represented on signs; but by an invisible agent, whom he quaintly and facetiously calls, the picture of No-body. This is evident from the next speech. P. 83.-65.-102. Trin. Wilt come? I'll follow, Stephano. I think the author of the Revisal has explained this rightly, and consequently dissent from Mr. Malone, and from Mr. Ritson. Ariel. P. 88.-69.-109. You fools! I and my fellows Are ministers of fate; the elements Of whom your swords are temper'd, may as well One dowle that's in my plume. The modern editions have down. Sed neque vim plumis ullam, nec vulnera tergo Accipiunt VIRG. EN. iii. P. 90.-70.-111. So, with good life, And observation strange, my meaner ministers Their several kinds have done. So with good life, is, I think, rightly explained by Dr. Johnson. Ibid.-112. Young Ferdinand (whom they suppose is drown'd). The grammar requires who; but this may be the author's mistake. P. 92.-71.-114. Pro. If I have too austerely punish'd you, Your compensation makes amends; for I Have given you here a thread of mine own life, Thread is certainly what is meant. I believe the old way of spelling it was thrid, and that the r and the i were frequently transposed by the inattention of the compositor of the press. P. 95.-74.-118. Thy turfy mountains, where live nibbling sheep, And flat meads thatch'd with stover, them to keep, Is now used in Suffolk for fodder for cattle. P. 97-76.-122. Why hath thy queen Summon'd me hither, to this short-grass'd green? I see no reason for changing short-graz'd to short-grass'd. P. 98.-76.-123. Highest queen of state, Great Juno comes; I know her by her gait. Modern editions have High queen. P. 99.-77.-124. This is a most majestic vision, and Some editions have Harmonious charming lays. It is so cited by Hurd in his Dissertation on the Marks of Imitation, where he highly commends this mask. P. 100.-78.-125. You nymphs, call'd Naiads, of the wand'ring brooks. Why is not winding as probable a reading as wand'ring? P. 103.-79.-128. And, like this insubstantial pageant faded, Leave not a rack behind. I am inclined to think that rack is a mis-spelling for wrack, i. e. wreck. P. 104.-81.-130. Ferd. Mira. We wish your peace. Pro. Come with a thought:-I thank you :-Ariel, come. I think Mr. Steevens has done rightly in changing thee to you. Theobald made the same alteration. P. 82.-132. Pro. A devil, a born devil, on whose nature I think it very probable that Mr. Malone is right. P. 114.-88.-141. and you, whose pastime Is to make midnight mushrooms; that rejoice To hear the solemn curfew; by whose aid (Weak masters though ye be,) I have be-dimm'd Blackstone has mistaken the meaning of this, which is rightly explained by Steevens P. 115.-89.-142. A solemn air, and the best comforter To an unsettled fancy's cure! Thy brains, (Malone's reading). I think the reading of Mr. Pope and the subsequent editors much preferable to Mr. Malone's, whose meaning I confess I do not understand. The passage in the modern editions, preceding Mr. Malone's, stood thus: A solemn air, and the best comforter To an unsettled fancy, cure thy brains, This I understand, or at least fancy I do. Of the passage, as regulated by Mr. Malone, I can make nothing. P. 116.-90.-143. Thou'rt pinch'd for't now, Sebastian.-Flesh and blood. Thour't pinch'd for't now, Sebastian, flesh and blood. On the bat's back I do fly, I think this is rightly explained by Mr. Steevens. P. 121.-95.—151. Mira. Yes, for a score of kingdoms, you should wrangle, I think the punctuation recommended by Mr. Steevens is right. P. 128.-100.-160. Cap. Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter, Dr. Warton in his elegant critique on this play, (Adventurer, Nos. 93, 97,) thinks Shakespeare injudicious in putting into the mouth of Caliban this speech, which implies repentance and understanding; whereas he thinks he ought to have preserved the fierce and implacable spirit of Caliban to the end. I doubt whether this censure is just, and suspect it would not have been passed, had not Dr. W. thought it necessary to point out some defect in the piece on which he was commenting, in order to escape the charge of an indiscriminating admiration of his author, too frequently imputable to commentators. Caliban was struck with the splendid appearance of Prospero and the other princes, whose magnificent habits far exceeded any thing he had ever seen before (for their "Garments, being, as they were, drenched in the sea, held, notwithstanding, their freshness and glosses, being rather new-dyed than stained with salt water"): and he considered them as beings of a superior order to the drunkards with whom he had lately conversed: O, Setebos! these be brave spirits indeed! It is natural to a savage to be immediately delighted with novelty, and to over-rate that with which he is captivated; and, accordingly, Caliban, in his first encounter with Stephano and Trinculo, is represented (with great propriety, I think,) as treating his new friends with a superstitious respect: That's a brave god, and bears celestial liquor! He had, besides, just had painful experience of Prospero's power, the farther effects of which he still dreaded ("I fear he will chastise me,' and "I shall be pinch'd to death,"); and his extravagant admiration co-operating with his fears, it seems natural for him to promise amendment, and to engage obedience to those, whom his astonished imagination conceived to be of transcendent dignity and power. |