1. Give some account of the Castle of ual extinction of the younger brother's Chillon. life? 10. How did Bonnivard get free from his chain? 11. What liberty was he now allowed? 12. Why did he wish to look from his lonely window? 13. Name the objects he saw when he looked from his cell. 14. What was the effect of this prospect on his mind? 15. With what does the poem conclude? 16. Why was he sorry to leave his dungeon? XXXIX.-APPROACH OF MACBETH'S FATE. DUNCAN, grandson of Malcolm the second, a prince of pacific temper and great virtues, ascended the throne in 1033. In king Duncan's time a great fleet of Danes came to Scotland and landed their men in Fife. Macbeth, a near relation of the king, was general of the army,-and he in conjunction with one Banquo, Thane of Locha. ber, led the king's forces against the invaders and drove them out of the country. Macbeth was thane of Glammis, a district in Forfarshire, the governors of provinces being at this time in Scotland called Thanes, a title similar to thaf of Earl now. Macbeth and Banquo returning from their victory over the Danes were met by three old women in a great heath or moor near Forres, a town in Morayshire, who waited till Macbeth came forward, when the first woman said,-"All hail, Macbeth.hail to thee, Thare of Glammis,"-the second said, "All hail, Macbeth.-hail to thee, Thane of Cawdor,"-the third said, "All hail, Macbeth, that shalt be king of Scotland."-These three old women were considered, in the town of Forres, where they lived, to be witches, and able to tell what was going to come to pass. Nobody would believe such folly now-a-days surely; but in those early days even great men such as Macbeth gave heed to it. It would seem that the old women, seeing that they were respected and feared, endeavoured to impose upon people by pretending to tell what was going to happen to them, in order to get presents for so doing. Just as Macbeth left the old women, word was brought him that his father was dead, so that he was now Thane of Glammis by inheritance, and also that the king had made him Thane of Cawdor, for his valuable services in the war. Macbeth thus seeing part of their words come to pass, began to think how he was to make himself King, as well as Thane of Glammis and Cawdor. Macbeth's wife, whose name was Gruoch, an ambitious and wicked woman, urged him to slay Duncan the king, now an old man. Accordingly Macbeth invited the king to his great castle near Inverness, and during the night, when a dreadful storm was raging, he entered the king's bedroom and killed the old man. Macbeth thus seized the sceptre, which he held with a vigorous grasp for fifteen years. At the end of that time prince Malcolm the son of Duncan, and Macduff Thane of Fife, obtained help from the English king and led an army against the tyrant, who was now within the castle of Dunsinane, a strong fortress near Perth, where he imagined he was quite safe, as the three old women had told him that no one would kill him till Birnam wood should come to Dunsinane,-that wood being at a distance of some miles from the castle. When the English were about to march across the broad valley to Macbeth's castle, Macduff advised each soldier to cut down a bough of a tree and carry it in his hand in order that the enemy might not know their number. When the tyrant saw the appearance of a forest coming from Birnam, he lost courage and his followers deserted him. He sallied forth at the head of the few followers who remained faithful to him, and was killed fighting hand to hand with Macduff,-1054. SCENE-Dunsinane. Within the Castle. Macbeth, Seyton, and Soldiers. Macb. Hang out our banners on the outward walls: Were they not forc'd with those that should be ours, Macb. I have almost forgot the taste of fears. As life were in't: I have supp'd full with horrors; Macb. She should have died hereafter; Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Enter a MESSENGER. Thou com'st to use thy tongue; thy story quickly. I shall report that which I say I saw, But know not how to do it. Macb. Well, say, sir. Mess. As I did stand my watch upon the hill, I look'd toward Birnam, and anon methought The wood began to move. Macb. Liar, and slave! Striking. Mess. Let me endure your wrath, if't be not so: Within this three mile may you see it coming; I say, a moving grove. Macb. If thou speak'st false, Upon the next tree shalt thou hang alive, I pull in resolution; and begin To doubt the equivocation of the fiend, That lies like truth: Fear not, till Birnam wood And wish the estate o' the world were now undone. 1. What was the character of Dunean whom Macbeth slew ? 2. Who invaded Scotland during Duncan's reign? 3. Where did Macbeth fall in with the three old women? 4. What did the first say to him? and the second? and the third? 5. What part of their words seemed to be immediately fulfilled? 6. Who urged Macbeth to kill Duncan and make himself king? [Exeunt. Shakspere. 7. When and how did he accomplish that wicked deed? 8. How long did this tyrant reign? 9. Who obtained assistance against him from the English king? 10. Where is the castle of Dunsinane? 11. What did the old women say would happen before Macbeth would be killed? 12. In what were their words apparently fulfilled? 13. By whom was Macbeth slain? He scarce had ceased when the superior fiend' Was moving towards the shore; his ponderous shield, Behind him cast: the broad circumference Hung on his shoulders, like the moon," whose orb 1 Superior fiend,-arch-fiend; Satan. 2 Like the moon,-Milton represents the shield of Satan as large as the moon seen through a telescope, an instrument first applied to observations by Galileo, a native of Tuscany, born 1564, whom he means here by the "Tuscan artist." Milton had visited this truly great man, Galileo, as he himself informs us. At evening from the top of Fesolé,' 10 6 While with perfidious hatred they pursued And broken chariot wheels; so thick bestrewn, "Princes, potentates, Warriors, the flower of Heaven, once yours, now lost, Eternal spirits ;-or have ye chosen this place 1 Fesole, (anciently Faesulae) a city of Tuscany;-and Vald' Arno, that is (vale of the Arno), both these places are near Pisa, the birth-place of Galileo. 2 Ammiral is a German word, and means any great ship. 3 Marle, soil;-properly a calcareous or chalky earth, much used for manure. 4 Heavens,-this word must be pronounced here in two syllables. 5 Nathless, not the less, nevertheless, -a Saxon word. 6 Strow, overspread, now generally written strew. 7 Vallombrosa, that is shady vale, from the Latin vallis a valley, and umbra, a' shade, it is in Etruria or Tuscany. 8 Ori'on,-is a constellation represented in the figure of an armed man, and supposed to be attended with stormy weather. 9 Busiris,-Milton thus styles Pharaoh (and not without authority) who perfidiously pursued the Israelites, since he had previously agreed to allow them to depart unmolested. 10 Memphian, from Memphis, an ancient city on the left side of the Nile, famous for the pyramids. 11 From the safe shore,-see Exodus xiv. 23, to the end. After the toil of battle to repose 1. By what name is Satan called here? 3. When and where was he born? 4. To what does the poet liken Satan's shield? 5. To what is his spear compared ? 6. Describe his journey to the beach of the burning lake. 7. How numerous were the angels scattered over the lake? 8. What is Vallombrosa ? 9. Why is the constellation introduced here? 10. Who is meant by Busiris ? MILTON. 11. Who were the sojourners in Goshen? 12. How does Satan call on the fallen spirits? 13. Does he not appeal to their pride in his address? 14. Show me that he does so. 15. By what sin fell the angels? 17. Is there hope of forgiveness for these fallen spirits? 18. Is there hope for us? 19. Who will quote the words of John iii. 16. ? XLI.-OVERTHROW OF THE REBEL ANGELS. So spake the Son, and into terror chang'd At once the four2 spread out their starry wings 1 Virtue, here means courage, strength, as virtus did in Latin, 2 Four, that is, the cherubic shapes,-see Ezekiel i, 9-19, 24. 3 Burning wheels,-see Dan. vii, 9. 4 Empyrean, that is, the highest heaven. |