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? Hor. Before my God, I might not this believe, 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. But, in the grofs fcope of my opinion, Mar. Good now it down, and tell me, he that knows, . Why this fame strict and most observant Watch Hor. That can I; At least, the whifper goes fo. Our last King, 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, 8 Had he been vanquisher; as by that cov❜nant, His fell to Hamlet. Now young Fortinbras, That hath a ftomach in't; which is no other, The fource of this our watch, and the chief head 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 The Graves flood tenantless; and the sheeted Dead Enter Ghoft again. But foft, behold! lo, where it comes again! 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, If there be any good thing to be done, If thou art privy to thy Country's fate, Or, if thou haft uphoarded in thy life [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, And our vain blows, malicious mockery. [Exit Ghoft. Ber. It was about to speak when the cock crew. 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 |