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NOTE XXXVII.

I WILL- give to the edge o' th' sword

His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls
That trace him in his line-no boasting like a fool,
'This deed I'll do before my purpose cool.

Both the sense and measure of the third line, which as it rhymes, ought, according to the practice of this author, to be regular, are at present injured by two superfluous syllables, which may easily be removed by reading

-souls

That trace his line-no boasting like a fool.

NOTE XXXVIII.

SCENE III.

Rosse. DEAREST cousin

I pray you school yourself; but for your husband,
He's noble, wise, judicious, and best knows

The fits o' th' time, I dare not speak much farther,
But cruel are the times when we are traitors,

And do not know't ourselves: when we (1) hold rumour
From what we fear, yet know not what we fear,

But float upon a wild and violent sea

Each way, and (2) move. I'll take my leave of you;
Shall not be long but I'll be here again:

Things at the worst will cease, or else climb upwards
To what they were before: my pretty cousin,
Blessing upon you.

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From what we fear, yet know not what we fear.

The present reading seems to afford no sense; and therefore some critical experiments may be

properly tried upon it, though, the verses being without any connexion, there is room for suspicion, that some intermediate lines are lost, and that the passage is therefore irretrievable. If it be supposed that the fault arises only from the corruption of some words, and that the traces of the true reading are still to be found, the passage may be changed thus:

When we bode ruin

From what we fear, yet know not what we fear.

Or in a sense very applicable to the occasion of the conference,

When the bold running

From what they fear, yet know not what they fear.

(2) But float upon a wild and violent sea

Each way, and move.

That he who floats upon a rough sea must move is evident, too evident for Shakespeare so emphatically to assert. The line therefore is to be written thus:

Each way,

and move-I'll take my leave of you. Rosse is about to proceed, but finding himself overpowered by his tenderness, breaks off abruptly for which he makes a short apology and retires.

NOTE XXXIX.

SCENE IV.

Malcolm. LET us seek out some desolate shade, and there

Weep our sad bosoms empty.

Macduff. Let us rather

Hold fast the mortal sword: and like good men,
Bestride our downfal birth-doom: each new morn,
New widows howl, new orphans cry, new sorrows
Strike heaven on the face, that it resounds

As if it felt with Scotland, and yell'd out
Like syllables of dolour.

He who can discover what is meant by him that earnestly exhorts him to bestride his downfal birthdoom, is at liberty to adhere to the present text; but those who are willing to confess that such counsel would to them be unintelligible must endeavour to discover some reading less obscure. It is probable that Shakespeare wrote,

Like good men,

Bestride our downfaln birthdom

The allusion is to a man from whom something valuable is about to be taken by violence, and who that he may defend it without encumbrance, lays it on the ground, and stands over it with his weapon in his hand. Our birthdom, or birthright, says he, lies on the ground, let us, like men who are to fight for what is dearest to them, not abandon it, but stand over it and defend it. This is a strong picture of obstinate resolution.

Birthdom for birthright is formed by the same analogy with masterdom in this play, signifying the privileges or rights of a master.

Perhaps it might be birth-dame for mother; let us stand over our mother that lies bleeding on the ground.

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Malcolm.

NOTE XL.

Now we'll together, and the chance of goodness

Be like our warranted quarrel.

The chance of goodness, as it is commonly read, conveys no sense. If there be not some more important errour in the passage, it should at least be pointed thus:

-And the chance, of goodness,

Be like our warranted quarrel,

That is, May the event be, of the goodness of hea- . ven [pro justicia divina], answerable to the cause. But I am inclined to believe that Shakespeare wrote,

And the chance, O goodness,

Be like our warranted quarrel.

This some of his transcribers wrote with a small o, which another imagined to mean of. If we adopt this reading, the sense will be, and O thou sovereign goodness to whom we now appeal, may our fortune

answer to our cause.

NOTE XLI.

ACT V. SCENE III.

Macbeth. BRING me no more reports, let them fly all,
"Till Birnam wood remove to Dunsinane,

I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm?
Was he not born of woman?

Fly false Thanes,

And mingle with the English epicures.

In the first line of this speech, the proper pauses are not observed in the present editions.

Bring me no more reports-let them fly all

Tell me not any more of desertions-Let all my subjects leave me-I am safe till, &c.

The reproach ef epicurism, on which Mr. Theobald has bestowed a note, is nothing more than a natural invective uttered by an inhabitant of a barren country, against those who have more opportunities of luxury.

NOTE XLII.

Macbeth. I HAVE liv'd long enough: my way of life Is fall'n into the sear, the yellow leaf.

As there is no relation between the way of life, and fallen into the sear, I am inclined to think, that the Wis only an M inverted, and that it was originally written, My May of life.

I am now passed from the spring to the autumn of my days, but I am without those comforts that should succeed the sprightliness of bloom, and support me in this melancholy season.

NOTE XLIII.

SCENE IV.

Malcolm. 'Tis his main hope:

For where there is advantage to be given,

Both more or less have given him the revolt;

And none serve with him but constrained things,
Whose hearts are absent too.

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