When Profpero defcribes the hazards and difficulties of his forlorn voyage, Miranda tenderly exclaims, Alack what trouble Was I then to you? To which he, in a kind of extafy of fondness, replies, O! a cherubim Thou waft, that did preferve me. Thou didst fmile, Infused with a fortitude from Heaven, (When I have decked the fea with drops full falt; Against what should enfue. Here the Poet finely points to that virtue of true manhood, which ferves to ftrengthen our fortitude and double our activity, when objects, whom the ties of Nature, or the fympathy of affections, have endeared to us, require our folace or affistance in distress or danger. While our cares center folely in ourfelves, we are but one; but become two, where the heart is fhared. Profpero. Here in this ifland we arrived, and here Have 1, thy fchoolmaster, made thee more profit Here the too general diffipations of life are hinted at, and thofe parents cenfured, who transfer the pious duty of their children's education to mercenary preceptors; except in the meaner articles of it, the arts, exercises, and sciences. Too few attend to the higher and more interesting charge, of forming the mind and directing the heart to their proper objects; and fewer ftill, in deputing it to others, feem to regard the chief requifites, of character, or capacity, in those they intruft with this office, looking upon competent scholarship to be alone fuffi cient. But a liberal education, as far as it extends in Colleges and Schools, does not always give a liberal mind; and as example is allowed to exceed precept, fo do those fentiments and principles which imbibe in youth from the living manners of our tutors, "Grow with our growth, and ftrengthen with our ftrength." Thofe only are capable of finking into the heart, and imbuing the mind, while mere didactic maxims remain a load upon the memory alone. The first only inspire us how to act, the latter but inftruct us bow to speak. Profpero. And by my prefcience I find, my zenith doth depend upon A moft aufpicious ftar; whofe influence This paffage furnishes a prudent and neceffary reflection to the mind of the reader, that man's fuccefs in life often depends upon fome lucky and critical occafion, which, fuffered to flip by, may ne'er return again. Shakespeare expreffes himfelf more fully on this fubject, in another place. Some other poet too presents us with a poetical image to the fame purpose, where he fays that " opportunity is " bald behind †.” SCENE III. Doft thou forget From what a torment I did free thee? Doctor Johnson, in a note upon this paffage, has given us the traditionary fyftem of the Hebrews relative to the Fallen Angels; which has afforded me a hint, that tempts me to confider the tenor of this scene in a more interefting light, by obferving upon the impatience of Ariel, a condemned fpirit, claiming, under his fervitude, the promifed redemption, before he had fulfilled the commands of his mafter. This allufion, whether Shakespeare intended it or no, is fo obvious, that there would not require the . "There is a tide in the affairs of men," &c. + Poft occafio calva, JUL, CES, A& iv. Scene 5. B 4 alteration When Profpero defcribes the hazards and difficulties of his forlorn voyage, Miranda tenderly exclaims, Alack! what trouble Was I then to you? To which he, in a kind of extafy of fondness, replies, O! a cherubim Thou waft, that did preferve me. Thou didft smile, (When I have decked the fea with drops full falt; Against what should enfue. Here the Poet finely points to that virtue of true manhood, which ferves to ftrengthen our fortitude and double our activity, when objects, whom the ties of Nature, or the sympathy of affections, have endeared to us, require our folace or affiftance in distress or danger. While our cares center folely in ourfelves, we are but one; but become two, where the heart is fhared. Profpero. Here in this island we arrived, and here Here the too general diffipations of life are hinted at, and those parents cenfured, who transfer the pious duty of their children's education to mercenary preceptors; except in the meaner articles of it, the arts, exercises, and sciences. Too few attend to the higher and more interefting charge, of forming the mind and directing the heart to their proper objects; and fewer ftill, in deputing it to others, feem to regard the chief requifites, of character, or capacity, in those they intruft with this office, looking upon competent scholarship to be alone fuffi cient. But a liberal education, as far as it extends in Colleges and Schools, does not always give a liberal mind; and as example is allowed to exceed precept, fo do those sentiments and principles which imbibe in youth from the living manners of our tutors, we "Grow with our growth, and ftrengthen with our ftrength." Thofe only are capable of finking into the heart, and imbuing the mind, while mere didactic maxims remain a load upon the memory alone. The first only inspire us how to act, the latter but inftruct us bow to speak. Profpero. And by my prefcience I find, my zenith doth depend upon A moft aufpicious ftar; whofe influence This paffage furnishes a prudent and neçeffary reflection to the mind of the reader, that man's fuccefs in life often depends upon fome lucky and critical occafion, which, fuffered to flip by, may ne'er return again. Shakespeare expreffes himself more fully on this fubject, in another place. Some other poet too prefents us with a poetical image to the fame purpose, where he fays that " opportunity is “ bald behind +.” SCENE III. Doft thou forget From what a torment I did free thee? Doctor Johnson, in a note upon this paffage, has given us the traditionary fyftem of the Hebrews relative to the Fallen Angels; which has afforded me a hint, that tempts me to confider the tenor of this scene in a more interefting light, by obferving upon the impatience of Ariel, a condemned fpirit, claiming, under his fervitude, the promifed redemption, before he had fulfilled the commands of his mafter. This allufion, whether Shakespeare intended it or no, is fo obvious, that there would not require the "There is a tide in the affairs of men," &c. † Poft occafio calva. JUL, CES. A&tiv. Scene 5. B 4 alteration alteration of a fyllable, to have it inferted among the Mysteries. Men would be Chriftians upon their own terms, only, and are too apt to think that faith and fear, without love or works, are fufficient for the purpose. ACT II. SCENE I. Gonzalo, comforting and cheering up the spirits of his companions in the wreck, fpeaks with a becoming refignation and proper gratitude towards Providence: Befeech you, Sir, be merry-you have cause, The matter or fome merchant, and the merchant, Can speak like us: Then wifely, goud Sir, weigh An uncouth or fevere manner of giving reproof, or offering advice, is very juftly, and with equal good fenfe and tenderness, reflected upon by Gonzalo, in the following paffage : My lord Sebaftian, The truth you speak doth lack fome gentleness, SCENE II. Trinculo most humourously ridicules the paffion of the English for strange fights, in the following reflection, on feeing Caliban lying afleep on the ground, whom he takes for a dead fea-monster, just caft afhore by the working of the waves, "Vere I in England, now, as once I was, and had but this fish "painted, not a holy-day fool there but would give a piece of "filver. There would this monfter make a man; any strange beast "there makes a man. When they will not give a doit to relieve a "lame beggar, they will lay out ten to fee a dead Indian.” Antient Dramatic exhibitions, fo called; ufually performed by the priests in the 13th and 14th centuries, upon public theatre, in which the feveral difpenfations of the Gofpel were profanely reprefented. Not, |
