ABSTRACT
I have lately been told, by a gentleman who has frequently seen Betterton perform Hamlet, that he observed his coun tenance, which was naturally ruddy and sanguine, in the scene o f the third act where his father’s ghost appears, through the violent and sudden emotion o f amazement and horror, turn, instantly, on the sight o f his father’s spirit, as pale as his neckcloth; when his whole body seemed to be affected with a tremor inexpressible; so that, had his father’s ghost actually risen before him, he could not have been seized with more real agonies. And this was felt so strongly by the audience, that the blood seemed to shudder in their veins likewise; and they, in some measure, partook o f the astonish ment and horror with which they saw this excellent actor affected.
