BvmK madnefs, endeavours, by various methods ®, to difcover the
>— .— ■ real ftate o f his mind: amongft others, lie departs
from Ellinoor, concerts a meeting between Hamlet and Gertrude,
concluding that the former would not conceal his fen-
timents from his own.mother; and orders,a courtier to conceal
himfelf, unknown to both, for the purpofe o f overhearing
their eonverfation. The.courtier repairs to the queen’s
apartment, and hides himfelf under a heap o f ilraw t. Hamlet,
upon entering the cabinet, fufpedling the prefence of
fome fpy, imitates, after his ufual affectation o f folly, the crow
o f a ,cock; and, ihaking his arms like wings, jumps |
Am o n g o th e r a ttempts , F en g o orders
bis companions t o i e a v e .him. in >a re tired
' ip o t , and a y o u n g woman is placed in liis
w a y w ith a view to e x to r t - 'from him a con -
feflion th a t his fo lly was cou n te r fe ited .
H am le t w ou ld ha ve fallen into th e fn a re , i f
a frien d had not fe c r e tly convey ed to him
in te llig en c e Qf this t r e a c h e r y : he carries
th e woman to a more fecre t p la c e , and o b tains
-her ^promife n o t to b e t ra y him ; wh ich
ih e readily confents to , as ih e h a d been
b ro u g h t u p -with him from h e r infancy.
B e in g a lk ed, upon his .return home , i f he
h ad ind ulged his paffion, h e anfwers in th e
a ffirm a tiv e ; bu t renders h im fe lf not be«
lie v ed b y th e m o ll a r t fu l fu b te r fu g e s ,
w h ic h , th o u g h tru e , feemed e v id en tly to
m a rk ad ifo rdered underftanding, and b y the
.p o fitive denial o f th e woman. “ U p on this
'* * woman ,” a sC a p e ll o b fe rv e s ,“ is grounded
“ Shakefpeare’ s O p h e lia ; and h is d e live r -
“ ance from this fnare b y a friend fu g g e iled
“ dais H o ra tio ” — “ the rude outlines,'” a sM r .
Malone rema rks , “ o f thofe ch arac te rs.”
“ Bu t in this pie ce th ere are no tra its o f th e
“ ch a ra& e r o f Polonius .: th ere is, indeed, a
cou n fe llo r, and he places h im fe lf in th e
“ queen’ s chamber behind the arras ; b u t
“ this is th e w h o le . T h e ghoft o f th e old
“ H am let is lik ew ife th e offspring o f ou r
“ au th o r ’s creative imagination.” See C a -
p e ll’s School o f S h a k e fp e a r e ,V o l.lI I . p . 20;
and Malone’s Su pplemen t, p . 353.
+ T h e reader w ill recolleCt, th a t ilraw
u fed form e r ly to b e fp read over th e floors
as an a r t ic le o f g re a t lu x u ry .
J T h is p a rt Hands thus in th e E n g lilh
a c c o u n t : “ T h e coun fe llor entered fe c re tly
“ in to the queene’ s ch am b e r , and th ere hid
7, himfelfe behind th e a r ra s , an d lo n g before
.th e q u e en e an d H am let came th ith e r ;
“ who b ein g c ra ft ie and p o litiq u e , as foone
“ as h e was within the ch amb er, dou b tin g
“ fome treafon, and fe a r in g , i f h e ihouid
“ fp eak e feverely and w ife ly to his m o th er ,
“ tou ch in g his fec re t .p ra& ife s , he e-ihouid
“ rbe underftood, and h y th a t means inter-
“ cepted, ufed his o rdin ary manner o f dif-
“ iimulation, and hegan ,to com e ( r . crow)
“ lik e a co c k e , b e a tin g w ith his arms ( in
“ fu ch man ner as cocke s u fe to ftrik e w ith
“ th e ir w in g s ) , upon th e h angings o f the
n ch ambers , w h e reb y , fe e lin g fom eth in g
“ ilir r in g under them, he c r ied a r a t ! a rat!
f j and p re fen t ly drawin g his fwor.de, thruft
“ i t in to th e h a n g in g s ; w h ich done, he
“ p u lled th e co u n fe llo r (half-deade) o u t by
“ th e he els , m ade an end o f k illin g h im ; and,
“ b ein g flain, cu t his b ody in p ie ce s , w hich
u he caufed to b e b o iled , and then ca il it
“ in to an open vau lt o r p r iv ie .” M a lon e’s
Su pplement, V o l. I . p . 337,
upon
upon the heap o f ftraw, till, feeling the courtier, he draws his CHAp.
fword, and inftantly difpatches him. He then cuts the body ■ . ■
to pieces, boils it, and gives it to the hogs. He then avows
to his mother, that he only perfonated a fool, reproaches her
for her inceftuous marriage with the murderer o f her huf-
band; and concludes his remonftrances by faying, W Iniiead,
“ therefore, of condoling my infatiity, deplore your own in-
“ famy, and learn to lament the deformity o f your own
“ mind*.” The queen is iilent; but is recalled to virtue
by thefe admonitions. Fengo returns to Elfinoor, fends
Hamlet to England under the care o f two courtiers, and re-
quefts the king, by a letter, to put him to death. Hamlet
difcovers and alters the letter; fo that, upon their arrival in
England, the king orders the two courtiers to immediate execution,
and betroths his daughter to Hamlet, who gives
many aftoniihing proofs o f a moft tranfcendent underftand-
itig.- At the end o f the year he returns to Denmark, and
alarms the court by his unexpected appearance, as a report o f
his death had been fpread, and preparations were making
* T h e clofe t fcen e , w h ich u s fo b e autiful “ dubitem quin is q u i fra trem oppreiTerif,
in Shakefpeare’s H am le t, is thus con c ifely, “ in affines quoque pari cru de litate debac-
b u t n o t lefs finely, deicribed b y the D an iih f f ch aturu s f i t : unde ftoliditatis qu® in-
h iilo r ian .f “ duftri® h ab itum ampleCli pr®ftat, e t in -
“ C um q u e mater magno e ju latu q ue lla “ colum ita tis praefldium ab c x t r em i de lira -
“ pr®fentis filii focordiam deflere ca epiflet: “ mentorura fpecie mutuari. In animo ta -
“ ‘ q u id ,’ inqu it, mulierum turpiffima g r a - “ men patera® ultionis ftudium p e r fe v e ra t ;
“ vilfimi criminis diffimulationem falfo 1^- “ fed rerum occafiones au cu po r, temporum
“ men ti genere e x p e t is , qu® ic o r ti more “ opportunitates opperior. N o n idem om-
“ lafciviens nefariam a c deteftabilem th o r i “ nibus lo c ils con ip etit. C o n t ra o b fcu rum
“ conditionem feeu ta v ir i tu i interfeCtorem “ immitenjqqe ^ animum; altioribu s .ingenii
“ pleno incefti finu am p le& e r is : et e i q u i “ ■ modis u ti cop v en it. T ib i vero fuperva-
“ p rolis tu® parentem ex tin xe rat obfcoenif-. “ cum fit meam lam en ta r id e fip ien t iam ,q u »
“ fimis bland imentorum illeceb r is.ad u lar is. tuam j.uftius ignominiam deplora re d ebu-
“ I ta nempe equa? conjugum fuorum viCto- ■ “ eras; I ta q u e non alien®' fed piopri®
“ ribus marit'antur. • IBru torum natura h®c i mentis vitiUm d e fle a ln e c e f le eft, C®tera
“ e f t ; u t in diverfa. paffim conjugia rap i- < “ file re mem ineris .” T a l i convitio lacer^-
“ antur h o c t'ibi exemplo p r io r is "m a r iti ? “ tam matrem ad excolendum virtutis h a b i-
“ memoriam exojevifle iponftat. E g o . vero. “ turn revo ca vit, pr®teritofque ignes pr®»
“ non ab re ftolidi fpeciem g e ro , cum haud “ fentibus illehebris pr®ferre docui't,”