Re-enter Attendant, with two Murderers.

Now to the door †, and stay there till we call.

[Exit Attendant.

Well then, now

Was it not yesterday we spoke together?
1 Mur. It was, so please your highness.
Macb.
Have you considered of my speeches? Know,
That it was he, in the times past, which held you
So under fortune; which, you thought, had been
Our innocent self: this I made good to you
In our last conference; pass'd in probation with you,
How you were borne in hand1; how cross'd; the in-
struments;

Who wrought with them; and all things else, that might,
To half a soul, and a notion craz'd,
Say, Thus did Banquo.

And champion me to the utterance!] This passage will be best explained by translating it into the language from whence the only word of difficulty in it is borrowed. Que la destinée se rende en lice, et qu'elle me donne un defi à l'outrance. A challenge, or a combat à l'outrance, to extremity, was a fixed term in the law of arms, used when the combatants engaged with an odium internecinum, an intention to destroy each other, in opposition to trials of skill at festivals, or on other occasions, where the contest was only for reputation or a prize. The sense therefore is: Let fate, that has foredoomed the exaltation of the sons of Banquo, enter the lists against me, with the utmost animosity, in defence of its own decrees, which I will endeavour to invalidate, whatever be the danger. JOHNSON.

"Now go to the door,"-MALONE.

1 pass'd in probation with you,

How you were borne in hand; &c.] Pass'd in probation is, perhaps, only a bulky phrase, employed to signify-proved. - To bear in hand is, to delude by encouraging hope and holding out fair prospects, without any intention of performance.

1 Mur.

You made it known to us.

Macb. I did so; and went further, which is now
Our point of second meeting. Do you find
Your patience so predominant in your nature,
That you can let this go? Are you so gospell'd, 2
To pray for this good man, and for his issue,
Whose heavy hand hath bow'd you to the grave,
And beggar'd yours for ever?

1 Mur.

We are men, my liege. Macb. Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men ;

As hounds, and greyhounds, mongrels, spaniels, curs,
Shoughs, water-rugs, and demi-wolves, are cleped
All by the name of dogs: the valued file1
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle,
The house-keeper, the hunter, every one
According to the gift which bounteous nature
Hath in him clos'd; whereby he does receive
Particular addition, from the bill

That writes them all alike: and so of men.
Now, if you have a station in the file,
And not in the worst rank of manhood, say
And I will put that business in your bosoms,
Whose execution takes your enemy off;
Grapples you to the heart and love of us,

it ;

2 Are you so gospell'd,] 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. JOHNSON.

Shoughs,] Shoughs are probably what we now call shocks, demiwolves, lyciscæ; dogs bred between wolves and dogs.

4

the valued file] In this speech the word file occurs twice. The valued file is the file or list where the value and peculiar qualities of every thing is set down, in contradistinction to what he immediately mentions, the bill that writes them all alike. File, in the second instance, is used in the same sense as in this, and with a reference to it: Now if you belong to any class that deserves a place in the valued file of man, and are not of the lowest rank, the common herd of mankind, that are not worth distinguishing from each other.

Who wear our health but sickly in his life,
Which in his death were perfect.

2 Mur.

I am one, my liege,

Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world

Have so incens'd, that I am reckless what

I do, to spite the world.

1 Mur..

And I another,

So weary with disasters, tugg'd with fortune,
That I would set my life on any chance,

To mend it, or be rid on't.

Macb.'

Both of you

Know, Banquo was your enemy.

2 Mur.

True, my lord.

Macb. So is he mine; and in such bloody distance, That every minute of his being thrusts

Against my near❜st of life: And though I could
With bare-fac'd power sweep him from my sight,
And bid my will avouch it; yet I must not,
For certain friends that are both his and mine,
Whose loves I may not drop, but wail his fall
Whom I myself struck down: and thence it is,
That I to your assistance do make love;
Masking the business from the common eye,
For sundry weighty reasons.

2 Mur.

We shall, my lord,

Perform what you command us.

1 Mur.

Though our lives

5

Macb. Your spirits shine through you. Within this hour, at most,

5

in such bloody distance,] 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 the sword. This sense seems evident from the continuation of the metaphor, where every minute of his being is represented as thrusting at the nearest part where life resides.

6 For certain friends —] For, in the present instance, signifies because of.

I will advise you where to plant yourselves.
Acquaint you with the perfect spy o'the time,
The moment on't'; for't must be done to-night,
And something from the palace; always thought,
That I require a clearness: And with him,
(To leave no rubs, nor botches, in the work,)
Fleance his son, that keeps him company,
Whose absence is no less material to me
Than is his father's, must embrace the fate
Of that dark hour. Resolve yourselves apart;
I'll come to you anon.

2 Mur.

It is concluded:

Macb. I'll call upon you straight; abide within.

We are resolv'd, my lord.

Banquo, thy soul's flight,

[Exeunt.

If it find heaven, must find it out to night.

SCENE II.

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

r

7 Acquaint you with the perfect spy o'the time, The moment on't;] i. e. in ancient language, " acquaint yourselves" with the exact time most favourable to your purposes; for such a moment must be spied out by you, be selected by your own attention and scrupulous observation. You is ungrammatically employed, instead of yourselves.

8 always thought,

That I require a clearness:] i. e. you must manage matters so, that throughout the whole transaction I may stand clear of suspicion.

'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, Ere we will eat our meal in fear, and sleep

In the affliction of these terrible dreams,

That shake us nightly: Better be with the dead,
Whom we, to gain our place, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie

In restless ecstacy.2 Duncan is in his grave;
After life's fitful fever, he sleeps well;

Treason has done his worst: nor steel, nor poison,
Malice domestick, foreign levy, nothing,

Can touch him further!

Lady M. Come on;

Gentle my lord, sleek o'er your rugged looks;
Be bright and jovial 'mong your guests to-night.
Macb. So shall I, love; and so, I pray, be you:
Let your remembrance apply to Banquo;

Present him eminence3, both with eye and tongue :

9

sorriest fancies] i. e. worthless, ignoble, vile. +" without all remedy," - MALONE.

scotch'd] i. e. cut slightly.

"But let the frame of things disjoint,

"Both the worlds suffer," MALONE.

2 In restless ecstacy.] Ecstacy, for madness, or agony.
• Present him eminence,] i. e. do him the highest honours.