Hor. Stay; fpeak; I charge thee, fpeak.)

Mar. 'Tis gone, and will not answer.

[Exit Ghoft.

Ber. How now, Horatio? you tremble and look

pale,

Is not this fomething more than phantasy?
What think you of it?

Hor. Before my God, I might not this believe,
Without the fenfible and true avouch

Of mine own eyes.

Mar. Is it not like the King?

Hor. As thou art to thyself.

Such was the very armour he had on,

When he th' ambitious Norway combated;

So frown'd he once, when, in an angry parle, " He fmote the fleaded Polack on the ice.

'Tis ftrange

6

Mar. Thus twice before, and juft at this dead hour,

With martial ftalk, he hath gone by our Watch.
Hor. In what particular thought to work, I know

But, in the grofs fcope of my opinion,
This bodes fome ftrange eruption to our State.

Mar. Good now it down, and tell me, he that knows,

.

Why this fame strict and most observant Watch
So nightly toils the Subjects of the Land?
And why fuch daily caft of brazen Cannon,
And foreign mart for implements of war?
Why fuch imprefs of fhipwrights, whose fore task
Does not divide the Sunday from the week?
What might be toward, that this sweaty hafte
Doth make the night joint labourer with the day,
Who is't, that can inform me?

Hor. That can I;

At least, the whifper goes fo. Our last King,
Whose image but even now appear'd to us,
Was, as you know, by Fortinbras of Norway,
Thereto prickt on by a moft emulate pride,
Dar'd to the fight: In which our valiant Hamlet
(For fo this fide of our known world efteem'd him)
Did flay this Fortinbras, 7 who by feal'd compact,
Well ratified by law and heraldry,

7

who by feal'd compa, Well ratified by law AND heraldry,] The fubje&t spoken of is a duel between two monarchs, who fought for a wager, and entered into articles for the juft performance of the terms agreed upon. Two forts of law then were neceffary to regulate the decifion of the affair; the Civil Law, and the Law of Arms; as, had there been a wager without a duel, it had been the civil law only; or a duel without a wager, the law of arms only. Let us fee now how our

Did

author is made to exprefs this fense.

-a feal'd compact, Well ratified by law AND he

raldry. Now law, as diftinguished from beraldry, fignifying the civil law; and this feal'd compact being a civil law act, it is as much as to fay, An act of law well ratified by law, which is abfurd. For the nature of ratification requires that which ratifies, and that which is ratified, fhould not be one and the fame, but different. For these reasons K 3 I con

Did forfeit, with his life, all thofe his Lands,
Which he stood feiz'd of, to the Conqueror;
Against the which, a moiety competent
Was gaged by our King; which had return'd
To the inheritance of Fortinbras,

8

Had he been vanquisher; as by that cov❜nant,
And carriage of the articles defign'd,

His fell to Hamlet. Now young Fortinbras,
'Of unimproved mettle hot and full,
Hath in the fkirts of Norway, here and there,
Shark'd up a lift of landlefs refolutes,
For food and diet, to fome enterprize

That hath a ftomach in't; which is no other,
As it doth well appear unto our State,
But to recover of us by strong hand,
3 And terms compulfative, thofe forefaid Lands
So by his father loft; and this, I take it,
Is the main motive of our preparations,

The fource of this our watch, and the chief head
Of this post-hafte and romage in the Land.

I conclude Shakespear wrote, -ho by feal'd compact Well ratified by law or heraldry.

i. e. the execution of the civil compact was ratified by the law of arms; which in our author's time, was called the law of he raldry. So the best and exactest fpeaker of that age: In the third kind, [.. of the Jus gentium] the LAW OF HERALDRY in war is pofuive, &c. Hooker's Eccleft aftical Polity. WARB.

as by THAT COV'ANT, And carriage of the articles defign'd,] The old quarto reads,

the articles, the covenants entered into to confirm that bargain, Hence we fee the common reading makes a tautology. WARE, ? And carriage of the articles

defign'd.] Carriage, is import: defigned, is formed, drawn up between them.

1 of unimproved mettle-] Unimproved, for unrefined. WAR.

Full of unimproved mettle, is full of fpirit not regulated or guided by knowledge or experience.

? That hath a stomach in't:-] Stomach, in the time of our au thour, was used for conftancy, reSlution.

as by the fame cOMART; and this is right. Comart fignifies a bargain, and Carriage of fatory.

3 And terms compulfative,-] The old quarto, better, compulWARBURTON. Ber.

Ber. I think, it be no other; but even fo
Well may it fort, that this portentous figure
Comes armed through our watch fo like the King,
That was, and is, the question of thefe wars.
Hor. A mote it is to trouble the mind's eye.
In the most bigh and palmy State of Rome,
A little ere the mightiest Julius fell,

The Graves flood tenantless; and the sheeted Dead
Did fqueak and gibber in the Roman Streets;
Stars fhone with trains of fire, Dews of blood fell;
5 Difafters veil'd the Sun; and the moist Star,
Upon whofe influence Neptune's Empire ftands,
Was fick almost to dooms-day with eclipfe.
And even the like precurfe of fierce events,
As barbingers preceding fill the fates,
7 And prologue to the omen'd coming on,
Have beav'n and earth together demonstrated
Unto our climatures and country-men.

Enter Ghoft again.

But foft, behold! lo, where it comes again!
I'll cross it, though it blast me, Stay, illufion!

These, and all other lines printed in the Italick letter, throughout this play, are omitted. in the folio edition of 1623. The omiffions leave the play fometimes better and fometimes worfe, and feem made only for the fake of abbreviation.

4 palmy State of Rome,] Palmy, for victorious; in the other editions, flourifbin'. POPE.

5 Difalters veil'd the Sun ;-] Difafters is here finely used in its original fignification of evil conjunction of stars, WARB.

[Spreading bis Arms.

If thou haft any found, or use of voice,
Speak to me.

If there be any good thing to be done,
That may to thee do eafe, and grace to me,
Speak to me.

If thou art privy to thy Country's fate,
Which happily foreknowing may avoid,
Oh speak!-

Or, if thou haft uphoarded in thy life
Extorted treasure in the womb of earth,
For which, they fay, you Spirits oft walk in death,

[Cock crows. Speak of it. Stay, and fpeak-Stop it, Marcellus Mar. Shall I ftrike it with my partizan?

Hor. Do, if it will not ftand.

Ber. 'Tis here

Hor. 'Tis here

Mar. 'Tis gone.

We do it wrong, being fo majestical,
To offer it the fhew of violence;
For it is as the air, invulnerable,

And our vain blows, malicious mockery.

[Exit Ghoft.

Ber. It was about to speak when the cock crew.
Hor. And then it ftarted like a guilty thing
Upon a fearful Summons. I have heard,
The cock, that is the trumpet to the morn,
Doth with his lofty and fhrill-founding throat
Awake the God of day; and, at his warning,
" Whether in fea or fire, in earth or air,

If thou bat any found,] The fpeech of Horatio to the Spectre is very elegant and noble, and congruous to the common traditions of the causes of apparitions.

9 According to the pneuma

Th'

tology of that time, every element was inhabited by its peculiar order of fpirits, who had difpofitions different, according to their various places of abode. The meaning therefore is, that all fpirits extravagant, wandering

out