How we cite our quotes: (Act.Scene.Line) from the Folger Shakespeare Library
Quote #10
MALCOLM
'Tis call'd the evil:
A most miraculous work in this good king,
Which often, since my here-remain in England
I have seen him do. How he solicits heaven
Himself best knows, but strangely visited people
All swoll'n and ulcerous, pitiful to the eye,
The mere despair of surgery, he cures,
Hanging a golden stamp about their necks,
Put on with holy prayers: and 'tis spoken,
To the succeeding royalty he leaves
The healing benediction. With this strange virtue,
He hath a heavenly gift of prophecy,
And sundry blessings hang about his throneThat speak him full of grace. (4.3.168-181)
Shakespeare is totally the teacher's pet. Here, he gives even more props to King Edward the Confessor of England by alluding to the "Royal Touch," a kind of laying on hands ceremony that was performed by English (and French) monarchs. The "strangely-visited people" referred to here by the Doctor suffer from scrofula, or the King's Evil. And if King Edward can cure a nasty disease like scrofula, just imagine what he can do to help cure Scotland of Macbeth.