at Elsinore, when Hamlet was a child and Yorick his play-fellow. How they must have romped together in the gardens. What fun it was for the little prince to climb upon the jester's shoulders and race pick-back along the terraces, the boy's long fair curls blowing in the wind, and his merry laughter filling the air with music. How pleasant to sit in the shade of one of the big old trees in the park, and listen to the jester tell such interesting tales of the folklore of the country; of the traditions of the prince's warlike race, and the mighty deeds of his great Viking ancestors. Then there were stories, too, wonderful stories, of goblins, sprites and fairies who did such strange things that the relation of them almost frightens the little prince; but he is reassured by a smile, and, twining his arms round dear old Yorick's neck, and kissing the jester's lips, he nestles close to the breast of his motley friend in confident security.

Three-and-twenty years have passed since then; years of sorrow, years of pain! The prince is now a man, with more than a man's share of doubts,

perplexities and cares: and yet at the sight of the bare, chapless skull of his dead play-fellow all the sweet and tender past comes back again.

What a tender pathos is mingled with the prince's philosophic reflections on the remains of his dead friend, as memory recalls each word and incident. It is indeed a reflex of Yorick himself, as the prince utters the grim jest, "Now get you to my lady's chamber, and tell her, let her paint an inch thick, to this favor she must come."

So must we all! The king lies in his marble sepulcher, the jester in his humble grave in the churchyard: but the ermine robe and motley coat, the crown and bauble will mingle their dust, and find equality in the universal democracy of death.

T

TOUCHSTONE

"A Worthy Fool"

O term Touchstone a clown, as he is called

in the cast of characters of "As You Like It," seems to me both a misnomer and an injustice. His knowledge, his wisdom, his wit and his faculty of observation, raise him far above the condition that such a term would imply.

Fool to the court of The Duke, whose dukedom is not named, the character of Touchstone is a most positive and complete conception of the mediæval jester, and he more fully realizes the accomplishments essential to that office, as described by Viola in the "Twelfth Night," than any other of the motley-minded gentlemen that the poet has created.

He is a man of considerable learning, his wit is never lacking in wisdom, he chooses the object of his jests with prudence, the time with discretion,

the matter with judgment, and he is never at a loss for a reply that is apt and to the point.

Touchstone scorns mere persiflage, is happily free from the punning habit, and is seldom a corrupter of words; he makes his jests by logical deductions, with a good premise, a sound argument, and a positive conclusion.

This same happy quality may be found in his encounters with the gentlemen of the court, the ladies in their disguises, the simple shepherds in the forest, and with the grave philosopher Jaques ; indeed, it is the latter gentleman who most accurately summarizes the accomplishments, and gives the keynote to the jester's character, when he presents him to the Duke: "Is not this a rare fellow, good my lord? he is as good at anything, and yet a fool."

The wit of Touchstone does not scintillate, but burns with a steady flame; it is not like the sparks that fly from the contact of tempered steel, but the bright and ruddy glow that radiates from molten metal in the crucible. It is sententious rather than brilliant, more philosophic than friv

olous, and invariably epigrammatic. His humor is never malicious, nor his satire bitter; he shoots his wit at every mark that presents itself, but his shafts are harmless; they have no barb and leave no sting.

Touchstone is not a buffoon, he does not play practical jests nor indulge in such pranks as did that "mad rogue" Yorick. Had it been. Touchstone in the churchyard at Elsinore when the sexton was digging a grave, he would not have poured a flagon of wine over the old grave-digger's head; he would probably have leaned against one of the old yew trees, watched the proceedings with quiet reflection, and if the old sexton had advanced any of his socialistic theories, the jester would have argued the matter to the end, and no doubt have beaten him on his own proposition.

There are no demonstrations or expressions of affection by Touchstone, as by the fool in "King Lear,” yet he is not lacking in loyalty; he leaves the court of Duke Frederick to follow the fortunes of Celia, the Duke's daughter, out of sincere regard, running the risk of the Duke's displeasure