And gain a husband by his liberty:-
Speak, old geon, if thou be'st the m
That had'st a wife once call'd Emilia,
That bore thee at a burden two fair son it
O, if thou be'st the same geon, speak
And speak unto the same Emilia!

Ege. If I dream not, thou art Æmili ;;
If thou art she, tell me, where is that son
That floated with thee on the fatal raft?

Abb. By men of Epidamnum, he, and I,
And the twin Dromio, all were taken up;
But, by and by rude fishermen of Corinth
By force took Dromio and my son from them,
And me they left with those of Epidamnum;
What then became of them, I cannot tell:
I, to this fortune that you see me in.

Duke. Why, here begins his morning story right;1|
These two Antipholus's, these two so like,
And these two Dromio's, one in semblance,-
Besides her urging of her wreck at sea,-
These are the parents to these children'
Which accidentally are met together.
Antipholus, thou cam'st from Corinth frst.

Ant. S. No, sir, not I; I came from Syracuse.
Duke. Stay, stand apart! I know not which is
which.

Ant. E. I came from Corinth, my most gracious lord.

Dro. E. And I with him.

Ant. E. Brought to this town with that most
famous warrior

Duke Menaphon, your most renowned uncle."
Adr. Which of you two did dine with me to day?
Ant. S. I, gentle mistress.
Adr.

And are not you my husband?
Ant. E. No, I say nay to that.
Ant. S. And so do I, yet did she call me so;
And this fair gentlewoman, her sister here,
Did call me brother:-What I told you then,
I hope, I shall have leisure to make good;
If this be not a dream, I see, and hear.

Ang. That is the chain, sir, which you had of me.
Ant. S. I think it be, sir; I deny it not.
Ant. E. And you, sir, for this chain arrested me.
Ang. I think I did, sir; I deny it not.
Adr. I sent you money, sir, to be your bail,
By Dromio; but I think he brought it not.
Dro. E. No, none by me.

And all that are assembled in this place,
That by this sympathized one day's error
Have suffer'd wrong, go, keep us company,
And we shall make full satisfaction.-
Twenty-five years have I but gone in travail
Of you, my sons; nor, till this present hour,
My heavy burdens are deliver'd':—
The duke, my husband, and my children both,
And you the calendars of their nativity,
Go to a gossip's feast, and go with me;
After so long grief, such nativity!

Duke. With all my heart, I'll gossip at this feast. [Exeunt Duke, Abbess, geon, Courtezan, Merchant, Angelo, and attendants. Dro. S. Master, shall I fetch your stuff from shipboard?

Ant. E. Dromio, what stuff of mine hast thou
embark'd?

Dro. S. Your goods, that lay at host, sir, in the
Centaur.

Ant. S. He speaks to me; I am your master,

Dromio:

Come, go with us: we'll look to that anon:
Embrace thy brother there, rejoice with him.

[Exeunt Antipholus S. and E. Adr. and Luc. Dro. S. There is a fat friend at your master's house,

That kitchen'd me for you to-day at dinner;
She now shall be my sister, not my wife.

Dro. E. Methinks, you are my glass, and not
my brother:

I see by you, I am a sweet-faced youth.
Will you walk in to see their gossiping?
Dro. S. Not I, sir; you are my elder.
Dro. E. That's a question: how shall we try it?
Dro. S. We will draw cuts for the senior: till
then, lead thou first.

Dro. E. Nay, then thus:

We came into the world, like brother and brother;
And now let's go hand in hand, not one before
another.
[Exeunt,

On a careful revision of the foregoing scenes, I do not hesitate to pronounce them the composition of two very unequal writers. Shakspeare had undoubtedly a share in them; but that the entire play

Ant. S. This purse of ducats I receiv'd from you, was no work of his, is an opinion which (as Bene

And Dromio my man did bring them me:
I see, we still did meet each other's man,
And I was ta'en for him, and he for me,
And thereupon these Errors are arose.

Ant. E. These ducats pawn I for my father here.
Duke. It shall not need, thy father hath his life.
Cour. Sir, I must have that diamond from you.
Ant. E. There, take it; and much thanks for
my good cheer.

Abb. Renowned duke, vouchsafe to take the pains
To go with us into the abbey here,
And hear at large discoursed all our fortunes:-

(1) The morning story is what duke in the first scene of this plav

geon tell the

dict says) 'fire cannot melt out of me; I will die in it at the stake.' Thus, as we are informed by Aulus Gellius, Lib. III. Cap. 3. some plays were abso lutely ascribed to Plautus, which in truth had only been (retractatæ et expolita) retouched and polished by him.

In this comedy we find more intricacy of plot than distinction of character; and our attention is less forcibly engaged, because we can guess in great measure how the denouement will be brought about. Yet the subject appears to have been reluctantly dismissed, even in this last and unnecessary scene; where the same mistakes are continued, till the power of affording entertainment lis entirely lost. STEEVENS.

3 Witch. There to meet with Macbeth.
1 Witch. I come, Graymalkin!
All. Paddock calls:-Anon.-

Fair is foul, and foul is fair:

Hover through the fog and filthy air.

Show'd like a rebel's whore: But all's too weak:
For brave Macbeth (well he deserves that name,)
Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smok'd with bloody execution,

Like valour's minion,

Carv'd out his passage, till he fac'd the slave;
And ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,
Till he unseam'd him from the nave to the chaps,
And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

Dun. O, valiant cousin! worthy gentleman!
Sold. As whence the sun 'gins his reflexion
Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break;
So from that spring, whence comfort seem'd to come,
Discomfort swells. Mark, king of Scotland, mark:
No sooner justice had, with valour arm'd,

[Witches vanish. Compell'd these skipping Kernes to trust their heels: SCENE II.-A Camp near Fores. Alarum with-With furbish'd arms, and new supplies of men, But the Norweyan lord, surveying vantage, in. Enter King Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Began a fresh assault. Lenox, with attendants, meeting a bleeding Soldier.

Dun.

Dismay'd not this
Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
Sold.

Yes;

As sparrows, eagles; or the hare, the lion.
If I say sooth, I must report they were
As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks;
So they

Doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe:
Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorize another Golgotha,

I cannot tell:

Things that do sound so fair?-I'the name of truth,

Dun. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath Are ye fantastical, or that indeed

[Exeunt. Which outwardly ye show? My noble partner

You greet with present grace, and great prediction Enter the Of noble having, 10 and of royal hope,

As breath into the wind.-'Would they had staid!
Ban. Were such things here, as we do speak
about?

[Drum within. Or have we eaten of the insane root,12
That takes the reason prisoner?
Macb. Your children shall be kings.
Ban.

Macb. And thane of Cawdor too; went it not so ?Without my stir.
Ban. To the self-same tune, and words. Who's Ban.
here?

Enter Macbeth, Banquo, Rosse, and Angus.
The sin of my ingratitude even now
Was heavy on me: Thou art so far before,
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow

To overtake thee. 'Would thou hadst less deserv'd;
That the proportion both of thanks and payment
Might have been inine! only I have left to say,
More is thy due than more than all can pay.
Macb. The service and the loyalty I owe,

Two truths are told, In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part
Is to receive our duties: and our duties

Of the imperial theme.-I thank you, gentlemen.-Are to your throne and state, children, and servants; This supernatural soliciting

(11) We cannot construe the disposition of the

The powers of action are oppressed by con- mind by the lineaments of the face.

Our eldest, Malcolm; whom we name hereafter,
The prince of Cumberland: which honour must
Not, unaccompanied, invest him only,
But sign of nobleness, like stars, shall shine
On all deservers.-From hence to Inverness,
And bind us further to you.

Macb. The rest is labour, which is not us'd for you:
I'll be myself the harbinger, and make joyful
The hearing of my wife with your approach;
So, humbly take my leave.

Dun.

My worthy Cawdor!

Attend. So plea
coming:

One of my fellow
Who, almost dea
Than would mal
Lady M.
He brings great

That croaks the
Under my batt
That tend on

Macb. The prince of Cumberland!-That is a And fill me, fro

(Aside.

2

Of direst cruelty.

Stop up the access and passage..
That no compunctious visitings of nature
Shake my fell purpose, nor keep peace between
The effect, and it! Come to my woman's breasts,
And take my milk for gall, you murd'ring ministers,
Wherever in your sightless substances
You wait on nature's mischief! Come, thick night,
And pall thee in the dunnest smoke of hell!
That my keen knife see not the wound it makes;
Nor heaven peep through the blanket of the dark,
To cry, Hold, Hold !—Great Glamis, worthy Caw
dor!

Enter Macbeth.

For in my way it lies. Stars, hide your fires! Let not light see my black and deep desires: The eye wink at the hand! yet let that be, Which the eye fears, when it is done, to see. [Ex. Dun. True, worthy Banquo; he is full so valiant;' And in his commendations I am fed ; It is a banquet to me. Let us after him, Whose care is gone before to bid us welcome: It is a peerless kinsman. [Flourish. Exeunt. SCENE V.-Inverness. A room in Macbeth's castle. Enter Lady Macbeth, reading a letter. Lady M. They met me in the day of success; Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter! and I have learned by the perfectest report, they Thy letters have transported me beyond have more in them than mortal knowledge. When This ignorant present,10 and I feel now I burned in desire to question them further, they The future in the instant. made themselves-air, into which they vanished. Macb. Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it, came Duncan comes here to-night." missives from the king, who all-hailed me, Thane of Cawdor; by which title, before, these weird sisters saluted me, and referred me to the coming on of time, with, Hail, king that shalt be! This Shall sun that morrow see! have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest Your face, my thane, is as a book, where men partner of greatness; that thou mightest not lose May read strange matters:-To beguile the time, the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye, greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent and farewell.

Glamis thou art, and Cawdor; and shalt be
What thou art promis'd:-Yet do I fear thy nature;
It is too full o'the milk of human kindness,
To catch the nearest way: Thou would'st be great;
Art not without ambition; but without

My dearest love,
Lady M.
And when goes hence?
Macb. To-morrow,— -as he purposes.
Lady M.

flower,

O, never,

But be the serpent under it. He that's coming
This night's great business into my despatch;
Must be provided for: and you shall put
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Macb. We will speak further.
Lady M.

Only look up clear; [Exeunt.

The illness should attend it. What thou would'st
highly,
That would'st thou holily; would'st not play false, To alter favour11 ever is to fear:
And yet would'st wrongly win: thou'd'st have, Leave all the rest to me.

great Glamis,

That which cries, Thus thou must do, if thou

have it;

And that which rather thou dost fear to do,
Than wishest should be undone. Hie thee hither,
That I may pour my spirits in thine ear;
And chastise with the valour of my tongue
All that impedes thee from the golden round;4
Which fate and metaphysical' aid doth seem
To have thee crown'd withal.-What is your
tidings?

Enter an Attendant.

SCENE VI.-The same. Before the castle.
Hautboys. Servants of Macbeth attending.
Enter Duncan, Malcolm, Donalbain, Banquo,
Lenox, Macduff, Rosse, Angus, and attendants.

Dun. This castle hath a pleasant seat; the air
Nimbly and sweetly recommends itself
Unto our gentle senses.
Ban.

The temple-haunting martlet, does approve,
This guest of summer,
By his lov'd mansionry, that the heaven's breath
Smells wooingly here; no jutty, frieze, buttress,
Nor coigne of vantage, 12 but this bird hath made
Thou'rt mad to say it: His pendent bed, and procreant cradle: Where they
Most breed and haunt, I have observ'd, the air
Is delicate.

Attend. The king comes here to-night.
Lady M.

Is not thy master with him? who, were't so,
Would have inform'd for preparation.

(3) Messengers.

(1) Full as valiant as described.
The best intelligence.
Diadem. (5) Supernatural.
Murderous. (7) Pity.
Wrap as in a mantle,

(9) Knife anciently meant a sword or dagger. (10) i. e. Beyond the present time, which is, ac cording to the process of nature, ignorant of the future.

(11) Look, countenance. (12) Convenient corner