then, misplaced by our poet to introduce that machinery which must necessarily commend itself to every one at that time, from the king on his throne (to whom it would be an especial compliment, as alluding to his lately published work) to the peasant in his cottage? We may venture to affirm, that in this, as in almost every other portion of his writings, Shakspeare has shown his acute judgment, by adopting the popular belief as a powerful instrument of terror, in a play where the exciting of terror was one of the main objects aimed at. And terrific, indeed, is this magic of Shakspeare's tragedy, wherever it is introduced. Those beings," withered and wild in their attire," that," though on the earth yet look not like earth's inhabitants," "laying their choppy fingers on their skinny lips"-these, from the time of their first meeting with Macbeth on the barren heath, to the end of their dread incantation in the cave, whilst thunder howls around them and lightning glares, are calculated to fill even the minds of the most sceptical with horror, and make us shrink back as from creatures of hell, who are at open enmity with all that is good and holy. It has been thought that the fame of Shakspeare's magic might be endangered by modern ridicule. And some may, perhaps, like the infidel Voltaire, be found to laugh at that, as he did at the rest of the writings of a poet so infinitely above his grovelling comprehension. We, however, with one of Shakspeare's commentators, "shall not hesitate to predict its security, till our national taste is wholly corrupted, and we no longer deserve the first of all dramatic enjoyments; for such is the tragedy of Macbeth." MACBETH. ACT I. SCENE I.-An open Place. Thunder and Lightning. 1 Witch. WHEN shall we three meet again In thunder, lightning, or in rain? 2 Witch. When the hurlyburly's done, When the battle's lost and won: 3 Witch. That will be ere the set of sun. 1 Witch. Where the place? 2 Witch. Upon the heath : 3 Witch. There to meet with Macbeth. 1 Witch. I come, Graymalkin! All. Paddock calls :-Anon. Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air. [Witches vanish. SCENE II.—A Camp near Forres. Alarum within. Enter King DUNCAN, MALCOLM, DONALBAIN, LENOX, with Attendants, meeting a bleeding Soldier. Dun. What bloody man is that? He can report, As seemeth by his plight, of the revolt The newest state. Mal. This is the sergeant, Who, like a good and hardy soldier, fought As two spent swimmers, that do cling together, The multiplying villanies of nature (1) Of is here used in the sense of with. And fortune on him smil'd, but all too weak: For brave Macbeth, (well he deserves that name,) Like valour's minion, carv'd out his passage, Which ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him, Dun. O, valiant cousin! worthy gentleman! Compell'd these skipping kernes to trust their heels, With furbish'd arms, and new supplies of men, Began a fresh assault. Dun. Dismay'd not this our captains, Macbeth and Banquo? Sold. Yes: as sparrows, eagles; or the hare, the lion. If I say sooth, I must report they were As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks ; So they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe: Dun. So well thy words become thee as thy wounds; [Exit Soldier, attended. Enter ROSSE. Who comes here? Mal. The worthy thane of Rosse. Len. What a haste looks through his eyes! So should he look that seems to speak things strange. Rosse. God save the king! Dun. Whence cam'st thou, worthy thane? Where the Norweyan banners flout the sky, (1) Instead of "from the nave to the chaps," it has been proposed to read "from the nape (of the neck) to the chaps ;" and this emendation would certainly bring the formidable blow more within the compass of human strength; but it is merely conjectural. (2) As whence the sun 'gins his reflection, &c. This passage is somewhat obscure, but the meaning seems to be this; as from the same quarter of the heaven, viz., the east, whence the joy of daylight arises, there proceed sometimes dreadful storms and tempests; so was the glorious event of Macbeth's victory, which seemed the harbinger of peace, directly followed by the alarming news of the invasion of the Norwegians. And fan our people cold. Norway himself, with terrible numbers, The thane of Cawdor, began a dismal conflict: Point against point, rebellious arm 'gainst arm, Dun. Rosse. That now Great happiness! Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition; Till he disbursed, at Saint Colmes' inch,2 Ten thousand dollars to our general use. Dun. No more that thane of Cawdor shall deceive Our bosom interest :-Go, pronounce his present death, And with his former title greet Macbeth. Rosse. I'll see it done. Dun. What he hath lost noble Macbeth hath won. [Exeunt. SCENE III.—A Heath. Thunder. Enter the three Witches. 1 Witch. Where hast thou been, sister? 2 Witch. Killing swine. 3 Witch. Sister, where thou? 1 Witch. A sailor's wife had chestnuts in her lap, And mounch'd, and mounch'd, and mounch'd:-"Give me," quoth I: "Aroint thee, witch!" the rump-fed ronyon cries. Her husband's to Aleppo gone, master o' the Tiger : But in a sieve I'll thither sail, And like a rat without a tail, I'll do, I'll do, and I'll do. 2 Witch. I'll give thee a wind. 1 Witch. Th' art kind. 3 Witch. And I another. 1 Witch. I myself have all the other; And the very ports they blow, All the quarters that they know I' the shipman's card. (1) Confronted him with self-comparisons. This means that Bellona's bridegroom, viz., Macbeth, gave the thane of Cawdor as good as he brought; proved a match for him. (2) Saint Colmes' inch. The island of St. Columba, lying in the Firth of Edinburgh, and now known by the name of Inchcomb. C |