Page:Macbethandkingr00kembgoog.djvu/133

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[118]

A sort of vagabonds, rascals, and runaways,
A scum of Bretagnes, and base lackey peasants:[1]

and it is true, that Macbeth, in like manner, speaks with contempt of his enemies and revolted nobles:—

 
Fly, false Thanes,
And mingle with the English epicures, &c.[2]

Mr. Whateley, however, assumes more than he can maintain, in urging this harangue to his army as a proof of Richard's intrepidity ; for it does not express the tyrant's real opinion of Richmond's followers. The inferiority of the foe is a topic on which

  1. K. Richard, Act v. Sc. 3.
  2. Macbeth, Act v. Sc 3.