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NOTE S

UPON

SHAKESPEARE, &c.

VOL. I...

The TEMPEST.

ACTI. SCENE I. p. 3.

A

Tempestuous noise of Thunder and Lightning beard.

Enter a Shipman, and a Boatswain.] The indefinite article a before Shipman and Boatswain fhould be ftruck out, as the fcene is on fhipboard, and but one officer of a fhip under each of these denominations. He might probably write The Mafter, &c. which feems to be confirmed by what follows.

Profpero.

σε

Ariel,

"To the king's fhip invifible as thou art, "There shalt thou find the mariners asleep "Under the hatches, the mafter and boatswain "Being awake, bring them to this place.

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And again,

"Enter Ariel with the master and boat-fwain, amazedly following" Act v. p. 84. Anon. A&t. i. fc. i. p. 4.

Id. Ib. p. 4.

Boats. When the fea is bence what care thefe roarers for the name of king? To cabin, filence, trouble us not.

-Gonz. I have great comfort from this fellow; methinks he hath no drowning mark upon him, his complexion is perfect gallows.]

Alluding to the proverbial faying,

"He who is born to be hang'd, will never be "drown'd."

Shakespeare has the like image.

Two Gentlemen of Verona, Acti. fc. ii. p. 180. "Pro. Go go, begone to fave your fhip from "wreck, which cannot perish having thee on board, being deftined to a drier death on "fhore."

Friar John applies this proverb to Panurge Rabelais's works. Book iv. chap. 24.

The proverb is reverfed in Jasper Mayne's tragi-comedy, intitled, The Amorous Warre, Act ii. fc. ii.

"They that are born under a watry planet "to be drown'd, fhall ne'er die in their beds. Gonz. Good: yet remember whom thou hast aboard.

An Allufion probably to a Saying of Julius Cafar.

In his dangerous paffage towards Brundufium,

in a veffel of twelve oars, (in which he appeared in the Habit of a Slave, and was not known either by the Pilot, or Ship's Crew.) when betwixt the violence of the tide, and the Refiftance of the waves againft it, the river Anius was fo rough, fo uneven, and dangerous, that the Pilot could not make good his Paffage, but ordered his failors to tack about, Cæfar difcovered himself, and taking the pilot by the hand, (who was furprized to fee him there) said, Go on boldly, my friend, and fear nothing, thou carrieft Cæfar, and his fortune along with thee. Which encouraged the mariners to use their utmoft ftrength, in order to force their way down the river. But when it was to no purpose, the veffel taking in much water, Cæfar finding himfelf in fo much danger in the mouth of the river, permitted the mafter, though much against his will, to turn back.

See Plutarch's Life of Julius Cæfar. P. 5. A Cry within. Enter Sebaftian, Anthonio, and Gonzalo.

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Boats. They are louder than the weather, or our office. Yet again? What do you here? Shall we give o'er and drown? Have you a mind to fink? Seb. A pox o your throat, you bawling, blafphemous, uncharitable dog:

Boatf. Work you then.

Ant. Hang Cur, bang; you whorefon, infolent noife-maker, we are lefs afraid to be drown'd than thou art.]

This language was unbecoming Sebastian, and

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Anthonio, even in the utmost danger, tho'very ufual with the common failors, take the following inftance in proof. In a MS. journal (which I have in my cuftody) of the Rev. Mr. Richard Allyn, then fellow of Corpus Chrifti College in Oxford, and chaplain to his Majefty's fhip the Genturion, in the year 1692, there is the following description of a storm whilft he was on board. "The 21ft of April 1692 at eight at night, we weighed, and ftood off, S. S. E. "until 12, about which time it began to "blow a meer fret of wind, at W. S. W. and

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we lay by under a main fail reeved, ex"pecting that would have been blown away “ from the yard.In short, the weather was "fo bad, that the whole fhip's company de"clared, they thought they had never feen the like, and that it was impoffible for it to be "worse-During this dreadful season, I quietly kept my bed, though very wet by reason "of the water that came into my fcuttle.

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"The behaviour of our pugs at that time 66 was not a little unaccountable: fome few of "them would pray, but more of them cursed "and fwore louder than the wind and weather. "I cannot forbear telling one inftance of this "nature, that is in the ftory which was told

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me the next morning, of George the Caul"ker, and old Robin Anderfon: Poor George being very apprehenfive of his being a finner, and now in great danger of his life, "fell down upon his marrow-bonės, and be

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"gan to pray, Lord have mercy upon me. Chrift "bave mercy upon me, &c. and fo on to the "Lord's prayer. All the while old Robin was ❝near him, and between every petition cried "out, Ab you lubberly dog, Ab you coward! "Z---ds thou hast not got the heart of a flea "Poor George being thus difturb'd in his devotion, would look over his shoulder, and at the end of every petition, would make anfwer to old Robin with a D you you old "dog, can't you let me alone, cannot a body "pray at quiet for you ? "let me alone cannot you. praying and curfing, "for half an hour: when a great log of wood, "by the rolling of the ship, tumbled upon "George's legs, and bruifed him a little : "which George taking up into his hands, and "thinking that it had been thrown at him by "old Robin, let fly at the old fellow, together" "with a whole broadfide of oaths and curfes, "and fo they fell to boxing. (a) I mention "this only to fhew the incorrigible fenfelef"nefs of such tarpawling wretches in the ut"moft extremity of danger."

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A p—gue rot you, Thus the one kept and the other railing

-Id. Ib. p. 5. Enter Mariners wet, »nom L Mar. All loft! To prayers! To prayers! All loft. It is obferved already, that: mariners in a storm,

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(a) A Narrative of the victory obtained by the English and Dutch fleet commanded by Admiral Ruffel over that of France near La Hogue in the year 1692. was published at Cambridge, from Mr. Allyn's Journal, in the year 1744

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