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 natʼral gates and allies of the body;
And, with a fudden vigour, it doth poffet
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and wholesome blood: fo did it mine,
And a most instant tetter bark'd about,
Moft lazar-like, with vile and loathsome crust
All my fmooth body.

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

Of life, of Crown, of Queen, at, oncè dispatcht;
Cut off ev'n in the bloffoms of my fin,

2

* Unhousel'd, disappointed, 3 unaneal'd :

In other editions, Unhouzzeled, unanointed, unaneal'd;

The Ghoft, having recounted the process of his murder, proceeds to exaggerate the inhumanity and unnaturalness of the fact, from the circumftances in which he was surprised. But thefe, I find, have been tombling blocks to our editors; and therefore I must amend and explain thefe three compound adjectives in their order. Ioftead of unbouzzel'd, we must restore, unboufel'd, i. e, without the facrament taken from the old Saxon

No

word for the facrament, houfel. In the next place, unanointed is a fophiftication of the text: the old copies concur in reading, difappointed. I correct,

Unboufeld, unappointed,i. e. no confeffion of fins 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 muft take the liberty to difpute Mr. Pope's explication of it, viz. No knell rung. The adjective formed 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 formed from knell, and melting it into a vowel. What fenfe does unaneal'd then bear? SKINNER, in his Lexicon of old and obfolete Engl terms, telis us, that aneal'd is un&us; from the Teutonick proposition an, M 4

and

No reck'ning made, but sent 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 howsoever 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 thofe 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 unaffectual fire.
Adieu, adieu, adieu; remember me.

[Exit.

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

And fhall I couple hell? -Oh, hold my heart,
And you, my finews, grow not instant old;

and Ole, i. e. Oil: fo that unaneal'd must confequently fignify, 2 nanointed, not having the extream union. The poet's read ing and explication being afcertained, he very finely makes his ghost complain of thefe four dreadful hardships; that he had been difpatch'd out of life without receiving the hofte, or facrament; without being reconcil'd to heaven and abfolv'd; without the benefit of extream un&ion; or without fo much as a confefion made of his fins. The having no knell rung, I think, is not a point of equal confequence to any of thefe; especially, if we confider, that the Romish church admits the efficacy of praying for the dead. THEOBALD. This is a very difficult line.

I think Theobald's objection to the fenfe of unaneal'd, for notified by the bell, must be owned to, be very ftrong. I have not yet by my enquiry fatisfied myself. Hanmer's explication of unan neal'd by unprepared, because to anneal metals, is to prepare them in manufacture, is too general and vague; there is no refemblance between any funeral ceremony and the practice of annealing metals.

Difappointed is the fame as unappointed, and may be properly. explained unprepared; a man well furnished with things neceffary for any enterprise, was faid to be well appointed.

4-uneffectual fire.] i. e. thining without heat. WAKE.

But

But bear me ftiffly up. Remember thee
Ay, thou poor Ghoft, 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 fhall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with bafer matter. Yes, by heav'n.
O most pernicious woman!

Oh villain, villain, fmiling damned villain !
My tables,-meet it is, I fet it down,

That one may smile, and smile, 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

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 Ghoff, my Lord, come from the Grave

To tell us this.

Ham. Why right, you are i' th' right;
And fo without more circumftance at all,
I hold it fit that we fhake hands, and part;
You, as your business and defires fhall point you;
For every man has business and defire,

Such as it is; and, for my own poor part,

I will go pray.

Hor. Thefe are but wild and whirling words, my Lord.

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,

6 By St. Patrick,-] How the poet comes to make Hamlet fvear by St. Patrick, I know not. However at this time all the whole northern world had their learning from Ireland; to

which place it had retired, and there flourished under the aufpices of this Saint. But it was, I fuppofe, only faid at random; for he makes Hamlet a ftudent of Wittenberg. WARBURTON.

As

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 seen tonight.

Both. My Lord, we will not.

Ham. Nay, but fwear'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'st thou fo? art thou there,
true-penny?

Come on, you hear this fellow in the cellarage.
Confent to fwear.

Hor. Propofe the oath, my Lord.

Ham. Never to fpeak of this that you have seen, 7 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 fwórd.
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!

7 Sawear by my word.] Here the poet has preferved the manners of the ancient Danes, with whom it was religion to fwear upon their fwords. See Bartkoline, De caufis contemp. mort. opud Dan. WARE.

opinion, which is likewife well defended by Mr Upton but Mr. Garrick produced me a paffage, I think, in Brantôme, from which it appeared, that it was common to fwear upon the fword, that is, upon the crofs which the old I was once inclinable to this 'fwords always had upon the hilt.

A

"