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A LECTUEE 
 
 Shakespeare's Enigmatical Work, 
 
 Embracing a New Theory, 
 
 By Joseph VVatson, 
 
 (Member of the Newport Historical Society.) 
 
 Delivered before the Newport. Lecture Association and the Newport 
 
 Historical Society, also under the auspices of the American 
 
 Literary Bureau in Boston; and in Providence, 
 
 (B,. I.,) after introductory remarks by the 
 
 I I. ' Executive of the State, &c., &c. 
 
 .r 
 
 CPi-ivate Xldition.— Copyriglitecl according to £<aw.) 
 
 NEWPOET, R. L: 
 
 DAVIS AND PITMAN, STEAM PRINTERS, 
 1878. . 
 
 

 Enteeed acgoeding to the Act of Congbess, in the Year 1878, 
 
 BY JOSEPH WATSON, 
 In the office of the Libearian of Congress, at Washington. 
 
EXTRACTS PROM A FEW OF THE OPINIONS CONSIDERED BY 
 THE AUTHOR OF THIS PAMPHLET. 
 
 ^ — "You would phick out the heart of my mys- 
 
 tery; yon would sound me from my lowest note 
 to the top of my compass." — Hamlet, Act III, 
 Scene II. 
 
 — "Scarce any character in history has provoked so great a diversitj' 
 of opinion as Hamlet. * . * * One man thinks he is great but wicked ; 
 another, that he is good but weak ; a third, that he is a coward and dare 
 not act ; a fourth, that he has too much intellect for his will, and so 
 reflects away the time of action. Doubtless there are facts in the repre- 
 sentation which considered by themselves, would sustain any one of 
 these views ; but none of them seems reconcilable with aU the facts taken 
 together. Yet, notwithstanding this diversity of facts and conclusions, 
 all agree in thinking and feeling and speaking about Hamlet as an actual 
 person. It is easy, indeed, to invest with plausibilty almost any theory 
 in regard to him ; but it is extremely hard to make any theory compre- 
 hend the whole subject : and, though all are impressed with the truth 
 of the character, no one is satisfied with another's explanation of it. 
 The question is why, with this unanimity as to his being a man, do men 
 differ so much as to what sort of a man he is ? * * * Whether his insanity 
 be real or feigned, or whether it be a species of intermittent insanity, or 
 whether it be sometimes real, sometimes feigned, are questions which, 
 like many that arise on similar points in actual life, can never be f uUy 
 and finally settled one way or the other." — Hudson. 
 
 — "Hamlet's is a grave moral condition, a great malady of soul, that 
 frequently attacks the most gifted of our species, and afflicts them with 
 a disturbance of mind which sometimes borders very closely upon mad- 
 ness. This play contains the most remarkable examples of Shakespeare's 
 most sublime beauties, as well as of his most glaring defects." — M. 
 Guizot. 
 
 — "The amazing drama of 'Hamlet' is studed with a glittering firm- 
 ameht of beauties. I conclude that its author did not intend to portray 
 real madness in the conduct of his hero. A more accompUshed, a more 
 courteous gentleman than Hamlet, is not to be found in aU Shakespeare, 
 (and I was going to say) or anywhere else."^ — Charles Cowden Clarke. 
 
 —"Hamlet was one who speculated without xe&miamg." —RicTiard 
 Grant White. 
 
— "It has been declared to be a kind of barbarous, bloody tragedy, 
 worthj'^ of a rude age. But in this the aim of the poet has been, to use 
 this unnecessarj' blood shed as part of the characterization as well as 
 punishment of Hamlet, who has not courage to shed necessary blood, 
 * * * Voltaire said ' Hamlet ' was a play that would not be endured by the 
 lowest mob in France or Italy ; he could say ' it was the fruit of the im- 
 agination of an intoxicated savage !' * * * Malone could make nothing 
 out of this play ; but I consider that no work of Shakespeare's is truly 
 more clear in its design." — Gervrntts. 
 
 — " Hamlet is a beautiful, noble, pure, moral being, without the 
 strength that makes the hero." — Goethe.. 
 
 — " Thex'e is that about Hamlet which we cannot understand. Is he 
 essentially ' in madness ' or mad ' only in craft ?' Where is the line 
 to be drawn between his artificial and his real character?" — GJmrles 
 Knight. 
 
 — " It is this dreamy confusion, and romantic uncertainty of Hamlet's 
 mood, which gives to the German critics their vast oppoi'tuuity for spec- 
 ulation and display. Some of them have told us that they can not 
 account for the wonderful charm of this play above all others of our 
 author, but it seems to me that the secret of the gi'eat interest which the 
 kind-hearted general public take in the character of Hamlet, lies in the 
 wrongs which he suffered, and the filial gentleness and religious siibor- 
 dination he exhibits in receiving the command and exhortations of his 
 father's ghost." — George Willces. 
 
 — " Hamlet's speech, on taking in his hand what he supposed might be 
 the skull of a lawyer, abounds with lawyer-like thoughts and words." — 
 Lord GJiief Juntiee Campbell. ^ 
 
 — "In 'Hamlet' we learn the two fold force of prayer, as obtain- 
 ing grace to prevent us from sinning, or pardon when we have sinned. 
 In my opinion Hamlet's insanity was not so feigned as to have no 
 foundation in actual derangement." — BisJiop V/o7'dsiOorth. 
 
 — " The majority of readers, at the present day, (1869) believe that 
 Hamlet's madness was real. I therefore find myself with the minority ; 
 for I regard it as feigned. Certain it is, however, that the same opinions 
 were once held by a lafge vmjonty. Perhaps the scale ha;s since been 
 turned by those who were able to throw into it the weight of their pro- 
 fessional knowledge. Yet their scientific arguments barely go to prove 
 what is possible ; while my aim has been to show what is j)robable If, 
 therefore, the question is narrowed down to one of possibility against 
 probability, what must be the answer?" — C. W. Stearns, M. D. 
 
EXPLANATORY REMARKS. 
 
 " The play of ' Hamlet ' has a prophetic truth which is above that of history." 
 
 HAZLITT. 
 
 "Are we then wrong in treating Hamlet as a reality, and in debating the state of 
 his mind with more care than we would choose to bestow upon the insane vagaries of 
 an Emperor Paul or a Frederick Wilhelm ? Have we not more sure data upon which 
 to exercise judgment than ux>on the uncertain truth of history ?" 
 
 BUCKNILL. 
 
 William Magiun, after his pen had established the popularity of Black- 
 wood's Magazine, declared that there could not be found, in the known 
 world, a person capable of writing a regular dissertation on "Hamlet;" 
 while the Rev. H. N. Hudson argues : that a theory establishing Hamlet, 
 as either a sane, or an insane character, can never be created that will 
 meet with general recognition from the literary world. These opinions 
 are from eminent sources ; but I have made an effort to rebut them by 
 showing that the question can be discussed from entirely new stand- 
 points, and for the purpose of presenting my own argument in a more 
 complete form, I have revised the Lecture originally deliTered by me 
 at the rooms of the Redwood Library in Newport, and my labors, as 
 herewith published, reject all remarks upon the general subject of 
 Shakespeare which that effort included, and adds to its main feature, 
 portions of those made upon ''Hamlet" at the lecture presided over by 
 the then Mayor of the same city. The lecti^re, as now printed, presents 
 my theory of Shakespeare's Chef d'miivre as finally argued before vari- 
 ous societies. 
 
 It has been vay endeavor to produce a theory regarding this enigmati- 
 cal subject that shall be distinct in itself ; for it must be admitted that even 
 those critics and commentators who do not uphold the more prevailing 
 theory of Hamlet's insanitj^ represent him as a person whose energies 
 are blunted; whose noble intentions never take form, or as belonging 
 to that class of imfortimates who, being "led on through a dreamy 
 labyrinth of si^eculation " finally 
 
 " Close their dying eyes 
 In grief that they have lived in vain." 
 
 It seems that all writers, who have ventured opinions upon the point, 
 deny that Hamlet killed the king as a result of his own plans ; or in 
 accordance with that judicial revenge which Heaven had demanded of 
 him ; while my own theory is that he not only did so, but that he was a 
 man of determined energy and action, whose life long qualities of mind 
 and principles, were such as constitute the highest order of manhood. 
 
6 
 
 It (Seeks also to rescue his memory from that which is worse than obscur- 
 ity, and to award to him the glorious distinction of having, by means of 
 his own plans, and action, delivered Denmark from the yoke of a 
 usurped and debauched throne. John Quincy Adams agreed with his 
 friend Mr. Hackett and other authorities upon Shakespeare, that Ham- 
 let commenced by feigning, though he afterward became, at times, 
 absolutely insane ; but the theory herewith offered denies that any tinge 
 whatever of real insanity could have existed at any time in his career. 
 
 It will be observed that I have, in brief, made use of various authori- 
 ties, and this method has been adopted because I believe that those 
 persons, who seek to learn the truth, are less liable to become unduly 
 prejudiced in favor of any particular theory, when the force of opposite 
 arguments are brought in sufficiently close proximity as to enable im- 
 mediate deductions to be made from a combination of opinions. Con- 
 clusions which the reader may thus arrive at, will be of the most intel- 
 lectual character. 
 
 One of the most eloquent essayists of England remarked that when 
 he singled out the play of "Hamlet" he entered, as it were, upon a 
 wilderness of thought where he knew his soul must soon be lost, but 
 from which it could not return to the every-day world without bringing 
 back "some lofty and mysterious conceptions, and a deeper insight into 
 some of the most inscrutable recesses of human nature." These have 
 been my own emotions, and are undoubtedly those of every student who 
 enters upon a study of the piece, and I am induced to believe with the 
 same writer : that though the discussion of Shakespeare has been inces- 
 sant, yet, the public mind is still unsated, and that it continues to turn 
 to any criticism on his genius with a curiosity felt towards that of no 
 other mortal. I am aware that my views, as a whole, are antagonistic to 
 those of the ablest minds that have flourished since the days of the great 
 poet, and the only merit of my theory may be, that it is, at least, original ; 
 but the essayist referred to, remarks that something interesting there 
 must be even from the humblest pens of those who have travelled through 
 the kingdoms of Shakespeare; "and we turn" he says "with equal 
 pleasure from the converse of those who have climbed over the magni- 
 ficence of the highest mountain there, to the lowlier tales of less ambi- 
 tious pilgrims, who have sat on the green, and sunny knoll, beneath 
 the whispering tree, and by the music of the gentle rivulet." Thus 
 encouraged I venture to publish this limited edition of a theory that is the 
 result of my early researches in one of the same kingdoms. 
 
 It may be proper, to add my acknowledgements, to those societies and 
 committees that have "caUed m6 out;" for I realize the honor they have 
 conferred upon me. I would also express my sense of appreciation that 
 the following parties should have given substantial recognitions to either 
 the following Coup d'essai, or my second attempt, entitled " Shakes- 
 
peare in Ameriea,"t viz: David King, M. D., Hon. George H. Calvert, 
 H. E. Turner, M. D., and Ex. Mayor Atkinson, of Newport, Eev. Dr. 
 H. W. Bellows, of New York, Mr. John T. Ford of Baltimore, Md., Rev. 
 Dr. Hill of Germantown, Pa. , the late Gov. Padelf ord of R. I. , the late 
 Rev. Dr. White of "Old Trinity," and the late President Caswell of 
 Brown University.* 
 
 Although this pamphlet is marked "Private Edition," yet it invites 
 criticism, and I will say with the venerable J. Payne CoUier (probably 
 the most aged, living, Shakespearian critic) that no man can read the 
 works of the great poet enough ; and my ambition shall be, what his 
 has always been, to understand them properly, and to estimate them 
 sufficiently. I shall therefore accept "terms of reproof" cheerfully, and 
 "just correction" thankfully. 
 
 JOSEPH WATSON. 
 
 NeWPOBT, R. I., OOTOBEE Ist, 1878. 
 
 tPublished by the New Yokk Herald. 
 
 * Calvert and Hill published their opinions of the lecture in the Newport Mebcubt, 
 and Turner in the Daily News. Bellows' opinion of "Shakespeare in America," 
 appeared in the Herald. Ford published a pamphlet endorsing the same essay, and 
 Caswell signed a pubUc communication, relating to the lecture. All others whose 
 names are mentioned, made introdiictory, or after remarks, at times when the lecture 
 was delivered. 
 
XjECTTTISE 
 
 ON 
 
 Bll^ke0|)ekfe'§ S<i\i^ir|ktidkl Woi'k. 
 
 The play of "Hamlet, Prince of Denmark," is a production 
 in literature of such an extraordinary character that it calls 
 forth in voluminous material comments of persons possessing 
 the most mighty genius, challenges the admiration of pro- 
 found intellects, becomes an idol of philosophers, and, in 
 truth, a study of the reading world. " A vast deal " said the 
 gifted Dr. Maginn, " has been written upon the subject, and 
 by a great number of commentators, by men born in different 
 countries, educated after different fashions, bred to the 
 pursuits of different professions, avocations, occupations, 
 from necessity or choice, favored with different intellectual 
 powers, possessing learning of different species and in 
 degrees, and, finally, born in different ages of the world ; yet 
 it requires no very earnest examination and reflection to 
 satisfy one's mind that little indeed has been written to the 
 purpose!" And such are the writers who continue to devote 
 much of their energies toward a solution of this enigmatical 
 work. Do they fail in their efforts because Hamlet is insane ? 
 On the extreme contrai;y. It is because of Hamlet's vast 
 superiority in intellect, wisdom and godliness that the critics 
 of two and a half centuries have been baffled. 
 
 Dr. Bucknill, F. R. S., of London, has said that the strong 
 sense of Johnson, the subtle insight of Coleridge, the fervid 
 eloquence of Hazlitt, the discrimajinating tact of Schlegel 
 are nowhere more evident than in their treatment of this 
 play, which he characterizes as a mighty monument of human 
 
10 
 
 mfellect, and wIiicL he loves and prizes more tlian any otJEier 
 human piece of composition. Can it be then, that Shakes- 
 peare,- the world's master of the hiiQian mind^ intended (as the- 
 majority of writers claim) that the most elaborate work of 
 his life shonld have aimed at the especial production of a 
 mad character ? or could the work^ without his knowledge^ 
 have resulted in producing such a character ? If either case 
 is a fact, all philosophers may be regarded as, more or less^ 
 insaney for the utterances of Hamlet are pre-eminently phil- 
 osophical. Taking into consideration the unparalleled trials 
 to which he is subjected, I regard the behavior of this Prince 
 to be in harmony with mental and physical soundness. He 
 endeavors amid painful and conflicting sun-oundings, to be 
 alike true to himself and the memory of his " noble father in 
 the dust." His heart aches to carry out the " important acting 
 of a dread command ;" but his profound reasoning faculties 
 debar, for a brief period, the fulfilment of his purpose. From 
 the time of his father's death, a natural degree of melancholy 
 continually lingers with Hamlet from the fact that fresh 
 trials and sorrows continue to afflict him. Without this 
 shade of melancholy, which, strangely enough, is adduced 
 as evidence of his insanity, we might well regard him as 
 mad ; for, were he incapable of being thus impressed, it 
 would argue a mind diseased, indeed, or feelings of less sen- 
 sibility than are possessed by the brute. 
 
 If Shakespeare intended that insanity should be feigned, it 
 is not at all probable he would permit the character to be- 
 come a failure by its not being well feigned. In determin- 
 ing whether his hero assumes madness or is mad, it would 
 seem necessary to particularly note his actions when in the 
 presence of different parties and under different circum- 
 stances. To this end I find that he never appears mad when 
 alone with Horatio ; and I fail to find evidence that either of 
 01 ! his confidents, Horatio or Marcellus, or, in fact, Bernardo, 
 regard him as such. When alone with certain players he 
 realizes the importance of impressing them, by means of his 
 earnestness, that he desires the faithful rendering of a play. 
 That they may "hold the mirror up to nature," wherein the 
 
11 
 
 King will see his own guilt, is Hamlet's unmistakable aim in 
 imparting to his pupils such careful instructions. When 
 absolutely alone he soliloquizes most profoundly. 
 
 In support of the following conclusions I rely upon the 
 general force of my argument, and assuming the theory of 
 feigned insanity they are natural results, such as Hamlet's 
 behavior would produce : — 
 
 First — That Horatio, Marcelius and Bernardo know that 
 Hamlet feigns insanity. 
 
 Second — That "the certain players," during their inter- 
 "views with Hamlet, become convinced that he is not insane. 
 
 Third — That all other parties believe him to be insane, 
 yet some of them, at times, entertain doubts. 
 
 A doubt certainly flits across the mind of Polonius when 
 he says : — 
 
 '•Thougli this be madness, yet 
 There's method in it." 
 
 That the King becomes impressed with doubt is evident in 
 this remark ; — 
 
 "What he spake, though it lack'd form a little, 
 Was not like madness. There's something in his soul. 
 O'er which his melancholy sits on brood." 
 
 And it is just here, that Shakespeare exhibits his genius in 
 a remarkable degree. He permits Hamlet to feign madness 
 almost to the degree of perfection, but ever true to laws 
 and principles ; he realizes the difference between art and 
 nature, and therefore causes the assumption to fall sufficient- 
 ly short of reality as to excite these and other doubts, there* 
 by constituting the character a perfect one in its true 
 bearing. 
 
 By a careful analysis I find where Hamlet, in successive 
 turns, faces five trying situations, each of which is a prop to 
 our theory : — 
 
 First — With the players: wherein he ventures criticisms 
 which are correct, and in their bearing unequalled for power 
 of expression. 
 
 Second — With Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern : 
 wherein he exhibits presence of mind and much ease in rid- 
 ding himself of these intruders. 
 
12 
 
 Third- — Alone : ■wlierein his mind still maintains its integ- 
 rity, and with much forethought, he calls Horatio to him for 
 the purpose of calmly conversing upon their manner of pro- 
 ceeding at the approaching trial of the King. 
 
 Fourth — With Horatio : wherein his mind still maintains 
 its integrity, and their conversation is remarkable as de- 
 noting the long existence of a friendship rare for its pnrity, 
 and as exhibiting a geniality of heart, mind and purpose, 
 which from natural laws, cannot exist between an insane 
 person and one possessed with sound reason. 
 
 Fifth — With the royal forces : (whom it is his evident pur- 
 pose to deceive), wherein he immediately puts on an "antic 
 disposition" and reassumes his mad character. 
 
 These situations I have drawn from the third act. They 
 may be illustrated as follows : — Scene ; a hall in the castle. 
 Enter H!amlet and certain players. The instructions which 
 Hamlet gives to these players, are, indeed, "marvellous in- 
 structions which everybody admires." He tells them how 
 to perform their task and then says ; "Go, make you ready." 
 As they depart Rosencrantz, Guildenstern and Polonius en- 
 ter. These visitors are unwelcome, but Hamlet politely 
 causes them to withdraw, and, in accordance with his evi- 
 dent wish, is left alone. He is now about to meditate upon 
 the proper course to be pursued by himself, during the per- 
 formance of the play which he aptly calls the "Mouse-trap," 
 wherein he hopes to "catch the conscience of the King ;" but 
 wisely concludes to hold an interview with his friend, and, 
 calling Horatio from an adjoining apartment, a rational con- 
 versation ensues, which ends thus : — 
 
 Hamlet (to Horatio)— 
 
 "There is a play to-night before the King ; 
 One scene of it comes near the circumstance, 
 Which I have told thee of my father's death. 
 I pray thee, when thou seest that act, a-foot, 
 Even with the very comment-of thy soul 
 Observe my uncle : if his occulted* guilt 
 Do not itself untennel in one speech, 
 It is a damned ghost that we have seen ; 
 And my imaginations are as foul 
 As Vulcan's stithy. Give him heedful note ; 
 For I mine eyes will rivit to his face ; 
 And, after, we will both our judgments join 
 In censure of his seeming. 
 
 * Secret. 
 
13 
 
 HoEATio — Well, my Lord : 
 
 If he stjal aught, the whilst this play is playing, 
 And 'scape detecting I will pay the theft." 
 
 At this juncture Hamlet, ever watchful, says : 
 
 "They are coming to the play, I must be idle :" 
 
 and hun'iedly, hut with much presence of mind, adds : — 
 
 "Get you a place." 
 
 The remark, "I must be idle," signifies that Hamlet real- 
 izes that he must not be discovered in rational parlance with 
 Horatio, but that he must again assume his "strange ways." 
 As the King, Queen, and Court members appear, Hamlet 
 puts on his false character, and in reply to the King's salu- 
 tation : "How fares our cousin Hamlet V says : — 
 
 "Excellent, i'faith ; of the chameleon's dish : 
 I eat the air, promise-crammed. 
 You cannot feed capons so." 
 
 Hamlet's change, at this important juncture, from natur- 
 alness of manner to dissembling art, is too apparent to aid 
 those who uphold the theory of real insanity. 
 
 As he continues in this crazy manner Ophelia tells him 
 that he is merry, and he replies : — 
 
 "0 God! your only jig-maker. What should a man do, 
 but be merry ? for, look you, how cheerfully my mother looks, 
 and my father died within these two hours." 
 
 "Nay," answers Ophelia, "'tis twice two months, my lord." 
 
 Hamlet's remark : "My father died within these two hours," 
 is significant ; for I cannot believe that his mind is in any 
 way impressed with the idea that his father has but just 
 died ; yet Ophelia believes it to be the fancy of a mad brain. 
 That it is a figure of speech, which he invents to assist in 
 deluding his hearers, we may well conclude. 
 
 Passing on to the result of the play, we find that it proves 
 the King's malefaction, thereby meeting Hamlet's most san- 
 guine expectations. When we first hear the ghost tell its 
 story of murder we can conceive of no way in which the 
 truth of the phantom statement can be substantiated ; but 
 Hamlet's ingenuity in the premises we must acknowledge, 
 and who will not, as a consequence, be willing to "take the 
 ghost's word for a thousand pound V Should such detective 
 
14 
 
 skill, producing so sublime a result, be attributed to tlie 
 working- of a mad brain *? 
 
 A strong point in the theory of real insanity is Hamlet's 
 delay in the matter of revenge. I contend, however, that 
 the delay, such as it is, is in accordance with correct princi- 
 ples. It would be generous on the part of those who insist 
 upon his neglect of duty were they to give him credit for the 
 activity he displays in seeking to find a substantial basis for 
 revenge. A statement is made by Hamlet in the first act, 
 and before he is pronounced to have become insane, that his 
 father has been 
 
 "But two months dead. Nay, not so much— not two." 
 
 And if Ophelia's statement in the third act is to be relied 
 upon, that he had then been dead "twice two months," Ham- 
 let in about two months' time proves the accused guilty by 
 constituting himself detective and lawyer, instructing the 
 players in the matter of evidence, and trying the case before 
 Chief Justice Hamlet and Associate Justice Horatio. Ob- 
 viously the "law's delay," as practiced in our American 
 courts, would not have suited Hamlet. His purpose to 
 avenge his father's death is never abandoned. He neglects 
 opjiortunities for its fulfilment, but not without exercising 
 his reason and finding substantial grounds for doing so. 
 
 My own theory, gives Hamlet full credit for faithfully 
 obeying the "dread command" and taking the King's life, at a 
 time which should entitle him to the highest praise — in an 
 hour when he knew his own death was close at hand. It is 
 in keeping with good jiidgment that Hamlet does not, until 
 in the fifth act, appoint a period of time within which he re- 
 solves to kill the King. That he kills him within that time, 
 and solely in accordance with that resolve, I find the evi- 
 dence. He then realizes that if he does not take the King's 
 life before the time when the " issue of the business in Eng- 
 land shall become known in Denmark, his cause will be for- 
 ever lost. Hence he determines to perform the duty within 
 " the interim," and accepts a challenge from Laertes for 
 its furtherance. Dr. Bucknill, in commenting upon the 
 reasons which should have induced Hamlet to accept this 
 
15 
 
 challenge, observes : — " Might not also the challenge be 
 accepted as likely to offer a good opportunity to meet the 
 King and 'quit him with this arm?' — an opportunity which 
 he now resolves to seize whenever it offers." Bucknill, how- 
 ever, as if by a slip of the pen, joins many of his eminent con- 
 freres in medicine, and blots the lesson which Shakespeare 
 intended that Hamlet's life should teach; for "the blow," he 
 says, "which finally quits the King was fully deserved for 
 his last act ; his end has an accidental suddenness about it 
 which disappoints the expectation of judicial reve\ige. ' Had 
 this author delved deeper, however, and closely followed the 
 vein which he seems so happily to have struck he would have 
 arrived at a more satisfactory conclusion. It was Hamlet's 
 cause and predetermination that spurred him to the act ; 
 otherwise he would not have been so well prepared to ad- 
 dress the spectators and to leave instructions for the clearing 
 up of mysteries, that posterity might learn the truth. He 
 took the seal of secrecy from Horatio's lips, that those dark 
 but important pages in the history of the ^throne might not 
 slumber on in the secret vaults of time. It must be borne 
 in mind that it was while deciding to kill the King within 
 " the interim " that he received the challenge. He was in- 
 formed that the " King and Queen and all " would be present 
 to witness the engagement, when he significantly replied, 
 "In happy time." He expressed to Horatio that he believed 
 the event would cost him his own life. From what source 
 did he expect this danger ? Not from Laertes, with whom 
 he was to "cross swords," for when Horatio told him he 
 would lo^se, he replied: — 
 
 " I do not think so; since he went into France, I have been in continual practice." 
 
 It must have been his contemplated attack on the King, then, 
 that caused such dark forebodings. 
 
 But for other proofs of a lordly mind let us now follow 
 Hamlet to the scene of his triumph and death, where, in the 
 midst of the falling rninsi of a debauched throne, sparks of 
 Hamlet's towering intellect, the marvels of Shakespeare's 
 genius — become dazzling stars in the firmament of the 
 
16 
 
 human mind. From the moment that Laertes says to him : — 
 
 " Hamlet, thou art Blain ; 
 No medicine in the world can do thee good ; 
 In thee there is not half an hour's life—" 
 
 from that instant (regardless, for the first time, of who is 
 present) he throws off all forms of insanity, and never has 
 an unimpaired intellect been more discernible than our hero's 
 in his dying moments ; never have firmness of action, calm- 
 ness of judgment, presence fe^rnind and forethought been 
 better exercised. He has no further use for his false cloak. 
 He is about' to leave this world, and in accordance with his 
 previous resolve the dread command must be obeyed. As 
 an act, therefore, admitting of no possible delay, he strikes 
 at the King with his foil ; but hearing him afterwards implore, 
 
 " O ! yet defend me, friends ; X am but hurt," 
 
 Hamlet, with the pallor of death on his countenance, rises 
 to the fearful grandeur of the occasion, and, fearing that his 
 work may not prove complete, takes the poisoned cup and 
 exclaims :— 
 
 "Here, •thou incestuous, niurd'rous, damned Dane, 
 Drink off this potion." 
 
 And thus echoing the epithets that were launched upon the 
 Kingjby himself and his instructor from the other world, on 
 the night wherein he vowed revenge, he suits the action to 
 the words and deliberately compels his victim to swallow ; 
 and, so ere it is too late, fulfils his awful but Heaven exacted 
 promise. His reason continues to clearly exhibit itself. He 
 values his fair name, and reahzes that, without explaining his 
 behavior, he will be pronounced by posterity as having been 
 a mad-man, or that the killing of the King, as his wilful, 
 dying act, will be regarded as a crime abhorrent to that re- 
 ligious civilization which his life, in fact, had adorned. There- 
 fore, with fleeting breath, and a feeble wafting of his hand 
 toward the dead body of the royal wretch, he seeks thus to 
 explain : — 
 
 " You that look pale and tremble at this chance. 
 That are but mutes or audience to this act, 
 Had I but time (an this fell sergeant, death. 
 Is strict in his arrest), O ! I could tell you— 
 But let it be— Horatio, I am dead ; 
 Thou liv'st ; report me and my cause aright 
 To the unsatisfied." 
 
17 
 
 When he finds his strength failing how wisely does he im- 
 pose the task upon his friend. 
 
 In furtherance of my theory, that, in taking the life of 
 Claudius, Hamlet laid aside all considerations, save the one 
 of judicial revenge, and carried out his own plans, it will be 
 noticed in the quotation that he speaks in the singular : 
 " this chance," " this act," " my cause." " This act " means 
 the exclusive one of killing the King, and since it appears 
 to the spectators as a mere chance, he desires for them to 
 learn that it is the result of preparation and design. By 
 " my cause " he means his great one of revenge, which he 
 instructs Horatio to report aiight, inasmuch as its details 
 will be known to hira alone. His simple words, "Report me 
 and my cause aright to the unsatisfied " are an argument in 
 themselves. 
 
 When Hamlet was about to thrust at the king he said : — 
 
 '• The point 
 Envenom'd too ! — Then, venom, to. thy work." 
 
 The hidden meaning of these words do much toward reveal- 
 ing the fact that Hamlet entered upon the duel for the 
 purpose of " quitting the King," and that he looked upon it 
 as a piece of " work " to be accomplished through the use 
 of the foil ; but when he suddenly learned that the nature 
 of his weapon had been changed he was impelled to make 
 use of the expression, " the point envenomed too /" and 
 since the venom was an unlooked for agency with which he 
 was to operate, instead of saying : JVow, foil, to thy work, 
 he very naturally said : " Then, venom, to thy work," Since 
 the foil was poisoned he felt doubly sure. Hence the word 
 " too " has much force of meaning. I believe it is a remark- 
 able fact, that, as yet, not a single writer has represented 
 Hamlet as taking the King's life uninfluenced by foreign 
 motives : but, inasmuch as he killed the Monarch within the 
 only period of time that he had set apart for that purpose, it 
 is eminently proper that we, who are conversant with his 
 secret life, should crown his efforts with the glory of an 
 honorable triumph, since those who could discover no mo- 
 tives, other than local ones, would incline to destroy the 
 lustre of his memory for the same act. 
 
18 
 
 Bnt let ns again observe with admiring wonder, how, in 
 the brief moments preceding death itself, the mighty intel- 
 lect of Hamlet moves to save the life of his friend. Mark 
 his exquisite words and the physical strength exerted by 
 his unimpaired will. Wounded, but standing erect, and 
 wresting the fatal cup from the firm grasp of Horatio, he 
 entreats him thus : — 
 
 " As ttoii'rt a man, 
 Give me tJie cup ; let go; by heaven I'll hays it, 
 O God ! Horatio, what a wounded name, * 
 Things standing thus unknown, shall live behind meT 
 If thou didst ever hold me in thy heart, 
 Absent thee from felicity awhile. 
 And in this harsh world draw thy breath in pain, 
 To tsll my story." 
 
 He now pauses, for there steals upon his deafening ears the 
 roar of cannon, and music from afar, and he calmly asks : — 
 
 " What warlike noise is this 7" 
 
 Are these, I ask the myriad worshipers of Shakespeare's 
 genius, an insane man's acts and words ? He uses the only 
 argument that makes Horatio care to live : to put the mem- 
 ory of his hallowed Hamlet aright before the world. Let it 
 be noted that in this quotation Hamlet uses the plural, 
 denoting that in the former he did bear directly upon the 
 one act of killing the King. " Things standing unknown " 
 he now desires to have fully explained, and prominent among 
 those things the faithful Horatio will tell of nothing with 
 more satisfaction than of Hamlet's feigned insanity or 
 " antic disposition," for the seal placed upon his lips at the 
 shadowed platform is now removed, even with Hamlet's 
 dying breath. 
 
 But let us see, still again, how, in the very tremor of 
 death, Hamlet's godlike reason serves him, and how much 
 thoughtfulness he exhibits. In answer to his question, 
 " What warlike noise is this f he is told : — 
 
 " Young Fortinbras, with conquest come from Poland, 
 To the ambassadors of England gives 
 This warlike volley. " 
 
 Hear him, now, in measured cadence, alluding to impor- 
 tant affairs of immediate public interest and leaving his 
 
19 
 
 dying words in behalf of one who has an ancient hereditary 
 right to the throne : — 
 
 " O ! I die, Horatio ; 
 Tlie potent poison quite o'er-crows my spirit ; 
 I cannot live to hear the news from England ; 
 But I do prophesy the election lights 
 On Fortinbras ; he has my dying voice ; 
 So tell him, with the occurrents, more or less. 
 Which have sohcited. The rest is silence." 
 
 Breathing now a silent prayer, his great spirit passes to 
 the unknown world, and as it goes thither on its mysterious 
 journey well does Horatio exclaim : — 
 
 " Now cracks a noble heart. Good night, sweet Prince ; 
 And flights of angels sing thee to thy rest !" 
 
 and so dies this valiant Hamlet, a death remarkable in its 
 sublimity, as illustrating great powers of will and the com- 
 plete maintenance of the mind's integrity during the last 
 extreme moments of an earthly life. 
 
 Hermann Ulrici, one of the most distinguished German 
 philosophers of the present time ; thus comments upon the 
 death of Hamlet : — " Although he seems at last to have made 
 up his mind to act, nevertheless no one of the subsequent 
 events is brought about by his own free volition or accord- 
 ing to his own intention. It is only at the very last mo- 
 ment, and when he is himself at the point of death, that 
 incensed by the discovery of the fresh crimes of the King, 
 and, on the impulse of the moment, rather than acting freely 
 and deliberately, he mortally wounds him, and then, with a 
 sigh for human weakness, expires." I am aware that this 
 view receives the support of many profound writers — a fact 
 that I can only regard, as strange ; for I yet linger in 
 thoughtful contemplation at the matchless beauties of Ham- 
 let's character, as exhibited in his dying moments, and at the 
 grandeur of his self-possession throughout that awful scene, 
 where revenge, treachery and death revelled on the throne 
 of Denmark. His good judgment was discernible in declin- 
 ing to didnk with the King, and again in refusing the Queen, 
 While others were confused, and " looked pale and trem- 
 bled," Hamlet was self-possessed, and assuming the voice of 
 command, exclaimed : — 
 
 " Let the door be lock'd : 
 Treachery ! seek it out." 
 
20 
 
 The most thoaghtful question during tlie ttirnioil was Ham- 
 let's : — 
 
 "How does tbe Queen V 
 
 and 
 
 "■Heaven make tbee free of it !" 
 
 was his princely prayer in behalf of Laertes, (from whom he 
 had received his mortal hurt) ; while 
 
 " Wretched Queen, adieu !" 
 
 tells plainly that thoughts of his misgiiided mother consti- 
 tuted the real agonies of his death. 
 
 But I most deny the assertion of Ulrici, that Hamlet had 
 discovered the fresh crimes of the King ; for at the time he 
 killed the King he could only have believed that Laertes was 
 alone guilty of them. Up to that time his adversary dis- 
 tinctly represented that the "treachery" and "villainy" was 
 his own and in reply to an interrogatory from Hamlet con- 
 cerning these crimes, said : — 
 
 " It is HEBE, Hamlet, * * * 
 
 The treacherous instrument is in thy hand, 
 XJnbated, and envenom'd : the foul practice 
 Hath tuin'd itself on me." 
 
 In fact, Laertes was minute in details, and his evident 
 familiarity with them, coupled with his self-accusation, 
 must have impressed Hamlet that Laertes was engaged in 
 revenging the death of Poloniua. When Laertes merely 
 added that the King was " to blame," Hamlet could only 
 have thought that he was indirectly to blame, after the same 
 manner that he had been for the deaths of Polonius, Ophelia, 
 Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. According to the English 
 lexicographer and Shakespearian commentator Johnson, 
 "to blame" generally implies "but slight censure," and he 
 quotes Shakespeare to illustrate his opinion. Undoubtedly, 
 Laertes, keenly conscious of his enormous share of guilt, 
 and being the active participant, unwittingly spared the 
 King in his eagerness to acknowledge his own sins before 
 death. 
 
 When the Queen said, " I am poisoned," Hamlet knew 
 that the King's passion for her would, at least, debar him 
 from committing such a crime, and that policy also would 
 
21 
 
 prevent it. Nor was he guilty. Her death was accidental. 
 It was not until after Hamlet had killed the King that 
 Laertes said : — 
 
 " He is justly served ; 
 It is a poison tempered by himself." 
 
 Laertes, then (realizing the King's share of guilt,) sought to 
 exonerate himself, and Hamlet asked Heaven to make him 
 free. 
 
 Hamlet seems to have entertained but little doubt, that 
 the event would prove fatal to his own life, and while heroic- 
 ally determining to enter upon it, gave expression to these 
 jewelled words of priceless value : — 
 
 " There's a special Providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it 
 be now, 't is not to come ; if it be not to come, it will be now ; 
 if it be not now, yet it wiU come ; the readiness is all." 
 
 Should these and his final words be regarded as " sighs for 
 human weakness "?" 
 
 Dr. Conolly, of the Royal College of Physicians in Lon- 
 don, has brought out a book entitled : " A Study of Hamlet." 
 He would seem to have produced overwhelming arguments 
 in support of the theory of insanity, and it has only been, 
 by means of a careful " study " of his work, in connection 
 with the play itself, that I am enabled to hold firm to several 
 of my expressed opinions, which a single perusal of the 
 book's contents had shaken. In referring to the death 
 scene Conolly observes, that "Hamlet has but energy left to 
 prevent Horatio from drinking the poison !" While I have 
 sought to illustrate the wonderful powers of Hamlet, in 
 that scene, I may ask what degrees of energy can a man be 
 expected to exhibit who has received a bleeding wound and 
 been poisoned with a stuff that " o'er-crows the spirit " or 
 weakens directly the energies themselves, and in whom there 
 is not "half an hour's lifef Hamlet was the first to 
 receive fatal injury ; yet he outlived Laertes, wounded and 
 poisoned in the same manner. It was the force of his 
 superior mind and energy that enabled him to do this and 
 leave all things so arranged that " the yet unknowing 
 world " should learn "how these things came about." 
 
 I contend that Hamlet retained through life, and died in 
 
22 
 
 full possession of his faculties. The substance of a very 
 general argument contrary to this opinion is fully set forth 
 by Dr. Kellogg, a physician to the State Lunatic Asylum at 
 Utica, N. Y. He says : — " Hamlet sees the ghost beckoning 
 him to a distance, and while his companions are quaking 
 with terror, he seems to know no fear, * * * After the 
 appearance vanishes, the first words he utters give the clew 
 to his mental and physical state, and it is quite evident that 
 the cord which has been stretched to its utmost tension, 
 here snaps suddenly, and the consequences are immediately 
 apparent, and are evinced throughout his whole subsequent 
 career. Here enters the pathological element into his mind 
 and disposition and the working of the leaven of disease is 
 soon apparent, for it changes completely and forever his 
 whole character. Up to this time we see no weakness, no 
 vacillation, no want of energy, no infirmity of purpose. 
 After this all these characteristics are irrecoverably lost." 
 In the closing scenes of his life did not Hamlet power- 
 fully exhibit, and effectively make use of all the characteris- 
 tics here enumerated'? Do not facts, then,, disprove the 
 assertion that they were irrecoverably lost "? If many 
 medical writers on the subject, would study Hamlet's inner 
 life and more thoroughly probe the motives which at all times 
 actuated him — relying less upon their knowledge of insanity 
 as derived from professional experience ; they would find 
 that he merely endeavored to imitate that form of insanity 
 so often witnessed in their practice. That inconsistency 
 was sometimes observable in Hamlet's career I would not 
 dispute. Inconsistency, and errors of judgment are to man 
 inherent ; and no where did Shakespeare, in his wondrous 
 knowledge of human life, show his skill more thoroughly 
 than in permitting them to appear in this model type of 
 humanity — inconsistencies which appear glaring because we 
 do not comprehend the magnitude of the situations in 
 which Hamlet was placed ; but which, really, were not so 
 great in proportion as are those of our own lives. 
 
 " The wild confusion of the last scene," adds Kellogg, 
 " furnishes us a fitting denouement of what has preceded. 
 
23 
 
 It was not to be expected that a drama in which the princi- 
 pal actor is an undoubted madman, should end as one in 
 which other materials are employed." But Hamlet was not 
 confused — his killing the King was but his duty, and such« 
 an act would cause a scene of confusion at any time, no 
 matter what the circumstances might be. Hamlei^ fell by 
 means of the dangerous element to which he was exposed 
 by the fact of his mission — as have a thousand heroes whose 
 examples are the best legacies bequeathed to mankind. 
 The play ended as might have been expected from its begin- 
 ning, where we found the Throne usurped by a murderer, 
 with whom the Queen had wickedly married, and the accept- 
 ance, by Hamlet, of a mysterious mission fraught with 
 danger to himself. It ended with the death and overthrow 
 of the usurper — the Throne secured to Hamlet's dying 
 choice : and the reproachful death of the Queen ; the Royal 
 magnates being cut off from lives to which they loved to 
 cling — while Hamlet, having faced the danger to which he 
 had been ordered (not valuing life while honor was at stake) 
 fell at last but triumphant. Indeed, I am at a loss to under- 
 stand why the latter portion of the opinion quoted from Dr. 
 Kellogg, should at all prevail, when Shakespeare, himself, 
 rejects it in a different work. His plays of " Othello " and 
 " Hamlet " are, by design, " Tragedies." They each possess 
 the sweetest attributes of female character, and the most 
 villanous of the male, as opposite and extreme elements. 
 Scenes of wild confusion end them both. The wildest of 
 which is observable in " Othello," where lago murders his 
 wife; Othello also murders his wife, wounds lago, and com- 
 mits suicide ; while Roderigo is murdered, and Cassio 
 wounded. Confusion,,, is the natural result of tragedy, and 
 in the play it should not be regarded as evidence of Hamlet's 
 insanity. 
 
 It now becomes necessary to review the ghost-scene ; 
 wherein, I claim that our hero resolved to feign insanity as 
 the safest and most philosophical way of proceeding towards 
 the fulfillment of that fearful duty to which he had been 
 assigned. Hamlet learned, that on two occasions, during 
 
24 
 
 the " dead waste and middle of the night," the spirit of 
 his father had walked before the Castle platform. The 
 news was imparted to him by three friends — Horatio, Mar- 
 eellus, and Bernardo. Hamlet, became thoughtful and 
 finally said : 
 
 " I will watch to-night ; 
 Perchance, 'twill walk again." 
 
 Upon bidding his informers farewdl he promised to meet 
 them " upon the platform, 'twixt eleven and twelve." His 
 words upon being left alone were : — 
 
 " My father's spirit in arms ! all is not well : 
 I doubt some foul play : 'would the night were come ! 
 Till then sit still my soul : Foul deeds will rise. 
 Though all the earth o'erwhelm them, to men's eyes." 
 
 Thus it will be seen that Hamlet was fully prepared to meet 
 the ghost. He knew what to expect, as regards its appear- 
 ance, for he had received an exact description of its form, 
 countenance, manners and costume ; and his words imply, 
 that he also expected to learn from it of some foul and 
 horrible deed. His mind was, therefore, spared the shock 
 which it would have received by a sudden bursting of the 
 figure before his eyes, and the immediate sounding in his 
 ears of its hollow voice telling a tale of murder. Fortified 
 and prepared for the worst, with two friends beside him ; 
 Hamlet, willingly, and by self-appointment met the Royal 
 phantom, and truly addressed it in " language the terrible 
 grandeur of which never has been equaled." I will agree 
 with Kellogg that while Horatio and Marcellus were " quak- 
 ing with terror," Hamlet seemed to know no fear ; for he 
 certainly had determined to maintain a proper degree of 
 self-possession. When the ghost beckoned him to a more 
 remote ground, his companions implored him not to follow ; 
 but, knowing no fear, he followed with a willing heart, 
 desiring to do what he could in behalf of the "poor ghost." 
 Hence : I contend that fear or fright could have had nothing 
 whatever to do with unseating Hamlet's mind. When this 
 heroic youth was finally alone with the figure, it informed 
 him that his father's death was caused by a "foul murder." 
 Is it probable that Hamlet would have become insane, as a 
 consequence, had he known of the crime at the Mme of its 
 
25 
 
 ocearrence with all its shocking details staring him in the 
 face ? It would have, indeed, been a trial to him ; but he 
 was a philosopher, and Ophelia, who knew him so well, told 
 us that his reason was a superior one—" a noble and most 
 sovereign reason ;" and a man who could so thoroughly 
 bring his very reason to bear upon the trials and sorrows of 
 life, would be the one, above all others, to retain his mind's 
 integrity through such trials as our hero passed. The sting 
 caused by the sudden death of his father had passed away. 
 He only learned that his parent had been murdered instead 
 of having been poisoned by a serpent; and, if his mind 
 would not have been injured by knowing of the murder in 
 the freshness of affliction, it certainly could not have been 
 by the mere story of the ghost at so late a day. He knew 
 that his Uncle was a villain, and only learned from the ghost 
 that he was a " smiling damned one." When he left his 
 companions to follow the figure, the frightful ■ import of 
 Horatio's words must have led him to surmise that the 
 phantom pathway was a dangerous one : — 
 
 " What, if it tempt you toward the flood, my lord, 
 Or to the dreadful summit of the ohff, 
 That beetles o'er his base into the sea ? 
 And there assume some other horrible form, 
 Which might deprive your sovereignty of reason, 
 And draw you into madness ? think of it ; 
 The very place put toys of desperation, 
 Without more motive, into every brain, 
 That looks so many fathoms to the sea, 
 And hears it roar beneath." 
 
 But the mysterious leader retained the familiar form of bis 
 father, and at the desire of Hamlet it halted on the broad 
 plain. Surely, so happy a result must have been quieting 
 even to such nerves as sought to rebel against Hamlet's 
 will. In the light of the friendly moon a devoted son had 
 but followed the gentle shade of a beloved father. 
 
 In seeking to control the movements of the ghost, Ham- 
 let exercised a presence of mind hardly to have been 
 expected. When commanded to revenge the murder, he 
 quite naturally answered in a manner in keeping with that 
 remarkable degree of filial obedience which had character- 
 ized him when the ghost ruled as his Kingly father. 
 
 " Haste me to know it ; that I, with wings as swift 
 As meditation, or the thoughts of love. 
 May sweep to my revenge." 
 
26 
 
 These words sounded on the night air in tones denoting' 
 that the solemn instructions did not disturb the peace of 
 his mind, and when the ghost vanished into " thin air " he 
 could only have regarded it with a tenderness of affection ;. 
 and it must have been with regret that he listened to its 
 last words : — 
 
 " Adieu, adieu, adien ! remember me/' 
 
 and so ended this renowned interview, on the confines of 
 eternity, between a princely son and his ghostly father. A 
 scene more ennobling has never been penned, and all 
 attempts must fail to do it justice. That remarkable degree 
 of courage evinced by Hamlet, at the time he determined to 
 seek for the phantom, was fully sustained throughout his 
 trying ordeal ; — • 
 
 " If it assume my nobla father's person, 
 I'll speak to it, though hell itself should gape, 
 And bid me hold my peaee." 
 
 And thus by a careful study, we learn that the ghost 
 scene was shorn of more than half its supposed terrors. 
 Schlegej^devoted several years of his life to Shakespearian 
 research. In bearing upon this scene he observes : — " A 
 voice from another world, commissioned it would appear 
 by Heaven, demands vengeance for a monstrous enor- 
 mity, and the demand remains without effect." How 
 such a conclusion could have been arrived at, by one 
 so profound, and receive the sanction of numerous writers, 
 of whatever theory they may uphold, would seem to be an 
 enigma in itself. The ghost's parting words to be remem- 
 bered were faithfully treasured, within the " book and 
 volume " of Hamlet's brain, until he finally gave himself to 
 the sacrifice in order to secure that vengeance which Heaven 
 had demanded. The ghost desired revenge — the death of 
 the King. It was attained. 
 
 The most prominent charge that the critics have brought 
 against Hamlet, is that of " wasting his time and dallying 
 with his purpose," after having expressed so earnest a desire 
 to " sweep to his revenge." " He vacillates," says Cole- 
 ridge, " from sensibility, and procrastinates from thought. 
 
27 
 
 and loses the power of action in the energy of resolve." 
 Dr. Nathan Drake, author of a gigantic work on Shake- 
 speare, containing 1400 pages, remarks that "his irresolution 
 and weakness is partly the result of emotions highly 
 amiable ; but adds that the " awful appearance of the 
 spectre overwhelms him with astonishment and unhinges 
 his mind." 
 
 True it is, I admit, that Hamlet, in great haste, wished to 
 learn who had committed the murder, that he might " sweep 
 to his revenge ;" but, upon being told that it was his Uncle 
 — his mother's husband, and by law, his father, in fact the 
 very King ; his broad comprehension pictured at once the 
 deplorable results of such hasty proceedings. The King 
 killed, his country would receive a severe shock ; while he 
 was liable, himself, to have an infamy cast upon his name 
 by the perpetration of an act in which he would (in all 
 human probability), be detected, and which would be 
 regarded as a crime most unnatural, if not unparalleled. 
 Ophelia, the woman he loved, would be compelled to regard 
 him as a wilful parricide, guilty also of high treason ; and any 
 attempt at extenuation on the part of Horatio, Marcellus or 
 Bernardo, would only implicate themselves ; for the story 
 of the ghost would not be admitted as evidencQ.. He must 
 therefore guard against injury befalling, not only himself, 
 but his three friends. With these, and other thoughts, 
 flashing upon his perception, he very naturally staggered in 
 his hasty resolve, and still more naturally decided upon a 
 deliberate plan of proceeding. Furthermore, though he was 
 induced to place confidence in the spectre and to respect 
 its statements, yet, a lingering doubt existed in his mind, 
 as to its honesty of purpose; for the first words he addressed 
 it, were : — 
 
 " Be thou a spirit of health, or goblin damn'd, 
 Bring with thee airs from heaven, or blasts from hell, 
 Be thy intents wicked, or charitable ?" 
 
 It was from this stand-point, that Hamlet persistently 
 declined to " kill " until he had learned the truth. His con- 
 science had not fled. It pricked him to deliberate, and its 
 whisperings were, " think twice before you leap." 
 
28 
 
 Had lie killed the King at once — without waiting for 
 tangible proofs of guilt, and even escaped detection — he 
 might, indeed, have become the insane person which the 
 critics would now have him ; for, doubting the ghost's 
 honesty, he would have finally come to the belief that he 
 had taken the life of an innocent man, and that the ghost 
 was an illusion : and thus thoughts of the horrible deed 
 would have preyed upon his mind. This illustrates that 
 Hamlet's reasoning was of the highest intellectual order, 
 and that in changing his mind, he was moved by funda- 
 mental principles. 
 
 Hamlet hoped that any indiscretion, or overt act which 
 might endanger his cause, would, while adhering to it in a 
 more judicious manner, be lost in their force and bearing 
 beneath a cloak of insanity, and if detected in the act of 
 revenge, he believed it would preserve his honor and ensure 
 his safety. It is quite likely that the idea of feigning mad- 
 ness was suggested by Horatio's appeal. Certain it is, that 
 the scene painted by his friend's imagination was not experi- 
 enced ; but since his companions might expect to find him, 
 with his reason dethroned, he determined to return to them 
 disguised as a madman, and the happy result was, that 
 Horatio, momentarily, accused him of using " wild and 
 hurling words," when our hero's fertile brain again acted, as 
 the occasion would seem to require, and he considered that 
 those friends who had also seen the ghost miist be made his 
 confidants and perhaps, co-workers. He therefore exacted an 
 oath, from the two who had been in waiting for him, that 
 they would " never make known what they had seen," and 
 swore them to his secret resolve to feign madness, in a man- 
 ner evincing the wonderful powers of a ready ingenuity ; 
 for the oaths he administered were thorough and complete 
 — rare specimens of exactness and compact meaning — strictly 
 binding, and perfectly describing the strange, odd and antic 
 ways he afterwards assumed — "strange," "odd," and 
 " antic," the very words embodied in the oaths. 
 
 It will be noticed in the text that the ghost approved the 
 oaths, and enjoined Horatio and Marcellus to swear — the 
 
29 
 
 weird voice coming from the ground beneath. Upon their 
 acceptance, Hamlet threw off his false cloak, and in the pres- 
 ence of his confidants was again himself. When the ghost, 
 for the fourth time, pronounced the word " swear," a pang 
 entered the heart of Hamlet, for having, (in his false charac- 
 ter) while testing the sincerity of his friends, and until he 
 had fully secured their confidence, spoken so disrespectfully 
 to what he was led to regard as his father's spirit. He 
 regretted having called it " old mole " and the " fellow in the 
 cellarage " and was sor.'y for having worried it by " shift- 
 ing his ground " so often, and in tones of grief, for having 
 thus treated it, he addressed it, saying -. — 
 
 "Kest, rest, perturbed spirit." 
 
 and, then, with a sense of gratitude, he turned to his 
 friends and said : — 
 
 " So, gentlemen, 
 With all my love I do commend me to you : 
 And what so poor a man as Hamlet is 
 May do, to express his love and friending to you, 
 God willing, shall not lack." 
 
 Hamlet's language and manner to the ghost, while swearing 
 his friends, was so different from the respect he had previ- 
 ously shown it, " betrays," says Dr. Ray, " the excitement 
 of delirium, the wandering of a mind reeling under the first 
 strokes of disease." But in further opposition to the opin- 
 ion of this eminent psychologist it may be remarked that 
 when Hamlet again met the ghost, he treated it with the 
 same degree of respect that he had originally shown it. 
 
 Let us again observe the precaution which Hamlet must 
 have taken, denoting, unmistakably, the careful planning of 
 his project to feign madness. Thus far, he had sworn Horatio 
 and Marcellus only, to his cause, yet, the earthly visit of the 
 ghost did not become known to the general ear. It is evi- 
 dent, therefore, that Bernardo, who also saw the figure 
 and had conversed with Hamlet in regard to it, did not seek 
 to explain, as a reason for Hamlet's " antic disposition," 
 the fact that his father's spirit had appeared ; but, that he, 
 like Horatio and Marcellus, kept the affair a profound secret 
 we must admit as a theory beyond cavil. Hence : I con- 
 tend that Hamlet sought Bernardo, and administered to him 
 
30 
 
 the same oaths. Under any other argument the action of 
 the drama becomes, altogether, inconsistent. The extreme 
 caution on the part of Hamlet to keep the ghost's appear- 
 ance a secret, was discernible before the time, that the 
 pathological element is said to have entered his mind, as 
 well as after ; for, when his friends first told him of the 
 wonder he said to them : — 
 
 " I pray you all, 
 If you have hitherto conceal'd this sight, 
 Let it be tenable in your silence still ; 
 And whatsoever else shall hap to-night. 
 Give it an understanding, but no tongue ; 
 I will requite your loves." 
 
 A sense of gratitude, for favors, is observable in both 
 instances. Dr. Conolly remarks, that, " it can scarcely be 
 understood why Hamlet is devoured by anxiety to have the 
 appearance of the ghost kept secret." But to me, our 
 hero's wisdom in the premises is apparent, for, had the 
 King been told that the spirit of his murdered victim had 
 appeared to Hamlet, or any of Hamlet's friends, we can 
 easily imagine the course which his guilty conscience would 
 have led him to pursue. 
 
 This ghost scene is the most important invention that has 
 been achieved in dramatic art. It is, in representation, a 
 voice prompted by Heaven—the secret of a murder being 
 revealed— that influence, which often brings the guilty to 
 punishment as if by accident. It is but form and feature, 
 given to an ever existing power, that works invisibly — the 
 tracks of crime which cunning ingenuity fails to cover. It 
 terrifies the would be criminal, and teaches him, in 
 Hamlet's own words, (the most valuable, in their import of 
 any that have ever been uttered) that, " Murder, though it 
 hath no tongue, ^c^U speak with most miraculoics organ !" 
 
 It is supposed that the action of this drama covers a 
 lengthy period of time. I regard it, however, as short. By 
 reducing the time to a very brief period, the theory of real 
 insanity must necessarily be materially weakened. It has 
 already been shown that it was but two months, from the time 
 that Hamlet saw the ghost until he proved the King guilty. 
 During that time he did not make any attempt to kill the 
 
31 
 
 King ; but his manner of proceeding conclusively proves 
 the supremacy of reason. His conscience yearned for 
 proofs of guilt beyond a phantom's statement. He did not, 
 however, at any time abandon his cause ; .but continually 
 thought, and planned until he found the proofs. What did 
 he do then '? Why he did nothing ; but to act with deter- 
 mined energy — making three separate attempts to take the 
 King's life. In the first attempt his arm failed him, for the 
 moment, because his imagination pictured his father suffer- 
 ing the tortures of Hell, and for him to kill the King when 
 found at prayers, would only be to send that father's mur- 
 derer to the felicities of Heaven. Hamlet's reason for 
 postponing the act, at such a time, has proved a stumbling 
 block to the critics. The great Dr. Johnson regards it as 
 "an atrocious and horrible sentiment on the part of Ham- 
 let." But I say, that Hamlet naturally considered the 
 question of the next world, for his dealings were with that 
 world, under command of one of its own agents, and his 
 necessarily immediate decision, (for, a moment later, he would 
 have been discovered on dangerous grounds,) was influenced 
 by the words of that same agent that were still ringing in 
 his ears. The ghost had taken pains to impress the subject 
 of the next world's punishment upon Hamlet's mind. 
 
 In the second attempt he made an unfortunate mistake 
 and killed Polonius; and that is just as good, so far as 
 intent and action goes, as if he had killed the King. It was 
 a mistake no greater in proportion than we, ourselves, often 
 make while endeavoring to perform difficult and unhappy 
 tasks. 
 
 In the third attempt he succeeds in killing the King. 
 
 How long a time was consumed while making these 
 attempts'? Why the very next thing that Hamlet did, after 
 finding Claudius guilty, was to make the first attempt, and 
 a few hours afterwards he made the second. It could not 
 have been but a few hours later at the utmost ; for Hamlet 
 was under appointment to meet his mother in her chamber, 
 and it was then, and there that he killed Polonius. The 
 King\j, then shipped him to England, as a consequence. 
 
Now let Its see what followed. The vessel was at sea but 
 two days, when Hamlet was captured by pirates ; but the 
 ship proceeded on her journey. Through the exercise of 
 his good judgment Hamlet succeeded in winning favors, 
 and the pirates returned him without delay to Denmark- 
 He must have been returned very soon ; for he succeeded in 
 killing the King on the very day that the news reached Den- 
 mark, that the ship had arrived in England. What becomes 
 now, of the great lapse of time *? and when, and where, and 
 how did Hamlet " trifle or dally " with his purpose 1 
 
 King Richard the second, landed on the coas* of Wales, 
 can talk " of graves, of worms and epitaphs," and about the 
 *' paste and cover to our bones j" but you would call poor 
 Hamlet mad, for saying to his friend, while standing in a 
 grave-yard and holding a human scull in his hand: — "To 
 what base uses we may return, Horatio ! Why may not 
 imagination trace the noble dust of Alexander, till he find 
 it stopping a bung-hole ?" * * * 
 
 "Imperial Cfesar, dead, and tum'd to clay, 
 Might stop a hole to keep the wind away." 
 
 Hamlet^realized in the very fullness of reality, that this body 
 of ours, beautiful and marvellous in its living mechanism, 
 must perish. He realized that it might fall, and decay by 
 the way-side, on the mountain, or in the valley — that it 
 might be tossed upon some barren shore by the surging 
 waves of the ocean, or sink beneath the still waters of some 
 placid lake— that it might be consumed in fires, and its ashes 
 be scattered by the winds ; or that loving hands might lay it 
 away in the quiet tomb, or peaceful grave. That whatever 
 might be done to the body, or with it, he realized that it 
 must become dust of the earth, which might be used, alas ! 
 we know not for what purposes — imagination might, even, 
 trace the dust of the most noble till he find it put to ridicu- 
 lous and base uses. But, when Hamlet speaks of the soul, 
 what does he say of that? He declares, that it is "a thing 
 immortal," and asks: What can be done "to that?" Upon 
 the Monument, in Westminster Abbey, erected to the mem- 
 
33 . 
 
 ory of Shakespeare, are inscribed these : his own sentiments — 
 
 " The cloud-capp'd towers, the gorgeons palaces, 
 The solemn temples, the great globe itself, 
 Yea, all which it inhabit, shall dissolve ; 
 And, Uke the baseless fabric of a vision, 
 Leave not a wreck behind !" 
 
 Would that these : also his words, followed — 
 
 —"but Heaven keeps His part in eternal life," 
 
 0, I would say to the skeptical, that there must be immor- 
 tality for the soul, since a mortal like Shakespeare has lived 
 and proclaimed it. 
 
 A critic in Blackwogd^s Magazine, inclines to believe that 
 Hamlet's mind was disproportioned because of his extreme 
 ideas of man, and cites these words of the prince in illustra- 
 tion : — " What a piece of work is a man ! How noble in 
 reason ! how infinite in faculties ! in form and moving, how 
 express and admirable ! in action, how like an angel ! in 
 apprehension, how like a God I" Had Hamlet applied those 
 words to either you or me, I might have thought him insane; 
 but they constitute a faithful summing up of the characters 
 of Shakespeare and his hero, and they are man in the best 
 and truest sense. Hamlet was beloved by the multitude, 
 and we may be sure that Ophelia, while contemplating his 
 supposed loss of reason, did not exaggerate his intellectual 
 qualities or graces of manhood, when she said : — 
 
 " O, what a noble mind is here o'erthrown ! 
 The scholar's, courtier's, soldier's, eye, tongue, sword : 
 The expectancy and rose of the fair State, 
 The glass of fashion, and the mould of form. 
 The observ'd of all observers i • * * 
 
 * * * the honey of his music vows, 
 
 * • * that noble and most sovereign reason, 
 
 That immatch'd form and feature of blown youth, 
 Blasted with ecstacy ; » * * " 
 
 Those are appalling truths spoken by Victor Hugo, when 
 he says: — "Shakespeare departs, arrives, starts again, 
 mounts, descends, hovers, dives, sinks, rushes, plunges into 
 the depths below, plunges into the depths above. He is one 
 of those geniuses that God purposely leaves unbridled, so that 
 they may go headlong and in full flight into the infinite." 
 "From time to time," he says, "there comes on this globe 
 one of these spirits. There passage renews art, science, 
 
■ 34 
 
 philosophy, or society. They fill a century, then disappear. 
 Then it is not one century alone that their light illumines : it 
 is humanity from one end to another of time, and it is per- 
 ceived that each of these men was the human mind itself con- 
 tained whole in one brain, and coming at a given moment, 
 to give on earth an impetus to progress." 
 
 In Hamlet, Shakespeare portrayed his own characteristics, 
 and consequently those of a spirit such as Hugo has thus 
 depicted. 
 
 JOSEPH WATSON. 
 
A LECTURE 
 
 Shakespeare's Enigmatical Work, 
 
 Embracing a New Theory, 
 
 By Joseph Watson, 
 
 (Member of the Newport Historical Society.) 
 
 Delivered before the Newport Lecture Association and the Newport 
 
 Historical Society, also under the auspices of the American 
 
 Literary Bureau in Boston ; and in Providence, 
 
 (K. I.,) after introductory remarks by the 
 
 Executive of the State, &c., &c. 
 
 (Private Edition. — Copyrighted according to Xiaw.) 
 
 NEWPOET, R. L: 
 
 DAVIS AND PITMAN, STEAM PKINTEES, 
 
 1878. 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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