produced the Tempest,
which, though placed first in all the editions of his works, was one of
the last of his dramas.

CHARACTERS OF THE AFFECTIONS

HERMIONE.

Characters in which the affections and the moral qualities predominate
over fancy and all that bears the name of passion, are not, when we meet
with them in real life, the most striking and interesting, nor the
easiest to be understood and appreciated; but they are those on which,
in the long run, we repose with increasing confidence and ever-new
delight. Such characters are not easily exhibited in the colors of
poetry, and when we meet with them there, we are reminded of the effect
of Raffaelle's pictures. Sir Joshua Reynolds assures us, that it took
him three weeks to discover the beauty of the frescos in the Vatican;
and many, if they spoke the truth, would prefer one of Titian's or
Murillo's Virgins to one of Raffaelle's heavenly Madonnas. The less
there is of marked expression or vivid color in a countenance or
character, the more difficult to delineate it in such a manner as to
captivate and interest us: but when this is done, and done to
perfection, it is the miracle of poetry in painting, and of painting in
poetry. Only Raffaelle and Correggio have achieved it in one case, and
only Shakspeare in the other.

When, by the presence or the agency of some predominant and exciting
power, the feelings and affections are upturned from the depths of the
heart, and flung to the surface, the painter or the poet has but to
watch the workings of the passions, thus in a manner made visible, and
transfer them to his page or his canvas, in colors more or less
vigorous: but where all is calm without and around, to dive into the
profoundest abysses of character, trace the affections where they lie
hidden like the ocean springs, wind into the most intricate involutions
of the heart, patiently unravel its most delicate fibres, and in a few
graceful touches place before us the distinct and visible result,--to do
this demanded power of another and a rarer kind.

There are several of Shakspeare's characters which are especially
distinguished by this profound feeling in the conception, and subdued
harmony of tone in the delineation. To them may be particularly applied
the ingenious simile which Goethe has used to illustrate generally all
Shakspeare's characters, when he compares them to the old-fashioned
batches in glass cases, which not only showed the index point