To overtake thee. 'Would thou hadst less deserv'd ;
That the proportion both of thanks and payment
Might have been mine! only I have left to say,
More is thy due than more than all can pay.
Macb. The service 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 servants;
Which do but what they should, by doing every thing
Safe towards your love and honour."

Dun. Welcome hither:

I have begun to plant thee, and will labour
To make thee full of growing.-Noble Banquo,
Thou hast no less deserv'd, nor must be known
No less to have done so, let me infold thee,
And hold thee to my heart.

Ban. There if I

grow,

The harvest is your own.
Dun. My plenteous joys,

Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves
In drops of sorrow.-Sons, kinsmen, thanes,
And you whose places are the nearest, know,
We will establish our estate upon

Our eldest, Malcolm; whom we name hereafter,
The prince of Cumberland: which honour must
Not, unaccompanied, invest him only,

But signs of nobleness, like stars, shall shine
On all deservers. From hence to Inverness,9

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!

[Aside.

Macb. The Prince of Cumberland!-That is a step, On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap, 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.

[Exit.

[8] From Scripture: "So when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." HENLEY.

[9] Dr. Johnson, observes, in his Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. that the walls of the castle of Macbeth, at Inverness, are yet standing. STEEVENS

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.

SCENE V.

;

[Flourish. Exeunt.

Inverness. A Room in MACBETH's Castle. Enter Lady MACBETH, reading a letter.

Lady M. -They met me in the day of success; and I have learned by the perfectest report, they have more in them than mortal knowledge. When I burned in desire to question them further, they made themselves-air, into which they vanished. Whiles I stood rapt in the wonder of it, came 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 have I thought good to deliver thee, my dearest partner of greatness; that thou mightest not lose the dues of rejoicing, by being ignorant of what greatness is promised thee. Lay it to thy heart, 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' th' milk of human kindness,

To catch the nearest way: Thou would'st be great;
Art not without ambition; but without

The illness should attend it. What thou would'st highly,
That would'st thou holily; would'st not play false,

And yet would'st wrongly win: thou'dst have, 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,'
Which fate and metaphysical aid doth seem

To have thee crown'd withal.-What is your tidings?

[1] i. e. messengers. STEEVENS.

[2] The golden round is the diadem. JOHNSON.

Metaphysical, which Dr. Warburton has justly observed. means supernatural, seems, in our author's time, to have had no other meaning. MALONE.

Enter an Attendant.

Atten. The king comes here to-night.
Lady M. Thou'rt mad to say it:

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

Atten. So please you, it is true; our thane is coming: One of my fellows had the speed of him;

Who, almost dead for breath, had scarcely more
Than would make up his message.

Lady M. Give him tending,

He brings great news.-The raven himself is hoarse,

[Exit Attendant.

That croaks the fatal entrance of Duncan
Under my battlements.
Come, come, you spirits
That tend on mortal thoughts,3 unsex me here ;
And fill me, from the crown to the toe, top-full
Of direst cruelty! make thick my blood,
Stop up the access and passage to remorse ;*
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!

[2] The following is, in my opinion, the sense of this passage:

Give him tending; the news he brings are worth the speed that made him lose his breath. [Exit Attendant.] 'Tis certain now-the raven himself is spent, is hoarse by croaking this very message, the fatal entrance of Duncan under my battlements. FUSELI.

[3] This expression signifies not the thoughts of mortals, but murderous, deadly or destructive designs. JOHNSON.

[4] Remorse, in ancient language, signifies pity. STEEVENS.

[5] The intent of Lady Macbeth is evidently to wish that no womanish tenderness, or conscientious remorse, may hinder her purpose from proceeding to effect but neither this, nor indeed any other sense, is expressed by the present reading, and therefore it cannot be doubted that Shakespeare wrote differently, perhaps thus:

That no compunctious visitings of nature

Shake my fell purpose, nor keep pace between
The effect and it.

To keep pace between, may signify to pass between, to intervene. Pace is, on many occasions, a favourite of Shakespeare's. This phrase is indeed not usual in this sense; but was it not its novelty that gave occasion to the present corruption. JOHNSON.

[6] Take away my milk, and put gall into the place. JOHNSON. 7Nature's mischief is mischief done to nature, violation of nature's order committed by wickedness. JOHNSON.

[81 i. e. wrap thyself in a pall. WARBURTON

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 !2

Enter МАСВЕТН.

Greater than both, by the all-hail hereafter!
Thy letters have transported me beyond
This ignorant present, and I feel now
The future in the instant.

Macb. My dearest love,

Duncan comes here to-night.

Lady M. And when goes hencé?
Macb. To-morrow, -as he purposes.
Lady M. O, never

Shall sun that morrow see!

Your face, my thane, is as a book, where men
May read strange matters :-To beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under it. He that's coming
Must be provided for: and you shall put
This night's great business into my despatch;
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.
Macb. We will speak further.
Lady M. Only look up clear;
To alter favour ever is to fear:
Leave all the rest to me.

[Exeunt.

[9] The word knife, which at present has a familiar undignified meaning, was anciently used to express a sword or dagger. STEEVENS.

[1] The thought is taken from the old military laws which inflicted capital punishment upon whosoever shall strike stroke at his adversary, either in the heat or otherwise, if a third do cry hold, to the intent to part them; except that they did fight a combat in a place enclosed and then no man shall be so hardy as to bid hold, but the general." P. 264 of Mr. Bellay's Instructions for the Wars, translated in 1589 TOLLET.

[2] Shakespeare has supported the character of Lady Macbeth by repeated efforts, and never omits any opportunity of adding a trait of ferocity, or a mark of the want of human feelings, to this monster of his own creation. The softer passions are more obliterated in her than in her husband, in proportion as her ambition is greater. She meets him here on his arrival from an expedition of danger, with such a salutation as would have become one of his friends or vassals; a salutation apparently fitted rather to raise his thoughts to a level with her own purposes, than to testify her joy at his return, or manifest an attachment to his person: nor does any sentiment expressive of love or softness fall from her throughout the play. While Macbeth himself, amidst the horrors of his guilt, still retains a character less fiend-like than that of his queen, talks to her with a degree of tenderness, and pours his complaints and fears into her bosom, accompanied with terms of endearment. STEEVENS.

[3] That is, thy looks are such as will awaken men's curiosity, excite their attention, and make room for suspicion. HEATH.

SCENE VI.

The same. Before the Castle. Hautboys. Servants of MAC-
BETH attending. Enter DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN,
BANQUO, LENOX, MACDUFF, ROSSE, ANGUS, and Attend-
ants.

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

Ban. This guest of summer,

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

Enter Lady MAСВЕТН.

Dun. See, see! our honour'd hostess!

The love that follows us, sometime is our trouble,
Which still we thank as love. Herein I teach you,
How you shall bid God-yield us for your pains,
And thank us for your trouble.

Lady M. All our service

In every point twice done, and then done double,
Were poor and single business to contend

Against those honours deep and broad, wherewith
Your majesty loads our house: For those of old,

[4] This short dialogue between Duncan and Banquo whilst they are approaching the gates of Macbeth's castle, has always appeared to me a striking instance of what in painting is termed repose. Their conversation very naturally turns upon the beauty of its situation and the pleasantness of the air; and Banquo, observing the martlets' nests in every recess of the cornice, remarks, that where those birds most breed and haunt. the air is delicate The subject of this quiet and easy conversation gives that repose so necessary to the mind after the tumultuous bustle of the preceding scenes, and perfectly contrasts the scene of horror that immediately succeeds. It seems as if Shakespeare asked himself, What is a prince likely to say to his attendants on such an occasion? Whereas the modern writers seem, on the contrary, to be always searching for new thoughts, such as would never occur to men in the situation which is represented. This also is frequently the practice of Homer, who from the midst of battles and horrors, relieves and refreshes the mind of the reader, by introducing some quiet rural image, or picture of domestic life. SIR J. REYNOLDS.

[5] This bird is in the old edition called barlet. JOHNSON. [6] A jutty, or jetty, (for so it ought rather to be written) is not here, as has been supposed, an epithet to frieze, but a substantive; signifying that part of a building which shoots forward beyond the rest. MALONE.

[7] Coinage of vantage-Convenient corner. JOHNSON.

[8] To bid any one God-yeld him, i. e. God-yield him, was the same as God reward him. WARBURTON.