UNCLE IN ENGLAND. 31 



My uncle praised the drawing of Caliban's 

 character. " Every time I read it," said he, " I 

 see fresh proofs of its complete originality. 

 Shakspeare could have had no model for such a 

 creature it* could only be the work of his own 

 extraordinary imagination, and it shews what 

 powers of invention he possessed. Caliban is 

 just what the offspring of a witch and a de- 

 mon should be : he is a prodigy of cruelty 

 and malice ; and Shakspeare heightens the 

 effect by giving him a language so poetical and 

 yet so gross, that all he says, whether in brutal 

 malice, or in uncouth kindness, is in perfect 

 keeping with his general character. It expresses 

 the instinctive barbarity of the monster; and 

 the mind is throughout divided between the de- 

 testation excited by such a horrible being, and 

 astonishment at the versatile genius by which 

 it was conceived/' 



" Miranda is my favourite," said my aunt ; " I 

 am sure there is as little common-place in it as 

 in either of the singular characters you have 

 been praising ; in hers, innocence and gentle- 

 ness are the predominant features ; while the 

 union of the softest tenderness for Ferdinand with 

 her candour and dutiful deference to her mys- 

 terious father, give it the most amiable finish ; 

 and I think the skill of Shakspeare in painting it 

 is at least equal to that shewn in any other of the 

 play ; for the many beautiful little touches by 



