d hope, of bitter regrets, of affection
suspended, not obliterated, by the distractions of the scene around
him! Amidst the natural and preternatural horrors of his situation, he
might be excused in delicacy from carrying on a regular courtship.
When "his father's spirit was in arms," it was not a time for the son
to make love in. He could neither marry Ophelia, nor wound her mind by
explaining the cause of his alienation, which he durst hardly trust
himself to think of. It would have taken him years to have come to a
direct explanation on the point. In the harassed state of his mind, he
could not have done much otherwise than he did. His conduct does not
contradict what he says when he sees her funeral:

I loved Ophelia; forty thousand brothers
Could not, with all their quantity of love,
Make up my sum.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 25: From the "Characters of Shakespeare's Plays."]

THOMAS DE QUINCEY

Born in 1785, died in 1859; son of a wealthy merchant;
studied at Oxford without taking a degree; settled at
Grasmere, near Coleridge and Wordsworth, about 1808; losing
his fortune, sought literary work in London in 1821;
contracted at Oxford the opium habit, under which at one
time he took 340 grains daily; made his opium experiences
the basis of an essay entitled "Confessions of an English
Opium Eater," published in 1821; wrote for many periodicals
and eventually settled in Edinburgh; his collected works
comprize many volumes.

I

DREAMS OF AN OPIUM-EATER[26]

_May 18._--The Malay has been a fearful enemy for months. Every night,
through his means, I have been transported into Asiatic scenery. I
know not whether others share in my feelings on this point, but I have
often thought that if I were compelled to forego England, and to live
in China, and among Chinese manners and modes of life and scenery, I
should go mad. The causes of my horror lie deep, and some of them must
be common to others. Southern Asia, in general, is the seat of awful
images and associations. As the cradle of the human race, it would
have a dim and reverential feeling connected with it. But there are
other reasons. No man can pretend that the wild, barbarous, and
capricious superstitions of Africa, or of savage tribes elsewhere,
affect in the way that he is affected by the ancient, monumental,
cruel, and elaborate religions of Hindustan, etc. The mere antiquity
of A