154 In Macbeth Act III. Macbeth having murdered Duncan, refolves now not to stop short, but to destroy, root and branch, all thofe whom he imagined to ftand in his way, or his pofterity's to the crown. "We have "fcorch'd the fnake, not kill'd it, "She'll clofe and be herself." The allufion is to the ftory of the Hydra. We. have fcorch'd the fnake, we have indeed Herculeslike cut off one of it's heads, and fcorch'd it, as it were, as he did affifted by Iolaus, hindering that one head thus fcorch'd from sprouting again but fuch a wound will close and cure; our Hydra-Snake has other heads ftill, which to me are as dangerons as Duncan's; particularly that of Banquo, Fleance, &c. The allufion is learned and elegant. : 11 Mr. Theobald changed this reading into, fcotch'd the fnake. And if the reader likes not my apology for the other reading, he is at liberty to efpoufe Mr. Th. alteration. 'Tis very certain that Scorcht is wrongly printed, in Beaumont and Fletcher's Knight of the burning Pestle, inftead of Scotch'd. A&t III. "Dwarf. Puiffant Knight of th' burning peftle hight, "See here another wretch, whom this foul beaft "Hath Scorch'd [r. fcotch'd] and fcor'd in this inhu66 man wife." ) In Macbeth A& IV. "1. Witch. Thrice the brinded Cat has mew'd. 66 2. Witch. Thrice and once the hedge-pig whin'd. "3. Witch. "Harper cryes 'tis time, 'tis time. I. Witch. Round about the cauldron go, "In the poison'd entrails throw. Thrice 12 Harper, a dog's name; one of their familiars. So one of Acteon's hounds was named. Ovid. Met. III, 222. Harpalos, ab agráłw rapio. Our poet fhews his great knowledge in antiquity in making the dog give the fignal. Hecate's dogs are mention'd in all the poets almoft. Virg. Aen. VI, 257. Vifaeque canes ululare per umbram Theoc. II, 35 Θέσυλι, ταὶ κίνες ἄμμιν ἀνὰ πόλιν ὠρύονται, *Α θεὸς ἐν τριόδεσσι. Hecaten vocat altera, faevam Altera Tifiphonen. Serpentes atque videres Apollon. 1. 3. 1216. Οξείῃ ὑλακή ΧΘΟΝΙΟΙ ΚΥΝΕΣ ἐφθέγγοντο. It should be xlórias xuvis, in the feminine gender, agreeable to the above cited paffages from Horace and Virgil: and fo Homer, when fpeaking of any thing infamous, illominous, or contemptible. Hence Ovid. Met. XV, 797. Book II. Thrice the cat-four times the hedge-hog, &c. have given fignals for us to begin our incantations. Thrice and four times, i. e. frequently; terque quaterque. As yet no incantation is begun; nor is there any reafon to alter the context into twice and once, (which some have done,) tho' three be a magical number, as Virgil says, 13 Numero deus impare gaudet. But suppose the incantation was begun, the numbers three and nine are not always used. The witch Circe, in Ovid, in her magical operations is thus described, "14 Tum bis ad occafum, bis fe convertit ad " ortus." And Statius in the infernal facrifice. Theb. IV, 545. "Lacte quater fparfas. is to be corrected: he is fpeaking of the prodigies that happened at Cæfar's death. 66 Inque foro, circumque domos, et templa deorum, "Nocturnos ululasse canes." We should correct, Nocturnas. 13 Virg, ecl. VIII. 75. 14 Ovid. Met. XIV, 386. In Julius Caefar Act II. Porcia fays to Brutus, "To keep with you at meals, comfort your bed. "And talk to you fometimes?" "This is but an odd phrafe, and gives as odd an idea," fays Mr. Theobald. He therefore fubftitutes, confort. But this good old word, however difused thro' modern refinement, was not fo difcarded by Shakespeare. Henry VIII. as we read in Cavendish's life of Woolfey, in commendation of queen Katherine, in public faid, "She hath beene to me a true obedient "wife, and as comfortable as I could wifh." And our marriage fervice Mr. Theobald might as well quarrel with, as ufing as odd a phrase, and giving as odd an idea. In the Midsummer-Night's Dream, Act IV. "Oberon. Then, my queen, in 16 filence fad, "Trip we after the night's shade." In filence fad, i. e. ftill, fober. As Milton describes the evening, IV, 598. 15 He might have remember'd that Shakespeare himself in the Comedy of Errors. A& III. ufes the word he would change. 66 Comfort my fifter, chear her, call her wife. 16 They have printed it, In filence fade. "Now came ftill evening on, and twilight gray "Had in her fober livery all things clad. "Silence accompany'd." That fad and fober are fynonymous words, and fo used formerly, is plain from many paffages in our author. In Much ado about Nothing, Act II. "Benedick. This can be no trick, the con "ference was fadly born." And in Milton VI, 540. "He comes, and fettled in his face I fee. 17 Sad refolution and fecure." Sad, i. e. fober, fedate. Spencer in his Fairy Queen. B. I. c. 10. ft. 7. "Right cleanly clad in comely fad attire.” i. e. fober, grave. And B. 2. c. 2. ft. 14. "A fober fad and comely courteous dame." 17 Sad refolution and fecure] " That's but a fad epithet "for Resolution; The poet gave it, "STAID Refolution and fecure. Or. STERN." Bentley. Thefe |