Thou'rt pinch'd for't now, Sebaftian.-Flesh and blood,
You brother mine, that entertain'd ambition,
Expell'd remorfe, and nature; 5 who, with Sebastian,
(Whofe inward pinches therefore are most strong,)
Would here have kill'd your king; I do forgive thee,
Unnatural though thou art!Their understanding
Begins to fwell; and the approaching tide
Will fhortly fill the reasonable shores,

That now lie foul and muddy. Not one of them,
That yet looks on me, or would know me :-Ariel,
Fetch me the hat and rapier in my cell;

I will dif-cafe me, and myself prefent,

As I was fometime Milan:-quickly, fpirit;
Thou shalt ere long be free.

[Exit ARIEL.

ARIEL re-enters, finging, and helps to attire PROSPERO.

ARI. Where the bee fucks, there fuck I;

In a cowflip's bell I lie:

There I couch when owls do cry.

On the bat's back I do fly,

After fummer, merrily:

Merrily, merrily, shall I live now,

Under the bloom that hangs on the bough. 6

Pro. Why, that's my dainty Ariel: I fhall mifs thee, But yet thou shalt have freedom: fo, fo, fo.

To the king's fhip, invisible as thou art:

'There fhalt thou find the mariners asleep

Under the hatches; the master, and the boatfwain,

Being awake, enforce them to this place;

And prefently, I pr'ythee.

Ari. I drink the air before me, and return

Or e'er your pulse twice beat.

[Exit ARIEL. Gon.

5 Remorfe is by our author and the contemporary writers generally used for pity, or tenderness of heart. Nature is natural affection. MALONE. 6 This thought is not thrown out at random. It compofed a part of the magical fyftem of thefe days. The idea was probably first suggested by the defcription of the venerable elm which Virgil planted at the entrance of the infernal fhades. HOLT WHITE. 7 To drink the air-is an expreffion of fwiftnefs of the fame kind as to devour the way in K. Henry VI. JOHNSON.

Gon. All torment, trouble, wonder, and amazement
Inhabits here; Some heavenly power guide us
Out of this fearful country!

Pro.

Behold, fir king,

The wronged duke of Milan, Profpero:

For more affurance that a living prince
Does now fpeak to thee, I embrace thy body;
And to thee, and thy company, I bid

A hearty welcome.

Alon.

Whe'r thou beeft he, or no,

Or fome inchanted trifle to abuse me,

As late I have been, I not know thy pulfe

:

Beats, as of flesh and blood; and, fince I faw thee,
The affliction of my mind amends, with which,

I fear, a madness held me: this must crave

(An if this be at all,) a most strange story. Thy dukedom I refign; 9 and do intreat

Thou pardon me my wrongs:-But how fhould Profpero Be living, and be here?

Pro.

Let me embrace thine
Be meafur'd, or confin'd.
Gon.

First, noble friend,

age;

whofe honor cannot

Whether this be,

You do yet tafte

Or be not, I'll not fwear.

Pro.

Some fubtilties o' the ifle,

that will not let you

Believe things certain:-Welcome, my friends all :-
But you, my brace of lords, were I fo minded,

[Afide to SE B. and ANT.

I here

8 Whe'r for whether, is an abbreviation frequently used both by Shakfpeare and Jonfon. M. MASON.

9 The duchy of Milan being through the treachery of Antonio made feudatory to the crown of Naples, Alonzo promises to refign his claim of fovereignty for the future. STEEVENS.

2 You do yet tafte

Some fubtilties o' the ifle,] This is a phrafe adopted from ancient cookery and confectionary. When a difh was fo contrived as to appear unlike what it really was, they called it a fubtilty. Dragons, cafties, trees, &c. made out of fugar, had the like denomination. See Dr. Pegge's gloffary to the Form of Cury, &c. Article Sotiltees. Froiffard complains much of this practice, which often led him into mistakes at dinner. STEEVENS.

E 3

I here could pluck his highnefs' frown upon you,
And juftify you traitors; at this time

I'll tell no tales.

Seb. The devil fpeaks in him.

Pro.

No:

For you, moft wicked fir, whom to call brother
Would even infect my mouth, I do forgive
Thy rankeft fault; all of them; and require
My dukedom of thee, which, perforce, I know,
Thou must restore.

Alon.

If thou beeft Profpero,
Give us particulars of thy prefervation:

How thou haft met us here, who three hours fince 3
Were wreck'd upon this fhore; where I have loft,
How fharp the point of this remembrance is!
My dear fon Ferdinand.

Pro.

I am woe for't, fir.4

Alan. Irrepairable is the lofs; and patience Says, it is past her cure.

Pro.

I rather think,

You have not fought her help; of whofe foft grace,
For the like lof, I have her fovereign aid,

And reft myself content.

Alon.

You the like lofs?

[Afide.

Pro

3who three hours fince-] The unity of time is most rigidly obferved in this piece. The fable fcarcely takes up a greater number of hours than are employed in the representation; and from the very particular care which our author takes to point out this circumftance in fo many other paffages, as well as here, it should feem as if it were not accidental, but purpofely defigned to fhew the admirers of Ben Jonfon's art, and the cavillers of the time, that he too could write a play within all the strictest laws of regularity, when he chofe to load himfelf with the critick's fetters.

The Boatfwain marks the progrefs of the day again-which but three glaffes fince, &c. and at the beginning of this act the duration of the time employed on the ftage is particularly afcertained; and it refers to a paffage in the first act, of the fame tendency. The ftorm was raised at least two glaffes after mid day, and Ariel was promifed that the work should ceafe at the fixth bour. STEEVENS.

4 i. e. I am forry for it. To be woe, is often ufed by old writers to fignify, to be forry.

Pro. As great to me, as late; 5 and, portable
To make the dear lofs, have I means much weaker
Than you may call to comfort you; for I
Have loft my daughter.

Alon.

A daughter?

O heavens! that they were living both in Naples,
The king and queen there! that they were, I wish
Myfelf were mudded in that oozy bed

Where my fon lies. When did you lofe your daughter?
Pro. In this laft tempeft. I perceive thefe lords
At this encounter do fo much admire,

That they devour their reason; and fcarce think
Their eyes do offices of truth, their words
Are natural breath: but, howfoe'er you have
Been juftled from your fenfes, know for certain,
That I am Profpero, and that very duke

Which was thruft forth of Milan; who most strangely
Upon this fhore, where you were wreck'd, was landed,
To be the lord on't. No more yet of this;
For 'tis a chronicle of day by day,

Not a relation for a breakfast, nor

Befitting this first meeting. Welcome, fir;
This cell's my court: here have I few attendants,
And fubjects none abroad: pray you, look in.
My dukedom fince you have given me again,
I will requite you with as good a thing;
At least, bring forth a wonder, to content ye,
As much as me my dukedom.

The entrance of the cell opens, and difcovers FERDINAND and MIRANDA playing at chefs.

Mira. Sweet lord, you play me false.

Fer.

I would not for the world.

No, my deareft love,

Mira. Yes, for a score of kingdoms," you should wrangle,

5 My lofs is as great as yours, and has as lately happened to me.

And

JOHNSON.

6 I take the fenfe to be only this: Ferdinand would not, he fays, play her falfe for the world: yes, anfwers fhe, I would allow you to do it for

E 4

fomething

If this prove

And I would call it fair play.
Alon.

A vifion of the island, one dear fon

Shall I twice lofe.

Seb.

A moft high miracle!

Fer. Though the feas threaten, they are merciful: I have curs'd them without caufe.

Alon.

[FERD. kneels to ALON Now all the bleffings

Of a glad father compafs thee about!
Arife, and fay how thou cam'ft here.

Mira.

O! wonder!
How many goodly creatures are there here!
How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world,
That has fuch people in't!

Pro.

'Tis new to thee.

Alon. What is this maid, with whom thou waft at play Your eld'ft acquaintance cannot be three hours:

Is the the goddess that hath fever'd us,

And brought us thus together?

Fer.
Sir, fhe's mortal;
But, by immortal providence, the's mine;
I chofe her, when I could not ask my father
For his advice; nor thought I had one: fhe
Is daughter to this famous duke of Milan,
Of whom fo often I have heard renown,
But never faw before; of whom I have
Receiv'd a fecond life, and fecond father
This lady makes him to me.

Alon.
I am hers:
But O, how oddly will it found, that I
Muft afk my child forgiveness!

Pro.

There, fir, ftop;

Let us not burden our remembrances

With a heaviness that's gone.

Gon.

Or fhould have fpoke ere this.

I have inly wept,

Look down, you gods,

And

fomething less than the world, for twenty kingdoms, and I wish you well enough to allow you, after a little wrangle, that your play was fair. Se likewife Dr. Grey. JOHNSON.