The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1806-08-29
Farewell the neighing aeed. and the fhrill trump,

| Srhie ,ponp, and circamlance of glorious war =
In the 9TH fcene of the 4th act with Defdemo-
ma, Mr.. Cooper delivered to admiration, that
celebrated fpeech, wherein he places the horrors
other woes incident to man:
Had it pleated Heaven,
To try me with afletion, had he rain'd
'" All kind of fores and thames on my bare head,
| steep'd me- in poverty to the very lips,
" Given to, captivity me and my hopes" &c.
Butther where have garner'd up my heart I.
sc.
The dying fcene of Mr.. Cooper was worthy
or the greatness in which he had lived. The
manner of his death was an evident improve.
ment upon Shakefpearc's plan.
GO Set you down this
" and fay, belides, that in Aleppo once,
Where malignant and turban'i Turk
3" Beat Venetian, and traduc'd the Rate,
took by the throat the crcumcfed dog,
81" And fniote him thus =" (Sfa6s biu(Lc)
1t is here that Mr.. Cooper expires not like
Shakespeare protrating his exiftence, until he had
time to make another fpeech, Astounding in a
mott miferable couceit
kitsd thee ere kill'd thee-No way bu, this.
tie Dejatarcna J
=" Killing myfelf. to die upon kits"
Ii IS tuch iudicrous conceits as thefe, that
the father of the Engliih itage has fcattered
through all his competitions and it is princi-
pally by the want of them, that the dramas of
hotzebue have afpired to An equality with thofe
of Shakespeare.
But the death of Othello, which terminate
the Pieaiures OF Mr.. Cooper's exhibition, NUT
ikewiie put an end to Our enumeration of its
beauties. To feel them properly, man mutt
have teen them for himfelf. Like ourfeives, he
mutt have had the living model before him I:
and then like us, he would have pronounced,
that when the curtain dropt upon Othcllo, it
ihut out from his view a greater trsgcdian.
thau he ever beheld.
But the fun himielf is not without its fpots
The broad ocean of light in which they are bu
red, may hide them from the filperficiai or
the glancing eye; hut look at the blazing orb
asteDtivclY, and Z" the mantle of light" appears
with its mperfe6fions. Let Mr.. Cooper then.
as much as he pleafes, afpire to be the fDlendid
| 'um'nary the ftage /; it is IN honorable ambi-
ton but let him no more than the fun be
VAIN enough to atpire TO an &c unbenched ma.
getty" We place out of our criticifn the form
and texture of his liubs though it mutt frikc
every eye that they are neither on the model
of the Farnefe Hercules nor of the Apollo Bel
! v1dere. We do not defend To a criticifn IN
on nature, which Mr.. Cooper can neither new
model nor improve but it is to the manner
IN which ne employs her powers, that we de-
dictate our trietures.
frequently itrike you, that degrade the dignity
OF the character which he reprefents. Ho
garth's " line of Grace" is not always the
line of maefy. MIR. Cooper's fhouIders
are too often curved and ihelving his knees
infead of being firm and fold in their articula-
ton are flexible and bent his feet inftead of
being projected apart, into fuitahle angle. are
placed near and almoit parallel to each other.
fomewhat reiembling the atti udc of Abel Drug
ger IN Bells Edition of the Epgh plays.
ne lame want OF energy accompanies his mo
nor. In the technical language of the theatre,
ne does not properly tread THE Rage. Has not
every paiiion of the mind its peculiar impulEe
upon every part of our frame Lavater has en-
ployed no inc onfderabe labour in CATCHING the
phytognomy of the face !: but the tones of the
voice, and even the artic Ilations of the knees
have their mental expreflon. The very extre-
mites of his frame ihould be in unifon with
the elevated paiiions which Mr.. Cooper re-
PreieDts: his eye not alone the index of the
toui but his very dep firsn, elafic, and full OF
nerve. Look at Mr.. Cooper, however, parti.
cularly as ne is withdrawing from the audience,
and your eye mutt often confefs the impcrfec.
ton OF the model. The enthuiafm of his feel
'ngs teens nor always To nave defended to his
eXtremitics; his knees are bending when they
'bouid be tiff, and his feet intead of riiinq in
to the air, have ga leaden'' force that loves
the ground" In attempting to avoid the ufu-
al FrW of the fage, he has unfortunately az.
tuned the attitude of Roncb.
Mr.. Cooper's voice is of large compass of
tones, and each tone is of exquifite mufic.
stu that compass has its limits. Confirsd wi,b.
IN certain range of tones, it is fweet. loui
and powerful. But raife it bevo1d certain
key, and it obvioully falls Mort Of tbs Ditch
which ne attempts to produce, and the found
which rs emitted, is diiionant and barib.
In the ba1aSerebiGf..Iirne with Iago, this remark
was completely verified.
Villain, be flre thou prove my love who're.
8 Be lure oil it; give me the ocular proof,
,.... . Catching boid seAim.
Or by the worth of mans eferna foul,
-" Thou hadh been better have been born dog.
Than anfwer my wak'd wrath"
BY the time Mr.. Cooper had reached the
third line, his voice funk beneath the effort of
pronunciation. 1t is evident, tha. this was no
pretended weakness, to reprefent the extreme.
and exhaulting violence oe Otheo's emotions
becaute the tpeech was almoft delivered at the
commence ment of the fcene, and Tcaloufy. like
IFS filter Madnefs, does not Immediately exbauH
the ftreRgth gifts vi<tins.
No man on the ftage 70 littte" mouths" his
ipeeches as Mr.. Cooper. The tone Of voice is
incomParably chafte, its volume almait mathe.
matcally futed to the pitch OF his PATTON. But
in few infances perhaps " he overtepDed
the modefty" of their limits. Fearing TO want
dignity, his v ice would atIume roat
not Imported by the weight of the fentiment
and fometines fearing to lofe its perf,icuitv.
itwond drawl aud fpin itfelf into long hiGing