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The Works of Samuel Johnson, LL.D. in Nine Volumes, Volume 05

Act 3 — SCENE IV.

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2 Murderer. He needs not to mistrust, since he delivers Our offices and what we have to do, To the direction just.

Mr. Theobald has endeavoured unsuccessfully to amend this passage, in which nothing is faulty but the punctuation. The meaning of this abrupt dialogue is this: The perfect spy, mentioned by Macbeth in the foregoing scene, has, before they enter upon the stage, given them the directions which were promised at the time of their agreement; and, therefore, one of the murderers observes, that, since he has given them such exact information, he needs not doubt of their performance. Then, by way of exhortation to his associates, he cries out,

—To the direction just.

Now nothing remains but that we conform exactly to Macbeth's directions.

NOTE XXVIII.

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