d upon such offences, that it had
found means even through the love of their children to punish their
unnatural hate. And these old rivals, no longer enemies, agreed to
bury their long strife in their children's graves; and lord Capulet
requested lord Mountague to give him his hand, calling him by the name
of brother, as if in acknowledgment of the union of their families by
the marriage of the young Capulet and Mountague; and saying that lord
Mountague's hand (in token of reconcilement) was all he demanded for
his daughter's jointure: but lord Mountague said he would give him
more, for he would raise her statue of pure gold, that while Verona
kept its name, no figure should be so esteemed for its richness and
workmanship as that of the true and faithful Juliet. And lord Capulet
in return said that he would raise another statue to Romeo. So did
these poor old lords, when it was too late, strive to outgo each other
in mutual courtesies: while so deadly had been their rage and enmity
in past times, that nothing but the fearful overthrow of their
children (poor sacrifices to their quarrels and dissensions) could
remove the rooted hates and jealousies of the noble families.

HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK

(_By Charles Lamb_)

Gertrude, queen of Denmark, becoming a widow by the sudden death of
King Hamlet, in less than two months after his death married his
brother Claudius, which was noted by all people at the time for a
strange act of indiscretion, or unfeelingness, or worse: for this
Claudius did no ways resemble her late husband in the qualities of his
person or his mind, but was as contemptible in outward appearance, as
he was base and unworthy in disposition; and suspicions did not fail
to arise in the minds of some, that he had privately made away with
his brother, the late king, with the view of marrying his widow, and
ascending the throne of Denmark, to the exclusion of young Hamlet, the
son of the buried king, and lawful successor to the throne.

But upon no one did this unadvised action of the queen make such
impression as upon this young prince, who loved and venerated the
memory of his dead father almost to idolatry, and being of a nice
sense of honour, and a most exquisite practiser of propriety himself,
did sorely take to heart this unworthy conduct of his mother Gertrude:
insomuch that, between grief for his father's death and shame for
his mother's marriage, this young prince was overclouded with a d