Macd. Then yield thee, coward,

And live to be the show and gaze o'the time.
We'll have thee, as our rarer monsters are,
Painted upon a pole; and underwrit,
Here may you see the tyrant.

Macb.

I'll not yield, To kiss the ground before young Malcolm's feet, And to be baited with the rabble's curse. Though Birnam wood be come to Dunsinane, And thou oppos'd, being of no woman born, Yet I will try the last: Before my body I throw my warlike shield: lay on, Macduff, And damn'd be him that first cries, Hold, enough. [Exeunt, fighting.

Retreat. Flourish. Re-enter with drum and colours, Malcolm, Old Siward, Rosse, Lenox, Angus, Cathness, Menteth, and Soldiers

Mal. I would, the friends we miss were safe arriv'd.

Siw. Some must go off: and yet, by these I see, So great a day as this is cheaply bought.

Mal. Macduff is missing, and your noble son. Rosse. Your son, my lord, has paid a soldier's

debt:

He only liv'd but till he was a man ;

The which no sooner had his prowess confirm'd
In the unshrinking station where he fought,
But like a man he died.

Siw.

Then he is dead?

Rosse. Ay, and brought off the field: your cause of sorrow

Must not be measur'd by his worth, for then
It hath no end.

Had he his hurts before?

Siw. Rosse. Ay, on the front. Siw. Why then, God's soldier be he. Had I as many sons as I have hairs,

I would not wish them to a fairer death:
And so his knell is knoll'd.
Mal.

He's worth more sorrow,

And that I'll spend for him.
Siw.
He's worth no more;
They say, he parted well, and paid his score:
So, God be with him!-Here comes newer comfort.

Re-enter Macduff, with Macbeth's head on a pole.

Macd. Hail, king! for so thou art: Behold, where stands

The usurper's cursed head: the time is free:
I see thee compass'd with thy kingdom's pearl*,
That speak my salutation in their minds;
Whose voices I desire aloud with mine,-
Hail, king of Scotland!

All.

King of Scotland, hail! [Flourish. Mal. We shall not spend a large expence of time, Before we reckon with your several loves, And make us even with you. My thanes and kinsmen,

Henceforth be earls, the first that ever Scotland
In such an honour nam'd. What's more to do,
Which would be planted newly with the time,-
As calling home our exil'd friends abroad,
That fled the snares of watchful tyranny;
Producing forth the cruel ministers

Of this dead butcher, and his fiend-like queen ;
Who, as 'tis thought, by self and violent hands
Took off her life ;-This, and what needful else
That calls upon us, by the grace of Grace,
We will perform in measure, time, and place :
So thanks to all at once, and to each one,
Whom we invite to see us crown'd at Scone.
[Flourish. Exeunt.
* Thy kingdom's wealth or ornament.

This play is deservedly celebrated for the propriety of its fiction, and solemnity, grandeur, and variety of its action; but it has no nice discriminations of character; the events are too great to admit the influence of particular dispositions, and the course of the action necessarily determines the conduct of the agents.

The danger of ambition is well described; and I know not whether it may not be said, in defence of some parts which now seem improbable, that in Shakspeare's time, it was necessary to warn credulity against vain and illusive predictions.

The passions are directed to their true end. Lady Macbeth is merely detested; and though the courage of Macbeth preserves some esteem, yet every reader rejoices at his fall.

JOHNSON.

VOL. IV.

KING JOHN.

Y

PERSONS REPRESENTED.

King John:

Prince Henry, his son; afterwards King Henry III.

Arthur, duke of Bretagne, son of Geffrey, late duke of Bretagne, the elder brother of King John. William Mareshall, Earl of Pembroke.

Geffrey Fitz-Peter, Earl of Essex, chief Justiciary of England. William Longsword, Earl of Salisbury.

Robert Bigot, Earl of Norfolk.

Hubert de Burgh, Chamberlain to the King.

Robert Faulconbridge, son of Sir Robert Faulconbridge :

Philip Faulconbridge, his half-brother, bastard son to King

Richard the First.

James Gurney, servant to Lady Faulconbridge.

Peter of Pomfret, a prophet.

Philip, King of France.
Lewis, the dauphin.
Archduke of Austria.

Cardinal Pandulph, the pope's legate.
Melun, a French lord.

Chatillon, ambassador from France to King John.

Elinor, the widow of King Henry II. and mother of King John. Constance, mother to Arthur.

Blanch, daughter to Alphonso, King of Castile, and niece to

King John.

Lady Faulconbridge, mother to the bastard and Robert Faulconbridge.

Lords, ladies, citizens of Angiers, sheriff, heralds, officers, soldiers, messengers, and other attendants.

Scene, sometimes in England, and sometimes in France.