Chapter 3

III.vi.36 (482,3) and receive free honours] [_Free_ for grateful. WARBURTON.] How can _free_ be _grateful_? It may be either honours _freely bestowed_, not purchased by crimes; or honours _without slavery_, without dread of a tyrant.

IV.i (484,5) As this is the chief scene of enchantment in the play, it is proper in this place to observe, with how much judgment Shakespeare has selected all the circumstances of his infernal ceremonies, and how exactly he has conformed to common opinions and traditions:

_Thrice the brinded cat hath mew'd_.

The usual form in which familiar spirits are reported to converse with witches, is that of a cat. A witch, who was tried about half a century before the time of Shakespeare, had a cat named Rutterkin, as the spirit of one of these witches was Grimalkin; and when any mischief was to be done she used to bid Rutterkin _go and fly_, but once when she would have sent Rutterkin to torment a daughter of the countess of Rutland, instead of _going_ or _flying_, he only cried _mew_, from whence she discovered that the lady was out of his power, the power of witches being not universal, but limited, as Shakespeare has taken care to inculcate:

_Though his bark cannot be lost, Yet it shall be tempest-tost._

The common afflictions which the malice of witches produced were melancholy, fits, and loss of flesh, which are threatened by one of Shakespeare's witches:

_Weary sev'n nights, nine times nine, Shall he dwindle, peak, and pine._

It was likewise their practice to destroy the cattle of their neighbours, and the farmers have to this day many ceremonies to secure their cows and other cattle from witchcraft; but they seem to have been most suspected of malice against swine. Shakespeare has accordingly made one of his witches declare that she has been _killing swine_, and Dr. Harsenet observes, that about 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 night has, thirty-one, Swelter'd venom sleeping got; Boil thou first i'the charm'd pot_.

Toads have likewise long lain under the reproach of being by some means accessory to witchcraft, for which reason Shakespeare, 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 Theleuse, there was found at his lodgings _ingens Bufo Vitro inclusus, a great toad shut in a vial_, upon which those that prosecuted him, _Veneficium exprebrabent, charged him_, I suppose, _with witchcraft_.

_Fillet of fenny snake, In the cauldron boil and bakae: Eye of newt, and toe of frog;-- For a charm, &c_.

The propriety of these ingredients may be known by consulting the books _de Viribus Animalium_ and _de Mirabilibus Mundi_, ascribed to Albertus Magnus, in which the reader, who has 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 Shakespeare, on this great occasion, which involves the fate of a king, multiplies all the circumstanaces 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-- Black spirits and white, Blue spirits and grey, Mingle, mingle, mingle, You that mingle say_.

And in a former part,

--_weyward sisters, hand in hand,-- Thus do go about, about. Thrice to thine, and thrice to mine. And thrice again to make up nine!_

These two passages I have brought together, because they both seem subject to the objection of too much levity for the solemnity of enchantment, and may both be shewn, by one quotation from Camden's account of Ireland, to be founded upon a practice really observed by the uncivilised natives of that country: "When any one gets a fall, _says the informer of Camden_, he starts up, and, _turning three times to the right_, digs a hole in the earth; for they imagine that there is 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 south, from the groves, the woods, the rivers, and the fens, from the fairies _red, black, white_." There was likewise a book written before the time of Shakespeare, describing, amongst other properties, the _colours_ of spirits.

Many other circumstances might be particularised, in which Shakespeare has shown his judgment and his knowledge.

IV.i.53 (489,6) yesty waves] That is, _foaming_ or _frothy waves_.

IV.i.88 (491,1) the round/And top of sovereignty?] This _round_ is that part of the crown that encircles the head. The _top_ is the ornament that rises above it.

IV.i.95 (492,3) Who can impress the forest] i.e. who can command the forest to serve him like a soldier impress'd. (1773)

IV.i.97 (492,4) Rebellious head, rise never] Mr. Theobald, who first proposed this change ["head" for "dead"] rightly observes, that _head_ means _host_, or power.

--_Douglas and the rebels met, A mighty and a fearful_ head _they are_.

And again,

_His divisions--are in three heads_.

IV.i.113 (493,6) Thy crown does sear mine eye-balls] The expression of Macbeth, that the _crown_ sears _his_ eye-balls, is taken from the method formerly practised of destroying the sight of captives or competitors, by holding a burning bason before the eye, which dried up its humidity. Whence the Italian, _abacinare_, to _blind_.

IV.i.113 (493,7) And thy air,/Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first:--/A third is like the former] In former editions,

--_and thy_ hair, _Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first_:-- _A third is like the former_:--

As Macbeth expected to see a train of kings, and was only enquiring from what race they would proceed, he could not be surprised that the _hair_ of the second was _bound with gold_ like that of the first; he was offended only that the second resembled the first, as the first resembled Banquo, and therefore said,

--_and thy_ air, _Thou other gold-bound brow, is like the first_.

This Dr. Warburton has followed.

IV.i.144 (495,2) Time, thou anticipat'st my dread exploits] To _anticipate_ is here to _prevent_, by taking away the opportunity.

IV.ii.9 (496,3) He wants the natural touch] Natural sensibility. He is not touched with natural affection.

IV.ii.71 (498,7) To do worse to you, were fell cruelty] To do _worse_ is, to let her and her children be destroyed without warning.

IV.iii.2 (500,9) Let us rather/Hold fast the mortal sword; and, like good men,/ Bestride our down-faln birthdom] In former editions,

_Let us rather Hold fast the mortal sword; and, like good men, Bestride our_ downfal birthdoom.--]

He who can discover what is meant by him that earnestly exhorts him to _bestride_ his _downfal birth-doom_, is at liberty to adhere to the present text; but 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 incombrance, 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. So Falstaff says to Hal.

_When I am down, if thou wilt_ bestride me, _so_.

_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.

IV.iii.19 (501,4) A good and virtuous nature may recoil/In an imperial charge] A good mind may _recede_ from goodness in the execution of a _royal commission_.

IV.iii.23 (501,5) Though all things foul would wear the brows of grace,/Yet grace must look still so] This is not very clear. The meaning perhaps is this:--_My suspicions cannot injure you, if you be virtuous, by supposing that a traitor may put on your virtuous appearance. I do not say that your virtuous appearance_.

_proves you a traitor; for virtue must wear its proper form, though that form be often counterfeited by villany_.

IV.iii.26 (502,6) Why in that rawness left you wife and children] Without previous provision, without due preparation, without _maturity_ of counsel.

IV.iii.33 (502,7) Wear thou thy wrongs] That is, _Poor country, wear thou thy wrongs_.

IV.iii.69 (503,1) Sudden, malicious] [_Sudden_, for capricious. WARBUR.] Rather violent, passionate, hasty.

IV.iii.85 (504,2) Than summer seeming lust] When I was younger and bolder I corrected it thus,

_Than fume, or seething lust_.

that is, Than angry passion, or boiling lust. (1773)

IV.iii.135 (506,4) All ready at a point] [W: at appoint] There is no need of change.

IV.iii.136 (506,5) 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 heaven, [_pro justitia divina_] answerable to the cause.

The author of the _Revisal_ conceives the sense of the passage to be rather this: _And may the success of that goodness, which is about to exert itself in my behalf, be such as may be equal to the justice of my quarrel_.

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_. (see 1765, VI, 462, 7)

IV.iii.170 (508,9) A modern ecstacy] I believe _modern_ is only _foolish_ or _trifling_.

IV.iii.196 (509,2), fee-grief] A peculiar sorrow; a grief that hath a single owner. The expression is, at least to our ears, very harsh.

IV.iii.216 (511,4) He has no children] It has been observed by an anonymous critic, that this is not said of Macbeth, who had children, but of Malcolm, who having none, supposes a father.

V.i.86 (515,8) My mind she has mated] [Conquer'd or subdued. POPE.] Rather astonished, confounded.

V.ii.24 (516,1) When all that is within him does condemn/Itself, for being there?] That is, when all the faculties of the mind are employed in self-condemnation.

V.iii.1 (516,2) Bring me no more reports] _Tell me not any more of desertions--Let all ny subjects leave me--I am safe till,_ &c.

V.iii.8 (517,3) English Epicures] 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 more opportunities of luxury.

V.iii.22 (518,6) my way of life/Is fall'n into the sear] 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 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 spriteliness of bloom, and support me in this melancholy season._

The authour has _May_ in the same sense elsewhere.

V.iv.8 (521,1) the confident tyrant/Keeps still in Dunsinane, and will endure/Our setting down before't] He was _confident_ of success; so _confident_ that he would not fly, but endure their _setting down_ before his castle.

V.iv.11 (521,2) For where there is advantage to be given,/ Both more and less have given him the revolt] The impropriety of the expression, _advantage to be 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 Shakespeare, signified _opportunity_. _He shut up himself and his soldiers_, (says Malcolm) _in the castle, because when there is an opportunity to be gone they all desert him_.

_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_.

V.iv.20 (522,4) arbitrate]--_arbitrate_ is _determine_.

V.v.11 (523,3) fell of hair] My hairy part, my _capillitium_. _Fell_ is _skin_.

V.v.17 (523,7) She should have dy'd 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 dy'd hereafter. There would have been a time for--such a_ world!-- _Tomorrow_, &c.

It is a broken speech in which only part of the thought is expressed, and may be paraphrased thus: _The queen is dead_. Macbeth. _Her death should have been deferred to some more peaceful hour; had she liv'd longer_, there would at length have been a time for the _honours due to her as a queen, and that respect which I owe her for her fidelity and love. Such is the_ world--such is the condition of human life, that we always think_ to-morrow _will be happier than to-day, but to-morrow and to-morrow steals over us unenjoyed and unregarded, and we still linger in the same expectation to the moment appointed for our end. All these days, which have thus passed away, have sent multitudes of fools to the grave, who were engrossed by the same dream of future felicity, and, when life was departing from them, were, like me, reckoning on to-morrow_.

Such was once my conjecture, but I am now less confident. Macbeth might mean, that there would have been a more convenient _time_ for such a _word_, for such _intelligence_, and so fall into the following reflection. We say we send _word_ when we give intelligence.

V.v.21 (524,8) To the last syllable of recorded time] _Recorded time_ seems to signify the time fixed in the decrees of Heaven for the period of life. The _record_ of _futurity_ is indeed no accurate expression, but as we only know transactions past or present, the language of men affords no term for the volumes of prescience, in which future events may be supposed to be written.

V.v.23 (524,9) The way to dusty death] _Dusty_ is a very natural epithet. The second folio has,

_The way to_ study _death_.--

which Mr. Upton prefers, but it is only an errour by an accidental transposition of the types.

V.v.42 (525,2) I pull in resolution, and begin/To doubt the equivocation of the fiend,/ That lies like truth] 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 as_.

It is scarcely necessary to observe how easily _pall_ might be changed into _pull_ by a negligent writer, or mistaken for it by an unskilful printer. With this emendation Dr. Warburton and Mr. Heath concur. (see 1765, VI,478,8)

V.viii.9 (529,3) the intrenchant air] That is, air which cannot be cut.

V.viii.20 (529,5) That palter with us in a double sense] That _shuffle_ with ambiguous expressions.

V.viii.48 (531,7) Had I as many sons as I have hairs, I would not wish them to a fairer death]

This incident is thus related from Henry of Huntingdon by Camden in his _Remains_, from which our authour 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 wounds 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."

General Observation. This play is deservedly celebrated for the propriety of its fictions, and solemnity, grandeur, and variety of its action; but it has no nice discriminations of character, the events are too great to admit the influence of particular dispositions, and the course of the action necessarily determines the conduct of the agents.

The danger of ambition is well described; and I know not whether it may not be said in defence of some parts which now seem improbable, that, in Shakespeare's time, it was necessary to warn credulity against vain and illusive predictions.

The passions are directed to their true end. Lady Macbeth is merely detested; and though the courage of Macbeth preserves some esteem, yet every reader rejoices at his fall.

Vol. VII

CORIOLANUS

1.i.19 (292,1) but they think, we are too dear] They think that the charge of maintaining us is more than we are worth.

I.i.23 (292,3) ere we become rakes] It is plain that, in our authour's time, we had the proverb, _as lean as a rake_. Of this proverb the original is obscure. _Rake_ now signifies a _dissolute man_, a man worn out with disease and debauchery. But the signification is, I think, much more modern than the proverb. _Raekel_, in Islandick, is said to mean a _cur-dog_, and this was probably the first use among us of the word _rake_; _as lean as a rake_ is, therefore, as lean as it dog too worthless to be fed.

1.i.94 (294,4) I will venture/To scale't a little more] [Warburton had taken Theobald to task for emending to "stale't", offering two quotations to prove that "scale" meant "apply."] Neither of Dr. Warburton's examples afford a sense congruous to the present occasion. In the passage quoted, to _scale_ may be to _weigh_ and _compare_, but where do we find that _scale_ is to _apply_? If we _scale_ the two criticks, I think Theobald has the advantage.

I.i.97 (295,5) fob off our disgraces with a tale] _Disgraces_ are _hardships, injuries_.

I.i.104 (295,6) where the other instruments] _Where_ for _whereas_.

I.i.112 (296,7) Which ne'er came from the lungs] with a smile not indicating pleasure, but contempt.

I.i.120 (296,9) The counsellor heart] The heart was anciently esteemed the seat of prudence. _Homo cordatum_ is a _prudent man_.

I.i.163 (297,1) Thou rascal, that art worst in blood, to ruin,/ Lead'st first, to win some 'vantage] I think, we may better read, by an easy change, _Thou rascal that art worst, in blood, to_ ruin [to run] _Lead'st first, to win_, &c.

Thou that art the meanest by birth, art the foremost to lead thy fellows _to ruin_, in hope of some advantage. The meaning, however, is perhaps only this, Thou that art a hound, or running dog of the lowest breed, lead'st the pack, when any thing is to be gotten. (see 1765, VI, 493, 1)

I.i.172 (298,4) What would you have, ye curs,/ That like not peace, nor war? The one affrights you,/ The other makes you proud] [W: likes] That _to like_ is _to please_, every one knows, but in that sense it is as hard to say why peace should not _like_ the people, as, in the other sense, why the people should not _like_ peace. The truth is, that Coriolanus does not use the two sentences consequentially, but reproaches them with unsteadiness, then with their other occasional vices.

I.i.202 (300,6) I'd make a quarry/With thousands] Why a quarry? I suppose, not because he would pile them square, but because he would give them for carrion to the birds of prey.

I.i.215 (300,7) To break the heart of generosity] To give the final blow to the _nobles_. _Generosity_ is _high birth_.

I.i.231 (301,8) 'tis true, that yon have lately told us./The Volscians are in arms] Coriolanus had been but just told himself that _the Volscians were in arms_. The meaning is, _The intelligence which you gave us some little time ago of the designs of the Volscians is now verified; they are in arms._

I.i.255 (302,8) Your valour puts well forth] That is, You have in this mutiny shewn fair blossoms of valour.

I.i.260 (303,9) to gird. To _sneer_, to _gibe_. So Falstaff uses the noun, when he says, _every man has a _gird _at me_.

I.i.281 (304,3) in what fashion,/More than his singularity he goes/ Upon this present action] We will learn what he is to do, besides _going himself_; what are his powers, and what is his appointment.

I.ii.28 (305,4) for the remove/Bring up your army] [W:'fore they] I do not see the nonsense or impropriety of the old reading. Says the senator to Aufidius, _Go to your troops, we will garrison Corioli_. If the Romans besiege us, bring up your army _to remove them_. If any change should be made, I would read,

--_for_ their _remove_.

I.iii.16 (307,5) brows bound with oak] The crown given by the Romans to him that saved the life of a citizen, which was accounted more honourable than any other.

I.iv.14 (311,9) nor a man that fears you less than he,/That's lesser than a little] The sense requires it to be read,

_nor a man that fears you_ more _than he_,

Or more probably,

_nor a man_ but _fears you less than he, That's lesser than a little_.

I.v.5 (314,4) prize their hours] In the first edition it is, _prize their_ hours. I know not who corrected it [to _prize their honours_]. A modern editor, who had made such an improvement, would have spent half a page in ostentation of his sagacity.

I.vi.36 (317,6) Ransoming him, or pitying] i.e. _remitting his ransom_.

I.vi.61 (318,8) swords advanc'd] That is, swords lifted high.

I.vi.83 (319,9) Please you to march,/And four shall quickly draw out my command,/Which men are best inclin'd] I cannot but suspect this passage of corruption. Why should they _march_, that _four_ might select those that were _best inclin'd_? How would their inclinations be known? Who were the _four_ that should select them? Perhaps, we may read,

--_Please you to march, And_ fear _shall quickly draw out_ of _my command, Which men are_ least _inclin'd_.

It is easy to conceive that, by a little negligence, _fear_ might be changed to _four_, and _least_ to _best_. Let us march, and that fear which incites desertion will free my army from cowards. (see 1765, VI, 512, 1)

I.viii.11 (320,1) Wert thou the Hector,/That was the whip of your bragg'd progeny] The Romans boasted themselves descended from the Trojans, how then was Hector the _whip of their progeny_? It must mean the whip with which the Trojans scourged the Greeks, which cannot be but by a very unusual construction, or the authour must have forgotten the original of the Romans; unless _whip_ has some meaning which includes _advantage_ or _superiority_, as we say, _he has the_ whip-hand, for _he has the_ advantage.

I.viii.14 (321,2) you have sham'd me/In your condemned seconds] For _condemned_, we may read _contemned_. You have, to my shane, sent me help _which I despise_.

I.ix.12 (321,4) Here is the steed, we the caparisons!] This is an odd encomium. The meaning is, _this man performed the action, and we only filled up the show_.

I.ii.14 (322,5) a charter to extol] A privilege to praise her own son.

I.ix.29 (322,6) Should they not] That is, _not be remembered_.