removed, presents to us the recital of events, sullied by treachery, mingled with the basest tyranny (13), and it forms no small matter of regret, when we reflect that the poet himself, as a dramatic writer, was brought within the circle of this vitiated atmosphere:- amidst the uncontrollable circumstances which, no doubt, governed the career of Shakspere, it is however, lamentable to think, that a name whose genius has illumined and edified the human race, should be found among the host of those parasites, who meanly flattered the insatiable vanity of the dissembling and heartless Elizabeth (14). As we advance in the play, the events assume a deep interest: -under the torture of a guilty conscience, the king becomes greatly alarmed at the wild demeanor of Hamlet's conduct;Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are employed to find out the cause of his malady, and the interview with these courtiers is drawn with great advantage to Hamlet's character; free from that resentment which might naturally ensue, in holding converse with false and pretended friends, we find in the deportment of the prince, an air of affability, denoting the amiable feelings of his disposition, whilst his observations, dictated more by sorrow than of anger, convey some just reflections upon the unsubstantial qualities of ambition. The remarks made by Hamlet, give Rosencrantz an opportunity of alluding to "the tragedians of the city," whom as the courtier says, he had met on the way to offer their services to the prince. The dialogue which takes place has furnished much scope for the commentators; and what falls from Hamlet, besides alluding to the prevailing fashions and manners of Elizabeth's reign, give a tolerable accurate idea of the state of the stage, showing that the acting drama at this period was in a very low condition. An author of some note, when descanting upon this scene, very justly observes, that the plays of Shakspere, by their own power, must have given a different turn to acting, and almost new-created the performers of his age;-mysteries, moralities, and interludes, afforded no materials for art to work on ;-no discriminations of character or varieties of appropriated lan guage. From tragedies, like "Cambyses,' "Tamburlaine," and "Jeronymo," nature was wholly banished, and the comedies of "Gammor Gurton," "Comon Condycyons," and the "Old Wives' Tale," might have had justice done to them by the lowest order of human beings." Conscious of the superior power, which led Shakespere to a pinnacle of eminence, beyond all his cotemporaries, in the interview of Hamlet with the players, the poet here unfolds those excellent lessons of advice which tell the actor not to "o'erstep the modesty of nature," "but to show virtue her own feature, scorn her own image, and the very age and body of the time his form and pressure." The conference with the players leads Hamlet to the suggestion of getting up a play, resembling the murder of his father, to be performed before the king and court; for notwithstanding the solemn mandate of the ghost of his murdered parent, we see him struggling under great anguish, at the thought of being destined to fulfil this deed of revenge. In a soliloquy abounding in bitter and severe language, against the perfidy and treachery of his uncle, he concludes with these words: The spirit, that I have seen, May be a devil; and the devil hath power To assume a pleasing shape; yea, and perhaps, More relative than this: The play's the thing, Wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king. Claudius and his consort Gertrude, becoming greatly dismayed by what is termed the turbulent and dangerous lunacy of Hamlet, they contrive with the old courtier, Polonius, to place Ophelia in the way of meeting with him, in the hope that "her good beauties may be the happy cause of Hamlet's wildness." The king and Polonius retire to witness the interview; Ham let enters, but before seeing Ophelia he repeats the famous soliloquy, "To be, or not be," which is so generally well known, and has so often engaged the attention of criticsim, as to render comment almost superfluous (15); characterized as it is, however, with a bold conception of thought, surpassing in energy and beauty all the meditations that man ever conceived, regarding the adverse concerns of human life, it may nevertheless, here admit of some observation, though a critic of the last century observes, when adverting to the remarkable sentiments which Hamlet advances, "that the subject is a hazardons one, and therefore had better not be meddled with :"-but the pen of the immortal bard having touched a theme, upon which the opinions of mankind are still at variance, it will perhaps be doing injustice to the genius of the poet to pass it over altogether in silence, presenting as it does the mournful picture of the amiable and accomplished Hamlet, seeking relief from the ills of life, by fostering in his mind, the sad and dreary contemplations of self-destruction. The subject of suicide has in all ages embraced the attention of philosophy; among the sages of ancient Greece, we find Pythagoras, Plato and Socrates objecting to it; the latter offering, however, a palliation in its behalf, only on the plea that he was already doomed by the bigotry of the Athenians to lose his life;-in ancient Rome it had its advocates with philosophers such as Pliny the naturalist, and Seneca the poet, but with the Greeks and Romans the act of self-murder was never considered as the evidence either of insanity or cowardice :-the legislation of modern times, however, has ranked it as a great moral crime, notwithstanding we meet with very different views in the writings of Hume, Gibbon, Montaigne and Montesquieu, authors whose speculations on this subject being confined only to a small portion of the community, the influence of their opinions never extends deeply into the ramifications of society, and consequently can have little share in acting upon the feelings and passions of the great bulk of mankind;-causes, independently of all that philosophers have written, are silently operating, which render this deed more prevalent in our day, than was ever known at any former period, for amidst all the attainments of intellect, which mark the present age, the devastation which the withering hand of suicide is yearly producing, presents so frightful a calendar, as to lead every reflecting mind to proclaim, that "there is something rotten in the state of Denmark (16). In Rome suicide was generally confined to great public men, who, like Cato, Brutus and Mark Antony, amidst the reverses of fortune, sought repose in the dull stream of oblivion; in modern times, however, it extends in this country through all ranks, from the peasant to the peer; some on the one hand yielding to "the pangs of despised love," whilst others exposed to the rude and "pitiless storms" of adversity, terminate their existence in spite of all the terrors held out to them, by the mandates of religion. In the records of suicide some instances, nevertheless may be found where the act is committed under all the feelings of mature deliberation (17);—it is amidst this state of mind, free from the furor brevis of the ancients, that we behold Hamlet meditating a voluntary death, and contemplating the deed, as "an enterprise of great pith and moment," a circumstance which may lead us to rank the name of Shakspere, among those, who have considered suicide not always the action either of a coward or a madman:-amongst those authors who have made this subject an object of their attention, Dr. Spurzheim and Madam de Stael stand conspicuous, the first of whom has endeavoured to show that whilst the remote causes, for the most part arise from feelings connected with despondency, the proximate cause can be traced, by post mortem examination, to diseased structure of the Cerebellum, giving rise to that morbid sensibility, which not unfrequently leads to the fatal issue. fluenced by these views, much might be said regarding the questionable, and often cruel policy, of visiting with digrace the corpse of the self-murderer; a practice traceable to the ignorance of former days, but to elude the vengeance of which, a more enlightened period endeavours to avert, by throwing the mantle of insanity over the unfortunate victim; a mode of pro In cedure however not consonant with justice, and would be entirely set aside, were our laws framed in conformity, with the spirit and intelligence of the age, (18). Some writers, guided probably by an honest zeal, to promote the interests and well-being of society, in terms which in a fervent degree denote their abhorrence of a voluntary death, have decreed upon its victims a fate in a future state, too dreadful for humanity to contemplate, Unheard-of tortures Must be reserv'd for such: these herd together; The common damn'd shun their society, And look upon themselves as fiends less foul. Such is the language ef Blair, the author of that eloquent and impressive poem, "The Grave," but in which, upon this subject, a feeling is displayed not altogether in accordance with the heavenly attributes of mercy ;-the lines "On the Grave of a Suicide," by the illustrious Thomas Campbell, breathe however, a spirit of pure and gentle benevolence; they teem with pathos and beauty, and should convey a lesson to those, who have never felt deeply the contending passions, that, amidst the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune," too often invade the human heart. By strangers left upon a lonely shore, Unknown, unhonor'd, was the friendless dead; For child to weep, or widow to deplore, There never came to his unburied head; All from his dreary habitation fled,— For spirits of the dead at night's enchanted hour. |