32 shakspeare's writings. 



That which cries, thus thou must do if thou have it, 

 And that which rather thou do'st fear to do 

 Thou wishest should be undone." 



From many passages of the play we infer the 

 existence of many soft humanities — yet he is a 

 murderer ! 



Can it then be (we ask ourselves) that, in one 

 breast, qualities so distinct may be coexistent ? aye, 

 truly : — but, mark : — Macbeth is deeply superstitious. 

 Superstitious minds are, generally the more suscep- 

 tible of both good and bad impressions. Born to 

 the ordinary inheritance of virtue — but weakened by 

 superstition — Macbeth was unfortunate under the 

 influence of those especial circumstances, which 

 acted upon his weakness to the injury of his worth. 

 Now, Kichard is also represented as superstitious : 

 but he is no ordinary character. He was " born 

 with teeth'* — his youth was " tetchy and wayward,'' 

 and we may imagine him susceptible of none but 

 ifl^ impressions. Macbeth, on the contrary, might 

 have been won over to virtue as readily as he was 

 seduced into crime ; and we regard his lady with 

 infinitely more abhorrence than himself: for lie kills 

 the body merely, while she is the murdress of a hero's 

 integrity — the poisoner of her husband's soul, of 

 that soul which gave way even during the excitement 

 of battle to moralize on the wretchedness of dishon- 

 oured age : 



" I have liv'd long eno*. My way of life 



Is fall'n into the sear the yellow leaf; 



And that which should accompany old age; 



As honour, love, obedience, troops of friends 



I must not look to have ; but in their stead 



Curses — not loud— but deep : mouth honour, breath 



Which the poor heart would fain deny but dare not: — 



We are here presented with an illustration of 

 constitutional worth annulled by a perversion of the 

 mind's energy. Under good guidance — or, even, 

 left to itself — Macbeth's ruling passion, ambitioUy 

 would have led to nothing more than legitimate 

 glory. He possessed some of the essentials of 



