eunt Gent_

_Enter Polonius._

Pol. My Lord, he's going to his Mothers Closset:
Behinde the Arras Ile conuey my selfe
To heare the Processe. Ile warrant shee'l tax him home,
And as you said, and wisely was it said,
'Tis meete that some more audience then a Mother,
Since Nature makes them partiall, should o're-heare
The speech of vantage.[7] Fare you well my Liege,
Ile call vpon you ere you go to bed,
And tell you what I know. [Sidenote: Exit.]

_King._ Thankes deere my Lord.
Oh my offence is ranke, it smels to heauen,
It hath the primall eldest curse vpon't,
A Brothers murther.[8] Pray can I not,
Though inclination be as sharpe as will:
My stronger guilt,[9] defeats my strong intent,

[Footnote 1: The philosophy of which self is the centre. The speeches of
both justify the king in proceeding to extremes against Hamlet.]

[Footnote 2: The same as to say: 'The passing, ceasing, or ending of
majesty dies not--is not finished or accomplished, without that of
others;' 'the dying ends or ceases not,' &c.]

[Footnote 3: The _but_ of the _Quarto_ is better, only the line halts.
It is the preposition, meaning _without_.]

[Footnote 4: _heedless of their flattery_. It is hardly applicable
enough to interest him.]

[Footnote 5: 'Provide yourselves.']

[Footnote 6: fear active; cause of fear; thing to be afraid of; the noun
of the verb _fear_, to _frighten_:

Or in the night, imagining some fear,
How easy is a bush supposed a bear!

_A Midsummer Night's Dream_, act v. sc. i.]

[Footnote 7: Schmidt (_Sh. Lex._) says _of vantage_ means _to boot_. I
do not think he is right. Perhaps Polonius means 'from a position of
advantage.' Or perhaps 'The speech of vantage' is to be understood as
implying that Hamlet, finding himself in a position of vantage, that is,
alone with his mother, will probably utter himself with little
restraint.]

[Footnote 8: This is the first proof positive of his guilt accorded even
to the spectator of the play: here Claudius confesses not merely guilt
(118), but the very deed. Thoughtless critics are so ready to judge
another as if he knew all they know, that it is desirable here to remind
the student that only he, not Hamlet, hears this soliloquy. The
falseness of half the judgments in the world comes from our not taking
care and pains first to know accurately the actions, and then to
understand the mental and moral condition, of those we judge.]

[Foot