The River Falls journal. (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1857-1861, 1860-02-22
Original
II A Nj I.
Extract from Paper read Before the
FRANKLIN CLUB" Feb. s,
1860.

that to Shakespeare is justly attributable
the deterioration of the modern drama.
Shakespeare so far transcribed the genius
of modern writers so greatly excelled
them in soaring to the sublime heights
of Passion and Poetry, which he had at
tanned in his immortal dramas, that
they universally accord to him the palm,
and instead of taking up the pen to wage,
though perhaps an unsuccessful rivalry,
they are content to act as servie imta-
tors. a
But this idea, it would seem, like many
other of Poe's strange whims, has no ba-
sis in truth. 1t was like saving that the
pure and exalted character of Christ pre-
vents men. in degree, from becoming
holy in their lives; knowing that they
never could attain to T. at holiness of char
acter and beauty of life, which he pre-
sented TO the world. Shakspears's mod
els have Impaired yiyacity aud sweetness
to much composition which would other
wiss have been dry and spiritless 1t
must be true, think, that the writers of
TO-DAY DO much better than they could
have done, had Shaks paare never breath
g! lis thoughts upon the living page
and the poets could never have sung so
sweet had not the Immortal Bard" struck
his harp, waiting melodious music down
the centuries.
Shakespeare may be said, in one sense,
to be al incubus on the genius of mod
ern writers, for all Of their writings fall
so far short OF his compositions that they
are dwarGed and underrated by the com
parson. Ofall the forms in which hui
man genius has embodied its conceptions
there is none in which excellence mas been
SO attained as in HAMLET, and to the
contemplation Of his greatness let us
tnrn.
Tho character of Hamlet serves to
teach the world one great, aud frequent
ly misunderstood lesson--that great gen
iusess have great hearts, and accordingly
as man thinks, he suffers or enjoys,
iloyes or hates. How strikinoly is this
illustrated in Hamlet's love for his father,
when he says to his mother,
Seems. madam nay it is, know not
seems"
And again: 81
"But have that within which passeth show,
These but the trappings and the suits of Woe"
Insincerity was no element cf Hamlet's
character. With what pain he beholds
the marriage of the Queen, his mother,
follow so hard upon the death of his faith
err, that
1.-THE funeral baked meats .v-
Did coldly furnish forth the marriage tables"
How he, seems to almost utterly des-
pair of happiness, in view Of his mother
proving untrue to tho memory of his
father, which Hamlet so fondly cherish
ed, and with what deep-wrought agony
be cries: ....,.,.
-"That it should come to this !
But two months dead nay, not SO much, not
twol
And thus, a dreamy youth, ever wan
dering on tho gloomy shore of suicide,
troubled with strange, melancholy con-
sciousness of his inability to make thing
of life out Of his world of ideals and fan
cies-tortured with the unreslized dreams
and philosophic thoughts which continu-
ally thropged upon him-how with great
floods of misery drowning out his soul,
LIE exclaims in the eloquent bitterness OF
despair:
Glow weary, stale, flat and Improbable
Seem to me all the uses of this world =
In Hamlet, we have youth of high
elevation of thought, of most exquisite
sensibility to virtue and vice, an extreme
gentleness of spirit and sweetness of dis
position, chained to a lifelong sorrow
stung in his tendsrest affections, and drlv-
en- to seek righteous rcvengafor the muir
der of his father,
-"Murder most foul strange and. unnat-
ural p
"Prescntiments are strange things" II
is said, and they make q mystery to which
humanity has never found the key. And
Hamlet, with his brilliant and cultivated
taIents-born to inherit throne-wth
the most vivid and vigorous imagination,
with an intuitiye knowledge OF mank q