Through all the figniories it was the first;
And Profpero the prime duke; being fo reputed
In dignity, and, for the liberal arts,

Without a parallel; thofe being all my ftudy,
The government I caft upon my brother,

And to my state grew ftranger; being transported,
And wrapp'd in fecret ftudies. Thy falfe uncle-
Doft thou attend me?

Mira. Sir, moft heedfully.

Pro. Being once perfected how to grant fuits, How to deny them; whom to advance, and whom 9 To trash for over-topping; new created

I

The creatures that were mine; I fay, or chang'd 'em,
Or elfe new form'd 'em : having both the key
Of officer and office, fet all hearts i' the state
To what tune pleas'd his ear; that now he was
The ivy, which had hid my princely trunk,
And fuck'd my verdure out on't.-Thou attend'ft not.
Mira. O good Sir, I do.

Pro. I pray thee, mark me.

I thus neglecting worldly ends, all dedicated
To clofenefs, and the bettering of my mind,
With that, which, but by being fo retir'd,
O'er-priz'd all popular rate, in my falfe brother
Awak'd an evil nature: and my trust,

2

Like a good parent, did beget of him

To trash for over-topping ;] To trash, as Dr. Warburton. obferves, is to cut away the fuperfluities. This word I have met with in books containing directions for gardeners, published in the time of Q. Elizabeth. STEEVENS

Key in this place feems to fignify the key of a mufical inftrument, by which he fet Hearts to tune. JOHNSON.

This doubtless is meant of a key for tuning the harpsichord, fpinnet, or virginal; we call it now a tuning hammer, as it is ufed as well to frike down the iron pins whereon the ftrings are wound, as to turn them. As a key it acts like that of a watch. HAWKINS.

2

Alluding to the obfervation, that a father above the common rate of men has commonly a fon below it. Heroum filii Roxa. JOHNSON.

A falfhood

A falfhood in its contrary as great

As my trust was; which had, indeed, no limit,
A confidence fans bound. He being thus lorded,
Not only with what my revenue yielded,

But what my power might elfe exact ;-3 like one,
Who having, unto truth, by telling of it,
Made fuch a finner of his memory,

To credit his own lie, he did believe

He was, indeed, the duke; 4 out of the fubftitution, And executing the outward face of royalty,

With all prerogative:-hence his ambition growingDoft thou hear?

3

Mira. Your tale, Sir, would cure deafness.

Pro. To have no fcreen between this part he play'd,

-like one,

Who having, INTO truth, by telling of it,

Made fuch a finner of his memory,

To credit his own lie,- -] The corrupted reading of the fecond line has rendered this beautiful fimilitude quite unintelligible. For what is [having into truth?] or what doth [it] refer to not to [truth,] becaufe if he told truth he could never credit a lie. And yet there is no other correlative to which [it] can belong.

I read and point it thus:

i. e. by often repeating the fame ftory, made his memory fuch a finner unto truth, as to give credit to his own lie. A miferable delufion, to which flory-tellers are frequently fubject. The Oxford Editor having, by this correction, been let into the fenfe of the paffage, gives us this fenfe in his own words: Who loving an untruth, and telling't oft,

Makes-

WARBURTON,

I agree with Dr. Warburton, that perhaps there is no correlative to which the word it can with grammatical propriety belong, and that unto was the original reading. Lie, however, feems to have been the correlative to which the poet meant to refer, however ungrammatically. STEEVENS.

4 out of the fubftitution,] Is the old reading. The modern editors, for the fake of fmoother verfification, read-from fubftitution. STEEVENS.

And

And him he play'd it for, he needs will be
Abfolute Milan. Me, poor man!my library
Was dukedom large enough; of temporal royalties
He thinks me now incapable: confederates,

5 So dry he was for fway, with the king of Naples To give him annual tribute, do him homage; Subject his coronet to his crown, and bend

The dukedom, yet unbow'd (alas, poor Milan!)
To most ignoble stooping.

Mira. O the heavens!

Pro. Mark his condition, and the event; then tell me,

If this might be a brother.

Mira. I fhould fin

To think but nobly of my grandmother:
Good wombs have bore bad fons.

Pro. Now the condition.

This king of Naples, being an enemy

To me inveterate, hearkens my brother's fuit;
Which was, that he in lieu o' the premises,
Of homage, and I know not how much tribute-
Should presently extirpate me and mine

Out of the dukedom; and confer fair Milan,
With all the honours, on my brother. Whereon
A treacherous army levy'd, one mid-night
Fated to the purpose, did Anthonio open
The gates of Milan; and, i' the dead of darkness,
The minifters for the purpose hurried thence
Me, and thy crying felf.

Mira. Alack, for pity!

I, not remembring how I cried out then,

Will cry it o'er again, it is a hint,

That wrings mine eyes to't.

Pro. Hear a little further,

And then I'll bring thee to the present business

So dry he was for fway,-] i. e. So thirty. The expreffion, I am told, is not uncommon in the midland counties. STEEVENS.

Which now's upon us; without the which this ftory Were most impertinent.

Mira. Wherefore did they not

That hour destroy us?

Pro. Well demanded, wench:

My tale provokes that queftion. Dear, they durft

not

(So dear the love my people bore me) set
A mark fo bloody on the business; but
With colours fairer painted their foul ends.
In few, they hurried us aboard a bark;
Bore us fome leagues to fea; where they prepar'd
A rotten carcafs of a boat, not rigg'd,
Nor tackle, fail, nor maft; the very rats
Instinctively had quit it: there they hoist us
To cry to the fea that roar'd to us; to figh
To the winds, whofe pity, fighing back again,
Did us but loving wrong.

Mira. Alack! What trouble

Was I then to you!

Pro. O a cherubim

Thou waft, that did preferve me! Thou didst smile, Infused with a fortitude from heaven,

6

When I have deck'd the fea with drops full falt; Under my burden groan'd; which rais'd in me An undergoing ftomach, to bear up

Against what should enfue.

Mira. How came we afhore?

Pro. By Providence divine.

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

6 deck'd the fea-] To deck the fea, if explained, to honour, adorn, or dignify, is indeed ridiculous, but the ori ginal import of the verb deck is, to cover; fo in fome parts they yet fay deck the table. This fenfe may be borne, but perhaps the poet wrote fleck'd, which I think is still used in ruftic language of drops falling upon water. Dr. Warburton reads mock'd, the Oxford edition brack'd. JOHNSON.

Out

Out of his charity, 7 who 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 gentlenefs,

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 fee that man!

Pro. Now, I arife:

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

Have I, thy fchool mafter, made thee more profit
Than other princes can, that have more time
For vainer hours, and tutors not fo careful.

Mira. Heavens thank you for't! And now, I pray you, Sir,

(For ftill 'tis beating in my mind) your reafon For raising 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 prefcience
I find my zenith doth depend upon
A most 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 flecp: 'tis a good dulnefs,
And give it way.- [fide.] I know, thou canst not
[Miranda fleeps.

choose.

7 who being then appointed, &c.] Such is the old readingWe might better read,

8

-he being, &c.

STEEVENS.

tis a good dulness,] Dr. Warburton rightly obferves, that this fleepinefs, 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 fo often whether the is attentive to his ftory. JOHNSON.

Come