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HENRY IRVING
faculty which is like the poet's. Similar
results may be reached through the de-
liberate, cumulative work of the mind,
which first analyzes the character, and
then, piece by piece, fabricates an imita-
tion; and the mental gifts required for such
a process of analysis and simulation are
of a rare and varied sort. That there is
an immense delight in encountering such
an intelligence as this upon the stage, no
one will deny. Its noblest and loftiest ex-
ercise must inevitably be had in the pre-
sentation of Shakespeare; and here Mr.
Irving's work becomes, in every matter
where pure intellect and refined scholar-
ship can avail, a subject for the profound-
est satisfaction. His skill in arrano^inor
the scenes and in cutting the dialogue is
admirably good, and his reverent regard
for the accepted text is scarcely less
excellent than his brilliant ingenuity in
varying the text of doubtful passages. In
playing Hamlet, his mental power and
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