Enter Horatio and Marcellus. Hor. My Lord, my Lord, Mar. Lord Hamlet, Hor. Heav'n fecure him! Mar. So be it. Hor. Illo, ho, ho, my Lord! Ham. Hillo, ho, ho, boy; come, bird, come. Mar. How is't, my noble Lord ? Hor. What news, my Lord? Ham. Oh, wonderful! Hor. Good my Lord, tell it. Ham, No, you'll reveal it. Hor. Not I, my Lord, by heav'n.. Mar. Nor I, my Lord. [think it? Ham. How fay you then, would heart of man once But you'll be fecret Both. Ay, by heav'n, my Lord. Ham. There's ne'er a villain, dwelling in all Denmark, But he's an arrant knave. [grave Hor. There needs no ghoft, my Lord, come from the To tell us this. Ham. Why, right, you are i'th' right; And fo without more circumstance at all, I hold it fit that we shake hands, and part; You, as your bufinefs and defires fhall point you; (For every man has bufinefs and defire, Such as it is) and, for my own poor part, I will go pray. Hor. Thefe are but wild and whirling words, my Lord. Ham. I'm forry they offend you, heartily; Yes, heartily. Hor. There's no offence, my Lord. Ham. Yes, by St. Patrick, but there is, my Lord, And much offence too. Touching this vision hereIt is an honeft ghoft, that let me tell you: For your defire to know what is between us, O'er-mafter it as you may. And now, good friends, As you are friends, fcholars, and foldiers, Give me one poor request. Hor. Hor. What is't, my Lord? Ham. Never make known what you have seen to-night. Both. My Lord, we will not. Ham. Nay, but swear't. Hor. In faith my Lord, not I. Mar. Nor I, my Lord, in faith. Ham. Upon my fword. Mar. We have fworn, my Lord, already. Ham. Indeed, upon my fword, indeed. Ghoft. Swear. [Gheft cries under the Stage. Ham. Ah, ha, boy, fay'ft thou fo? art thou there, truepenny? Come on, you hear this fellow in the cellarage. Hor. Propofe an oath, my Lord. Ham. Never to fpeak of this that you have seen, Swear by my fword. Ghoft. Swear. Ham. Hic & ubique? then we'll shift our ground. Come hither, gentlemen, And lay your hands again upon my fword. Never to speak of this which you have heard, (21) fword. Ghoft. Swear by his sword. [faft Ham. Well faid, old mole, can't work i'th' ground fo A worthy pioneer! Once more remove, good friends. Hor. Oh day and night, but this is wondrous ftrange. Ham. And therefore as a ftranger give it welcome. There are more things in heav'n and earth, Horatio, (22) Than (21) Never to Speak of this that you have heard, Swear by my fword.] This adjuration and the folemnity of kissing Hamlet's fword, seems to be sneer'd at by Beaumont and Fletcher in their Knight of the Burning Peftle; where Ralph the grocer's prentice, difmifles the barber in quiet, on certain terms agreed betwixt them. Ralph. I give thee mercy, but yet thou shalt fwear Upon my burning pestle to perform Thy promife uttered. Barb. I fwear and kiss. (22) There are more things in bear'n and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philofopby.] This reflexion of Hamle frems Than are dreamt of in your philofophy. But come, (As I, perchance, hereafter fhall think meet That you, at fuch time seeing me, never shall, That you know aught of me; This do ye fwear, Ghoft. Swear. Ham. Reft, reft, perturbed Spirit. So, Gentlemen, May do t'exprefs his love and friending to you; The time is out of joint; oh, curfed fpight! Nay, come, let's go together. [Exeunt. feems to be directly copied from this paffage of Lucretius, lib. i. v. 152. Quod multa in terris fieri, cœloque tuentur, Quorum operum caufas nullâ ratione videre Poffunt. I had amended and rectified the pointing of this whole fpeech in my SHAKESPEARE Reflor'd, to which I defire for brevity's fake to refer my readers. Mr. Pope has thought fit to reform the whole, in his last edition, agreeably to my directions there. ACT II. SCENE, An Apartment in Polonius's Houfe. G Enter Polonius, and Reynoldo. POLONIUS. IVE him this money, and thofe notes, Reynoldo. Pol. You fhall do marvellous wifely, good Reynoldo, Before you vifit him, to make inquiry Of his behaviour. Rey My Lord, I did intend it. Pol. Marry, well faid; very well faid. Look you, Sir, Enquire me first what Danskers are in Paris; And how, and who, what means, and where they keep, And in part him-Do you mark this, Reynoldo? Pol. And in part him-but you may fay-not well; But if't be he, I mean, he's very wild; Addicted fo and fo—and there put on him Rey. As gaming, my Lord Pol. Ay, or drinking, fencing, fwearing, Quarrelling, drabbing-You may go fo far. Rey. My Lord, that would dishonour him. Pol. 'Faith, no, as you may feafon it in the charge; You You must not put another scandal on him, (23) That's not my meaning; but breathe his faults foquaintly, The flash and out-break of a fiery mind, A favageness in unreclaimed blood Of general affault. Rey. But, my good Lord Pol. Wherefore fhould you do this? And, I believe, it is a fetch of wit. You, laying these flight fullies on my fon, (24) Mark (23) You must not put another fcandal on him.] I once fufpected, and attempted to correct, this paffage. The old gentleman, 'tis plain, is of opinion, that to charge his fon with wenching would not dibonour him; confequently, would be no fcandal to him. Why then fhould he caution Reynoldo from putting another fcandal on him? There can be no fecond scandal fuppos'd, without a first implied. On this kind of reafoning, I propos'd to correct; You must not put an utter fcandal on bim. Mr. Pope, I obferve, feems to admit the emendation, but I retract it as an idle, unweigh'd conjecture. The reafoning, on which it is built, is fallacious; and our Author's licentious manner of expreffing himself elsewhere, convinces me that any change is altogether unneceffary. So in King. Richard II. Tend'ring the precious fafety of my prince, Come I appellant to this princely prefence. Now, ftrictly speaking, here, tendring his prince's fafety in his fift misbegotten bate; which nobody will ever believe was the Poet's intention. And fo, in Maxbeth; -All these are portable, With other graces weigh'd. Malcolm had been enumerating the fecret enormities he was guilty of; no graces are mention'd or fuppos'd; fo that in grammatical strictnefs, these enormities ftand in the place of firft graces; tho' the Poet means no more than this, that Malcolm's vices would be fupportable, if his graces on the other hand were to be weigh'd against them. (24) Your laying these flight fallies on my fon, As 'twere a thing a little foil'd i'th working.] 'Tis true, fallies and flights of youth are very frequent phrases; but what agreement |