not know; but after an interval of twenty years the identical stone reappeared in front of a large Roman Catholic chapel lately erected near St. Audoen's Church. It remained there, a conspicuous and well-remembered object, near the donation-box, which it perhaps assisted; but about six months ago it again disappeared, having been removed, I know not where. R. T. ON A PASSAGE IN HAMLET, ACT I. SC. 4. (Vol. v., p. 169.) Theobald long since observed-- "I do not remember a passage throughout our poet's works more intricate and depraved in the text, of less meaning to outward appearance, or more likely to baffle the attempt of criticism in its aid." He then proposes his reading: "The dram of _base_ Doth all the noble substance of _worth out_ To his own scandal;" observing that "the dram of base" means the _alloy_ of baseness or vice, and that it is frequent with our poet to use the _adjective of quality_ instead of the substantive signifying the thing. It would be tedious to enumerate all the hapless attempts at emendation which have been subsequently made, but I must be allowed to refer to that adopted by MR. SINGER as long since as the year 1826, when he vindicated the original reading, _doubt_, from the unnecessary meddling of Steevens and Malone. MR. SINGER thus printed the passage: "The dram of _bale_ Doth all the noble substance _often_ doubt, To his own scandal." _Bale_ was most probably preferred to _base_ as more euphonous, and nearer to the word _eale_ in the _first_ quarto; but MR. S. would now perhaps adopt _base_, as suggested by the word _ease_, in the _second_ quarto, for the reasons given by Theobald and your correspondent A. E. B. It is evident that _dout_ cannot have been the poet's word, for, as your correspondent remarks, the meaning is obviously, that "the dram of base" renders all the noble substance doubtful or suspicious, not that it extinguishes it altogether. This will appear from what precedes: "Or by some habit that too much _o'erleavens_ The form of plausive manners," &c. Under present impressions, therefore, I should prefer, as the least deviation from the old copies, to read: "The dram of _base_ Doth, all the noble substance _o'er_, a doubt, To his own scandal:" i.e. _doth cast a doubt over_ all the noble substance, _bring into suspect_ all the noble qualities by the leaven of one dram of baseness. This, according to your correspondent's own showing, is the very sense required by the context, "the base _doth_ doubt to the noble, i.e. _imparts_ doubt to it, or renders it doubtful." And when we recollect the frequent use of the elision _o'er_ for _over_ by the poet, and the ease with which _of_ might be substituted for it by the compositor, I cannot but think it conclusive. To me the proposed reading, "_offer_ doubt," does not convey a meaning quite so clear and unequivocal.