But this eternal blazon muft not be

To ears of flesh and blood; lift, lift, oh lift!

If thou didst ever thy dear father love

Ham. Oh heav'n!

Ghoft. Revenge his foul and moft unnatural murther. Ham. Murther?

Ghoft. Murther moft foul, as in the best it is;

But this moft foul, ftrange, and unnatural.

Ham. Hafte me to know it, that I, with wings as

fwift

As meditation or the thoughts of love,

May fweep to my revenge.

Ghoft. I find thee apt;

And duller shouldst thou be, than the fat weed
That roots it felf in eafe on Lethe's wharf,

Wouldst thou not ftir in this. Now, Hamlet, hear:

'Tis given out, that, fleeping in my orchard,

A ferpent ftung me. So the whole ear of Denmark
Is by a forged procefs of my death

Rankly abus'd: but know, thou noble Youth,
The ferpent, that did fting thy father's life,
Now wears his crown.

Ham. Oh, my prophetick foul! my uncle?

Ghoft. Ay, that incestuous, that adulterate beaft,
With witchcraft of his wit, with trait'rous gifts,
(O wicked wit, and gifts, that have the power
So to feduce!) won to his fhameful luft

The will of my most seeming-virtuous Queen.
Oh Hamlet, what a falling off was there!
From me, whofe love was of that dignity,
That it went hand in hand ev'n with the vow
I made to her in marriage; and to decline
Upon a wretch, whofe natural gifts were poor
To those of mine!

But virtue, as it never will be mov'd,

Though lewdness court it in a fhape of heav'n;
So luft, though to a radiant angel link'd,
Will fate it felf in a celeftial bed,
And prey on garbage-

But, foft! methinks, I fcent the morning air

F 4

Brief

Brief let me be; Sleeping within mine orchard,
My custom always of the afternoon,
Upon my fecure hour thy uncle ftole
With juice of curfed hebenon in a viol,
And in the porches of mine ears did pour
The leperous diftilment; whofe effect
Holds fuch an enmity with blood of man,
That fwift as quick-filver it courfes through
The nat❜ral gates and allies of the body;
And, with a fudden vigour, it doth poffet
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and wholfome blood: fo did it mine,
And a most inftant tetter bark'd about,

Moft lazar-like, with vile and loathsome cruft
All my smooth body..

Thus was I fleeping, by a brother's hand,

Of life, of Crown, of Queen, at once dispatcht;
Cut off even in the bloffoms of my fin,
Unhoufel'd, unappointed, unaneal'd: (11)

No

(11) Unhouzzled, unanointed, unaneal'd;] The Ghost, having recounted the Procefs of his Murther, proceeds to exaggerate the Inhumanity and Unnaturalnefs of the Fact, from the Circumftances in which he was furpriz'd. But thefe, I find, have been ftumbling Blocks to our Editors; and therefore I muft amend and explain these compound Adjectives in their Order. Inftead of unhouzzel'd, we must restore, unhouseľd, i. e. without the Sacrament taken; from the old Saxon Word for the Sacrament, houfel. In the next place, unanointed, is a Sophiftication of the Text: the old Copies concur in reading, difappointed. I correct,

Unhoufeld, unappointed,

i. e. no Confeffion of Sins made, no Reconciliation to Heaven, no Appointment of Penance by the Church. Unaneal'd I agree to be the Poet's genuine Word; but I must take the Liberty to dispute Mr. Pope's Explication of it, viz. No Knell rung. The Adjective form'd from Knell, must have been unknell'd, or unknoll'd. There is no Rule in Orthography for finking the k in the Deflection of any Verb or Compound form'd from Knell, and melting it into a Vowel. What Senfe does un aneal'd then beart SKINNER, in his Lexicon of old and obfolete

English

No reck'ning made, but fent to my account
With all my imperfections on my head.
Oh, horrible! oh, horrible! moft horrible!
If thou haft nature in thee, bear it not;
Let not the royal bed of Denmark be
A couch for luxury and damned incest.
But how foever thou purfu'ft this act,

Taint not thy mind, nor let thy foul contrive
Against thy mother aught; leave her to heav'n,
And to those thorns that in her bofom lodge,
To prick and fting her. Fare thee well at once!
The glow-worm fhews the Matin to be near,
And 'gins to pale his uneffectual fire.
Adieu, adieu, adieu; remember me.

[Exit.

Ham. Oh, all you host of heav'n! oh earth! what

elfe?

And fhall I couple hell? oh, hold my heart

And you, my finews, grow not instant old;
But bear me ftiffly up. Remember thee-

Ay, thou poor Ghost, while memory holds a feat
In this diftracted globe; remember thee-
Yea, from the table of my memory.

I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,
All faws of books, all forms, all preffures past,
That youth and obfervation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with bafer matter. Yes, by heav'n:

English Terms, tells us, that Aneal'd is unctus; from the Tex-tonick Prepofition an, and Ole, i, e. Oil: fo that unaneal'd muft confequently fignify, unanointed, not having the extream Unction. The Poet's Reading and Explication being ascertain'd, he very finely makes his Ghoft complain of these four dreadful Hardhips; That he had been dispatch'd out of Life without receiving the Hofte, or Sacrament; without being reconcil'd to Heaven and abfolv'd; without the Benefit of extream Unition; or without so much as a Confession made of his Sins. The having no Knell rung, I think, is not a Point of equal Confequence to any of these; especially, if we confider, that the Romish Church. admits the Efficacy of praying for the Dead.

F.

5.

Oh moft pernicious woman!

Oh villain, villain, fmiling damned villain!
My tables,

meet it is, I fet it down,

That one may fmile, and fmile, and be a villain;
At least, I'm fure, it may be fo in Denmark. [Writing.
So, uncle, there you are; now to my word;

It is; Adieu, adieu, remember me :

I've fworn it

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.

Ham. How fay you then, would heart of man once think it ?

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.

Hor. There needs no Ghoft, my lord, come from the Grave

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. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord.

Ham.

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 Vifion here-
It 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. What is't, my lord?

Ham. Never make known what you have feen 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.

[Ghoft cries under the Stage.

Ham. Ah ha, boy, fay'ft thou fo? art thou there,

true-penny?

Come on, you hear this fellow in the cellaridge.

Confent to fwear.

Hor. Propofe the oath, my lord.

Ham. Never to speak of this that you have feen, Swear by my fword..

Ghoft. Swear.

Ham. Hic & ubique? then we'll fhift our ground. Come hither, gentlemen,

And lay your hands again upon my fword.

Never to fpeak of this which you have heard,
Swear by my fword.

Ghoft. Swear by his fword.

Ham. Well faid, old mole, can't work i'th' ground fo faft?

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