The Sun.
London, England, 1805-03-19 00:00:00

LETTER H.

SIR,

tormer.Lettcr I observed .upon those.gefre.
ral and. lubtantial.,drfeas .tinde; which lite .6 !y,
nick named Rascius, conle6sedly labouis; but a Isis
adMirers are pleased to-assert, that in the•detti;is Of
his afting he triumphs over those personal and men-
tal incapacities; that•lte strikecus Wind to his short.
Ness .of stature, and vacancy of face ; and that he
deafens us to the unskilful. whine of his voice, and
schoolboy incorretiness of his 'emphasis ; shall,
for the present, not insist on my grgera/, and (I
think). unanswerable objelions, but shall follow
him and his " fatitores ineltob' sentence by .sen-
tence, through, the particulars of one of his:Most
admired charatteri—lierm/er.

I shall not be. accused of, unfairness in scleeling
this part as the test of the Boy's merit, when it is
recollecled, that a Morning Paper,- deeply in 'his
interests, has informed .the Public, ,that " it °is in
Hamlet, of,all his charalers, th.at Roscius mast ap.
pears a.rwondeveutcreature.". It is, however, in
this that he appears to me inure than usually faulty
and ridiculous. His first words in this Play arc
very remarkable for that mixture of pun and pathos
in which Sit AKSPEARE so much delighted—

" A little more than kin, and less than Rind."

This the' Boy did not seem at all to understand, and
those words, to which GARRICK gave, and Mr.
KEMBLI still gives, to much pignancy of. sorrow
. and of sarcasm, were uttered without. feeling, and
heard without effe4. •
The celebrated soliloquy- .
" Oh that this too, too solid flesh would melt," &c.
The solemn and,deeply a wful 're/Jr-communications of
a wounded ;out; which being at first only.allliaed,
warms at last into indignation, the B sy spoke from
the outset with the tones and action of a person rant-
ing a Prologpe ; every syllable of it was diteded
to the audience, not to hintielf. At
" Thaw and resolve itselfinto a dev?,"
he waved his hands over his head, apparently to
excite the idea of a fall of dew ; and when he Came
to

" Or that the Everlasting, had not fixed
• " His canon 'gainst,scif.slaugtiter,"
he first lifted his kinds . to heaven, to explain that
the lieverlaitine
,rpeand Gob, and then he clap.
yeti Them leifilaiiibier7) on the hilt ,of his
sword, that there might be no. mistake as to die
t%eapoii 'he would" the on such an ociigion; and
through the remainder. of the .Speech. be: ran (wiik
the exception of: the wordi 41 oh God,- oh God
which he uttered and ivell) in the utmost.
vioiet-ice of and inanity of expression,

" Thrift, thrift, HoratiO
be spoke 'ieriiusly, and riot with ihat accent of
ironical 'eXphinatruil which SHAKSI' EAR E intender).
When he was told of.ths appaiitinn of his father's
.spirit, he looked indeed rather surprised; but suf.
Ipriseohongh the emotion most easily represented
by, a child,' is nor chat whieh.SHANSP EAR It meant,
or w.icir Mr. IC& ht eiCeregsS ; deep amazemezt,
anci anxious
,wonder, are the feelinp of
,Hamlet, and
differ 40 much Item 13s TTY'S surprise as the grow rd.
nest of an infant does.trOrn the anger of,a man.
" His start"lsays-oneof his a4ttiirers) 44 at the
appearapae of the.Ohnst . was without any .sign of
premeditation." This is not truet-;,..it had roost or..
Pensive signs of premeditation ; for .though Hamlet
has just cornplained of the. extvrne tothress Of the
r4ght.air, the Buy, long Infirm the spectre enters,
takes oil" his Cap,, andlurlOs it in his hand, ready to
fling it aside at "Angels and Ministers."

Bente we coltea, with no .g'nt stretch of Art,
That threw lints hence:—a 4.;hot—and Ha —a start.

'' first great display of genius and skiil,7
says a IVlornitf t° was the sinking (f the
knee and die tone of tenderness with which he ac.
companied the word .64 father" in these lines—

" Be thou a Spirit of Health oa Vamxrd,
" tsring witltthee airsltorii ficaitek'or 6/a.ro- from ;
4' Re thy intents wicked, us 9hAritabic,
" Thou comeat in "such a yoelti.mq4le shape •
" That I will speak to theezl'il call thee Hamlet,.
" King, Ember, Royal bane."—;-- •
The Buy's expression was here, I ()win, loudly
applauded, and yet I think it a gross and urrvatural
mistake : If one ktieeli at all. at seeing a Ghost, it
should. be at his first 'appearatice, 'and 'not when you
are as it were on. a boavinz acquaintance with him ;
And if one ;is to 14e so affet,ted at tne sight °la father's
spirit, why should it not heat the 'first sight. ?
' Why nor at uttering his 'lathe s' Hamlet," or -his
title A.7v.p Why only at the dissyllable "father?"
Does one love his lather better when otters
"Bather" than when • he utters his father's name
This ridiculous distinction reminds me of that
o 1 the Governor of . Tilbury Fort; in, " The
Critic,"—" TheFneher rolents, but the Goittern*r is
fixed." But what, hart: kneeling or tenderness to do
here ? Hamlet is expressing no tenderness, on thtt
'eitintrary, he is racked with doubts .ntl apprehensisnr;
'he *flocs not.4elieve, that he is addressing. his father ;.
he fears he is conversing with an Evil .Spirit.; his
.emotions are those of curiosity and terr.sr, and' in
the midst of thiS solemn conflict of the mind a
"little Eyate" drUps doWn upon 'his knees, falls-
crying, antishaY;es off,all terror, dissipates all doubt,
strips'the • spectre of his visitinary .charaeter;
divests the moment of all interest, anti this. truly
because•he happens to meet the word "'father" in
the coarse of his speech. Let us for a 'moment sup-
pose it possible that Mr.,KEMBIA should be guilty
of such ,ou/illg childish/ err, would eveu his great
Hartle and general merit save him from the hisses of
the audience 1 Again—.when -Hamlet " waxes
deiperate with. imagination ;" " when his fate cries*
out," • .

And every petty artery of his body
Is banfy t the NeiMan lion's nerve ;" • .
when he so violently bursts from his friends to
follow the Ghost, how does the Barconduet
self ? Why, most prudently and cautiously--he tith
his steps over the stage, and miving his head and
writhing his body, he seems to mimic the gait of the
Ghost which he pretends .to follow ; and poor 110.
ratio, after having been almost knoel“d down for
attempting to hold Lim,. is obliged to, wait till tlse
Buy has crept off the Stage, to descant on the im-
petuosity of his exit.
'1 Oh my prophetic $ Jul ! my Uncle I" he pro.
ntinneed interrogatively- Olt my propPietie Soul ?
my Uncle 1" And thus this emphatic and indignant

iligelostire' of former 101vicionl, n•yi- t•zrocd into
certainty, which ,clears up Hamlet's d
lormlr, an
influences'his futu•r:.! condu,[l, is frittered away int()
a tame and untneanil!g 11.
Before_ the Ghat b:!.*;) descend Hamlet was
again down upon his kncr, dot ift.4ly p:epared for hit,
depArtore--Wily ? How should Elam:
let know bow, or whe,4, wixre, the Spirit is to
vanish? Weld it not more n)turai 'that he should
express some slight wonder at ill:, si!thien disappear_
sine; as well as at the nnexpeEted Apparition ? ,i3ut
the truth is, that flair, has not been generally done
even by the.best Players, and the B.sy, though he
fails in his imitation of the ex-edit:rice of others,
has never, that I have- observed, attempted to sup.
ply _their omissions.

For the present I rm.3st conch! te with 'thanking
yOU, Mr. EDITOR, for your indt!%;,mte to my
former very hanty Le!.ter, and with entreating a
like fmiourable reception for this, which, perhaps,
needs it mote, thou9tl it inay deserve it less.
I have the 'honour to be,
Your obedient Servant,

H. H.

Drurriane Theatre *as again -filled lest night,
from the attradion of Master BurTr's fiardet.
Mr. Stittatomst very kindly offered to read the
charaaer. of Ilarnht with little BE.T:ry before be
performed. that charaoer, but the offer was declined
.by his friends, lest whatever merit he might db.,.
play might be attributed to, Mr. SIiPWIDAN. It is
very evident, .however, froth his.peiforrnance, that
such a tutor would have done him Ea" harm.
The Play of Forty Thieves is certainly to be
brought forward this season,at Drury.lane Theatre.
If the Piece 'be not an original work from Mr.
FIERIDAN'S pen; he.hjs at, least done as much for
it as he did for Pizarro. It is to be brought for.
ward with great show and magoificenee.
The Oxford Concerts commence this evening—
MORELLI, Mrs. IVIouNTAtiq, and Mrs. BLAND,
art engfiged to supporettle vocal. department.
Mr. CAPON, a very ingenious artist, has formed
a model of a new :Theatre invented by himself, by
which the voice of the Performers may he rendered
much mote audible than .it is upon the present con_
titration of Theatres. By: this 'new invention the
.space Of the Stage can be butldenly contracted, and
when the scene reritriressa closet or small !nom, it
may be at once obtained to heighten the probibility
of the passing.events. If Mr. CAroti. has been
as successful --in this invention as he has always
been in the scenery produced by his' pencil, the M 4...
nagers will find it worth their attention.
The Instaltation of. the Knights of the Garter,
for which the most extensive preparations are now
making, will take place at Windsig on'the 23dof
April.

Houses are now letting in 'jlinii3Or for the m/idr.
rate price offijiv.g4itiras, for it V iew of. the approach.
log inatalhitiou

. .
'• 1t is said, thatlord PERCY intends to beeathe a
Candidate fo'r.Middlesex, in ease of a vacancy._
The heir of such a noble house', whatever his. Pori..
tics may be, would, no doubt, he tespetied by the
)Freeholders ; and whateVer might be the issue,
would at least rend to relieve the County from the
. tttrbulsnee;.- confusion, and diigrace of a yaco4in
rabble. .-The public Prints, however, state, that
his Lordship, in point of age, is already in a Par-
liamenta ty minority.
If. Mr* SMITH, the Member fn. Norwich, was
sufficiently apprized ot7the talents and character of
Mr. Avo.erHus, upon whose evidence, relative to
the-Middlesx Eldtiun, helately, animadverted, we
are persuaded that the it onaurAble Member would
have mentioned that Ge.ntletn.in with more respel,
'Mr.Ancarstus has diiplityed literary powers and
an enlightened- rnim.i,.as well U 3 sound political p in-
,ciples, in historical and • other works, highly re..
dirabte to.the Engliih -Press. He is, we onderstai id,
preparing for, the
,l..iar, of which, we confi.lently p(re-
ditt, tht tie will , incutrie a dibtinzuished wild-
mien t. - • , . . .

It is supposed tltat C'aptiin stt.r.rr, of Z'hiclr-
rupti‘de French.,F,rigare, who took part cif the Me-
diterrancan Convoy, was a Prisoner. in Edinburgh
Casire in March 8,31. He is n 'stout Man, snit
very well irtformed. While 'here,''he said he had
been a Srcrecary to M, Qua. •
IitINAYARTir, it
.is to surrender.' all
the Irish Emigrants ..to-the English 'Government,
:provided we, would deliver. up Ilte'Botra B 'NS and
other distinguis4ed.-Ficnelt Emigrants. The
rsiOan Usurper is doubtless C 4 alde ~ of every att of
treachery, 'as well its of cruelty,. but he'should kno4
better than'to insult the Governtnent of this Country.
by soiniquitops a proposal—a. proposnl which it
would be impossible to grant Otitlinut n dereii.ttion
of every. feeling told prineiple honourable to human
nature,.and Which could Only, if possible, increase
the infamy of 'his awn charancr.
'Tile corpse it MEHEDtit ALLY KHAN, .wfi
died at Bombay, was embarked by Governor Dtrne.
CAN, in the Brig Creek, for interment at Abushite.
Thisvessel wjs unfortunately captured in the Per-
sian Guiph by I.'a Fortuntt,Frivire, Captain Le
IVI emit, who, in return for the civilities shewn him
whets # Prisoner at Bombay last war by Mr. Dust.
CAN, threw. the corpse of his deceased friend over.
board. , •

Government, with a view to obtain popper for
the Navy at a lower price than it now sells at, is
about to purchase in several of the Ccirnisli
The Poitrnasters-GenerAl have contraocd
bring the Mail. Coach f►otn Newmarket through
Bury and Thetford, in itS Way Jo and from Nor.
wick; which will eurnmence. on the 6th of April
next.

One day.lalt week, a gnat, the prcv..rty of a per.
ion at Etighion, yeaned three kid,, one of which
exhibited a very cutiour phimourtrznon in nature,
having its eyes completely formed in one orbit, in
the centre of its upper jaw. The brad, in other
respects, was as in comnion, except having no frontal
bone, but which was discoverable only by the touch%
This peculiar animal lived some hours, during winch
time its eyes were remarkably vivit!, ..ind wonder.
ful in their appearance. A processionA Gentleman
at Lewes bas the head preserved in spirits.
M.attiedg at St. Mary. Aldermary, Imn:100,
t,q. of Cloak-lane, to Mis,i
HnsiLer, Darer of the late Mr. WIL.LIANI
H AILTLEYO warsl. street,
_Soho..