As starts can neither with propriety nor sense | Then after a short pause, declares it as the be called impostures to true fear, something else general observation of mankind, that murderers was undoubtedly intended by the author, who cannot escape. perhaps wrote,

swine; and Dr. Harsenet observes, that about | south, from the groves, the woods, the rivers, and that time "a sow could not be ill of the measles, nor a girl of the sullens, but some old woman was charged with witchcraft."

Toad, that under the cold stone
Days and nights has forty-one
Swelter'd venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i' the charmed pot

the fens, from the fairies, red, black, white." There was likewise a book written before the time of Shakspeare, describing, amongst other properties, the colours of spirits.

Many other circumstances might be particularized, in which Shakspeare has shown his judgment and his knowledge.

NOTE XXXVI.-SCENE II.

Macbeth. Thou art too like the spirit of Banque, Thy crown' does (1) sear my eye-balls, and thy (2) down, Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first, hair, A third is like the former.

Toads have likewise long lain under the reproach of being by some means necessary to witchcraft, for which reason Shakspeare, in the first scene of this play, calls one of the spirits padocke or toad, and now takes care to put a toad first into the pot. When Vaninus was seized at Thoulouse, there was found at his lodgings ingens bufo vitro inclusus, a great toad shut in a vial, upon which those that prosecuted him veneficium exprobrabant, charged him, I suppose, with witch-merly practised of destroying the sight of captives

craft.

Fillet of a fenny snake

In the cauldron boil and bake;

Eye of neut, and toe of frog ;-
For a charm, &c.

sears his eye-balls, is taken from the method for(1) The expression of Macbeth, that the crown

or competitors, by holding a burning bason before the eye, which dried up its humidity.

(2) As Macbeth expected to see a train of kings, and was only inquiring from what race The propriety of these ingredients may be that the hair of the second was bound with gold they would proceed, he could not be surprised known by consulting the books de Viribus Ani-like that of the first; he was offended only that malium and de Mirabilibus Mundi, ascribed to the second resembled the first, as the first resemAlbertus Magnus, in which the reader, who has bled Banquo, and therefore said, time and credulity, may discover very wonderful

secrets.

Finger of birth-strangled babe,
Ditch-deliver'd by a drab ;-

It has been already mentioned in the law against witches, that they are supposed to take up dead bodies to use in enchantments, which was confessed by the woman whom King James examined, and who had of a dead body, that was divided in one of their assemblies, two fingers for her share. It is observable, that Shakspeare, on this great occasion, which involves the fate of a king, multiplies all the circumstances of horror. The babe whose finger is used, must be strangled in its birth; the grease must not only be human, but must have dropped from a gibbet, the gibbet of a murderer: and even the sow whose blood is used, must have offended nature by devouring her own farrow. These are touches of judgment and genius.

And now about the cauldron sing

Blue spirits and white,
Black spirits and grey,
Mingle, mingle, mingle,
You that mingle may.

And in a former part,

Weird sisters hand in hand

Thus do go about, about,

Thrice to mine, and thrice to thine,

And thrice again to make up nine.

These two passages I have brought together,

-And thy air,
The other gold-bound brow, is like the first.
NOTE XXXVII.

His wife, his babes, and all unfortunate souls
I will give to the edge o' th' sword
That trace him in his line-no boasting like a fool
This deed I'll do before my purpose cool.

which as it rhymes, ought, according to the prac
Both the sense and measure of the third line,
tice of this author, to be regular, are at present
injured by two superfluous syllables, which may
easily be removed by reading,
That trace his line-no boasting like a fool.

NOTE XXXVIII.

-souls

pray you school yourself; but for your husband,
Rosse. Dearest cousin,
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.

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

The present reading seems to afford no sense; because they both seem subject to the objection and therefore some critical experiments may be of too much levity for the solemnity of enchant-properly tried upon it, though, the verses being ment, and may both be shown, by one quotation without any connexion, there is room for suspifrom Camden's account of Ireland, to be founded cion, that some intermediate lines are lost, and upon a practice really observed by the uncivilized that the passage is therefore irretrievable. If it natives of that country. "When any one gets be supposed that the fault arises only from the a fall," says the informer of Camden, he starts corruption of some words, and that the traces of up, and turning three times to the right, digs a the true reading are still to be found, the passage hole in the earth; for they imagine that there is may be changed thus: a spirit in the ground; and if he falls sick in two or three days, they send one of their women that is skilled in that way to the place, where she says, I call thee from the east, west, north, and

-When we bode ruin

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

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

-When the bold running

NOTE XLI.-ACT V. SCENE III.

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

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 Shakspeare 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.

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 of 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

Malcolm. Let us seek out some desolate shade, and more opportunities of luxury.

there

Weep our sad bosoms empty.

Macduff. Let us rather

Hold fast the mortal sword: and like good men,
Bestride our downfal birthdoom: 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.

NOTE XLII.

Macbeth. I have lived long enough: my way of life Is fallen 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 W is only an M inverted, and He who can discover what is meant by him that it was originally written, My May of life. that earnestly exhorts him to bestride his down- I am now passed from the spring to the autumn fal birthdoom, is at liberty to adhere to the pre-of my days, but I am without those comforts that sent text; but those who are willing to confess should succeed the sprightliness of bloom, and supthat such counsel would to them be unintelligi-port me in this melancholy season. ble, must endeavour to discover some reading less obscure. It is probable that Shakspeare 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.

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.

The impropriety of the expression advantage to be given, instead of advantage given, and the disagreeable repetition of the word given in the next line incline me to read,

Where there is a vantage to be gone,
Both more and less have given him the revolt.

Advantage or vantage in the time of Shakspeare, signified opportunity.

More and less is the same with greater and less. So in the interpolated Mandeville, a book of that age, there is a chapter of India the more and the less.

NOTE XLIV.-SCENE V.

Macbeth. Wherefore was that cry?
Seyton. The queen is dead.

Macbeth. She should (1) have died hereafter;
There would have been a time for such a word.
To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this peity pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of (2) recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death. Out, out, brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow.-

(1) She should have died hereafter,
There would have been a time for such a word.

This passage has very justly been suspected of being corrupt. It is not apparent for what word there would have been a time; and that there would or would not be a time for any word, seems not a consideration of importance sufficient to transport Macbeth into the following exclamation. I read therefore,

She should have died hereafter,
There would have been a time for such a world.—
To-morrow, &c.

It is a broken speech, in which only part of the thought is expressed, and may be para

phrased thus: The queen is dead. Macbeth. Her | intelligible, and has therefore passed smoothly death should have been deferred to some more peace-over them, without any attempt to alter or exful hour; had she lived longer, there would at plain them. length have been a time for the honours due to her Some of the lines with which I had been peras a queen, and that respect which I owe her for her plexed, have been indeed so fortunate as to atfidelity and love. Such is the world-such is the tract his regard; and it is not without all the condition of human life, that we always think to- satisfaction which it is usual to express on such morrow will be happier than to-day; but to-morrow occasions, that I find an entire agreement beand to-morrow steals over us unenjoyed and unre-tween us in substituting [see Note II.] quarrel garded, and we still linger in the same expectation for quarry, and in explaining the adage of the to the moment appointed for our end. All these cat, [Note XVII.] But this pleasure is, like days, which have thus passed away, have sent mul- most others, known only to be regretted; for I titudes of fools to the grave who were engrossed by have the unhappiness to find no such conformity the same dream of future felicity, and, when life with regard to any other passage. was departing from them, were like me reckoning on to-morrow.

(2) To the last syllable of recorded time.

The line which I have endeavoured to amend, Note XI. is likewise attempted by the new editor, and is perhaps the only passage in the play in which he has not submissively admitted the emendations of foregoing critics. Instead of the common reading,

Recorded time seems to signify the time fixed in the decrees of heaven for the period of life.The records of futurity is indeed no accurate expression, but as we only know transactions past or present, the language of men affords no terin for the volumes of prescience, in which future he has published, events may be supposed to be written.

NOTE XLV.

Macbeth. If thou speak'st false,

Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive,

Till famine cling thee: if thy speech be sooth,

I ca en t if thou dost for me as much

I pull in resolution, and begin

To doubt th' equivocatio of the fiend,

That li's like truth. "Fear not till Birnam wood
Do come to Dunsinane," and now a wood
Comes tow'rd Donsinane.

I pull in resolution

Though this is the reading of all the editions, yet as it is a phrase without either example, elegance, or propriety, it is surely better to read,

I pall in resolution———

I languish in my constancy, my confidence begins to forsake me. It is scarcely necessary to observe how easily pall might be changed into pul by a negligent writer, or mistaken for it by an unskilful printer.

NOTE XLVI.-SCENE VIII.

Seyoard. Had I as many sons as I have hairs,
I would not wish them to a fairer death:
And so his knell is knoll'd.

This incident is thus related from Henry of Huntingdon by Camden in his "Remains," from which our author probably copied it.

When Seyward, the martial Earl of Northumberland, understood that his son, whom he had sent in service against the Scotchmen, was slain, he demanded whether his wound were in the fore part or hinder part of his body. When it was answered in the fore part, he replied, "I am right glad; neither wish I any other death to me or mine."

AFTER the foregoing pages were printed, the late edition of Shakspeare, ascribed to Sir Thomas Hanmer, fell into my hands; and it was therefore convenient for me to delay the publication of my remarks till I had examined whether they were not anticipated by similar observations, or precluded by better. I therefore 1ead over this tragedy, but found that the editor's apprehension is of a cast so different from mine, that he appears to find no difficulty in most of those passages which I have represented as un

Doing every thing

Safe towards your love and honour,

Doing every thing

Shap'd towards your love and honour

This alteration, which like all the rest attempted by him, the reader is expected to admit, without any reason alleged in its defence, is, in my opinion, more plausible than that of Mr. Theobald: whether it is right, I am not to de

termine.

In the passage which I have altered in Note XL. an emendation is likewise attempted in the late edition, where, for

-And the chance of goodness
Be like our warranted quarrel,

is substituted-And the chance in goodness-
I whether with more or less elegance, dignity,
and propriety, than the reading which I have
offered, I must again decline the province of
deciding.

Most of the other emendations which he has endeavoured, whether with good or bad fortune, are too trivial to deserve mention. For surely the weapons of criticism ought not to be blunted against an editor, who can imagine that he is restoring poetry, while he is amusing himself with alterations like these:

For This is the serjeant

Who like a good and hardy soldier fought,
This is the serjeant, who
Like a right good and hardy soldier fought.
For

Dismay'd not this

Our captains Macbeth and Banquo?—Yes.

-Dismay'd not this

Our captains brave Macbeth and Banquo?—Yes. Such harmless industry may, surely, be forgiven, if it cannot be praised: may he therefore never want a monosyllable, who can use it with such wonderful dexterity.

Rumpatur quisquis rumpitur invidia!

The rest of this edition I have not read, but, from the little that I have seen, think it not dangerous to declare that, in my opinion, its pomp recommends it more than its accuracy. There is no distinction made between the ancient reading, and the innovations of the editor; there is no reason given for any of the alterations which are made; the emendations of former

critics are adopted without any acknowledg. I may without indecency observe, that no man ment, and few of the difficulties are removed which have hitherto embarrassed the readers of Shakspeare.

I would not however be thought to insult the editor, nor to censure him with too much petulance, for having failed in little things, of whom I have been told, that he excels in greater. But |

PROPOSALS

FOR

PRINTING THE DRAMATIC WORKS OF

WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE.

PRINTED IN THE YEAR 1756.