New-York tribune., 1874-11-23

terrooation as If Horatio had changed tho subject
and were speaking Of having met some one olso
This capacity of not knowing what was compg' nos
taking things for granted. frequent trait. ana
most effective one. Thus his doubt about the gnost
real doubt and at the end OF the secGna ao; nd
was plain he really bad net made up his nina
whether the spirit he had seen might not be the devil
abusing him to damn him. This nice adherence to
nature was as powerful in its way as Meissoners
When the curtain fell on the first act the impres,,
sion on the house was 1t must be admitted, mlxeu
one Such and such point had been missed con,
planned people about me- Fechter did tins, and ana
Macrcady did that, and Mr.. Irving had done
neither He was too restless, too conversational,
he lacked force, and so on But the Pit as mean sn
said rose at him when he came out and OF his sue
cess with them there could. even thus early, Dc no
doubt. Then the stalls found him wanting in dig
nifty in his greeting to the players IN the secohu acr
the stately yet simple delivery OF the no0le zen
tences just before. with Rosencrantz and Gulden-
stern What finally CONQUERED the whP1e Hsro aoase tSS
most obstinate lover Of antique patterns and stage
routine could not but feel the advantage Of bringing
say, what do not hesitate to say of the whole per
fornance, that such acting could only nave sprthS
from original and conscientious study; Here tne
half-unconscious duplicity OF hamlet ms cha1Ge
of mood from sentence to sentence, ms
sudden alterations from the coarse pretense OF ais
like forced on him by his affected madness 70 tne
stifed love which dares not speak out except IN re-
morse-these and the myriad other meanings OF
| this incompatible scene found tor once an
actor Of SINCERITY aha mdsyce in front Of him
of whose presence he betrayed no consciousness nc
made an impression none OF them VIII ever lOrget.
dramatic violence was most of all to be dreaded;
but of violence there was nothing. Inc strengtu
and energy of 1t were far too great TO permit 50
weak thing as violence to show itself. VI the con-
vulsive activity which used to be so disagreeabe IN
Matthias and Eugene Aram recall buttwo instances
in when ne breaks LAW away }d@ dT04 }ooWnS
the Ghost and afterward when he falls into an ex-
cessive rage with GuidensteTn about playing on nun
on the rec recorders scsoo With bne1S bis was mother at
1%S eaH than redss%sd himself bis tTsatmsHf %
nor as miniatures, but solely in the minds eye and
never before so distinctly. Nor can pass without %
word of eulogy the lesson to the players wmen Io,
Ophela, and offers so striking a contrast 10 IL.
Hamlets instructions were given IN the most easy ;
and coloquiai Tayw1n 700 ont tvS What beys mean Sa
by dignity There was not much. 1t IS true OF the
ordinary theatrical kind, but the theatrical kind
The afIability of Mr. Irving did not seem to me un;
princely. though admit 1t would not have suited
the princes in buckram who stalk across the modern
aud ygor at the end of the players poisoning scene
and a point, so far as l recollect new, was made
When qpon the flight Of the no now Ssr sGc0nVic'ed
Not however, by single points or scenes should
Mr.. Irvings Hamlet be judged. He has studied the
part as whole and sought 10 penetrate the ueeper
meanings of it, and out of all possible Hamlets has
honestly tried to reproduce on the stage that one
which is the most consistent with the Hamlet OF
Shakespeare. Not, think, the Hamlet OF Goethe,
who believes Shakespeare meant to exhlblt tDe
effect of imposing great action on mind too fee
bic for its accomplishment, and whose well-known
feure of the oak planted in the china vase seems to
me more fanciful than true. Colerdge cGme nearer
to 1t when he described Hamlet as pulled hther and
thther by endless reasoning and hesltatlng, CON on
the want of it; not shrinking from action from
cowardice, but merely from that dislike to acton
which prevails among those who have world In
themselves-of which latter Colerdge was 50
striking an example to lead de Quincy to say OF
him that from tho moment an action t99k
the form of duty it became impossible
to him. So Kinglake pictures the third
Napoleon as literary man, brave in conception
conception inadequate, and the act 30 dlherent
matter from what il had appeared In contemplation
that he was longer equal to its execution This
is only Kinglake's eabOratey satr1cal way OF de-
scrbng what he considers cOwardice in Napoleon;
and of cOwardice in Hamlet there Is certainly no
trace There is still another passage IN kinglake to
the point He insists on the need OF some quality III
q General which shall, after all conflicting areu-
ments for and against fighting have been duly
weighed, incline hlm as by an irresistible bent OF
! disposition to the battle-for so co0ent are the
reasons against fighting any possible Dattie that
only under this Overmastering influence is an attack
ever resolved on. Hamlet would have postponed IL
indefinitely. In him the rejecting selfexamining.
intellectual qualities have got the upper hand lie
is the man who does not act because he sees two
sides 80 cearly-the reasons for not acting and the
reasons for acting balance. This. think, Is what
Mr. Irving has tried to express and this 1t Is repre-
sented to excess, as well as his own temperament,
which gives to his Hamlet the hdGetlng quality
which mars its excellence. But it is, as whole a
studious and scholarly performance thOughtfnl even
where wrong, and pervaded with rare lnteln-
gence. d'"'e'