Phenix gazette. [volume] (Alexandria [D.C.]) 1825-1833, 1827-08-21
HISTORY OF MACBETH

The only historical part of this lon, o.,
which can at ali interest, is the usurpa,ior =,
Macbeth, an event immortalised by the tra,at,
Of Shakespeare. 1t is curious to observe To-.
this matter is related in Holmshead's Cbro,;
cle;as translated from Hector Boethius; two.
three extracts, from the simplicity of the s,y.
NAV amuse YOU After having related tia,
Duncan was the grandson Of Malcolm, his me-.
decessor on the throne, by an elder daaeb,.
and that Macbeth was equally descended b.,
Younger daughter, the chronicler goes on n
state, that Duncan was renowned for his gen,l.,
ness, and Macbeth for the cruelty of his dispo.
sition; he then gives an account Of the rebellion
of Macdonald in the Western Isles, caused be-
the excessive rigour of Banquo in his Office d
HighSteward;a fter the suppression of this CON.
motion and the defeat of body Of inyadir,
Danes, as Macbeth and Banquo were tourney.
ing towards Forrs, where the king then lay
they went sporting together by the way, with
out other company than themselves, passng
the rough the woods, and fields, when suddeDly
in the midst of a hamd, there met them {, -
women in strange and wild apparel rescr,
bling 'hc creatures of another world: vic
when they at,entvely beheld, much woaderp-
| sAll halle, Macbeth, thane of Giamis' IT,. s.
cond of them said, Halle, Macbeth, thanc c.
Cawdor!' but the third said, 'All hate Mscbeh
that shall hereafter be king Of Scotland"
These are nearly the precise words of;ae s..
utalion, as given by Shakespeare.
Then Banquo saith, what manner Of We.
men are you, that seem SO little "a, durable "
to me; whereas, 10 my fellow here, besides higl
offices, We assign also the kingdom, appointing
nothing 10 me at ALI" "Yes," saith the fr,;.
eve promise greater benefits unto thee, than
him; for he shall reign indeed, but with an Tn.
lucky end neither shall he leave any issue behind
him to succeed in his place; when contrariIc,
thou indeed, shalt not reign at all, thyself, bu,
of thee shall those be born, which shall soyen
the Scotch kingdom by order of continual DE-.
scent" Herewith the aforesaid women imme.
dia,ely vanished out Of their sight. This ,hy
repuled at the first, but some vain faplas,ica
illusion, insomucb, that BanQuo would cal
Macbeth, in JEST" King of Scotland" and Ma:
beth would cali him father of many kings"
but afterwards, the common opinion was, these
women were either the weird sisters, that is, as
you would say, the goddesses Of destiny, orebe
some pymphs or FAIRIES, endued with knovledg:
of prophecy by their necromantic science, be.
cause every thing came 10 pass as they had
spoken
The incidents in Shakspeare's marvellous
composition are not then 10 be attributed 10 his
own fertile imagination?
Scarcely one Of them. The narrative thus
proceeds:
Shortly after, it CHANGED that King Duncan
made the elder Of his sons Prince Of Cumber
land, as j. were thereby TO appoint him his sue.
ecssor; Macbeth, core troubled herewith, began
TO devise how he might attain the Kingdom,
greatly encouraged by the words of the weird
sisters, but specially his wife lay sore upon him
to attempt the thing, as she was very anrbi,ious
burning in unquenchable desire TO bear the name
OF queen; at length, therefore, commubcal.
ing his proposed intent with his trustv friends,
amongst whom 3anquo was the chiefest upon
confidence Of their promised aid, he slew The
King al Inverness"
The incident in the play, Of making Duncahs
, chamberlains dunk, and laying the guilt of th.
assassination upon them, with their subsequen,
slaughter, are borrowed from the account which
Holinshed relates Of a predecessor Of Duncan,
who was slain under those circumstances about
eighty years before.
The murder OF Banquo, and the escape Of
Fleance, are taken also from the same authority;
and here the poet found the equivoca predic.
tions on which his hero so fatally depended
"ile had learned Of certain WIZARDS, how, that
he ought to take heed Of Macduffe, and surely
hereupon, had he put him TO death, but certain
witch whom he had in great trust, had told, that
he should never be slain with man born OF any
woman, nor vaDquished, till the wood Of BIN.
ham, came TO the casteil Of Dunsinape.'
And the whole tenor and bearing Of the scene
between Macdufe and Malcolm of England, ia
which the latter deprecates his own qualities, Is
almost literally borrowed from the historian.
But we seem TO be rather criticising Sbaks-
?eare's play, than explaining the early history
of Scotland
And TO me ] must own that it is the m orc il.
tereslng subject; but TO what cause are we 70
attribute, in the historians Of Scotland, this
simpfcalion of circumstances in the story Of
Macbeth?
1t has been thought that il was done to fiausr
the Stuart family, by attrlbuting to them high.
er antiquity than they could authenticity esta,
blish.
The characters of Banquo & his son Fleance,
are the inventions of Hector Booths for that
nurnoea pbo nroJ,,ra. ,,,.L 49,. a.. .r;cin