Upon my fecure hour thy uncle ftole

With juice of curfed

hebenon in a vial,
And in the porches of my ears did pour
The leperous diftilment; whofe effect
Holds fuch an enmity with blood of man,
That swift as quick-filver it courfes through
The natural gates and allies of the body;
And, with a fudden vigour, it doth f poffet
And curd, like eager droppings into milk,
The thin and whole fome blood: fo did it mine,
And a most instant tetter 1 bark'd about,
Moft lazar-like, with vile and loathsome cruft
All my fmooth body.---

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

Of life, of crown, of queen, at once difpatcht;
Cut off even in the bloffoms of my fin,

* Unhousel'd, 'unappointed, m unanoil'd;

7. alters fecure to fecret.
The qu's, Hebsna.

The fo's read viol, followed by all but H. Viol is an inftrument of mufic;

Vial, a small bottle, more properly spelt pbial.

e All but qu's, mine.

f The qu's, possess.

g Fo's, Aygre.

The fo's and R. bak'd.

i The fo's and R. and for of.

Where

m The qu's read unanueld; the fo's and R, unnaneld; P. and W, unanel'd; H. and C, unanneal'd; T. and J, unaneal' d.

It is hardly to be doubted that ShakeSpeare wrote unanoil'd. To anoil was a common phrafe in ufe in his time, meaning the fame as to anoint. The Rhimish teftament with annotations, printed 1582, tranflates James v. 14. thus,

Is any man ficke among you? let him

* The ift q. reads unbuzled, the 28 bring in the priestes of the churche, and let

No reckoning made, but fent 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.

n

But howfoever thou° purfu'ft this act,

Taint not thy mind, nor let thy foul contrive
Against thy mother aught; leave her to heaven,
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 uneffectual fire.

P Adieu, adieu, adieu! remember me.

[ Exi.,

Ham. O all you hoft of heaven! O earth! what else? And fhall I couple hell?--- O fie! hold, hold my heart; And you, my finews, grow not inftant old;

whom the apostle willeth to be called for to anoil the fick and to pray for him, &c.

Again,

Anoiling with oile] Here is the facrament of extreme unction fo plainly promulgated (for it was inftituted, as all other Jacraments of the new teftament, by our Saviour Chrift bimself, and as Venerable Bede thinketh, and other ancient writers, the anoiling of the fick with oile, Marc. vi. pertaineth thereunto) that fome beretikes, for the evidence of this place alfo (as of the other for good works) deny the epifile,

&c.

And left it should be objected, that Shakespeare, who in general makes ufe

of the word anoint, would have used it here if that had been his meaning; if we turn to the above-mentioned Rhemish testament, Mark vi. 13. we read, And they caft out many divels, and anointed quith oile many ficke, and healed them. So that anoil and anoint were words in◄ differently used at that time.

n The qu's, bowfomever. • First and 2d qu's, pursues. P The fo's and R. read, Adieu, adieu, Hamlet: remember me. 9 Omitted in the qu's,

So the rft q. The 2d and 3d qu's, the fo's and W, read, Ob bold my heart, except C. who omits O fie.

But

S

But bear me ftiffly up. Remember thee!

Ay, thou poor ghoft, while memory holds a feat

In this distracted globe.

Remember thee!

Yea, from the table of my memory

I'll wipe away all trivial fond records,

u

All faws of books, all forms, all preffures paft,
That youth and observation copied there;
And thy commandment all alone shall live
Within the book and volume of my brain,
Unmix'd with bafer matter. w Yes, by heaven.

O most pernicious woman!

W

Q villain, villain, fmiling damned villain!

x

My tables, --- meet it is, I fet it down,

That one may fmile, and fiile, and be a villain;

At least, I'm fure, it may be fo in Denmark.

So, uncle, there you are. Now to my word;
It is, Adieu, adieu, remember me:
I've fworn it,

The qu's read fwiftly.
Qu's, whiles.

4 The 2d and 3d qu's read faw.

w The fo's and R, read, Yes, yes, by

x The fo's and R. read, My tables, my tables, &c,

y The 3d q. omits it.

z Qu's, I am.

a This direction first given by R.

SCENE

Ham. How fay you then, would heart of man once think it?

But you'll be fecret --

Both. Ay, by heaven, my lord.

The fo's and R. give this fpeech the air, when they would have him

to both Horatio and Marcellus within.

e The qu's give this speech to Hamlet, and the next to Marcellus; the fo's and all the other editions except C. give this to Marcellus, and the next to Ho

ratio.

come down to them. H.

e This speech is omitted in the 2d and 3d qu's.

f The 2d q. gives this speech to Heratio.

Qu's, You will, &c.

d The qu's read, come and come. P. h The words, my lord, are omitted in reads, come, boy, come. This is the call the qu's. which falconers ufe to their hawk in

Ham.

Ham. There's never a villain dwelling in all Denmark, But he's an arrant knave.

Her. There needs no ghoft, my lord, come from the grave To tell us this.

i

Ham. Why right, you are in the 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. These are but wild and whirling words, my lord. Ham. I'm forry they offend you, heartily; "

Yes faith, heartily.

Hor. There's no offence, my lord.

Ham. Yes, by faint Patrick, but there is, P Horatio,
And much offence 9 too. Touching this vifion here,
It is an honeft ghoft, that let me tell you:

For your
O'er-mafter 't as you may.

defire to know what is between us,

As

you are friends, fcholars,

Give me one poor request.

And now, good friends,

and foldiers,

I The fo's, R. and C. read, Look you, fo's and all editions after read my lord,

I'll go and pray.

m The fo's, R. P. H. and W, read burling; the qu's, whurling.

Two laft fo's and R. offended. • P. omits faith, which is in all the former editions, and is followed in this

miflion by all the fucceding editors, ex

except C.

9 First and 2d qu's, to.

The qu's, fo's, and R. have thefe words, we will. P. is the first who omits them, and is followed in this omiffion by all the fucceeding editors, except C,

Ham.