His nice touches of individual character, and marking of its different gradations, have been often admired; but the instances have not been exhausted, because they are inexhaustible. We will mention two which occur to us. One is where _Christopher Sly_ expresses his approbation of the play, by saying, ‘’Tis a good piece of work, would ‘twere done,’ as if he were thinking of his Saturday night’s job. Again, there cannot well be a finer gradation of character than that in Henry IV. between _Falstaff_ and _Shallow_, and _Shallow_ and _Silence_. It seems difficult to fall lower than the Squire; but this fool, great as he is, finds an admirer and humble foil in his cousin _Silence_. Vain of his acquaintance with _Sir John_, who makes a butt of him, he exclaims, ‘Would, cousin _Silence_, that thou had’st seen that which this Knight and I have seen!’ ‘Aye, master _Shallow_, we have heard the chimes at midnight,’ says _Sir John_. The true spirit of humanity, the thorough knowledge of the stuff we are made of, the practical wisdom with the seeming fooleries, in the whole of this exquisite scene, and afterwards in the dialogue on the death of old _Double_, have no parallel anywhere else. It has been suggested to us, that the _Midsummer Night’s Dream_ would do admirably to get up as a Christmas after-piece; and our prompter proposes that Mr. Kean should play the part of _Bottom_, as worthy of his great talents. He might offer to play the lady like any of our actresses that he pleased, the lover or the tyrant like any of our actors that he pleased, and the lion like ‘the most fearful wild fowl living.’ The carpenter, the tailor, and joiner, would hit the galleries. The young ladies in love would interest the side-boxes, and _Robin Goodfellow_ and his companions excite a lively fellow-feeling in the children from school. There would be two courts, an empire within an empire, the Athenian and the Fairy King and Queen, with their attendants, and with all their finery. What an opportunity for processions, for the sound of trumpets, and glittering of spears! What a fluttering of urchins’ painted wings; what a delightful profusion of gauze clouds, and airy spirits floating on them! It would be a complete English fairy tale. W. H. NO. 17.] ON THE BEGGAR’S OPERA [JUNE 18, 1815.