Last evening we found ourselves uncontrollably forced to admiration
and enthusiasm. He manages by some magic to get the full meaning of
almost every sentence, and the emphasis always falls upon the right
word; withal, he has this great and rare merit, that whatever he
says does not sound like a speech committed to memory beforehand. He
always seems to be talking, and not declaiming. He made Hamlet more
of a convincing reality to us than any actor we can remember. The
greatness, the intellectual and the ethical force, above all, the
charm and lovableness of the man, were shown as we have never seen
them before. Miss Terry’s Ophelia is a revelation of poetic beauty.
Here one has nothing to criticise, no one trait to praise more than
another. Such a wonderful embodiment of the poet’s conception is
quickly praised, but never to be forgotten.