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 159) with you, How you were borne in hand 160); how cross'd; the instru

ments,

Who wrought with them: and all things else, that might, To half a soul, and to a notion craz'd,

Say, Thus did Banquo.

1. Mur.

You made it known to us.

Mach. I did so; and went further, which is now

Our point of second meeting. Do you find 1

Your patience so predominant in your nature,

That you can let this go? Are you so gospell'd 161),
Το 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.
Macb.

We are men 162), my liege.

Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men,

As hounds, and greyhounds, mungrels, spaniels, curs,
Shoughs 163), water-rugs, and demi wolves, are cleped
All by the name of dogs: the valued file 16*)
Distinguishes the swift, the slow, the subtle,
The house-keeper, the hunter, every one
According to the gift which bounteous nature

159) pass'd in probation, is, I believe, only a bulky phrase employed to signify proved. Steevens. 169) To bear in hand, is, to delude by encouraging hope and holding out fair prospects, without any intention of performance. Malone. 161) gospelled, means no more than kept in obedience to that precept of the gospel, which teaches us to pray for those that despitefully use us." Steevens. 162) That is, we have the same feelings as the rest of mankind, and, as men, are not without a manly resentment for the wrongs which we have suffered, and which you have now recited. Malone. 163) Shoughs are probably what we now call shocks, demi-wolves, lycisco; dogs bred between wolves and dogs. Johnson. 164) 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,

and with a reference to it.

is used in the same sense as in this, 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. Steevens.

1

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 it;
And I will put that business in your bosoms,
Whose execution takes your enemy off;
Grapples you to the heart and love of us,
Who wear our health but sickly in his life,
Which in his death were perfect.

I am one, my liege,

2. Mur. Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world Havo 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 165),
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 166),

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 167) 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.

165) tugg'd with fortune way be: tugg'd or worried by fortune. Johnson. 166) 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 is evident from the continuation of the metaphor, where every minute of his being is represented as thrusting at the nearest part where life resides.

Steevens.

Steevens. 167) for-because of

I. Mur.

Though our lives

Mach. Your spirits shine through you. Within this hour,

at most,

I will advise you where to plant yourselves;
Acquaint you with the perfect spy o' the time,
The moment on't 168); for't must be done to-night,
And something from the palace: always thought,
That I require a clearness 169): 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.

Mur.

We are resolv'd, my lord.
Macb. I'll call upon you straight; abide within.

It is concluded. Banquo, thy soul's flight,
If it find heaven, must find it out to-night.

[Exeunt.]

SCENE IL

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

168) Acquaint you 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 Macbeth in the your own attention and scrupulous observation. intervening time might have learned from some of Banquo's attendants, which way he had ridden out, and therefore could tell the murderers where to plant themselves so as to cut him off on his return; but who could ascertain the precise hour of his arrival, except the ruffians who watched for that purpose? Steevens. 169) i. e. you must manage matters so, that throughout the whole transaction I may stand clear of suspicion. Steevens.

96

'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 170) fancies your companions making?

Using those thoughts, which should indeed have died,
With them they think on? Things without all 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 wẹ, to gain our place, have sent to peace,
Than on the torture of the mind to lie

In restless ecstasy 171).

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

be
pray, you:

Let your remembrance still apply to Banquo;

Present him eminence 172), both with eye and tongue!

Unsafe the while, that we

Must lave our honours in these flattering streams;

And make our faces vizards to our hearts,

Disguising what they are 173).

Lady M.

You must leave this.

170) sorriest i. e. worthless, ignoble, vile. Steevens. 171) 172) i. e. ecstasy i. e. emotions of pain, agony. Ste.evens.)

while

do him the highest honours. Warburton. 173) Unsafe the The sense of this passage (though what they are. clouded by metaphor, and perhaps by omission) appears to be as follows: It is a sure sign that our royalty is unsafe, when it must descend to flattery, and stoop to dissimulation. Steevens.

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 174). Mach. There's comfort y they are assailable; Then be thou jocund. Ere the bat hath flown His cloister'd flight, ere, to black Hecate's summons, The shard-borne 175) beetle, with his drowsy hums Hath rung night's yawning peal, there shall be done A deed of dreadful note.

Lady M.

What's to be done?

Macb. Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck 176), Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling 177) night, Skarf up the tender eye of pitiful day; And, with thy bloody and invisible hand, Cancel, and tear to pieces, that great Which keeps me pale!

bond,

Light thickens 178); and the crow

Makes wing to the rooky 179) wood:

Good things of day begin to droop and drowze,

While night's black agents to their prey do rouse 10).
Thou marvell'st at my words: but hold thee still;

Things, bad begun, make strong themselves by ill:
So, pr'ythee, go with me.

The same,

SCENE III

[Exeunt.]

A Park or lawn, with a gate leading to the Palace.
Enter three Murderers.

1. Mur. But who bid thee join with us 181)?

3. Mur.

Macbeth.

from nature,

174) The copy, the lease, by which they hold their lives has its time of termination limited. Johnson. Eterne for eternal. Steevens. 175) The beetle batched in clefts of wood. Warburton. 176) chuck, a term of endearment, probably corrupted from chick or chicken. Steevens. 177) seeling i. e. blinding. It is a term of falconry. Warburton. 178) By the expression, light thickens, Shakspeare means, the light grows dull or muddy. Steevens, 179) rooky may mean damp, misty, steaming with exhalations. Steevens. 180) This appears to be said with reference to these demons who were supposed to remain in their several places of confinement all day, but at the close of it were released. Steevens. 181) The third assassin seems to have been sent to join the others, from Macbeth's superabundant caution. From the following dialogue it appears,