DUNCAN
There's no art
To find the mind's construction in the face:
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.

Enter MACBETH, BANQUO, ROSS, and ANGUS

O worthiest cousin!
The sin of my ingratitude even now
Was heavy on me: thou art so far before
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow
To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserved,
That the proportion both of thanks and payment
Might have been mine! only I have left to say,
More is thy due than more than all can pay.

MACBETH
The service and the loyalty I owe,
In doing it, pays itself. Your highness' part
Is to receive our duties; and our duties
Are to your throne and state children and servants,
Which do but what they should, by doing every thing
Safe toward your love and honour.

DUNCAN
Welcome hither:
I have begun to plant thee, and will labour
To make thee full of growing. Noble Banquo,
That hast no less deserved, nor must be known
No less to have done so, let me enfold thee
And hold thee to my heart.

Notes and Glossary
ACT I Scene 4 Line [Flourish] A fanfare. The courtly tone of this speech is evident, especially Duncan's -here, very much "the gracious Duncan" (111.1.65) -and would be reflected in the formal groupings in the stage. The ceremony expresses the natural order in the kingdom, the loyal and affectionate dependence of the nobles on the King, which is twice compared with the relationship of children to a father. Its naturalness is also emphasised by the images of growth, suggesting the prosperity that results. (See also comments under "If you can look into the seeds of time". (1.111.58)) The audience has little time to establish a rapport with Duncan, but it is important that they have a respect and a liking for him because the audience can only be truly horrified and shocked by his terrible murder if they feel that they have some emotional attachment to the King. ACT I Scene 4 Line 266 Are not those in commission. The first Folio prints 'or' for 'are'. Corrected in the second Folio. ACT I Scene 4 Line 276 As one that had been studied in his death. 'Like one that had perfectly studied the part he was to play in dying with penitence. , ACT I Scene 4 Line 277 Ow'd. 'Owned. , ACT I Scene 4 Line 280 To find the mind's construction in the face. 'To discover the inward mind by the exterior demonstration of the face.' [Enter Macbeth] His first appearance in the formal atmosphere of the court, battle stained and fresh from his encounter with the witches, is full of dramatic irony. ACT I Scene 4 Line 283 Oh, worthiest cousin! Duncan and Macbeth were the sons of two sisters, Beatrice and Doada, daughters to Malcolm, the previous King of Scotland. ACT I Scene 4 Line 288 That the proportion both of thanks and payment might have been mine. '1 would thou hadst deserved less, so that my thanks and rewards were better proportioned to thy merit than now they can be.' ACT I Scene 4 Line 290 More is thy due than more than an can pay. 'More is thy due than could be repaid by even more than an that I can give thee. , ACT I Scene 4 Line 291 The service and the loyalty I owe, in doing it, pays itself. Here "service" and "loyalty" are treated as one and the same thing, and therefore referred to by "it" and "itself', instead of by a plural pronoun. See Act iii "Timon of Athens." ACT I Scene 4 Line 295 By doing everything safe toward your love and honour ."Safe" is here employed adjectively, meaning 'productive of security; , as it is in Philippians iii.I: "To write the same things to you, to me indeed is not grievous, but for you it is safe." The passage in the text sigriifies, ~y doing everythjng that tends to secure and promote your love and honour ., ACT I Scene 4 Line 306 Wanton. Unrestrained. ACT I Scene 4 Line 308 nearest i.e. to the throne. Macbeth was in fact nearest after Duncan's own sons. ACT I Scene 4 Line 311 The Prince of Cumberland. The crown of Scotland was in early times not strictly hereditary; and when a successor was declared in the lifetime of a king (as was sometimes the case), the title of Prince of Cumberland was conferred upon him in token of his appointment. ACT I Scene 4 Line 314 From hence to Inverness. This royal visit to Macbeth' s castle has historical authority; and it was customary for the king to make an annual progress through his dominions, sojourning at the mansions of his nobles. ACT I Scene 4 Line 321 That is a step. Macbeth being, equally with Duncan, the grandson of the late monarch, considered his claims to the throne were set aside by this nomination of Malcolm to be heir to the crown; and it acts as a fresh incentive to his meditated deed. ACT I Scene 4 Line 327 True, worthy Banquo, -he is full so valiant. These words are said by Duncan in reply to something which has been said by Banquo in praise of Macbeth's valour, while conversing apart during Macbeth's soliloquy. The proneness of Macbeth to fall into abstracted se1f-communing throughout these first scenes serves forcibly to depict the tumu1t of his mind.

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