-To the celeftial, and my foul's idol, the most beautified In her excellent white bofom, thefe, &c.— 3-To the celeftial, and my foul's idol, the most beautified Ophelia,] Mr. Theobald for beautified substituted beatified. MALONE. Dr. Warburton has followed Mr. Theobald; but I am in doubt whether beautified, though, as Polonius calls it, a vile phrafe, be not the proper word. Beautified seems to be a vile phrafe, for the ambiguity of its meaning. JOHNSON. Heywood, in his Hiftory of Edward VI. fays " Katherine Parre, queen dowager to king Henry VIII, was a woman beautified with excellent virtues." FARMER. many So, in The Hog bath loft bis Pearl, 1614: "A maid of rich endowments, beautified "With all the virtues nature could bestow." Again, Nash dedicates his Chrift's Tears over Jerufalem, 1594: "to the most beautified lady, the lady Elizabeth Carey." Again, in Greene's Mamillia, 1593: 66 although thy perfon is fo bravely beautified with the dowries of nature." Ill and vile as the phrase may be, our author has used it again in The Two Gentlemen of Verona : feeing you are beautified "With goodly fhape," &c. STEEVENS. By beautified Hamlet means beautiful. But Polonius, taking the word in the more ftrictly grammatical fenfe of being made beautiful, calls it a vile phrafe, as implying that his daughter's beauty was the effect of art. M. MASON. 4 In her excellent white bofom, thefe,] So, in The Two Gentlemen of Verona: Thy letters "Which, being writ to me, fhall be deliver'd See Vol. III. p. 236, n. 2. STEEVENS. I have followed the quarto. The folio reads: Thefe in her excellent white bofom, thefe, &c. In our poet's time the word Thefe was ufually added at the end of the fuperfcription of letters, but I have never met with it both at the beginning and end. MALONE, POL. Good madam, ftay awhile; I will be faith ful.— Doubt thou, the stars are fire; Doubt, that the fun doth move: Doubt truth to be a liar; But never doubt, I love. [Reads. O dear Ophelia, I am ill at thefe numbers; I bave not art to reckon my groans: but that I love thee beft, O most beft, believe it. Adieu. Thine evermore, most dear lady, whilst this machine is to him, Hamlet." This, in obedience, hath my daughter fhown me: As they fell out by time, by means, and place, KING. Receiv'd his love? POL. But how hath fhe What do you think of me? KING. As of a man faithful and honourable. POL. I would fain prove fo. But what might you think, When I had feen this hot love on the wing, 5 O most beft,] So, in Acolafus, a comedy, 1540: that fame meft beft redreffer or reformer, is God." 6 STEEVENS. - whilft this machine is to him, Hamlet.] Thefe words will not be ill explained by the conclufion of one of the Letters of the Pafton Family, Vol. II. p. 43: ÍI. for your pleafure, whyle my wytts be my owne." The phrafe employed by Hamlet feems to have a French conftruction. Pendant que cette machine eft a lui. To be one's own man is a vulgar expreffion, but means much the fame as Virgil's Dum memor ipfe mei, dum fpiritus hos regit artus. STEEVENS, more above,] is, moreover, befides. JOHNSON. (As I perceiv'd it, I must tell you that, What might you think? no, I went round to work, And my young mistress thus did I bespeak; 8 If I had play'd the defk, or table-book; Or given my heart a working, mute and dumb; Or look'd upon this love with idle fight; What might you think?] i. e. If either I had conveyed intelligence between them, and been the confident of their amours [play'd the defk or table-book,] or had connived at it, only observed them in fecret, without acquainting my daughter with my difcovery [given my heart a mute and dumb working;] or laftly, had been negligent in obferving the intrigue, and overlooked it [looked upon this love with idle fight;] what would you have thought of me? WARBURTON. I doubt whether the firft line is rightly explained. It may mean, if I had lock'd up this fecret in my own breaft, as closely as if it were confined in a desk or table-book. MALONE. Or given my heart a working, mute and dumb;] The folio reads-a winking. STEEVENS. The fame pleonafm [mute and dumb] is found in our author's Rape of Lucrece: "And in my hearing be you mute and dumb." MALONE. 9 — round-] i. e. roundly, without referve. So Polonius fays in the third act: " be round with him." STEEVENS. 2 Lord Hamlet is a prince out of thy fphere;] The quarto, 1604, and the first folio, for Sphere, have ftar. The correction was made by the editor of the fecond folio. MALONE. 3 — precepts gave her,] Thus the folio. The two elder quartos read prefcripts. I have chofen the most familiar of the two readings. Polonius has already faid to his fon: "And thefe few precepts in thy memory That she should lock herself from his refort, Thence to a watch; thence into a weakness; And all we mourn for. KING. Do you think, 'tis this? QUEEN. It may be, very likely. POL. Hath there been fuch a time, (I'd fain know that,) That I have pofitively faid, 'Tis fo, When it prov'd otherwise? KING. Not that I know. POL. Take this from this, if this be otherwife: [Pointing to his head and shoulder. The original copy in my opinion is right. Polonius had ordered his daughter to lock herself from Hamlet's refort, &c. See p. 59: "I would not, in plain terms, from this time forth, "Have you fo flander any moment's leifure "As to give words or talk with the lord Hamlet: Look to't, I charge you." MALONE. 4 Which done, fhe took the fruits of my advice;] She took the fruits of advice when the obeyed advice, the advice was then made fruitful. JOHNSON. 5 (a fhort tale to make,) Fell into a fadnefs; then into a faft; &c.] The ridicule of this character is here admirably fuftained. He would not only be thought to have difcovered this intrigue by his own fagacity, but to have remarked all the stages of Hamlet's diforder, from his fadness to his raving, as regularly as his phyfician could have done; when all the while the madness was only feigned. The humour of this is exquifite from a man who tells us, with a confidence peculiar to fmall politicians, that he could find Where truth was hid, though it were hid indeed "Within the centre." WARBURTON. If circumstances lead me, I will find Where truth is hid, though it were hid indeed KING. How may we try it further? POL. You know, fometimes he walks four hours together," Here in the lobby. QUEEN. So he does, indeed. PoL. At such a time I'll loose my daughter to him: Be you and I behind an arras then; Mark the encounter: if he love her not, But keep a farm, and carters." KING. We will try it. four hours together,] Perhaps it would be better were we to read indefinitely, for hours together. TYRWHITT. I formerly was inclined to adopt Mr. Tyrwhitt's propofed emendation; but have now no doubt that the text is right. The expreffion, four hours together, two hours together, &c. appears to have been common: So, in King Lear, Act I: "Edm. Spake you with him? 66 Edg. Ay, two hours together." Again, in The Winter's Tale: 66 ay, and have been, any time these four hours." Again, in Webster's Dutchess of Malfy, 1623: "She will mufe four hours together, and her filence At fuch a time I'll loofe my daughter to him: Mark the encounter: if he love her not, MALONE. But keep a farm, and carters.] The scheme of throwing Ophelia in Hamlet's way, in order to try his fanity, as well as the |