"And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost, on the ground.

"And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna." Exod. xvi. 2-15.

THE WINTER'S TALE.

ACT I. SCENE II.

Leontes, King of Sicilia, unjustly suspects that his Queen, Hermione, has been dishonoured by Polixenes, King of Bohemia.

"Camille. I am appointed him to murder you. Polixenes. By whom, Camillo ?

Camillo. By the king.

Polixenes. For what?

Camillo. He thinks, nay, with all confidence he

swears,

As he had seen't, or been an instrument

To vice you to't that you have touch'd his queen forbiddenly.

Polixenes. Oh! then my best blood turn

To an infected jelly; and my name

Be yok'd with his, that did betray the best!"

["Be yoked with his, that did betray the

best!"]-What a strong repudiation of guilt have we, in this allusion to the betrayal of our Lord by Judas Iscariot!

ACT III. SCENE II.

From the defence which Hermione makes in a court of justice, when arraigned there by the jealous Leontes:

"Hermione. You, my lord, best know
(Who least will seem to do so) my past life
Hath been as continent, as chaste, as true,
As I am now unhappy; which is more
Than history can pattern, though devis'd,
And play'd, to take spectators: For behold me,
A fellow of the royal bed, which owe

A moiety of the throne, a great king's daughter,
The mother to a hopeful prince,—here standing,
To prate and talk for life and honour, 'fore

Who please to come and hear. For life, I prize it
As I weigh grief, which I would spare: for honour,
'Tis a derivative from me to mine,

And only that I stand for."

["For honour, 'tis a derivative from me to mine."]-This sentiment, which is probably borrowed from Eccles. iii. 11, cannot be too often impressed upon the female mind.

"The glory of a man is from the honour of his father; and a mother in dishonour, is a reproach unto her children."-Steevens.

ACT III. SCENE III.

The clown says to the shepherd, who has just found the infant Perdita

"You're a made old man; if the sins of your youth are forgiven you, you're well to live. Gold! all gold!"

["If the sins of your youth are forgiven you."] -In the Psalms, from whence this thought comes, the words are

"Remember not the sins of my youth.". Psalm xxv. 7.

ACT V. SCENE III.

Paulina to Hermione, when she presents to her Perdita, the daughter of Leontes, who was taken from her mother when an infant, exposed in the woods, and brought up by a shepherd :—

"Turn, good lady;

Our Perdita is found.

(Perdita kneels to Hermione.)

Hermione. You gods, look down,

And from your secret vials pour your graces
Upon my daughter's head!"

In the 5th chapter of Revelations and the 8th verse, the prayers of saints are said to be golden vials:

"Having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints."

ALL'S WELL THAT ENDS WELL.

Helena, the daughter of Gerard de Narbon, a famous physician, some time since dead, that she may claim Bertram, Count of Rousillon, for a husband, undertakes to cure the King of France of a fistula, by means of a particular receipt, given her by her father on his deathbed.

"King. We thank you, maiden ;
But must not be so credulous of cure,
When our most learned doctors leave us; and
The congregated college have concluded
That labouring art can never answer nature
From her inaidable estate-I say we must not
So stain our judgment, or corrupt our hope,
To prostitute our past-cure malady

To empericks; or to dissever so

Our great self and our credit, to esteem

A senseless help, when help past sense we deem.
Helena. My duty then shall pay me for my pains :
I will no more enforce mine office on you;
Humbly entreating from your royal thoughts
A modest one, to bear me back again.

King. I cannot give thee less, to be call'd grateful:
Thou thought'st to help me; and such thanks I give,
As one near death to those that wish him live :
But, what at full I know, thou know'st no part;
I knowing all my peril, thou no art.

Helena. What I can do, can do no hurt to try,
Since you set up your rest 'gainst remedy:
He that of greatest works is finisher,

Oft does them by the weakest minister:
So holy writ in babes hath judgment shown,

When judges have been babes. Great floods have flown
From simple sources; and great seas have dry'd,
When miracles have by the greatest been deny'd.
Oft expectation fails, and most oft there
Where most it promises; and oft it hits,
Where hope is coldest, and despair most sits."

["He that of greatest works is finisher, oft does them by the weakest minister."-"But God hath choseu the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty." 1 Cor. i. 27.

["So holy writ in babes hath judgment shown, when judges have been babes."]—"And when the chief priests and scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and the children crying in the temple, and saying, Hosanna to the Son of David; they were sore displeased,

"And said unto him, Hearest thou what these say ? And Jesus saith unto them, Yea; have ye never read, Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings thou hast perfected praise?" Matt. xxi. 15, 16.

["Great floods have flown from SIMPLE SOURCES; and great seas have dry'd."]—"Oh that men would praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men !