Wyll ye breke promyse that is dette.

Strength. In faythe I care not Thou arte but a foole to complayne

You spende your speche and waste your brayne

Go thirste the in to the grounde.

Euery ma. I had went surer I sholde haue founde

He that trusteth in his strength

She hym deceyueth at the length

Both strength and beaute forsaketh me

Yet they promysed me fayre and louyngly.

*

Euery mã. Yet I pray the for the loue of the trinyte Loke in my graue ones petyously.

Dyscrecōn. Nay so nye I wyll not come

Forwell euerychone.

Euery mă. O all thynge fayleth saue god alone

Beaute strength and discrecion

For whan deth bloweth his blaste

They all ronne fro me faste.

o wyttes. Euery man of the nowe my leve I take I wyll folowe the other for here I the forsake. Euery ma. Alas than may I wayle and wepe For I take you for my beste frende.

v wyttes. I wyll no lenger the kepe

Nowe forwell and there an ende.

Euery ma. O Jhesu helpe all hath forsaken me.

Good dedes. Nay euery man I wyll byde with the

I wyll not forsake the in dede

Thou shalte fynde me a good frende at nede.

Euery ma. Gramercy good dedes now may I true frēdes se

They haue forsake me euerychone

I loued them better than my good dedes alone

Knowlege wyll ye forsake me also?

Knowlege. Ye euery man whan you to deth do go

But not yet for no maner of daunger.

Euery ma. Gramercy knowlege with all my herte

*

Howe they that I loued best do forsake me
Excepte my good dedes that bydeth truely.

*

Good dedes. All erthly thynges is but vanyte Beaute strength and discrecion do man forsake Folysshe frendes and kynnes men that fayre spake All fleeth saue good dedes and that am I.

Euery ma. Haue mercy on me god moste myghty And stande by me thou moder and mayde holy mary. Good dedes. Fere not I wyll speke for the.

Euery ma. Here I crye god mercy.

Good dedes. Shorte oure ende and mynysshe our payne Lete vs go and neuer come agayne.

Euery ma. In to thy handes lordes my soule I comende Receyue it lorde that it be not loste

As thou me broughtest so me defende

And saue me fro the fendes boste

That I may appere with that blessyd hoste

That shall be saued at the dome

In manus tuas of myghtes moste

For euer comendo spiritum meum.

knowlege. Nowe hath he suffered that we shall endure

The good dedes shall make all sure

Nowe hath he made endynge

Me thynke that I here aungels synge

And maketh grete ioye and melodye

Where euery mannes soule shall receyued be.

Unto the whiche all ye shall come

That lyueth well after the daye of dome.

*

Doctoure. This memory all men may haue in mynde Ye herers take it a worthe olde and yonge

And forsake pryde for he deceyues you in the ende
And remebre beaute v. wyttes strength and discrecion
They all at last do
euery man forsake

Saue his good deedes there do he take

But beware for and they be small
Before god he hathe no helpe at all

None excuse may

be there for euery man

Alas howe shall he do than

For after deth amendes may no man make
For than marcy and pyte dothe hym forsake
If his reckenynge be not clere whan he do come
God wyll say ite maledicti in ignem eternum
And he that hath his accounte hole and sounde
Hye in heuen he shall be crounde

Unto whiche please god brynge us all thether
That we may lyue body and soule togyder
Therto helpe the trinyte

Amen saye ye for saynt charyte.'

a FINIS.

a Imprynted at London in Fletestrete at the
Sygne of the George by Rycharde Pynson
prynter unto the Kynges noble grace.

'The variations between this and the later copies by Skot are sometimes important—more than mere literal changes. The old non-punctuation is exactly observed in what precedes.

ART. XVIII.-Remarks on the conduct of Hamlet towards Ophelia.

The conduct of Hamlet towards Ophelia has been so generally condemned by the readers of Shakespeare as useless and wanton cruelty, that to attempt any extenuation of it may appear presumptuous; yet the hope of success in such a cause will, I trust, afford an excuse for the following remarks, even should the reasons adduced not be deemed sufficient to warrant the conclusion. The idea originally suggested itself while reading an old history of Denmark, abridged from Saxo Grainmaticus; and the story, as there related, tends to prove, if proof were wanting, how the basest materials were purified and turned to gold by the poet's magic touch.

In referring to the play, act ii., scene 2, we shall find the first arrangement for this interview between Hamlet and Ophelia made by Polonius, and proposed by him to the King, who has scarcely acceded to it before Hamlet enters, reading, the Queen and Polonius even continuing their discourse after he has made his appearance, probably concluding, from his apparent insanity, that their words will pass unnoted. But let us remember that Hamlet was more than a match for the crafty and crooked policy of the court of Denmark, as we find more particularly in the latter part of the play, when Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are "hoist with their own petar"Hamlet having declared that “he would delve a yard below their mines, and blow them at the moon "-may he not, therefore, on the present occasion, have assumed a studious aspect, in order to seem as if he heeded them not, when, in reality, he had overheard that part of the conversation which immediately preceded his appearance? This conclusion gains strength when we read what immediately follows; for, on Polonius saying,

"Do you know me ?" he replies, "Excellent well; you are a fishmonger." And that this word was used in a figurative sense, perhaps somewhat as we should now apply the word ferret, or as a dealer in baits, is evident from Johnson's quotation from Carew, a writer contemporary with our author—“ I could well play the fishmonger," which seems to indicate that Hamlet was aware of Polonius's being engaged in some underhand policy; and that he knew Ophelia was to play her part in it is evident from the caution which follows respecting her, which the old man loses sight of in his joy at hearing his daughter alluded to. At the conclusion of this scene, we find Polonius speaking, apparently not aside, but openly, of “suddenly contriving the means of meeting between Hamlet and his daughter," still under the common, but very erroneous impression that deranged persons neither hear nor understand what is uttered in their presence.

In the next scene, when Polonius, in a pompous speech, announces the arrival of the players, Hamlet exclaims, quoting the old song, "O, Jephthah, Judge of Israel,' what a treasure hadst thou!"

"Pol. What a treasure had he, my lord?

"Ham. Why, 'One fair daughter and no more;

The which he loved passing well.'

"Pol. Still on my daughter.

"Ham. Am I not i' the right, old Jephthah?

"Pol. If you call me Jephthah, my lord, I have a daughter that I love passing well.

"Ham. Nay, that follows not."

Is not the interpretation of this passage, that it follows not that you are like Jephthah, in loving your daughter — but in your shameful sacrifice of her; and afterwards Hamlet, by saying that "the first row of the pious chanson will show further,” makes us anxiously turn to it for an explanation of