"Yes, by Saint Patrick, but there is, Horatio, / And much offense, too. Touching this vision here, / It is an honest ghost-that let me tell you. / For your desire to know what is between us, / O'ermaster 't as you may" (Shakespeare 1.5.152-156).
Hamlet has heard from his father's ghost that the old king was poisoned by his brother, Claudius. The ghost has also told Hamlet that he wants his son to kill Claudius and avenge King Hamlet's death. After the ghost departs, Horatio and Marcellus appear and asks what has happened. Hamlet does not reveal anything, except that he believes that the ghost has told him the truth. Hamlet believes the ghost because it is his father, who Hamlet loved very much, and given (what seems like) his strained relationship with Claudius, he believes Claudius could do something like that. Hamlet does not tell his friends what he has learned because he fears that the two of them could spread the word that Claudius murdered King Hamlet. If that were to happen, Denmark would be thrown into a state of chaos, and with a battle over land impending, chaos in Denmark would cause the country to lose the land. Hamlet keeps the information to himself as he vows to avenge his father's death.
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