Combin'd with Norway, or did line the Rebel
With hidden help and 'vantage; or that with both
He labour'd in his country's wreck, I know not;
But treasons capital, confefs'd, and prov'd,
Have overthrown him..

Mach. Glamis and Thane of Cawdor!

[Afide.

The greatest is behind. Thanks for your pains.

[To Angus.

Do you not hope your children shall be Kings?

[To Banquo,

When those that gave the Thane of Cawdor to me,
Promis'd no lefs to them?

Ban. That, trufted home,

Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,
Befides the Thane of Cawdor. But 'tis ftrange;
And oftentimes to win us to our harm,
The inftruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honeft trifles, to betray us
In deepest confequence.

Coufins, a word, I pray you.
Mach. Two truths are told,

[To Roffe and Angus.

[To Roffe and Angus.

As happy prologues to the fwelling act

Of the imperial theme. I thank you, gentlemen

This fupernatural Solliciting

Cannot be ill; cannot be good. If ill,

Why hath it giv'n me the earnest of fuccefs,
Commencing in a truth? I'm Thane of Cawdor.
If good, why do I yield to that fitggestion,

8

Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair,
And make my feated heart knock at my ribs.
Against the use of nature! 9 prefent fears
Are less than horrible imaginings.

My thought, whofe murther yet is but fantastical,
Shakes fo my 'fingle state of man, that Function
Is fmother'd in furmife; and nothing is,

But what is not.

Ban. Look how our Partner's rapt!

Mach. If Chance will have me King, why, Chance

may crown me,

Without my ftir.

Ban. New Honours, come upon him.

[Afide.

Like our ftrange garments cleave not to their mould But with the aid of use.

Whofe horrid image doth UN

FIX my hair,] But horror does not unfix the hair, but makes it ftand ftiff and upright. We should read, UPFIX. WARB. To unfix is, to put in motion. 9-prefent fears

Are lefs than borrible Imaginings.] Macbeth, while he is projecting the murder, is thrown into the most agonizing affright at the profpect of it: which focn recovering from, thus he reasons on the nature of his diforder. But Imaginings are fo far from being more or lefs than prefent fears, that they are the fame things under different words. Shakespear certain ly wrote,

prefent feats

Are lefs ihan horrible imagin ings.

i. e. when I come to execute this murder, I fhall find it much lefs dreadful than my frighted imagination now presents it to me.

[Afide.

Mach. Come, what come may, Time and the hour runs through the rougheft day. Ban. Worthy Macbeth, we ftay upon your leifure. Mach. Give me your favour. My dull brain was wrought With things forgot. Kind gentlemen, your pains Are registred where every day I turn

[To Roffe and Angus. The leaf to read them.-Let us tow'rd the King; Think, upon what hath chanc'd; and at more time,

[To Banquo.

The Interim having weigh'd it, let us speak
Our free hearts each to other.

Ban. Very gladly.

Macb. 'Till then, enough. Come, friends.

3 Time and the hour runs thro' the rougheft day. I fuppofe every reader is difgufted at the tautology in this paffage, Time and the bour, and will therefore willingly believe that Shakespeare wrote it thus,

Come what come may,
Time! on!-the bour runs thro'

the roughest day.
Macbeth is deliberating upon the
events which are to befal him,
but finding no fatisfaction from
his own thoughts, he grows im-
patient of reflection, and refolves
to wait the clofe without harraf-
fing himself with conjectures.

Come what come may. But to fhorten the pain of fufpenfe, he calls upon time in the, ufual file of ardent defire, to

[Exeunt.

quicken his motion, Time! on! He then comforts himself with the reflection that all his perplexity must have an end,

the hour runs through the rougbeft day.

This conjecture is fupported by the paffage in the letter to his lady, in which he fays, they referred me to the coming on of time, with Hail, King that fhult be.

3 Time and the hour-] Time is painted with an hour-glafs in his hand. This occafioned the expreffion. WARBURTON. 4-My dull brain was wrought With things forgot - My head was worked, agitated, put into commotion.

Flourish. Enter King, Malcolm, Donalbain, Lenox, and Attendants.

King

S execution done on Cawdor yet?

Or not thofe in commiffion yet return'd?
Mal. My liege,

They are not yet come back. But I have spoke
With one that faw him die, who did report,
That very frankly he confess'd his treasons ;
Implor'd your Highness' pardon, and set forth
A deep repentance; nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it. He dy'd,
As one that had been * studied in his death,
To throw away the dearest thing he ow'd,
As 'twere a careless trifle.

King. There's no art,

To find the mind's conftruction in the face:
He was a gentleman, on whom I built
An abfolute trust.

Enter Macbeth, Banquo, Roffe, and Angus

O worthiest Coufin

The fin of my ingratitude e'en now

Was heavy on me. Thou'rt fo far before,
That fwifteft wing of recompence is flow,
To overtake thee. 'Would, thou'dft lefs deferv'd,

Audied in his death,]
Inftructed in the art of dying.
It was ufual to fay ftudied, for
learned in fcience.

To find the mind's conftru&tion in the face. The conftruction of the mind is, I believe, a phrafe peculiar to Shakespeare; it

implies the frame or difpofition of the mind, by which it is determined to good or ill.

To find the mind's conftruc tion- The metaphor is taken from the conftruction of a scheme in any of the arts of prediction. WARBURTON.

That the proportion both of thanks and payment
Might have been mine! Only I've left to say,
More is thy due, than more than all can pay.
Mach, The fervice and the loyalty I owe,
In doing it, pays itself. Your Highness' part
Is to receive our duties; and our duties

Are to your Throne, and State, children and fervants Which do but what they fhould, by doing every thing,

Safe tow'rd your Love and Honour.

1 Which do but what they should, in doing every thing Safe tow'rds your love and honour.] Of the last line of this fpeech, which is certainly, as it is now read, unintelligible, an emendation has been attempted, which Dr. Warbur ton and Mr. Theobald once admitted as the true reading. Our duties

Are to your throne and ftate, children and fervants, Which do but what they should, in doing every thing Fiefs to your love and honour, My esteem for thefe critics inelines me to believe that they cannot be much pleased with the expreffions fiefs to love, or fiefs to honour, and that they have propofed this alteration rather because no other occurred to them, than because they approved of it. I fhall therefore propofe a bolder change, perhaps with no better fuccefs, but fua cuique placent. I read thus, our duties

Are to your throne and state,

children and fervants, Which do but what they should, in doing nothing,

which the next tranfcriber obferv ing to be wrong, and yet not being able to difcover the real fault, altered to the prefent reading.

Dr. Warburton has fince changed fiefs to fief'd, and Hanmer has altered jafe to fhap'd. I am afraid none of us have hit the right word.

8 by doing every thing SAFE to'rd your LOVE and

bonour.] This nonfenfe, made worfe by ill pointing, fhould be read thus,

by doing every thing. FIEF'D tow'rd your LIFE and bonour.

i. e. their duties being FIEF'D, or engaged to the support of, as Cc3

feu