The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1825-10-06 00:00:00

LirERJR T GLEANIIVRS.
No. XL •`

DisTINCT CIiAIACTILRII);I4•CDTTII AND I:ben/inn I
T 14
z 10150.—A mind so framed and sn tortured as that
vt Macbeth, when the hour of extremity presses upon
hint. can find no refuge but in despair ; and the expression
of that despair by Shakapeare, is perhaps one of the finest
*lam that ever was exhibited. It is wildness, incon-
i mosey, and disorder, to such a degree, and so apparent,
toss . Some say he's read ; others who lessee hate him,
_ Do call it valiant fury ; but for certain,
He cannot buckle Ine distembered cause
Within the belt of rule."
Itis presumption without hope, and confidence without
sour ; that confidence rests upon his superstition ; lie
buoys himself up with it against all the dangers that
threaten him, and yet sinks upon evay fresh alarm,
•• fling me no niece reports ; I.:t them By all :
Till Birnant wend r: more to Dunelnane,
I cannot taint with fear. What's the boy Malcolm!
Was he not born of woman ? Spirits that know
An mortal consequences lisle pronworeed it.
year sat. Macbeth ! No awe that's born of women
Pallier here power apes thee.—Fly, false Thanes,
And mingle with the English Epicures ! .
The mind I sway bv, and the heart I beer,
stall timer sagg weir doubt. nor shake with fear !"
Ka kith in these assurances is implicit; he really is
that he may defy the forces of his enemies, and
=lllcttery of his friends, but immediately after, only on
arebrg a man who, not having the same support, is
frichtened at the numbers apFreaching against them he
c.itsliii his apprehension ; tells him
----These liana speaks of thine
A.. counsellors tw fear ;
and then, though nothing had happened to impeach the.
'credit of those assurances on which he relied, he gives way
to the depression of his spirits, anti despouds in the midst
of ncurlty:
i' Take thy face hence.--Sefton ! I'm sick at heart,
11 hen I behold-.-Seytaa I i ?ay, this push
Willy:beer me ewe, or disease me new,
I bare lived long enough ; my way of life
is b'n into the fear, the yellow l-sf."
4 •
. Ils, by those which follow on his uncom-
ftr of old age, and by those which he after-
.
......ls makes on the vanity of life, when he hears that
lastly Mahe ll is no mere, he appears to be preparing for
hisfste. But his seeming composure is not resignation ;
it is passion still ; it is one of the irregularities of despair,
whiz!) some overwhelms him, at other times starts into
.rage' and is at all times intemperate and extravagant. The
resolution with w'lieh he bore up againit the desertion of
the Thanes. fails hint; upon meeting the messenger who
*comes to -I him the numbers of the enemy : when he re-
ceives the confirmation of that news, his dejection turns into
fury, aid he declares,
" I'll defy, till from my bones my flesh is hack'd"
Ile then impetuously.gires his orders to
"Send out more horses ; skier the country round ;
Hang these that talk of fear."
Ile repeats them afterwards with impatience. Though the
inciny is still At a distance, he calls for his armour; not-
withstanding Seytoti's remonstrance that it is not rved.ql
yet, he persists in putting it on ; he calls for it eagerly
afterwards ; he bids the person who is assisting him, dis-
patch ; then the moment it is on be pulls it 'off again, and
directs his attendants to bring it after him. In. the tnitisr
of all this violence and hurry the melancholy which preys
upon him shows itself, by the sympathy he expresses so
feelingly, when the diseased mmd of Lady Macbeth is
mentioned ; and yet neither the troubles of his conscience,
nor his concern for her, can divert his attention from the

distress of bissituation. Ile tells her physician that tien:snes
.fly fr in Aim ; and betrays to him, whose assistance he
could not want, and in whom be did not mean to plane any
particular confidence, his apprehensions of the English
force& After he has forbid those about him to bring
him any more reports, he anxiously inquires for news ;
he dreads every danger which he supposes he acorns • at
least be recurs to his superstition, as to the only relief
from his agony ; and concludes the agitated scene, as he
had begun it, with declaring that he
alit rot be afraid of death or bane,
Till Birnara Meet comes to Dunefoassee•
At his next appearance he gives his orders, and considers
hie situation more calmly; but still there is no spirit in
him. If he is fora short time sedate, it is because
" hr has surfeited with horrors;
Direst..., familiar to his slaughterous thoughts,
Cannot now start him."
Ile appears coutpuaeol, only because be is become almost
indifferent to every thing; he is hardly affected by the
death of the Queen, whom he tenderly loved : he checks
himself for wishing abe had lived longer; for he is weary
himself of life, which, in ha estimation, now
" Is but a 'walking leads. ; a poor player,
Tiler stints ae frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more it is a tale
Told be an !dem, full of sound and-fur'',
Signifying nothing--
Yet though he grows more careless about his fate, he can-
not reconcile himself to it ; he still flatters himself that he
thail escape, even after he has found the equivocation of
the Pei. When Wrists:l wood appeared to come to-
wards Dune:sane, he trusts to the other assurance, and be-
lieves that he

" Bears a charmed life. which must not yield
To one of woman born."—
Ells confidence, however, begins to fail him; he raves as
soon as he perceive' that he has reason to doubt of the
promises which had been made to him, and says,
" If this which he avouches does appear
There is no Hying hence, nor tarrying here,
1 'gin to be a wearrof the sun,
And wish the state o' th' world were now undone.
itiug the alaru bell wind ! come, wrack!
At least we'll die with harness on our back."
Bat sensible, st lest, that he is driven to extremity, and
that " They've tied Ids to a stake; he cannot fly,
' But, bear.like, he must fight the coupe."
he summons all his fortitude; and, agreeably to the man-
liness of chareeter to which he had always formed him-
self, behares with more temper and spirit (luring the
battle than he had before. He is so well recovered from
the disorder he had been in, that the natural sensibility of
his disposition finds even in the field an opportunity to
work ; where be declines to fight with Macdta, not from
fear, but from a consciousness of the wrongs he had done
to him ; he therefore answers his provoking challenge,
only by saying
" Of all men else I have avoided thee:
But get thee back ; my soul is too much chased
With blood of thine alhauly,"
and then patiently endeavours to persuade this injured ad-
versary to desist from so unequal a combat ; for he is con-
fident that it must be fatal to Macduff, and therefore tells
h.m. Thou loses! laboar ;
• .As esav mayest }hoes the intrencbant sir
With thy ken sword impress, us make me bleed a
Let fall thy blade on vulnerable crests;
I bear a charmed life."
But his reliance on this charm being trken away by the
explanation given by Alaeduff, and every hope now failing
him, though he wishes not to fight, yet his sense of honour
Nine touched. by the threat, to be made the show and gaze
I t%e time, and all his passions bring now lost in despair,
is habits recur to govern him : he disdains the thought of
..egrace, and dies as becomes a soldier. His last words ale
-----" I will not yield,
To kiss the ground before young Illsleolm's feet,
And to b.: tilted by the rabble's curse.
'iii Ittroam wood be come to Donsinane,
opoos'd being of no woman born,
try the last : before my body
warldse shield law on Macduff!
be be that iirst dies Hold! enough."
triour of Macbeth required, it world re-
t, by comparing it with that of Richer,'
not very different. When he is to fight
mil for his life, he prepares for the crisis
perfect evenness of temper; and rises, as
!kens, into ardour, without once starting
Terence, or ever sinking into dejection.
far from being supported, that he is de-
.cii as a brave sprit can be depressed, by
means, and instead of having a superstitious
lie is threatened by all the ghosts of all whom
ithered, that they will sit heavy on his soul lc-
' soon shakes off the impression they had
again as gallant as ever. „Defore their ap-
feels a presentiment of his ',fate ; he observes

hos not that alacrity of spirit.
of mind, that he was wont to have:"
signifying his intention of lying in Bosworth
light, the rrtlexion of where to-morrow occurs
pushes it aside by answering, Well; as

And to blt,;;
Though Ihrs
Ann uoo
Yet will I try
1 throw my I
Aid damn'd
.11 this !rein,
eel% e illustration.
in circumstances
fur his crown rn
with the most p
the dagger thick
iait into intemp
Tho::zhheissol
Preston, as trine;
•upernstutal mes
cl:l:l,lenee, he is
tor has mut theren
*sorrow, yet he
male, end is age
p anmec he feels
,hat he
Gl
Nor cheer (
ma upon signify
held that night, t
to him ; but he [
fr,