as anything more than an
invitation, and holding forth of "metaphysical _aid_" to the carrying
out of an independent project. That this should be the case in both
instances vastly strengthens the argument legitimately deducible from
each.

At the conclusion of the passage which called for the last remark,
Macbeth, after a long and eventful period of absence, let it be
recollected, enters to a wife who, we will for a moment suppose, is
completely ignorant of the character of her husband's recent
cogitations. These are the first words which pass between them,

"_Macbeth_. My dearest love,
Duncan comes here to-night.

_L. Macbeth_. And when goes hence?

_Macbeth_. To-morrow, as he purposes.

_L. Macbeth_. Oh! never
Shall sun that morrow see!
Your face, my thane, is as a book where men
May read strange matters:--to beguile the time,
Look like the time; bear welcome in your eye,
Your hand, your tongue: look like the innocent flower,
But be the serpent under it. He that's coming
Must be provided for; and you shall put
This night's great business into my dispatch,
Which shall to all our nights and days to come
Give solely sovereign sway and masterdom.

_Macbeth_. We will speak further."

Are these words those which would naturally arise from the situation
at present, by common consent, attributed to the speakers of them?
That is to say a situation in which _each speaker is totally ignorant
of the sentiments pre-existent in the mind of the other_. Are the
words, "we will speak further," those which might in nature form the
whole and sole reply made by a man to his wife's completely
unexpected anticipation of his own fearful purposes? If not, if few
or none of these lines, thus interpreted, will satisfy the reader's
feeling for common truth, does not the view which we have adopted
invest them with new light, and improved, or perfected meaning?

The next scene represents the arrival of Duncan at Inverness, and
contains nothing which bears either way upon the point in question.
Proceeding, therefore, to the seventh and last scene of the first act
we come to what we cannot but consider to be proof positive of the
opinion under examination. We shall transcribe at length the portion
of this scene containing that proof; having first reminded the reader
that a few hours at most can have elapsed between the arrival of
Macbeth, and the period at which the words, now to be quoted, are
uttered