with the deepest feelings of our nature, the mysterious mazes of our minds, as discovered in circumstances of overwhelming calamity; when reason trembles on the verge of madness, and melancholy darkens to despair! In no other tragedy is Shakspeare so meditative, so metaphysical, so spiritual, so religious. Less brilliant in action than Macbeth; less thrilling in passion than Lear,-Hamlet is more profound in thought, more eloquent in language, than all. It is signalized by immense power of mind and utterance; it certainly stands among the most perfect, if not itself the most perfect, of Shakspeare's compositions. Its high-wrought excellence, is the more remarkable, as it is classed among the earliest of his dramatic works, and appears to have been produced soon after he had attained his thirtieth year, not less than twenty years before his somewhat early death. Steevens discovered an autograph of Dr. Gabriel Harvey, in his copy of Chaucer, dated 1598, (when Shakspeare was 34,) mentioning the tragedy of Hamlet, as then already well known, and greatly admired by the "wiser sort." It was not, however, printed until 1603. Coleridge, judging by internal evidence alone, places Hamlet among the four latest productions of Shakspeare.

Hamlet himself may be regarded as one of the most original, ingenious, and profoundly interesting, of Shakspeare's manly characters a bright conception, which, embodied in "answerable style," does the highest honour to his genius and his heart. The character of Hamlet, on account of its complexity, and its contrarieties, has been commonly represented as somewhat mysterious and inexplicable. Such it is; such is every original, imaginative, and elevated mind. On this account it is, that Hamlet, and every similarly-gifted spirit, must ever be preeminently interesting. Shakspeare has probably breathed more of himself into his Hamlet than into any other of his dramatic persons a cast of mind, at once philosophic and poetic; at once serious and mirthful; at once affectionate and brave; at once acutely observant of others, and profoundly reflective on self; instinct with noble sentiments, solemn convictions, immortal expectations.

Shakspeare in general, appears, as he was felicitously called by Coleridge, in the Lecture to which I have adverted, "a myriad-minded man :" he seems to forget himself, to merge his own individuality, in the varied characters of universal humanity a perfect antithesis to Byron, who evidently remembers and reflects himself in all his poetic heroes. It may be, that, in the thoughtful Prince of Denmark, we overhear more of Shakspeare's inner man, his secret and serious cogitations and impressions, than in any other instance of his manifold creations.

Hamlet has by many been supposed mad: this I must suppose a mad supposition, contradicted by his own words, where, speaking in confidence to his friend Horatio, he says

"How strange or odd soe'er I bear myself;

As I perchance, hereafter shall think meet

To put an antick disposition on."

Act I., Scene 5.

And again, where, in his remonstrance with his mother, the Queen, he remarks

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Let not the bloated king

Make you to ravel all this matter out,

That I, essentially, am not in madness,
But mad in craft."

Act III., Scene 4.

"Hamlet, (as Schlegel observes,) acts the part of madness with inimitable superiority." In order to account for his behaviour, we must bear in mind, beside his artful assumption of strangeness, the strange and awful circumstances under which he comes before us, from his first appearance in the opening scene; than which there is not another so solemnly impressive in all the tragedies of Shakspeare. It is a scene worthy to have been selected by himself, as the only one (excepting Adam, in "As You Like It,") which he honoured with his presence as When was there ever such a spectacle on the stage, as the kingly ghost so personified? Who beside could so powerfully represent the majestic and unearthly visitor?

an actor.

But what a strangeness of soul,-what a sickness and deadness to the world, must have been left upon the mind of the noble-hearted Prince, by the vision and audience of his murdered father's apparition! In Hamlet we behold a being, rich in ideal wisdom,-deficient in active energy; haunted by the sense of guilt, in his own non-performance of what he deemed a sacred duty, to which he had been summoned by a voice from the dead; blighted in his prospect of life; disappointed in his love; restrained from self-destruction, only by his conscience; made the more unhappy by his "large discourse, looking before and after," his "capability and godlike reason"-by the contrast of his lofty apprehensions and aspirations, with his remorseful feelings, and disconsolate circumstances; the contrast of musings bright and warm, with actions faint and cold! -a character too often realized, too easily found ;-an example which illustrates the wretchedness of those, who in the midst of glorious contemplations, bring nothing to effect! Viewed in this aspect, Hamlet may read an important and instructive lecture to us all. 66 Hamlet," as Coleridge observes, "brave as he is, vacillates from sensibility, procrastinates from overthought, and loses the power of action, in the energy of resolve." Those who would study the character of Hamlet, may be referred to the simple and beautiful analysis given by Coleridge, in his "Literary Remains;" to the ingenious observations of Goëthe, in his eccentric story of "Wilhelm Meister;" and to those of Schlegel: all amusingly varying from each other, and all contributing to compose the complete exposition of the mystery. None of these had I seen when I penned the preceding remarks. It is a striking proof of the marvellous depth of Shakspeare's inspired and intuitive mind, as well as of the singular excellence of this Tragedy, that these metaphysical analysts have exerted all their acumen on the decomposition of Hamlet's equally intricate and interesting, equally strange and just character;-which itself presents a fine illustration of those wise words of his own:

"There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dream'd of in your philosphy."

Goëthe thus comments :-" When the ghost has vanished, Hamlet utters the expressive ejaculation :

"The time is out of joint: O cursed spite,

That ever I was born to set it right!"

in which words, I imagine (says Goëthe) may be found the key to Hamlet's whole procedure. To me, (he adds) it is clear that Shakspeare meant, in this instance, to represent the effects of a great action laid upon a soul unfit for its performance. In a costly jar, that should have borne only pleasant flowers in its bosom, there is an oak tree planted: the roots expand, the jar is shivered. A lovely, pure, and noble nature, without the strength of nerve that forms a hero, sinks beneath a burden which it cannot bear, and must not cast away. All duties are holy to him: the present is too hard. He winds, and turns, and torments himself: he advances and recoils: he is ever put in mind, ever puts himself in mind: at last, does all but lose his purpose from his thoughts, yet without recovering his peace of mind."

Coleridge has these fine remarks:-"One of Shakspeare's modes of creating characters, is to conceive any one intellectual or moral faculty in morbid deficiency or excess, and then to place it, thus mutilated or diseased, under given circumstances. In Hamlet, he seems to have wished to exemplify the moral necessity of a due balance between our attention to the objects of our senses, and our meditation on the workings of our minds. In Hamlet, this balance is disturbed: we see a great, an almost enormous intellectual activity, and a proportionate aversion to real action consequent upon it, with all its symptoms and accompaniments. This character Shakspeare places in circumstances, under which it is obliged to act on the spur of the moment. The effect of this over-balance of the imaginative power, is beautifully illustrated in the everlasting broodings, and superfluous activities of Hamlet's mind, which, unseated from its healthy condition, is constantly occupied with the world within, and abstracted from the world without,

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giving substance to shadows, and throwing a mist over all common-place realities."

"Hamlet," says Schlegel, " is single in its kind; a tragedy of thought, inspired by continual and never-satisfied meditation on human destiny, and the dark perplexity of the events of this world. Much has been said, much written, on this enigmatical work; and yet no thinker, who anew expresses himself on it, will entirely coincide with his predecessors, in his view of the connection and signification of all the parts. It may well astonish us, that with such hidden purposes,-with a foundation, laid on such unfathomable depth, the whole should, at a first view, exhibit an extremely popular appearance."

In a series of matchless soliloquies, we hear Hamlet still reproaching himself with his guilty coldness and delay; still goading his spirit to discharge the debt of vengeance due to his poor father's demanding spirit ;-and still in vain!-presenting thus a striking picture of one who lives and dies in a succession of vain repentances, and fruitless resolutions.

These soliloquies, of which there are five, disposed at intervals amidst the ordinary dialogue, like stars of superior magnitude and splendour, deserve our especial attention; both as in themselves pre-eminently fine; and also as finely developing the deep and yet ineffective character of Hamlet. With these soliloquies, as illustrations of Shakspeare's moral wisdom and eloquence, I close these Remarks.

In the first soliloquy, the Prince, who has just retired from his heart-sickening conference with his guilty mother, and her unlawful husband, pours out the anguish of his perplexed mind the mystery of his father's death being not as yet revealed :

"O that this too, too solid flesh would melt!" &c.

Act I., Scene 2.

Soon after this, Hamlet holds his soul-harrowing conference with the night-walking spirit of his father; on whose departure, with the words, "Adieu, remember me!" he thus breathes