"Twixt this and fupper. Go not my horse the better, I must become a borrower of the night For a dark hour or twain.. Macb. Fail not our feaft. Ban. My lord, I will not. Macb. We hear, our bloody Coufins are beftow'd! Farewel. [Exit Banquo. The fweeter welcome, we will keep our felfTM "Till fupper-time alone: till then, God be with you. [Exeunt Lady Macbeth, and Lords. Manent Macbeth, and a Servant. Sirrah, a word with you: attend those men Our pleasure ? Ser. They are, my lord, without the Palace-gate.. (13) Let ev'ry Man be Mafier of bis Time Till fev'n at night, to make Society The fweeter welcome: We will keep our felf Till Supper Time alone.] I am furpriz'd, none of the Editors fhould quarrel with the Pointing. How could ev'ry Man's being Master of his own Time till Night, make Society then the sweeter? for, fo, every Man might have gone into Company in the mean while, and pall'd himself for the Night's Entertainment. My Regulation, I. dare warrant, retrieves the Poet's Meaning, "Let every Man (fays the King,) be Master "of his own time till Seven o' Clock: and that I may have the * ftronger Enjoyment of your Companies then, I'll abstain from "all Company till Supper-time.” Mack Macb. Bring them before us nothing; But to be fafely thus. To be thus, is [Exit ferv.. Our fears in Banqua Stick deep; and in his Royalty of Nature Reigns That, which would be fear'd. 'Tis much he: dares, And to that dauntless temper of his mind, He hath a wisdom that doth guide his valour To make them Kings: the Seed of Banquo Kings: who's there?, Enter Servant, and two Murtherers. Was it not yesterday we spoke together? [Exit Servants. You have confider'd of my fpeeches ? know, Whe Who wrought with them: and all things else, that might To half a foul, and to a notion craz'd, Say, thus did Banquo. 1 Mur. True, you made it known. Mach. I did fo; and went further, which is now 1 Mur. We are men, my liege. Mach. Ay, in the catalogue ye go for men, That writes them all alike: and fo of men. 2 Mur. I am one, Whom the vile blows and buffets of the world 1 Mur. And I another, So weary with difafters, tugg'd with fortune,, To mend it, or be rid on't. Macb. Both of you Know, Banque was your enemy. Mur. True, my lord. Macb Mach. So is he mine: and in fuch bloody distance, That every minute of his Being thrusts Against my near'ft of life; and though I could 2 Mur. We fhall, my lord, Perform what you command us. 1 Mur. Though our lives Mach. Your fpirits shine through you. In this hour at most, I will advise you where to plant your felves; Mur. We are refolv'd, my lord. Mach. I'll call upon you straight; abide within. [Exeunt Murtherers. It is concluded;-Banquo, thy Soul's flight, If it find heav'n, must find it out to-night. [Exit. SCENE, another Apartment in the Palace. Enter Lady Macbeth, and a Servant. S Banque gone from Court? Lady. Is Serv. Ay, Madam, but returns again to night. Lady. Lady. Say to the King, I would attend his leifure For a few words. Serv. Madam, I will. Lady. Nought's had, all's spent, Where our defire is got without content:: 'Tis fafer to be That which we destroy, Than by deftruction dwell in doubtful joy. How now, my lord, why do you keep alone? [Exit Ufing thofe thoughts, which fhould, indeed, have dy'd With them they think on? things without all remedy Should be without regard; what's done, is done. Macb. We have fcotch'd the fnake, not kill'd it—(14) She'll clofe, and be herfelf; whilst our poor malice (14) We bave fcorch'd the Snake, not kill'd it, She'll clofe, and be berfelf; ] This is a Paffage, which has all along paffed current thro' the Editions, and yet, I dare affirm, is not our Author's Reading. What has a Snake, clofing again, to do with its being fcorch'd? Scorching would never either feparate, or dilate, its Parts; but rather make them inftantly contract and frivel. SHAKESPEARE, I am very well perfuaded, had this Notion in his head; that if you cut a Serpent or Worm afunder, in feveral Pieces, there is fuch an unctuous Quality in their Blood, that the difmember'd Parts, being only placed near enough to touch one another, will cement and become as whole as before the Injury receiv'd. The Application of this Thought is to Duncan, the murder'd King, and his furviving Sons. Macbeth confiders them fo much as Members of the Father, that tho' he has cut off the Old Man, he would fay, he has not entirely kill'd him, but he'll revive again in the Lives of his Sons. Can. we doubt therefore but that the Poet wrote, as I have reftor'd to the Text, We bave fcotch'd the Snake, not kill'd it? To fcotch, however the generality of our Dictionaries happen to omit the Word, fignifies, to notch, flash, back, cut, with Twigs, Swords, &c, and fo our Poet more than once has used it in his Works.. Remains |