richness of the packed thought thoughtfully. The
complex play of action and motive--the purpose blunted by overmuch
thinking, the spurs to dull revenge, the self-contempt, the assumed antic
disposition, at times the real mental disturbance--all this was set before
us with a fine skill and resource. The "To be or not to be" soliloquy was
masterly in its sincerity and restraint; the two broken love passages with
_Ophelia_ showed a fine tenderness through the distraught, bitter mood. An
ingenious turn was given to that difficult change of weapons in the fencing
bout, though I doubt if the Sword Club would wholly have approved the
technique of the fencing.

Miss GERTRUDE ELLIOTT'S _Ophelia_ in the Mad Scene was full of beauty,
sweetness and dignity--and we have so often been bored by our lesser
_Ophelias_. A very fine performance. Mr. HOLMAN CLARK was the foolish
prating knave, a _Polonius_ robbed of his best speech, and the more
consistent therefore. Mr. IRVING is obviously right in his view that
_Polonius_ could never by any chance have given any such advice to his
truculent son.

One may congratulate the producer on the courage of his convictions. But I
wonder if the Shakspearean tradition is really dying. The general quality
of the performance was, it must be confessed, not inspiring. There was
little of the king's divinity hedging _Claudius_; the _Queen_ (an always
difficult part) was elaborately unconvincing, though played by a clever
actress; _Guildenstern_ and awkward _Rosencrantz_ deserved any fate which
awaited them in England. Neither _Laertes_ nor _Horatio_ seemed authentic.
But Mr. TOM REYNOLDS' grave-digger had humour and avoided tedium. _Hamlet_
was the thing.

T.

* * * * *

"A Berlin official telegram states that the Kaiser has sent the
following telegram to the Crown Prince:--'The troops of all the German
tribes under your command, with steel-hard determination and strongly
led, have brought to failure the great French attempt to break through
on the Aisne and in Champagne. Also there, again, the infantry had to
bear the grunt.'"--_Northern Whig._

The Imperial euphemism, we suppose, for the cry of "Kamerad!"

* * * * *

THE NEW RATIONS.

"Joint Hospital Board, ----, 14th April, 1917. The above Board require
two Probationer Nurses for their Consumption."--_Provincial Paper._

* * *