King's fhip; in the deep nook, where once
Thou call'dft me up at midnight, to fetch dew
From the still-vext Bermoothes. (2) There fhe's hid,
The mariners all under hatches ftow'd,

Whom with a charm join'd to their suffer'd labour
I've left afleep; and for the reft o' th' fleet
(Which I difpers'd) they all have met again,
And are upon
the Mediterranean flote,

Bound fadly home for Naples;

Suppofing, that they saw the King's ship wreckt,

(2) From the fill-vext Bermoothes.] Theobald fays Bermoothes is printed by Mistake for Bermudas. No. That was the Name by which the Islands then went, as we may fee by the Voyages of that Time: and by our Author's contemporary Poets. Fletcher, in his Woman pleafed, fays, The Devil fhould think of purchafing that Eggsbelt to victual out a Witch for the Ber moothes. Smith, in his account of these islands, p. 172, fays that the Bermudas were fo fearful to the world, that many called them the Ifle of Devils.p. 174. to all Seamen no lefs terrible than an inchanted Den of Furies. And no wonder, for the Clime was extremely fubject to Storms and Hurricanes; and the Iflands were furrounded with fcattered Rocks lying fhallowly hid under the Surface of the Water. WARBURTON.

VOL. I.

C

And

And his great perfon perish.

Pro. Ariel, thy charge

Exactly is perform'd; but there's more work.
What is the time o' th' day? (3)

Ari. Past the mid feason.

Pro. At least two glaffes; the time 'twixt fix and now Muft by us both be fpent moft preciously.

Ari. Is there more toil? fince thou doft give me
pains,

Let me remember thee what thou haft promis'd,
Which is not yet perform'd me.

Pro. How now? moody?

What is't thou canft demand?

Ari. My liberty.

Pro. Before the time be out? no more.

Ari. I pr'ythee,

Remember, I have done thee worthy service

Told thee no lies, made no mistakings, ferv'd

Without or grudge, or grumblings; thou didst promise To bate me a full year.

Pro. Doft thou forget (4)

From

(3) This Paffage needs not be disturbed, it being common to afk a Question which the next Moment enables us to answer; he that thinks it faulty may easily adjust it thus:

Profp. What is the time o'th' day? Paft the mid feason?
Ari. At least two glaffes,

Profp. The time 'twixt fix and now

(4) That the Character and Conduct of Profpero may be understood, fomething must be known of the Syftem of Enchantment, which fupplied all the Marvellous found in the Romances of the middle Ages. This Syftem feems to be founded on the Opinion that the fallen Spirits, having different Degrees of Guilt, had different Habitations allotted them at their Expulfion, fome being confined in Hell, fome, as Hooker, who delivers the Opinion of our Poet's Age, expreffes it, difperfed in Air, fome on Earth, fome in Water, others in Caves, Dens or Minerals under the Earth. Of thefe fome were more malignant and mifchievous than others. The earthy Spirits feem to have been thought the most depraved, and the aerial the leaft vitiated. Thus Profpere observes of Ariel,

-Thou waft a Spirit too delicate
To act her earthy and abhorr'd Commands.

From what a torment I did free thee?

Ari. No.

Pro. Thou doft; and think'ft it much to tread the

ooze

Of the falt deep;

To run upon

the fharp Wind of the North; To do me business in the veins o' th' earth, When it is bak'd with froft.

Ari. I do not, Sir.

Pro. Thou ly'ft, malignant thing! haft thou forgot
The foul witch Sycorax, who with age and envy
Was grown into a hoop? haft thou forgot her?
Ari. No, Sir

Pro. Thou haft: where was the born? speak; tell

me.

Ari. Sir, in Argier.

Pro. Oh, was the fo? I muft

Once in a month recount what thou haft been,
Which thou forget'ft. This damn'd witch Sycorax,
For mischiefs manifold and forceries terrible
To enter human hearing, from Argier,

Over these Spirits a Power might be obtained by certain Rites performed, or Charms learned. This Power was called the Black Art, or Knowledge of Enchantment. The Enchanter being, as King James obferves in his Demonology, one who commands the Devil, whereas the Witch ferves him. Those who thought beft of this Art, the Existence of which was, I am afraid, believed very seriously, held that certain Sounds and Characters had a phyfical Power over Spirits, and compelled their Agency; others who condemned the Practice, which in reality was furely never practifed, were of Opinion, with more Reason, that the Power of Charms arofe only from Compact, and was no more than the Spirits voluntarily allowed them for the Seduction of Man. The Art was he'd by all, though not equally criminal, yet unlawful; and therefore Caufabon, fpeaking of one who had Commerce with Spirits, blames him, though he imagines him one of the beft Kind who dealt with them by Way of Command. Thus Profpero repents of his Art in the laft Scene. The Spirits were always confidered as in feme Meafure enflaved to the Enchanter, at leaft for a Time, and as ferving with Unwillingness; therefore Ariel fo often begs for Liberty; and Caliban obferves that the Spirits serve Profpero with no good Will, but hate him rootedly. Of thefe Trifles enough. C 2

Thou