, 1877-05-06

er amount Of machinery-the storm, the fonl fog,
the blasted heahn order s;h1 to MIKE the eonnes
ods H'' oi the ~ more and less ancient poets poet.
is, that the age OF Shakespeare was more materla
more in need Of sc,lsuous aids to supersensuous
knowledge. By this necessity for the advcntitioua
aid of material things, Shakespeare also intimatca
that in some mysterious war things natural serve
as the media Getwccn man and those spiritual
beings OF the neither world who could not in their
attenlpts ut face TO face communication with hu-
manity, dispense with certain foul, loathsome
and ugly ritualis OF evil, US hell broth bsewed In
caves and such-lke sorcertcs OF devils and devil
worship. no more than Gnu the table-tppers and
rapping spirits OF the present day dispense with
Notc. also. the spccch Of Lenor on the morning
after Duncan's murder. In It he portrays the
.lamentings heard tue AZ. ar; strange screams Of
dire combustion, and confused events new Matched
to the woeful time, that the Kings taking
Of The;e 80 be1 or mfts fs
objective effects OF spisitualistic causes and emo
tions. Eut Il Shakespeare is less profoundly re-
liYous well IS less profoundly imaginative than
spirituastic than tho Protestant priesty orders in
general OF the present tay. pic witches, SO call
cd, in Macbeth not the vulgar creatures Of
the fifteenth aud sixteenth centuries, to whom the
expiring practical religious beliefs OF that period
we're chiefly rclegated; as also was the in the
time OF Christ, when few poor, Ignorant fisher
lives were the only persons to greet His advent In
fact, Shakspcarcs weird sisters are not witches in
any sense, as accepted ut that day. They are be-
ings Of the neither world In the parts Of the play
never uses the word or nlludcs to witches III any
way. He calls them .'wcird sisters" They
take their place beside the terrible old women Of
Michael Angelo, who spin the destinics Of men.
Nor urc tncy. IS Gcrvnus claims, Simply the en-
bodlncnt of inward temptation" They are more
than this They arc those spiritual personages that
the poet believed tend on mortal thonghts
And, like the great artist he is' Shakespeare
is not afraid to exhibit them. terrible mi sublime,
brewing in their wicked caldron internal charms
ont OF foul things. ''Thck and slab the Cruel"
must be maie. To show that they are not mortal,
hc says Of them: -..They look not like the IN
they can look into the seeds OF time mud say which
Grain viii grow;1r they ''seem corporal, but melt
into the air like bubbles Of the easth:' they
the "wcyward sisters, Hwho make themselves
In another place he calls them spirits; the spir
its that know all mortal consequents pronounced
me thus, - says Macbeth And again: '' begin to
doubt the cquivocation OF the dend that lies like
d1nd; l no NOR more believed" Says Macdaf: en' s.De-
SPAR thy charm; ana let the angel whom thou still
hast served, :" etc.
Nothing more strongly marks the unbelief aud
aterasm Of the aEe than & tlits Is PERSISTENT ignore
his works. W-hen lie puts such speech us this into
the mouth Of HaHatef:
Than are dreamt OF ID your philosophy.
1t is received merely ~ the happly-expresscd
sentiment Of mind not very strongly f1cd in the
belief Of such things as prcsentiments, Dreams
omens, ghost-lorc, aud such like. Vet II We
study ShakEpeare's greater plays thoroughly we
find that In their movement spirituaiisttc 1ndu
enccs arc the pivotal causes and materialistic ex-
hibitions aud events the effects upon which their
action hinges. J. X. G. F.