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Gon. Holloa, holloa!

That eye that told you so, look'd but a-squint. •
Reg. Lady, I am not well; else I should answer
From a full-flowing stomach.-General,
Take thou my soldiers, prisoners, patrimony;
Dispose of them, of me; the walls are thine:
Witness the world, that I create thee here
My lord and master.

Gon. Mean you to enjoy him?

Alb. The let-alone + lies not in your good will.

Edm. Nor in thine, lord.

Alb. Half-blooded fellow, yes.
Reg. Let the drum strike, and prove my title
[To EDMUND.
Alb. Stay yet; hear reason :-Edmund, I
arrest thee

thine.

On capital treason; and, in thy arrest,
This gilded serpent: [Pointing to GON.]-for
your claim, fair sister,

I bar it in the interest of my wife;
'Tis she is sub-contracted to this lord,

And I, her husband, contradict your bans.
If you will marry, make your love to me,
My lady is bespoke.

Gon. An interlude !

Alb. Thou art arm'd, Gloster :-Let trumpet sound:

Edg. What's he, that speaks for Edmund earl
of Gloster ?

Edm. Himself;-What say'st thou to him!
Edg. Draw thy sword;

That, if my speech offend a noble heart,
Thy arm may do thee justice: here is mine.
Behold it is the privilege of mine honours,
My oath and my profession: I protest,-
Maugre⚫ thy strength, youth, place, and emi.
nence,

Despite thy victor sword, and fire-new fortane
Thy valour, and thy heart,-thou art a traitor :
False to thy gods, thy brother, and thy father;
Conspirant 'gainst this high illustrious prince;
Aud, from the extremest upward of thy head,
To the descent and dust beneath thy feet,
A most toad-spotted traitor. Say thou, No,
This sword, this arm, and my best spirits, are
bent

To prove upon thy heart, whereto I speak
Thou liest.

Edm. In wisdom I should ask thy name : +
But, since thy outside looks so fair and war-
like,
[breathes,
And that thy tongue some 'say of breeding
What safe and nicely I might well delay
the By rule of knighthood, I disdain and spurn :
Back do I toss these treasons to thy head;
With the heli-hated lie o'erwhelm thy heart;
Which, (for they yet glance by, and scarcely
bruise,)
[way,
This sword of mine shall give them instant
Where they shall rest for ever.—Trumpets,

If none appear to prove upon thy person,
Thy heinous, manifest, and many treasons,
There is my pledge; [Throwing down a Glove.]
I'll prove it on thy heart,

Ere I taste bread, thou art in nothing less
Than I have here proclaim'd thee.
Reg. Sick, 0, sick!

[Aside.

Gon. If not, I'll ne'er trust poison.
Edm. There's my exchange: [Throwing down
a Glove.] what in the world he is

That names me traitor, villain-like he lies:
Call by thy trumpet: he that dares approach,
On him, on you, (who not ?) I will maintain
My truth and honour firmly.

Alb. A berald, ho!

Edm. A herald, ho, a herald !
Al. Trust to thy single virtue!

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diers,

All levied in my name, have in my name

Took their discharge.

Reg. This sickness grows upon me.

Enter a HERALD.

Alb. She is not well; convey her to my tent.
[Exit REGAN, led.
Come hither, berald,-Let the trumpet sound,—
And read out this.

Off. Sound, trumpet. [A Trumpet sounds.
HERALD reads.

If any man of quality or degree, within the lists of the army, will maintain upon EDMUND, supposed earl of GLOSTER, that he is a manifold traitor, let him appear at the third sound of the trumpet: He is bold in his defence.

Edm. Sound.
Her. Again.
Her. Again.

speak.

[Alarums.-They fight.-EDMUND falls. Alb. O save him, save him!

Gon. This is mere practice, § Gloster:

By the law of arms, thou wast not bound to

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Know'st thou this paper?

Gon. Ask me not what I know.

[Exit GONERIL. Alb. Go after her: she's desperate; govern her. [To an OFFICER, who goes out. Edm. What you have charg'd me with, that [out;

have I done; And more, much more: the time will bring it 'Tis past, and so am 1: But what art thou, That hast this fortune on me? If thou art noble, I do forgive thee.

Edg. Let's exchange charity.

I am no less in blood than thou art, Edmund; If more, the more thou hast wrong'd me. My name is Edgar, and thy father's son. The gods are just, and of our pleasant vices [1 Trumpet. Make instruments to scourge us: [2 Trumpet. The dark and vicious place where thee he got, 13 Trumpet. Cost him his eyes. [Trumpet answers within. Enter EDGAR, armed, preceded by a Trumpet. Alb. Ask him his purposes, why he appears Upon this call o'the trumpet.

Her. What are you?

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And, when 'tis told, O that my heart would | Speak, Edmund, where's the king? and where's

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You look as you had something more to say. Alb. If there be more, more woeful, hold it in ;

For I am almost ready to dissolve,
Hearing of this.

Edg. This would have seem'd a period
To such as love not sorrow; but another,
To amplify too much, would make much more,
And top extremity.

[man, Whilst I was big in clamour, came there a Who having seen me in my worst estate, Shunn'd my abhorr'd society: but then, finding Who 'twas that so endur'd, with his strong

arms

He fasten'd on my neck, and bellow'd out
As he'd burst heaven; threw him on my fa-
ther;

Told the most piteous tale of Lear and him,.
That ever ear receiv'd: which in recounting
His grief grew puissant, and the strings of life
Began to crack: Twice then the trumpet
sounded,

And there I left him tranc'd.

Alb. But who was this?

Edg. Kent, Sir, the banish'd Kent: who in disguise

Follow'd his enemy king, and did him service !mproper for a slave.

Cordelia ?

See'st thou this object, Kent?

[The Bodies of GONERIL and REGAN are brought in.

Kent. Alack, why thus?

Edm. Yet Edmund was belov❜d:
The one the other poison'd for my sake,
And after slew herself.

Alb. Even so.-Cover their faces.

Edm. I pant for life :-Some good I mean to do,

Despite of mine own nature. Quickly send,-
Be brief in it,-to the castle; for my writ
Is on the life of Lear, and on Cordelia ;-
Nay, send in time.

Alb. Run, run, O run

Edg. To who, my lord ?-Who has the office ? send

Thy token of reprieve.

Edm. Well thought on; take my sword, Give it the captain.

Alb. Haste thee, for thy life. [Erit EDGAR. Edm. He hath commission from thy wife and me

To hang Cordelia in the prison, and
To lay the blame upon her own despair,
That she fordid herself. *

Alb. The gods defend her! Bear him hence awhile. [EDMUND is borne off. Enter LEAR, with CORDELIA dead in his Arms; EDGAR, OFFICER, and others. Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl!-O you are

men of stones;

Had I your tongues and eyes, I'd use them so That heaven's vault should crack :-O she is gone for ever!

I know when one is dead, and when one lives;
She's dead as earth;-Lend me a looking-glass ;
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives.

Kent. Is this the promis'd end?+
Edg. Or image of that horror?
Alb. Fall, and cease! ‡

Lear. This feather stirs : she lives! if it be so,
It is a chance that does redeem all sorrows
That ever I have felt.

Kent. O my good master!

Lear. Pr'ythee, away.

Edg. 'Tis noble Kent, your friend.

[Kneeling.

Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors

all!

[ever!

I might have sav'd her; now she's gone for Cordelia, Cordelia, stay a little. Ha!

Enter a GENTLEMAN hastily, with a bloody What is't thou say'st?-Her voice was ever

Knife.

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soft,

[man :

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Kent. Nor no man else; all's cheerless, dark, | And thou no breath at all! O thou wilt com and deadly.

no more,

Your eldest daughters have fore-doom'd them-Never, never, never, never, never !—

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You lords, and noble friends, know our intent.
What comfort to this great decay + may come,
Shall be applied: For us, we will resign,
During the life of this old majesty,
To him our absolute power:-You, to your
rights;
[To EDGAR und KENT.
With boot, and such addition as your honours
Have more than merited.-All friends shall
taste

The wages of their virtue, and all foes
The cup of their deservings.-O see, see!
Lear. And my poor fool is hang'd! No, no,
no life:

Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life,

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That would upon the rack of this tough world Stretch him out longer.

Edg. O he is gone, indeed.

Kent. The wonder is, he hath endur'd so long: He but usurp'd his life.

Alb. Bear them from hence.-Our present business

Is general woe. Friends of my soul, you twain [To KENT and EDGAR. Rule in this realm, and the gor'd state sustain. Kent. I have a journey, Sir, shortly to go; My master calls, and I must not say, no.

Alb. The weight of this sad time we must obey; Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say. The oldest hath borne most: we, that are young, Shall never see so much, nor live so long. [Exeunt, with a dead March.

• Die.

MACBETH.

LITERARY AND HISTORICAL NOTICE.

IN this matchless tragedy Shakspeare has closely adhered to historical fact, excepting that Banquo, out of com pliment to his descendant James I. is excluded from all participation in the murder of Duncan. In the reign of Charles II. the songs of the witches were set to music by the celebrated Matthew Lock, and the play regarded as a semi-opera. The ghosts and witches, though admirably pourtrayed, have been censured as an insult to common sense; and cautions have been held out to the young and uninformed against imbibing the absurd principles of fatalism which are seemingly countenanced in many parts of this piece. But in the time of Shakspeare, the doctrine of witchcraft was at once established by law and by fashion, and it became not only unpolite, but criminal, to doubt it.---King James himself in his dialogues of Damonologie, re-printed in Loudon soon after his succession, has speculated deeply on the illusions of spirits, the compact of witches, &c. ; and our dramatist only turned to his advantage a system universally admitted. In representation, some un. interesting scenes are omitted; many of the witches' dialogues adapted to beautiful music, and a song or two, probably written by Sir W. Davenant, added to the parts. Betterton, amidst many bad alterations, hit upon the plan of making the witches deliver all the prophecies, by which a deal of the trap-work is avoided; and Garrick substituted some excellent passages to be uttered by Macbeth, whilst expiring, in lieu of the disgusting exposure of his head by Macduff. The neatest criticism upon the play, and the most concise record of its historical facts, are contained in the following extract from a standard publication: “Macbeth flourished in Scotland about the middle of the tenth century. At this period Duncan was king, a mild and humane prince, but not at all possessed of the genius requisite for governing a country so turbulent, and so infested by the intrigues and animosities of the great Macbeth, a powerful nobleman, and nearly allied to the crown. Not contented with curbing the king's authority, carried still further his mad ambition; he murdered Duncan at Inverness, and then seized upon the throne. Fearing lest his ill-gotten power should be stripped from him, he chased Malcolm Kenmore, the son and heir, into England, and put to death Mac Gill and Banquo, the two most powerful men in his dominions. Macduff next becoming the object of his suspicion, he escaped into England; but the inhuman usurper wreaked his vengeance on his wife and children, whom he caused to be cruelly butchered. Siward, whose daughter was married to Duncan, embraced, by Edward's orders, the protection of his distressed family. He marched an army into Scotland, and having defeated and killed Macbeth in battle, he restored Malcolm to the throne of his ancestors. The tragedy founded upon the history of Macberb, though contrary to the rules of the drama, contains an infinity of beauties with respect to language, character, passion, and incident; and is thought to be one of the very best pieces of the very best masters in this kind of writing that the world ever produced. The danger of ambition is well described, and the passions are directed to their true ends; so that it is not only admirable as a poem, but one of the most moral pieces existing."

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of the English Forces.

YOUNG SIWARD, his Son.

SEYTON, an Officer attending on Macbeth.
Son to Macduff.

An English Doctor.-A Scotch Doctor.
A Soldier.-A Porter.-An old Man.

LADY MACBETH.

LADY MACDUFF.

Gentlewoman attending on Lady Macbeth.
HECATE, and three Witches.

Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Mur-
derers, Attendants, and Messengers.

The Ghost of Banquo, and several other
Apparitions.

SCENE, in the end of the fourth act, lies in England; through the rest of the play, in Scotland; and, chiefly, at Macbeth's Castle.

ACT I.

SCENE 1.-An open Place.

Thunder and Lightning. Enter three WITCHES.

1 Witch. When shall we three meet again

In thunder, lightning, or in rain?

2 Hitch. When the hurlyburly's done, When the battie's lost and won:

• Tumult.

3 Witch. That will be ere set of sun.

1 Witch. Where the place?

2 Witch. Upon the heath:

3 Witch. There to meet Macbeth.

1 Witch. I come, Graymalkin I
All. Paddock calls :-Anou.-
Fair is foul, and foul is fair :
Hover through the fog and filthy air.

[WITCHES vanish.

SCENE II.-A Camp near Fores. 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
'Gainst my captivity :-Hail, brave friend!
Say to the king the knowledge of the broil,
As thou didst leave it.

Sold. Doubtfully it stood;

As two spent swimmers, that do cling together, And choke their art. The merciless Macdonwald

(Worthy to be a rebel; for to that

The multiplying villanies of nature

Do swarm upon him,) from the western isles,
Of kernes and gallowglasses is supplied ; *
And fortune, on his damned quarrel + smiling,
Show'd like a rebel's whore: But all's too weak:
For brave Macbeth, (well he deserves that
name,)

Disdaining fortune, with his brandish'd steel,
Which smok'd with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion

Carv'd out his passage, till he fac'd the slave; And ne'er shook hands, nor bade farewell to him,

Till he unseain'd him from the nave to the chaps, And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

Dun. O valiant cousin! worthy gentleman! Sold. As whence the sun 'gins his reflection Shipwrecking storms and direful thunders break; So from that spring, whence comfort seem'd to

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Who comes here?

Enter ROSSE.

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?
Rosse. From Fife, great king,

Where the Norweyan banners flout ** the sky,
And fan our people cold.

Norway himself, with terrible numbers,
Assisted by that most disloyal traitor

The thane of Cawdor, 'gan a dismal conflict:
Till that Bellona's bridegroom,tt lapp'd in proof,‡‡
They were light and heavy armed troops.
↑ Cause.
The opposite to comfort.
Cannons were not invented until some centuries
after this period.

Truth.

Make another Golgotha as memorable as the first. Mock. + Shakspeare means Mars. :: Defended by armour of proof.

Confronted him with self-comparisons,
Point against polut rebellious, arm 'gainst arm,
Curbing his lavish spirit: And, to conclude,
The victory fell on us ;-

Dun. Great happiness! Rosse. That now

Sweno, the Norways' king, craves composition;
Nor would we deign him burial of his men,
Till he disbursed, at Saint Colmes' inch,
Ten thousand dollars to our general use.

Dun. No more that thane of Cawdor, shall deceive

Our bosom interest :-Go, pronounce his death,
And with his former title greet Macbeth.
Rosse. I'll see it done.

Dun. What he hath lost, noble Macbeth hath [Exeunt.

won.

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 chesnuts 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
But in a sieve I'll thither sail,
[Tiger:
And, like a rat without a tail,
I'll do, I'll do, I'll do.

2 Witch. I'll give thee a wind.
1 Witch. Thou 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. §

I will drain him dry as hay:
Sleep shall, neither night nor day,
Hang upon his pent-house lid;
He shall live a man forbid : ||
Weary sev'n-nights, nine times nine,
Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine:
Though his bark cannot be lost,
Yet it shall be tempest-toss'd.
Look what I have.

2 Witch. Show me, show me.

1 Witch. Here I have a pilot's thumb, Wreck'd, as homeward he did come.

3 Witch. A drum, a drum; Macbeth doth come.

[Drum within.

All. The weird sisters, ¶ hand in hand,
Posters of the sea and laud,
Thus do go about, about;
Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine,
And thrice again, to make up nine:
Peace!—the charm's wound up.

Enter MACBETH and BANQUO.
Macb. So foul and fair a day I have not seen.
Ban. How far is't call'd to Fores ?-What

are these,

So wither'd and so wild in their attire:
That look not like the inhabitants o'the earth,
And yet are on't? Live you? or are you aught
That man may question? You seem to under.
stand me,

By each at once her choppy finger laying
Upon her skinny lips :-You should be women,
And yet your beards forbid me to interpret
That you are so.

Macb. Speak, if you can ;-What are you?
1 Witch. All hail, Macbeth! hail to thee,
thane of Glamis !

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