ABSTRACT
Ham. The sneers of Theseus I never expected, nor dreaded his reproaches. The savage tamer of monsters-the betrayer of Ariadne-the licentious favourite of a gigantic amazon, would have been silent. It is the French Theseus, the frivolous coxcombthe effeminate dangler, who lives only in his mistress’s smileswho dares now to insult the avenger of his father’s murderer and the usurper of his throne. I once adored thee, Theseus!—thy power controlled those monsters which were the most dangerous pests of infant society-thy authority curbed for a time the licence of faction, and thy force compelled when thy eloquence could not persuade. But from the hands of thy second parent thou art the glittering butterfly of a summer’s day, which every ruder blast will destroy. The name of Theseus, by recalling what thou hast been, is the severest satire on what thou art.
