Page:Macbethandkingr00kembgoog.djvu/53

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[38]

is afraid of Banquo, and that his fear is founded on the superior courage of the other.[1]

Whence is the evidence of Macbeth's cowardice to be brought? Certainly, not from his behaviour at the head of an army: his title to the honour of heroism in the field, is already fully established. To all Mr. Whateley's proofs of this unjust assertion, the plain and comprehensive answer is, that they all rest on a palpable misunderstanding of the author's meaning. It does not appear that, upon the first meeting with the Witches, Macbeth is agitated much more than Banquo:[2] nor are Banquo's

  1. Remarks, p. 40.
  2. Ib. p. 46.