their colony; and this was the second they had issued for this purpose, the previous one having been put forth in December, 1609, when the news of the disaster first reached England. Hence it is probable that these events engaged a large share of public attention, and were a common topic of conversation during 1610, and thus Shakspere's thoughts may well have been drawn to the Bermudas, the still-vex'd Bermoothes of i., 2, 229 (see note), and to "uninhabited islands" in general. Then, too, it is likely enough that he read the above-mentioned pamphlets, and worked up a few hints from them into his drama. The origin of the plot of The Tempest is unknown. Shakspere was not in the habit of inventing his own plots, and probably drew this, as he did many others, from the Italian novelists; the poet Collins indeed told Thomas Warton that he had read such a romance, in which the principal character, answering to Prospero, was a chemical necromancer, who had bound a spirit like Ariel to obey his call, and perform his services, and Malone's editor, Boswell, was told by a friend that he had actually perused an Italian novel answering Collins's description, but whatever it was it is not now known to exist, and its discovery is one of the few prizes yet remaining to reward the Shakesperean investigator. There is also one other clue to this question which might lead to important results, if we were able to follow it up. Among the collected works published in 1618 of Jacob Ayrer, a German dramatist of Nürnberg, who died in 1605, is a play entitled the Comedia von der schönen Sidea, the plot of which bears a remarkable resemblance to that of The Tempest: "in both," says Dowden, Shakspere Primer, p. 149, "appear a magician, his only daughter, and an attendant spirit; in both the son of his enemy becomes the magician's prisoner, his sword being rendered powerless by magic, and he is made the bearer of logs for his mistress; in both the story ends with reconciliation and the happiness of the lovers." The German critic Ludwig Tieck (1773-1853) considered that both plays, the Schöne Sidea and The Tempest, were derived from a common origin—an earlier English play now lost.' If this was not the case, the connection between the two plays can only be accounted for on the supposition that one was borrowed from the other. Now, as Ayrer died before The Tempest was written he cannot have been the borrower, but we know that English actors were in Nürnberg in 1604 and 1606, and they may have made Shakspere acquainted with Ayrer's play on their return to England. Some industrious critics have endeavoured to identify the scene of The Tempest with some actually existing island not too far out of the course of a vessel steering from Tunis to Naples. The inquiry, however, is an idle one, and we shall do wisely if with Staunton we are contented to believe it rose, like a new Atlantis, at the summons of the poet, and when his magic work on it was done : 66 "From that day forth the Isle has beene Some say 'tis buried deepe Beneath the sea, which breaks and rores 1 See Thoms, Shakespeare in Germany in Three Notelets on Shakespeare, 1865. These lines are from The In chanted Island, a ballad of the latter part of the 17th century, first printed by Collier in 1839. And now what is the secret of the charm of this wonderful play, the most purely delightful of all Shakspere's creations? Although the interest in the development of the plot is not inconsiderable, it is not so much by this, or by the effect of the action on character, that we are attracted. It is upon this that the effect of the great tragedies depends, and it is the skilful management of this which is the sure mark of a great dramatist; but in The Tempest it is the marvellous power displayed in the very conception and presentment of the chief personages which captivates us. We are ourselves as unable to resist the spell of Prospero as those over whom his magic wand is actually waved; at the very outset we are fascinated by it, and the great magician has us in his power throughout the whole play. Let us take a rapid glance at the plot. In the first Act we have the storm and the wreck, and we learn that these have been brought about by Prospero for wise purposes which it is the chief business of the play to unfold: before the close of the Act we are familiar with the wonders of the enchanted island and the mysterious beings who inhabit it, and our interest in the hero and heroine is secured. In Act ii., scene 1, the villains of the piece appear, and what we may call the greater conspiracy, that against the lives of Alonso and Gonzalo, is hatched. In scene 2 the comic element is introduced, and the savage mistakes a drunkard for a god. Act iii., scene 1, is the matchless scene of Miranda's wooing: in scene 2 the lesser conspiracy is formed by Caliban and his confederates, while in scene 3 the greater conspiracy is baffled. Act iv. gives us the betrothal and its accompanying masque, and the baffling of the lesser conspiracy, and lastly in Act v. we reach the climax, Prospero's discovery of himself, his forgiveness of those who had wronged him, the reunion of Alonso and his son, the whole concluding with Prospero's enfranchisement of his airy minister, and his farewell to his magic power. The working out of all this, if it affords but few opportunities for striking "situations," sets before us a series of pictures of wonderful beauty and power. Prospero is the central figure, his is the predominating influence to which everything else is subordinate. In the dignity of his bearing, in the serene consciousness of his power, and in the' beneficent exercise of it, he stands alone among the creations of Shakspere. He is no commonplace magician, the use he makes of his supernatural power is never unworthy of his lofty aims, nor is there anything degrading or ridiculous about the agency he employs. The management of supernatural machinery in this play may be compared with that in the Midsummer-Night's Dream-but no two plays could be more unlike in this respect. There indeed the charm of the play depends largely upon the fairy element, it is the source of much mirth and of much laughter; the little jealousies of the fairy court, and their whimsical revenges amuse us and help on the progress of the play, but neither these nor the complications to which the blunders of Robin Goodfellow give rise are meant to affect us seriously or leave upon us the abiding impression left by the spirits of the Tempest. Contrast Puck with Ariel Puck, that mad wag, delighting in mischief for 1 It has been reserved for the modern property-man to introduce the ludicrous element by mounting Ariel on the back of an enormous stage bat in order to sing, "On the bat's back I do fly!" mischief's sake, the very essence of rollicking fun and broad humour, and Ariel, the ethereal spirit, ever yearning after freedom, but yet, if he only knew it, happier in the service of a good master whom he loves. This longed-for freedom he at last regains, but we cannot help feeling some misgiving that he may find, after all, that the truest freedom is in service, and that he may sometimes miss his master as much as his master misses him. Nor is there any character in the Midsummer-Night's Dream, or indeed in any other play that can be compared to Caliban. What is the source of our strange interest in this singular being? As Ariel is the spirit of the air, so Caliban is the spirit of the earth in bodily shape he is not a contemptible creature, he is not, like poor Stephano, wholly unimaginative, and a prey to merely superstitious fear; on the contrary, while he hates. and dreads the magician, he is in his own way fully susceptible of the magic influences of the island :: : "Be not afeard, the isle is full of noises, Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not. Will make me sleep again: and then in dreaming, It is impossible not to feel a certain sympathy with the poor monster: these lines are worthy of one who was once king of the island. And yet there is an utter absence of anything good in him; Prospero had tried kindness and gentleness in vain; he is wholly un-moral and it is just this absence of a moral nature, or moral senss which distin |