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 Montague; and saying that Lord Montague's hand (in
token of reconcilement) was all he demanded for his daughter's jointure:
but Lord Montague said he would give him more, for he would raise her a
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.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK

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 deep melancholy, and
lost all his mirth and all his good looks; all his customary pleasure in
books forsook him, his princely exercises and sports, proper to his
youth, were no longer acceptable; he grew weary of the world, which
seemed to him an unweeded garden, where al