the self-same trait of character now under discussion, and
this he appears to have done with the express intent of guarding
against a mistake, the probability of the occurrence of which he
foresaw, but which, for reasons connected with the construction of
the play, he could not hope otherwise to obviate.

We allude to the introductory portion of the present scene. One
sister, we learn, has just returned from killing _swine;_ another
breathes forth vengeance against a sailor, on account of the
uncharitable act of his wife; but "his bark _cannot be lost,_" though
it may be "tempest tossed." The last words are scarcely uttered
before the confabulation is interrupted by the approach of Macbeth,
to whom they have as yet made no direct allusion whatever, throughout
the whole of this opening passage, consisting in all of some five and
twenty lines. Now this were a digression which would be a complete
anomaly, having place, as it is supposed to have, at this early stage
of one of the most consummate of the tragedies of Shakspere. We may
be sure, therefore, that it is the chief object of these lines to
impress the reader beforehand with an idea that, in the mind of
Macbeth, there already exist sure foundations for that great
superstructure of evil, to the erection of which, the "metaphysical
_aid_" of the weird sisters is now to be offered. An opinion which is
further supported by the reproaches of Hecate, who, afterwards,
referring to what occurs in this scene, exclaims,

"All you have done
Hath been but for a wayward son,
Spiteful, and wrathful, who, as others do,
Loves for his own end, not for you."

Words which seem to relate to ends loved of Macbeth before the
witches had spurred him on to their acquirement.

The fact that in the old chronicle, from which the plot of the play
is taken, the machinations of the witches are not assumed to be
_un_-gratuitous, cannot be employed as an argument against our
position. In history the sisters figure in the capacity of prophets
_merely_. There we have no previous announcement of their intention
"to meet with Macbeth." But in Shakspere they are invested with all
other of their superstitional attributes, in order that they may
become the evil instruments of holy vengeance upon evil; of that most
terrible of vengeance which punishes sin, after it has exceeded
certain bounds, by deepening it.

Proceeding now with our analysis, upon the entrance of Macbeth and
Banquo, th