long been a stranger. The effect of this scene of incantation communicated

a portion of its power to that which followed. We forgot that Malcolm and

Macduff were mere human beings, acted upon by such simple passions as

warmed our own breasts. By slow degrees however we were drawn to the real

interest of the scene. A shudder like the swift passing of an electric

shock ran through the house, when Rosse exclaimed, in answer to "Stands

Scotland where it did?"

Alas, poor country;

Almost afraid to know itself! It cannot

Be called our mother, but our grave: where nothing,

But who knows nothing, is once seen to smile;

Where sighs, and groans, and shrieks that rent the air,

Are made, not marked; where violent sorrow seems

A modern extasy: the dead man's knell

Is there scarce asked, for who; and good men's lives

Expire before the flowers in their caps,

Dying, or ere they sicken.

Each word struck the sense, as our life's passing bell; we feared to look

at each other, but bent our gaze on the stage, as if our eyes could fall

innocuous on that alone. The person who played the part of Rosse, suddenly

became aware of the dangerous ground he trod. He was an inferior actor, but

truth now made him excellent; as he went on to announce to Macduff the

slaughter of his family, he was afraid to speak, trembling from

apprehension of a burst of grief from the audience, not from his

371

The Last Man