acknowledged" a very noble youth," and leaps into the grave, as he anticipated the dignity of his sorrow would be established by the declaration of his presence, and all would stand rebuked and silent before his voice "Who is he, whose grief Bears such an emphasis? whose phrase of sorrow, Like wonder-wounded hearers? This is I, Hamlet the Dane!" ACT V. Scene 1. During the scene this excited feeling is retained, and the resistance offered to its assertion, together with the moral conviction of the injustice of Laertes' execration, imparts the sense of injury to Hamlet, who, blind to acts, yet retentive of sensations, after he has interrupted the funeral, assaulted the chief mourner, and polluted the grave, reproachfully inquires of the nearest living relative of the dead"Hear you, Sir; What is the reason that you use me thus? I lov'd you ever; But it is no matter; The cat will mew, the dog will have his day." Thus, in his confusion, the impression of present wrong becomes confounded with former injury received from another person; and at Laertes he casts a threat which referred to his dethronement by his uncle, and his vague hope one day to regain his right. However, when the ebullition has subsided, and discourse on other subjects somewhat restored his consciousness, Hamlet partially perceives his error, and desires to make atonement. "But I am very sorry, good Horatio, For in the image of my cause, I see The portraiture of his : I'll count his favours : ACT V. Scene 2. The acknowledgment he then makes of forgetfulness, and the confession of excitement, being, so far as his evidence can be trusted, a confirmation of the view here taken of Hamlet's condition. The unsettled state of his intellect is portrayed in Hamlet's inability to fix attention on his own affairs. This throughout has been a symp tom of his disorder, and with it has increased, ultimately working the cure of the malady by which it was engendered. So now, notwithstanding the deep interest of his discourse with Horatio, the entrance of Osric diverts his thoughts, and on the antics of the fop he sinks again into that dreamy state of speculation, which, like an opium-sleep, though it be an unnatural repose, yet is medicinal in its obliviousness, and helps to restore him to a partial sanity. The glimmer of returning reason, preceding dissolution, does not, however, enable him to penetrate the designs of men, or light those lower perceptions which constitute human prudence. To the business of life he remains insensible; for though the two most powerful in Denmark (the King and Laertes, a nobleman whose influence could make family wrong a motive for national rebellion,) are his enemies; and in the narrative of his escape from the assassination planned by the first, and in his determination to be reconciled to the last, he has only just before recognized them both in their true characters; yet without inducement or prelude to deceive his thoughts, he blindly accepts their joint invitation to one of those jousts, which frequently ending fatally, were therefore the most likely to conceal, and were the commonest resorts of treachery. The very acquiescence, however, while it indicates the mind still unhealthy, is also a sign of its approaching recovery, for it shows the irritation has subsided; and this relief restores Hamlet to a knowledge of his own sensations, and enables him to interpret them correctly, which renders him conscious of his previous affliction, prompting that pathetic acknowledgment to Laertes which the character of the speaker, the motives which actuate him, and the circumstances under which it is given, must remove from any conjecture it could be coloured or invented. "Give me your pardon, Sir: I have done you wrong: This presence knows, and you must needs have heard, That might your nature, honour, and exception, And when he's not himself, does wrong Laertes, Sir, in this audience Let my disclaiming from a purposed evil ACT V. Scene 2. Here Hamlet speaks of himself as mad, and his confession is perhaps the best evidence of the conclusiveness of the view of his actions and character sketched in these pages; by which directed, we will attempt, in the next number of this Magazine, to explain those portions of the tragedy which have been variously regarded as inconsistencies, gratuitous introductions, unnecessary harshnesses, unnatural conceptions, or inexplicable mysteries, as the actual extent of Hamlet's insanity, his asperity to Polonius, his violence to Ophelia, his dissertation to the Actors, his latitude of speech during the play, his reason for not killing the King, his disregard of Polonius's death, and his frequent delays; and to show that each and all of these are parts of one perfect whole, conceived in harmonious accordance with the laws of nature, and originating in that knowledge of mankind which Shakspere throughout his works discovers. (To be continued.) ILLUSTRATIONS OF DARTMOOR. MANATON CHURCH-YARD. THE UNKNOWN FEMALE. “I MARVEL not, seeing your fixed regard : A tale of thrilling interest is her life. Five years have past since first that Stranger came As her mistress she, of the Spanish race. That cot they hired, its adornments adding : The housewives' wonder roused, perchance their fear, A resident among my flock become, To attend her-not alone: my daughter joined me, Her with whose name benevolence and beauty, She was not absent: yet availed herself Of the conventional laws of courtesy, Declining to receive us. Years passed on, And she was still remembered with regret, Denying entrance to our holy pile, When, suddenly, a message sent, surprised us, Without an hour's delay, for something warned me Which was unoccupied, a moment's leisure Gives manifold signs of inward character. The casement darkened by Venetian blinds, O'er the empanelled walls deep shadows threw : On a small ebony table near the fire, *The name is derived from Mden-y-Sun, signifying the circle of erect stones. This Druidical vestige lies in a small field S. E. of Manaton: it is an enclosure of an elliptical form: the stones are from four to six feet in height, in a double row and closely set; their diameter is one hundred and thirty-eight feet. They may be perceived from the village green. It is a most impressive Druidical relique. 11 One painting hung suspended from the wall: There were the arms stretched out and nailed in blood; Appealing that the cup might yet pass from him, Denying, doubting, "following him far off,"+ promise-hope-fear-death—and The A cushion lay beneath for kneeling placed : * 11 'Nevertheless, not as I will, but as THOU wilt." +"And his disciples followed him afar off." From a recollection of Guido's Crucifixion and master-piece, in the Milanese Gallery. VOL. XCVI. 2 c Its presence beautiful. In her simplest gesture I should not dwell upon its character The twofold spirit of the living soul, The arched and silken lashes downward cast Touched with an interest profound, I spoke : 'The indulgence, So much which I must ask of you, I fear |