Fleance, Son to Banquo.

Siward, General of the English Forces

Young Siward, his Son.

Siton, an Officer attending on Macbeth
Son to Macduff.

Doctor.

Lady Macbeth.

Lady Macduff.

Gentlewomen, attending on Lady Macbeth.
Hecate, and three other Witches.

Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers and Attendants.

The Ghoft of Banquo, and several other Apparitions.

SCENE, in the End of the fourth A&t, lies in England; through the reft of the Play, in Scot land; and, chiefly, at Macbeth's Caftle,

M A CBET H.

ACT I.

SCENE, an open Place.

Thunder and Lightning. Enter three Witches.

W

I WITCH.

HEN fhall we three meet again?
In thunder, lightning, or in rain ?

2 Witch. When the hurly-burly's done,

When the battle's loft and won.

3 Witch. That will be ere fet of fun. Witch. Where the place?

2 Witch. Upon the heath.

3 Witch. There I go to meet Macbeth. 1 Witch. I come, I come, Grimalkin. 2 Witch. Padocke calls-anon! All. Fair is foul, and foul is fair, Hover through the fog and filthy air.

[They rife from the ftage, and fly away.

SCENE changes to the Palace at Foris.

Enter King, Malcolme, Donalbain, Lenox, with Atten dants, meeting a bleeding Captain.

King. W

Hat bloody man is that? he can report,
As feemeth by his plight, of the revolt

The newest state.

Mal.

Mal. This is the Serjeant,

Who like a good and hardy foldier fought
'Gainft my captivity. Hail, hail, brave friend!
Say to the King the knowledge of the broil,
As thou didst leave it.

Cap. Doubtful long it stood:

As two spent swimmers that do cling together,
And choak their art: the mercilefs Macdonel
(Worthy to be a Rebel; for to that
The multiplying villanies of nature
Do fwarm upon him) from the western ifles
Of Kernes and Gallow-glaffes was supply'd;
And fortune, on his damned quarry fmiling,
Shew'd like a rebel's whore. But all too weak:
For brave Macbeth (well he deferves that name)
Difdaining fortune, with his brandifht fteel
Which fmoak'd with bloody execution,
Like valour's minion carved out his paffage,
Till he had fac'd the flave;

Who ne'er shook hands nor bid farewel to him,
'Till he unfeam'd him from the nave to th' chops,
And fix'd his head upon our battlements.

King. Oh, valiant coufin! worthy gentleman!
Cap. As whence the fun 'gins his reflection,
Shipwracking ftorms, and direful thunders break; (1)

(1) As whence the fun 'gins bis reflection, Shipuracking forms, and direful thunders break;] Mr. Pope has degraded this word, gins, against the general authority of the copies, without any reafon affign'd for fo doing; and fubftituted, gives, in the room of it. But it will foon be obvious, how far our author's good obfervation and knowledge of nature goes to establish his own reading, gins. For the fenfe is this; As from the place, from whence the fun begins his courfe, (viz. the Eaft,) fhipwrecking ftorms "proceed; &c."-And it is fo in fact, that ftorms generally come from the Eaft. And it must be so in reafon, because the natural and conftant motion of the ocean is from Eaft to Weft: and because the motion of the wind has the fame general direction. Præcipua & generalis [Ventorum] caufa eft ipfe Sol, qui igneo fuo jubare aerem rarefacit & attenuat; imprimis illum, in quem perpendiculares radios mittit, five fupra quem bæret. Aer enim rarefactus multo majorem locum poftulat. Inde fit, ut aer a fole impulfus alium vicinum aerem magno impetu protrudat; cumque Sol ab Oriente in occidentem circumrotetur, præcipuus ab

So from that fpring, whence comfort feem'd to come, (2)
Difcomfort fwell'd. Mark, King of Scotland, mark;
No fooner justice had, with valour arm'd,
Compell'd thefe skipping Kernes to truft their heels;
But the Norweyan Lord, furveying vantage,
With furbisht arms and new fupplies of men
Began a fresh assault.

King. Difmay'd not this

Our captains, Macbeth and Banquo?
Cap. Yes,

As fparrows, eagles; or the hare the lion.
If I fay footh, I mutt report, they were

As cannons overcharg'd; with double cracks, (3)

So

eo aëris impulfus fiet verfus occidentem.-Quia plerumque ab aëris per Solem rarefactione oritur, qui cum continue feratur ab Oriente in occidentem, majori quoque impetu protruditur aër ab Oriente in occidentem. Varenii Geograph, l. i. c. 14, &c. 20. prop. 10. and 15.------This being fo, it is no wonder that forms should come moft frequently from that quarter; or that they should be most violent, becaufe here is a concurrence of the natural motions of wind and wave. This proves clearly, that the true reading is 'gins, i. e. begins: for the other reading does not fix it to that quarter: for the fun may give its reflection in any part of its course above the horizon; but it can begin it only in one. Mr. Warburton.

(2) So from that fpring, whence comfort feem'd to come, Difcomfort fwell'd.] I have not diflurb'd the text here, as the fenfe does not abfolutely require it; tho' Dr. Thirlby preferibes a very ingenious and eafy correction:

So from that fpring, whence comfort feem'd to come,

Difcomforts well'd.

i. e. ftream'd, flow'd forth: a word that peculiarly agrees with the metaphor of a fpring. The original is Anglo-Saxon peallan, featurire; which very well expreffes the diffufion and scattering of water from its head. CHAUCER has ufed the word in these acceptations.

For whiché might she no lengir restrain
Her Teris, thei ganin fo up to well.

Troil. & Creff. 1. iv. v. 709. I can no more, but here out caft of all welfare abide the daie of my deth, or els to fe the fight that might all my wellynge forowes voide, and of the flode make an ebbe. Teftament of Love.

I must report they were

(3) As cannons overcharg'd with double cracks] Cannons overcharg'd with cracks I have no idea of: My pointing, I think, gives the easy and natural fenfe. Macbeth and Banquo were like cannons overcharg d;

So they redoubled strokes upon the foe:

Except they meant to bathe in reeking wounds,
Or memorize another Golgotha,

I cannot tell

But I am faint, my gafhes cry for help.

King. So well thy words become thee, as thy wounds: They mack of honour both. Go, get him furgeons. Enter Roffe and Angus.

But who comes here?

Mal. The worthy Thane of Roffe.

Len. What hafte looks through his eyes?

So fhould he look, that seems to speak things ftrange. Roffe. God fave the King!

King. Whence cam'st thou, worthy Thane?

Role From Fife, great King,

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

Norway, himfelf with numbers terrible, (4)

Affifted by that most difloyal traitor

The Thare of Cawdor, 'gan a dismal conflict;

'Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapt in proof, (5)

Confronted him with felf-comparifons,

Point against point rebellious, arm 'gainft arm,

charg'd; why? because they redoubled ftrokes on the foe with twice the fury and impetuofity, as before.

(4) Norway himself, with numbers terrible,

Affifted by that, &c.] Norway himself affifted, &c. is a reading we owe to the editors, not to the poet. That energy and contraft of expreffion are loft, which my pointing reftores. The fenfe is, Norway, who was in himself terrible by his own numbers, when affifted by Carudor, became yet more terrible.

(5) Till that Bellona's bridegroom, lapt in proof,
Confronted bim with felf-comparisons,

Point againft point, rebellious arm 'gainft arm,

Curbing his lavish spirit.] Here again we are to quarrel with the tranfpolition of an innocent comma; which however becomes "dangerous to fenfe, when in the hands either of a careless or ignorant editor. Let us fee who it is that brings this rebellious arm? Why, It is Bellona's bridegroom: and who is he, but Macbeth. We can never believe, our author meant any thing like this. My regulation of the pointing reftores the true meaning; that the loyal Macbeth onfronted the difloyal Cawdor, arm to arm.

Curbing