OBSERVANCES OF SHAKSPEARE. 259 



« Ham Nay, do not think I flatter : 



For what advancement may I hope from thee, 



That no revenue hast, but thy good spirits. 



To feed and clothe thee ? Why should the poor be Hatter'd ? 



No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, 



And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee, 



Where thrift may follow fawning. Dost thou hear ? 



Since my dear soul was mistress of her choice, 



And could of men distinguish her election. 



She hath seal'd thee for herself : for thou hast been 



As one in suffering all, that suffers nothing ; 



A man, that fortune's buffets and rewards 



Hast ta'en with equal thanks ; and bless'd are those, 



Whose blood and judgment are so well commingled, 



That they are not a pipe for fortune's finger 



To sound what stop she please : Give me that man 



That is not passion's slave, and I will wear him 



In my heart's core, ay, in my heart of hearts, 



As I do thee." 



It may be impertinent to transcribe, but that, like the Cartoons 

 of Raphael, Shakspeare must be studied often to be justly appreci- 

 ated. Hamlet and Horatio possess those points in common which 

 make them friends. Horatio is a scholar, a philosopher, but no 

 enthusiast ; his blood and judgment were well commingled : had 

 his father been the victim, he would at once have proceeded to 

 the accusation and executed the penalty — he would have '' crowned 

 his thoughts with acts." Horatio stands between Laertes and 

 Hamlet ; he possesses neither the impetuosity of the former nor the 

 tardiness of the latter ; he was not passion's slave ; but one whom 

 fortune had tried, and experience made wise without its prejudice 

 and selfishness : he was an example of a sound mind in a sound 

 body. Though he does not ascend to the moral grandeur of Ham- 

 let, he is throughout, even from the first meeting at Elsinore, a 

 dignified, well-bred man. Nothing can be more beautiful than his 

 address to the Ghost. Without the excited frenzy of Hamlet, he 

 behaves with boldness and reverence : 



^^ Hot. — ^What art thou, that usurp'st this time of night, 

 Together with that fair and warlike form 

 In which the majesty of buried Denmark 

 Did sometimes march ? — By heaven I charge thee, speak !'* 



The honest confession of Horatio to Bernardo, " Before my God, 

 &c.," is just the character of a practical philosopher, incredulous 

 without being sceptical. The whole of the first scene is a fine in- 

 troduction to the play ; the place, the hour, the dialogues, lean all 



