The late Mr. WEGG prided himself upon being a literary man--with a
wooden leg. Mr. FECHTER aspires to be a HAMLET--with a yellow wig. Mr.
WEGG had this advantage over Mr. FECHTER, that his literary ability did
not wholly depend upon his ligneous leg. Mr. FECHTER'S HAMLET, on the
contrary, owes its existence solely to his wig. The key to his
popularity must he sought in his yellow locks.
There are, it is true, meritorious points in Mr. FECHTER'S Dane. One is
his skill in fencing; another, the fact that he finally suffers himself
to be killed. Unfortunately, this latter redeeming incident takes place
only in the last scene of the play, and the Fat Prince has therefore
abundant previous opportunity to mar the superb acting of Miss LECLERCQ.
Why this admirable artist did not insist that her OPHELIA should receive
a better support than was furnished by Messrs. BANGS, LEVICK, and
FECHTER, at Niblo's Garden, is an insoluble mystery. She must have
perceived the absurdity of drowning herself for a Prince--fair, fat, and
faulty--who refused to give her a share of his "loaf," and denied, with
an evident eye to a possible breach of promise suit, that he had given
her any "bresents.
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