in preserving the harmony of the internal system. Accordingly, when the notion of seizing the crown is suggested to Macbeth, he appears shocked and astonished. Justice and humanity shudder at the design: he regards his own heart with amazement: and recoils with horror from the guilty thought.

This supernatural soliciting

Cannot be ill; cannot be good. If ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor,
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion,
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair,
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature?

Though virtuous principles appear in this instance to predominate, his ambition is not repulsed. The means of gratifying it seem shocking and impracticable; and he abandons the enterprize without renouncing the passion. The passion continues vehement: it perseveres with obstinacy: it harrasses and importunes him. He still desires; but, deterred by his moral feelings, he is unable to proceed directly, and indulges romantic wishes.

If chance will have me King, why, chance may crown me, Without my stir.

It appears from this and some following agony, and distracted with passages, that, in contending principles, hesitating and irresolute, anxious for the event, but afraid of promoting it, he had abandoned the design of murdering Duncan, and had formed some extravagant expectation of inheriting the crown by right of succession. Thus he recovers some portion of his tranquillity.

Come what, come may,

Time and the hour runs thro' the roughest day.

He enjoys an interval of composure till an unexpected obstacle rouzes and alarms him.

King. My plenteous joys,

Wanton in fulness, seek to hide themselves
In drops of sorrow.-Sons, kinsmen, Thanes,
And you whose places are the nearest, know,
We will establish our estate upon

Our eldest, Malcolm; whom we name hereafter
The prince of Cumberland.

The surprize, and the uneasy sensation excited by the perception of difficulty, agitate

the mind of Macbeth, and their emotions coinciding with his ambition, renew and increase its violence.

The prince of Cumberland!-That is a step,
On which I must fall down, or else o'erleap,
For in my way it lies.

But conscience and his humanity are again alarmed, again interfere, and shew him the horror of his designs.

Stars, hide your fires,

Let not light see my black and deep desires.

Habituated passions possess superior advantages over those opposite principles which operate by a violent and sudden impulse. For, so delicate is the constitution of the human mind, that lively feelings, unless they form the temper by being confirmed. by action, are enfeebled by repetition and frequent exercise. The horror and aversion excited by enormous wickedness, unless we act in conformity to them, "*are mere passive "impressions, which, by being repeated,

* Butler's Analogy, Part I. chap. v.

66

grow weaker;" and though their resistance against an habituated passion be animated, it is of short duration. They subside: they are overwhelmed; but not extinguished. Macbeth, in the following conference, appears reconciled to designs of treason: he can think of them calmly, and without abhorrence: and all the opposition he has henceforth to encounter, will arise, not from feeling, but from reflection.

Macb. My dearest love!
Duncan comes here to-night.

La. Macb. And when goes hence?
Macb. To-morrow, as he purposes.

La. Macb. Oh! never

Shall sun that morrow see.

Macb. We shall speak further.

Inward contention of mind naturally provokes soliloquy. The reason of this appearance is obvious. In the beginning of life, feeble and unable to assist ourselves, we depend entirely upon others; we are constantly in society; and, of course, if we are affected by any violent emotions, we are accustomed to utter them. Consequently,

E

by force of association and habit, when they return excessive on any future occasion, impatient of restraint, they will not be arrested by reflection, but vent themselves as they were wont. We may observe, in confirmation of this remark, that children are often prone to soliloquy: and so are men of lively passions. In children, the association is vigorous and entire: in men of lively passions, habits are more tenacious than with men of a cooler temperament. When the contending principles are of equal energy, our emotions are uttered in broken and incoherent sentences, and the disordered state of our mind is expressed by interrupted gestures, absence of attention, and an agitated demeanour.

Banquo. Look how our partner's rapt.

La. Macb. Your face, my Thane, is as a book, where

men

May read strange matters. To beguile the time,
Look like the time.

But, when the inward disorder proceeds from the violence of passion, unopposed by internal feelings, and thwarted only by