To pray for this good man, and for his issue,* 1 Mur. We are men, my liege. Macb. Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men ; As hounds, and grey-hounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs, That writes them all alike and so of men. And not in the worst rank of manhood, say it; 2 Mur. I am one, my liege, Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world I do, to spite the world. 1 Mur. And I another, So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune, To mend it, or be rid on't. Macb. Both of you Know, Banquo was your enemy. Mur. True, my lord. Macb. So is he mine: and in such bloody distance, (1) Are you of that degree of precise virtue? Gospeller was a name of contempt given by the Papists to the Lollards, the puritans of early times, and the precursors of protestantism. JOHNS. (2) Shoughs are probably what we now call shocks, demi-wolves, lyciscæ; dogs bred between wolves and dogs. JOHNS. (3) In this speech the word file occurs twice, and seems in both places to have a meaning different from its present use. The expression, valued file, evidently means a list or catalogue of value. A station in the file, and not in the worst rank, may mean, a place in the list of manhood, and not in the lowest place. But file seems rather to mean, in this place, a post of honour the first rank, in opposition to the last; a meaning which I have not observed in any other place. JOHNS. ; (4) By bloody distance is here meant, such a distance as mortal enemies would stand at from each other when their quarrel must be determined by That every minute of his being thrusts Against my near'st of life: And though I could 2 Mur. We shall, my lord, Perform what you command us. 1 Mur. Though our lives Macb. Your spirits shine through you. Within this hour, at most, I will advise you where to plant yourselves. Mur. We are resolv'd, my lord. Macb. I'll call upon you straight; abide within. SCENE II. [Exeunt. The same. Another Room. Enter Lady MACBETH and a Servant. Lady M. Is Banquo gone from court? Serv. Ay, madam, but returns again to-night. Lady M. Say to the king, I would attend his leisure For a few words. Serv. Madam, I will. Lady M. Nought's had, all's spent, Where our desire is got without content: [Exit. the sword. This sense seems evident from the continuation of the metaphor, where every minute of his being is represented as thrusting at the near'st part where life resides. STEEVENS. [5] i. e. You must manage matters so, that throughout the whole transac fion I may stand clear of suspicion. STEEV. 'Tis safer to be that which we destroy, Than, by destruction, dwell in doubtful joy. Enter MACBETH. -How now, my lord? why do you keep alone? Of sorriest fancies" your companions making? Using those thoughts, which should indeed have died With them they think on? Things without remedy Should be without regard: what's done, is done.) Macb. We have scotch'd the snake, not kill'd it; She'll close, and be herself; whilst our poor malice Remains in danger of her former tooth. But let The frame of things disjoint, both the worlds suffer, In restless ecstacy.7 Duncan is in his grave; Can touch him further! Lady M. Come on ; Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks; Present him eminence, both with eye and tongue : Must lave our honours in these flattering streams; Lady M. You must leave this. Macb. O, full of scorpions is my mind, dear wife! Thou know'st, that Banquo, and his Fleance, lives. Lady M. But in them nature's copy's not eterne." [6] i.e. worthless, ignoble, vile. STEEV. [7] Ecstacy, in its general sense, signifies any violent emotion of the mind. Here it means the emotion of pain, agony. STEEV. [8] i. e. do him the highest honours. WARB. [9] The copy, the lease, by which they hold their lives from nature, has its time of termination limited. JOHNSON. The allusion is to an estate for lives held by copy of court-roll. It is clear. from numberless allusions of the same kind, that Shakspeare had been an attorney's clerk. 35 RITSON. VOL. III. Macb. There's comfort yet; they are assailable; His cloister'd flight; ere, to black Hecate's summons, Lady M. What's to be done? 3 Macb. Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck, Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night, 3 Skarf up the tender eye of pitiful day; And, with thy bloody and invisible hand, Cancel, and tear to pieces, that great bond Which keeps me pale !-Light thickens; and the crow Good things of day begin to droop and drowse; The same. SCENE III. A Park or Lawn, with a Gate leading to the Palace. 1 Mur. But who did bid thee join with us? 3 Mur. Macbeth. 2 Mur. He needs not our mistrust; since he delivers Our offices, and what we have to do, To the direction just. 1 Mur. Then stand with us. The west yet glimmers with some streaks of day : To gain the timely inn; and near approaches 3 Mur. Hark! I hear horses. Banquo. [within.] Give us a light there, ho! [1] The bats wheeling round the dim cloisters of Queen's College, Cambridge, have frequently impressed on me the singular propriety of this orig. inal epithet. STEEV. [2] The shard-borne beetle is the beetle borne along the air by its shards or scaly wings. To have an outward pair of wings of a scaly hardness, serving as integuments to a filmy pair beneath them, is the characteristic of the beetle kind. WARB. [3] Seeling, i. e. blinding. It is a term in falconry. WARB. [4] Rooky may mean damp, misty, steaming with exhalations. It is only a North country variation of dialect from reeky. Rooky wood, indeed, may signify a rookery, the wood that abounds with rooks. STEEV. 2 Mur. Then it is he; the rest That are within the note of expectation,5 Already are i'the court. 1 Mur. His horses go about. 3 Mur. Almost a mile: but he does usually, So all men do, from hence to the palace gate Make it their walk. Enter BANQUO and FLEANCE, a Servant with a torch preceding them. 2 Mur. A light, a light! 3 Mur. 'Tis he. 1 Mur. Stand to't. Ban. It will be rain to-night. 1 Mur. Let it come down. [Assaults BANQUO. Ban. O, treachery! Fly, good Fleance, fly, fly, fly; Thou may'st revenge.- -O slave ! [Dies. FLEANCE and Servant escape. 3 Mur. Who did strike out the light? 1 Mur. Was't not the way ?7 3 Mur. There's but one down; the son is fled. 2 Mur. We have lost best half of our affair. 1 Mur. Well, let's away, and say how much is done. SCENE IV. [Exeunt. Room of State in the Palace. A Banquet prepared. Enter MACBETH, Lady MACBETH, ROSSE, LENOX, Lords, and Attendants. 8 Macb. You know your own degrees, sit down : at first And last, the hearty welcome. Lords. Thanks to your majesty. Macb. Ourself will mingle with society, [5] i.e. they who are set down in the list of guests, and expected to supper. STEEV. [6] Fleance, after the assassination of his father, fled into Wales, where by the daughter of the Prince of that country, he had a son named Walter, who afterwards became Lord High Steward of Scotland, and from thence assumed the name of Walter Steward. From him, in a direct line, King James I. was descended; in compliment to whom our author has chosen to describe Banquo, who was equally concerned with Macbeth in the murder of Duncan, as innocent of that crime. MAL. [7] i. e. the best means to effect our purpose. [8] I believe the true meaning of this passage is, RITSON, You know your own degree, sit down.-To first And last the hearty welcome. All of whatever degree, from the highest to the lowest, may be asssured that their visit is well received, JOHNS. |