he has still many things to tell us, many to
persuade us of." Wilhelm asseverated loudly that he meant not to
persuade but to convince; he begged for another moment's patience.

"Figure to yourselves this youth," cried he, "this son of princes;
conceive him vividly, bring his state before your eyes, and then observe
him when he learns that his father's spirit walks; stand by him in the
terrors of the night, when the venerable ghost itself appears before
him. A horrid shudder passes over him; he speaks to the mysterious form;
he sees it beckon him; he follows it, and hears. The fearful accusation
of his uncle rings in his ears; the summons to revenge, and the piercing
oft-repeated prayer, Remember me!

"And when the ghost has vanished, who is it that stands before us? A
young hero panting for vengeance? A prince by birth, rejoicing to be
called to punish the usurper of his crown? No! trouble and astonishment
take hold of the solitary young man; he grows bitter against smiling
villains, swears that he will not forget the spirit, and concludes with
the significant ejaculation:--

"'The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,
That ever I was born to set it right!'

"In these words, I imagine, will be found the key to Hamlet's whole
procedure. To me it is clear that Shakespeare meant, in the present
case, to represent the effects of a great action laid upon a soul unfit
for the performance of it. In this view the whole piece seems to me to
be composed. There is an oak-tree planted in a costly jar, which should
have borne only pleasant flowers in its bosom; the roots expand, the jar
is shivered.

"A lovely, pure, noble, and most moral nature, without the strength of
nerve which forms a hero, sinks beneath a burden which it cannot bear
and must not cast away. All duties are holy for him; the present is too
hard. Impossibilities have been required of him, not in themselves
impossibilities, but such for him. He winds, and turns, and torments
himself; he advances and recoils; is ever put in mind, ever puts himself
in mind; at last does all but lose his purpose from his thoughts; yet
still without recovering his peace of mind."

Aurelia seemed to give but little heed to what was passing; at last she
conducted Wilhelm to another room, and going to the window, and looking
out at the starry sky she said to him, "You have still much to tell us
about Hamlet; I will not hurry you; my brother must hear it as well as
I; but let