The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1858-07-13 00:00:00

"Thu doe rn* 3 omnri, of to all ;
. . .

Is deans(' o'er with the pale oast of thought,
And entorprlsos of greet pith and moment.
With thls regard, their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action."
Mr. Maoready then read a quotation from Godthe, which
he said eloquently expressed hie own views of Hamlet's
disposition and character. After showing that however
earnest the words of the young Prime at the time of his
rencontre with the ghost, anti though repitindletl by the
second appearance of the visitor from another world,
Hamlet could not perform the one dyed needful for
the acoomplislunent of his design of revenge till accident
well nigh eon mutilated it for him, the Gorman poet went
on—an oak tree %MI planted ins cryotaljer which should
have borne only pleasant flowers in its hosoin ; the
roots expanded, the jar wee altatterod. The lovely,
puro, noble, end most morel nature without the
strength and energy which formed a hero, which it
mild not beer, yet tenet not out away—all deeds were
diffioult to encl. For him the present is too arduous ;
impossibilitlee had been required of him, not in them
selves luiposelhllities, but such for him, Mr. Macre&ly
then °minted the notion that Shakspeere rosily Ito
tended Hamlet to be mad, adducing several illuetrationo
of the Prince's continued sanity. The Fourth and pert of
the Fifth Acts were then brilliantly epitomised, end Mr.
Meuroady coneluded his Heeding by giving the closing
sons of the play, commencing with the meeting of
Lamle' and Hemlet before the King. The richness of
incident was All Apparent to the Audience, who listened
with breathless attention to the thrilling details so poeti-
cally rendered. In allusion to tie oonsistenoy shown in
the character of Hamlet throughout, Ur. Disortmdy sa'd—
the victim of hie own seneitivencee must have been mode
of sterner stuff to have effected a different result, and
momentary impulse consummated at length what, with
due regard to oottsist*noy, the poet never could have
made, an act of premeditation fu the amiable and ins.
solute Hamlet, of whom it might literally be said that ho
In all the magninlmlty of thought
!Wolves, and re•retolsee, then—miles the /IMO.

Of the Reeding throughout we may Nay that the Nunes
Lion was strictly adhered to—the necessity on the part
of the reader to enter Into, symp&thise with, and fully
for
tstietstpleevaesrirtggitntilllvolfilue:l'llyuhwAarettiarinTatilnoelluact tire
persons speaking, without One slightest straining, yet
each utterance seemed the real offshoot of the Reader's
own mind and heart. In regard to the remarks, though
replete with experience and instruction, they were
brought forward In so unobtrusive a manner, and In lan
-
page so simple, as to make them agreeable to everyone.
Indeed, the entertainment altogether was one which
will long be remembered in this town by those who were
present an one of the most gratifying that has occurred
for a long thine past. Just before withdrawing, Mr.
Maaready said,—Ladies and gentlemen, I would only
trespass upon you for one minute—sitnply to give II
direct contradiction to • false statement and insinuation
which appeared in the Sherburne Journal in & letter
signed ' Audi Alterain Partein." That letter endea-
vours to convey the ides that I merely use the little
power I have for certain religious sects. I beg leave to
nay that if it had been no Holecopallan minister or
school which had asked me to give assistance on this oc-
casion 1 should most readily have done it, as I have
done lately on being applied to by • minister not far
from you. I think it only proper to set myself right
with you, and to assure you that cry principle
cation is the right of the many mai not the privilege
of the few. Mr. Mu:Toady then retired amid loud
applause ; indeed during the evening, at the close of
some of the icore striking declamations, the assembly
acknowledged his success by spontaneous plaudits.

The Mtvoa of the borough rose from his seat towards
the right of the bench and Bahl, the plowing duty had
been imposed upon him of begging the ansembly to re-
turn thanks to Mr. Maoready for his kindness in coming
here for the purpose of reading one of Ifiliakspeare's inays.
His worship could assure him of the great gratification
all lhad received at his hands. Many years since he (the
Mayor) had the pleasure of seeing Mr. Macready. per.
form the very character which lie had so kindly intro-
duoed to them to-night; and 'his Worship might say that
Mr. Macready had caused him greater pleasure at this
time, had afforded more insight into Shakapeare's Hamlet
than before, although then accompanied by all the
scenery and appointments of Covent Garden Theatre.
(Applause.) As to Mr. Macready's remark about his
selecting particular sects for giving Readings to such as
they had heard to-night, every one would suspect that
the letter in the Sfierborne Journal, being anonymous;
was no doubt untrue. They had, however, Mr. Mauready's
assurance as to the fact, and all well knew that his was
too high a spirit—that he was too much of a gentleman—
to select any particular denomination of Christians for
his benevolence. (Applause.) The Mayor concluded
by hoping that the assembly would join him in offering
thanks to Mr. Maoready for the delightful Reading they
had heard this evening. (Cheers.)

-
Mr. M. DEVENIgH begged to second the proposition so
kindly and rightly put. Ass member of the couirrittee
of the Dorchester British School he tendered their hearty
thanks for the benefit Mr. Macresdy had done the school,
which had been effected without the slightest expense to
the institution. Mr. Devenish concluded by expressing
the pleasure all felt in the evening's entertainment, and
only hoped Mr. Macready might live for many years
to some to witness the good effects of the disinterested
and benevolent exercise of his distinguished talente.
(Cheers.)

A misapprehension having got abroad, that Mr.
Macready received some pecuniary consideration for the
Reading he delivered, it 11 necessary to state that that
gentleman did not, and would not, receive the slightest
possible remuneration in return for his services. So
punctilious, indeed, was Mr. Macready in this respect,
that he not only paid his travelling expense,' himself,
and declined the proffered hospitality of the friends of
the school during his short stay in the town—preferring
to remain, as he expressed it, "quietly at his hotel "
but he presented a donation of two guineas to the
aohool-funds, which on this occasion were benefited, we
understand, to the extent of about £4O.

IvEtmourg.

• • -- - —•
Sr. IiCOIN'S PARSONAGE HOUSE.—WS are grad to
see that seelotts elCrts are being made in behalf of
buildings parsonage house in connection With St.
John's Church. It is intended to hpld a bazaar here
In ad of the funds in the tint week of September,
under toy distinguished patronage, contributions to
which arc to ba moo, with the cost price Axed, to
a committee of 'slim nannol in an advertisement
which appears in another coismn, before the end of
neat month. We trust that No praiseworthy and
desirable ark object will he successfully serried out,
and that the Maims of the undertaking will be
acknowledged by all,
The Weymouth Boat Club have ordered a couple
of eight•eared galleys, in anticipation of the re•
MAT' ChAjlE.,-SETIrr Roll.—On Thursday ever•
ins a race came off for the champion belt whioli haa
Just been presented to the Boat Club by W.
Symonds, Esq. The belt woe won by Atwool on
Ooronation•dsv. Mace then gave hial a challenge,
which he accepted, and another race was fixed for
Thursday, Atwool, however, aid not make bk
appearance. and Mans went round the course and
received the belt. S. Jackson then gave Itim a
challenge, which he immediately accepted, and a
spirited contest ensued, which terminated in favour
of Mug, who won by about a length.

YACHT Racn.--A splendid ran between the
Bars Avis (Captain Otway), and the Lady Bird
(Periane Lethbridge, Esq.,) tame off on Wednesday
last The distance was thirty miles ; prise thirty
guineas, The Rare Avis took the lead at starting,
and maintained it until arriving in Portland Boa&
on the third round, when the Lady Bird shot ahead
and won handsomely by thirty seven minutes. The
race excited considerable interest. The greeted
praise is due to the skilful manner in which the
yachte were managed.
Tine Disruesu BOAT RACE. —WO understand
that an answer has been received from Beira We,
relative to the disputed race between the ' Bachelore'
and ' Benedicts.' It will be remembered that the
first boat (as stated in our last,) fouled the second,
and unshipped her rudder. Hence aroace dispute
as to the eligibility of the first boat to receive the
prize. The reply from Belle Life is to the effect
that the match should be repeated I but that the
boat which fouled should be excluded from 0001•
peting again. arrangements had previously been
made for repeating the race on Thursday evening.
It is now, however, postponed until the annual
regatta.

The Cherbourgjoumale announce a yacht race for
the 16th inst., for which flfty•six yachts, it is said,
are entered. They will slut from the Isle of Wight
and run to Cherbourg. The prize will be a gold cup
given by the Emperor.

_ _
EXCURSION TO CHERBOURI3.—On Saturday week
the Weymouth and Channel Islands Steam Company
had an excursion from this port to Cherbourg. There
was a pretty numerous party. On arriving at their
destination many of them were grievously die.
appointed. The advertieementa having stated that
no "passport." would be required, a number of the
excursionists, pleased with this indulgence, omitted
to take the trouble of obtaining an apparently un•
necessary article. But on attempting to land they
were refused, and were compelled to ruturn to
Alderney.

CAUTION TO FRFACH EICURNIONISTB.—The
following letter appeared in the Express (London
paper) on Friday last, addressed to the Editor
Six,—Seeing in your paper an advertisement, stating
that an exoursson to Cherbourg and back was proposed,
and that no passport was required, I availed royeelf of
the opportumty, and in common with some fifty deheled
individuals left Weymouth for Cherbourg on Saturday
last in the Cygnus, one of the ships belonging to the
Weymouth and Channel Islands' Steam Packet Com-
pany. All went on merrily till we reached Cherbourg,
about 21 p.m. Sanguine were our anticipations of
pleasure, sumptuous were the dinners of which we were
about to partake, pleasant were the rambles we designed.
Alas! we had no sooner steamed into the quay than we
found that there was a difficulty for which we were not
prepared. Some, few passengers landed hut they were
provided with passports, the rest of us were requested
to wait a little longer. At length the unpleasant truth
dawned upon us that we were not to be allowed to land;
an order, it appears, had come from headquarters inti-
mating that such wan to be the ease. In vain was the
telegraph put to work—in vain were the most urgent
entreaties inade—in vain was substantial bail offered for
our good conduct. There we lay nearly twelve dreary
hours—a spectacle to gods and men—prisoners of war—
victims of misplaced confidence in our cordial and
magnanimous ally. All day long the crowd stared at us,
and we at them. Old yellow diligenceni rumbled into
the town and rumbled out. Workmen in blouses,
ancient females with ancient caps, inquisitive boys, and
small Zoua yes with ferretty eyes, seemed to find in the
contemplation of us a sure remedy for the ills to which
flesh is heir. The dun went down and the yellow lights
gleam from the hotels and odes, the thoughts of which
had tempted Us so far from home, and still we had to
walk the cheerless. dock. Not the vinallest courtesy was
shown to us or any ono connected with us. It was not
till late at night that our captain was allowed to go on
shore, and then not till lud had assured the authorities
that he had no libelloui papers about NM. At one on
Sunday morning we left, and in a couple of hours found
ourselves sleepy, dirty, hungry, tired, and disappointed
In the narrow streets of St. Anne's, Alderney, Let ine
add that the authorities had informed the agents of the
Cygnus that they would be allowed to land exuursioniste
without a passport, and that it was not till within a
few hours of our arrival in Cherbourg that contrary
orders had been received front headquarters, May I also
suggest that fir the future, excursionists Instead of
viaitina France, lied bettor atop at home.—l inn, Ism,
J. E. It.-14, Clifford's Inn,
Rouaidtv, —A robbery of a singular and daring
character, was perpetrated at No. 1, Gloucester Row,
on Monday morning week. The butler left the house
at a quarter past eleven, for the purpose of giving
some orders to the tradesmen, He returned at half.
peed twelve, and then found that a quantity of silver
plate, to the value of about £5O, had been stolen from
the ouplioard in the pantry. He had looked the
cupboard and placed the key with two others beneath
a shelf previous to leaving, The missing articles are,
two dozen silver forke, two &KM and a half silver
spoons, and one soap ladle, It is a retuarkeble
fact that various other silver articles, to the value of
£l2, which were lying on the same shelf with the
missing
_property were left. The police have been
oath. siert.