Pro. Bravely, my diligence, thou shalt be free. Alon. This is as ftrange a maze as e'er men trod, And there is in this business more than nature Was ever conduct of; fome oracle Muft rectify our knowledge.

Pro. Sir, my Liege,

Do not infeft your mind with beating on
The ftrangeness of this bufinefs; at pickt leisure
(Which shall be shortly) 3 fingle I'll refolve you,
Which to you fhall feem probable, of every
Thefe happen'd accidents; till when be chearful,
And think of each thing well. Come hither, fpirit;
Set Caliban and his companions free :

Untie the fpell. How fares my gracious Sir?
There are yet miffing of your company
Some few odd lads, that you remember not.

Enter Ariel, driving in Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo, in their ftolen Apparel.

Ste. Every man shift for all the rest, and let no man take care for himself; for all is but fortune; Coragio, bully-monster, Coragio!

Trin. If these be true fpies, which I wear in my head, here's a goodly fight.

Cal. O Setebos, these be brave fpirits, indeed! How fine my mafter is! I am afraid,

He will chastise me.

Seb. Ha, ha,

What things are thefe, my lord Anthonio!

Will money buy 'em?

Ant. Very like; one of them

Is a plain fish, and no doubt marketable.

3

-fingle Fll refolve you.] Because the confpiracy, againft

him, of his Brother Sebaftian and his own Brother Anthonio, would make part of the relation.

G 3

Pro.

Pro. Mark but the badges of these men, my lords, Then fay, if they be true: this mif-fhap'd knave, His mother was a witch, and one so strong

That could controul the moon, make flows and ebbs,
And deal in her command without her power.
These three have robb'd me; and this demy-devil
(For he's a bastard one) had plotted with them
To take my life; two of these fellows you
Must know and own; this thing of darkness I
Acknowledge mine.

Cal. I fhall be pincht to death.

Alon. Is not this Stephano, my drunken butler?
Seb. He's drunk now: where had he wine?
Alon. And Trinculo is reeling ripe; where fhould
they

Find this grand 'lixir, that hath gilded 'em?
How cam'st thou in this pickle?

4 And Trinculo is reeling ripe; where should they

Find this grand LIQUOR, that hath gilded 'em.] ShakeSpear, to be fure, wrote grand 'LIXIR, alluding to the grand Elixir of the alchymifts, which they pretend would rettore youth, and confer immortality. This, as they faid, being a preparation of Gold, they called Aurum potabile; which Shakespear alluded to in the word gilded; as he does again in Anthony and Cleopatra. How much art thou unlike Mark Anthony?

Yet coming from him, that great med'cine bath,

With his Tin, gilded thee.

But the joke here is to infinuate that, notwithstanding all the boafts of the Chymifts, Sack was the only restorer of youth, and bestower of immortality. So Ben Johnson in his Every man out of his humour-Canarie the very Elixar and Spirit of wine This feems to have been the Cant name for Sack, of which the English were, at that time, immoderately fond. Randolf in his Jealous Lovers, fpeaking of it, fays, A Pottle of Elixar at the Pegafus bravely caroused. So again in Fletcher's Monfieur Thomas, A&t III.

Old reverend Sack, which, for ought that I can read yet, Was that Philofopher's flone the wife King Ptolomeus Did all his wonders by.

The phrafe too of being gilded was a trite one on this occafion. Fletcher in his Chances-Duke. Is he not drunk too? Whore. A little gilded o'er, Sir; Old Sack, Old Sack, Boys!

Trin. I have been in fuch a pickle, fince I faw you laft, that, I fear me, will never out of my bones: I fhall not fear fly-blowing.

Seb. Why, how now, Stephano?

[cramp.
Ste. 50, touch me not: I am not Stephano, but a
Pro. You'd be King o' th' ifle, Sirrah?
Ste. I fhould have been a fore one then.
Alon. 'Tis a ftrange thing, as e'er I look'd on.
Pro. He is as difproportion'd in his manners,
As in his fhape: go, Sirrah, to my cell,
Take with you your companions; as you look
To have my pardon, trim it handfomly.

Cal. Ay, that I will; and I'll be wife hereafter,
And feek for grace. What a thrice-double ass
Was I, to take this drunkard for a God?
And worship this dull fool?

Pro. Go to, away!

Alon. Hence, and beftow your luggage where you found it.

Seb. Or ftole it rather.

50, touch me not: I am not Stephano, but a cramp.] In reading this play, I all along fufpected that Shakespear had taken it from fome Italian writer; the Unities being all fo regularly observed, which no dramatic writers but the Italian observed fo early as our Author's time; and which Shakespear has obferved no where but in this Play. Befides, the Perfons of the Drama are all Italians. I was much confirmed in my Sufpicion when I came to this place. It is plain a joke was intended; but where it lies is hard to fay. I fufpect there was a quibble in the Original that would not bear to be tranflated, which ran thus, I am not Stephano but Staffilato. Staffilato fignifying, in Italian, a man well lashed or flayed, which was the real case of these varlets.

Tooth'd briars, harp furzes, pricking goss and thorns Which enter'd their frail Skins.

And the touching a raw part being very painful, he might well cry out Touch me not, &c. In Riccoboni's Catalogue of Italian plays are thefe, Il Negromante di L. Ariofto, profa e verfo, & Il Negromante Palliato di Gio-Angelo Petrucci, profa. But whether the Tempest be borrowed from either of these, not having seen them, I cannot say.

Pro. Sir, I invite your highnefs, and your train,
To my poor cell; where you fhall take your rest
For this one night, which (part of it) I'll wafte
With fuch difcourfe, as, I not doubt, fhall make it
Go quick away; the story of my life,
And the particular accidents gone by,
Since I came to this ifle: and in the morn
I'll bring you to your fhip; and fo to Naples;
Where I have hope to fee the nuptials

Of thefe our dear beloved folemniz'd;
And thence retire me to my Milan, where
Every third thought fhall be my grave.
Alon. I long

To hear the story of your life, which must
Take the ear strangely.

Pro. I'll deliver all;

And promise you calm feas, aufpicious gales,
And fail fo expeditious, that fhall catch.
Your royal fleet far off: My Ariel, chick,
That is thy charge: Then to the elements
Be free, and fare thou well! Please you, draw near.

[Exeunt omnes.

EPI

EPILOGUE,

Now

Spoken by Profpero.

OW my charms are all o'er-thrown,
And what ftrength I have's mine own;
Which is most faint and now, 'tis true,
I must be bere confin'd by you,

Or fent to Naples. Let me not,
Since I have my Dukedom got,
And pardon'd the deceiver, dwell
In this bare ifland by your fpell:
But releafe me from my bands,
With the help of your good hands.
Gentle breath of yours my fails

Muft fill, or elfe my project fails,

Which was to please. For now I want
Spirits enforce, art to enchant;

6 And my ending is defpair,

Unless I be reliev'd by prayer;
Which pierces fo, that it affaults
Mercy itself, and frees all faults.

As you from crimes would pardon'd be,
Let your indulgence fet me free!

6 And my ending is defpair,

Unless I be reliev'd by prayer ;]

This alludes to the old Stories told of the defpair of Necromancers in their last moments; and of the efficacy of the prayers of their friends for them.