New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1854-09-28


and begins by making the immodest and utterly need
Isss and therefore anknd and injurious confession,
that her brother has been guilty OF the vice sne
nest desires should meet the blow Of justice enc
briefly and codly states her and after receiving
only quasi denial Of her proposition, she instantly
retires-no; neglectins the opportunity, 70
euogize the law which on the morrow VIII leave ner
brotherless.
After sustaining his position by citing several
Apostle passages Nj. White concludes as follows
As if to show by contrast the unloveiness OF lsa-
bellas character Shakspere has given Ne IN Manana
ore Of tie most lovIbe and vomany Of his feminine
creations We see little of her; indeed, she does not
appear until The fourth act in the first scene OF when
she says very little, in the last scene but eight words,
and in the fifth act not great deal. Bat rev
touches Of The masters hand make a charming pic
;ure. Every word she ut;ers shows that she Is ex-
sctly IssbelIes opposite Turn to the fifth act and
hear her rlesd-plead for the man whom she has
loved through lonely years Of wrong the man whose
life usijy forfeit for taking as she thinks, the life
Of another in q course of crime which involved sin
against her love. Timid and shrinking before, she
does not COW wait to be encouraged in her suit She
il instant and importunate. She does not reason or
ouihhle with the Duke; che begs, she impores, she
freels. She even drags down that beautiful craven
mage. Isabella upon her knees, by her impetuous
prayer:
"ony soed lord Sweet label take my part:
I.19 me your Knees; and all M life to come
III lerd yea a. ny hte 10 do TeuE service
Again: .,.,I
sw.., Isabel do yet but tnee By me;
hold up your lands, SAG nothing. IN sPeA al
And for the most become much more the better
Fer beng little bad; so may my husband
o. lssbeii will you rot lend knee"
No disleccs, no right-sngled triangles here. This
is a woman pleading like woman And does not
her very prayer for Angelo make his crime seem more
d.testable as well her more lovabe How the
fullness Of her heart wells up from her lips These
few words Of self-oevotion and OF impulse throw
hoaa anda frlaV MI ke-f
,ernc light OF Isabeas intellect seem as false and
az chilly as that reflected from an cice.
There is opportunity enough for Mariana to nveigh
against uncbastiiy but she says not one word. And
Vet Who doubts her. What man would not as soon
Trust the honor of his name with her az with isa-
bella-av sooner, Contrast lsabelas virtue with
that Of shakspeTes notlest woman-lmogen. CON-
pare the cold, reasoning confluence OF me one WITH
The in macuaie and instructive purity OF the others
pessonful nature. Isabella As If dreadng riot in
her blood seeks the protection of laws and sentlnels
and bolts and bars, and, before she has tried them,
becs TO have them doubled; when, IN truth, the sur
of the young god of Day himself would fail to STIR
the geld lymph that loters through her veins.
Imogen who could give her love unasked to one
below her station, yet lose no dignity as princess or
az woman, whose nature was a. fond as Desdemonas
and az passionfu Juliets, finds in her own inner
emf but unobiruded mOdesty watchful sentinel and
a triple wail OF defense against liberne attack.
Such is Shskspere marveously truthful portraiture
Of type which sad to say, does exist among wo-
love Of propriety pride of intellect and osten
tstious submission 20 the dictates of eustere
ligon. Perhaps they should be pitied rather than
condemned; but il would tar any power, short OF
omuirotence 10 make them loved. Colerdge says,
in a brief paragraph of his Table Talk, devoted TO
this NAV Isabella herself cOntrives 10 be unamia-
ble.f The remark is severe for 1t needessly at
tributes bad motive. lsasella needed no con-
trivance 10 such an end her unamlsbiity, Ike tho
readirg AT writiI spoken OF by Dogberry " comes
by nature.
Isabella is a woman with too much brain or too
little heart. woman Cannot have too hne an lntei-
Iect, or one too large, If only her affections De
finer and larger: but the moment that she shows
an excess OF the FIRST she becomes unfemlnlDe,
repulsive mons,rous. Shskspere has given us an
ideal Of every type OF man and womankind; and ne
could rot pass by ,bis: Its unlovelness was not to
deter him from the task though the elect of that -
somewhat modified by the personal beauty OF MS
suli ect which, TOO. necessary to the dramatic
movement OF the play. But be does not always set
up his greatest creations as models Tor our initatioh'
He drew An IGgO and an Angelo among men; among
women why should he withhold his hand from Lady
Macbeth and an Isabella
We have no space left even to hint at many ad'
mirable criticisms. which we hal marked for sp-
prsyaL, throughout the volume, and must leave
them TO the authors felIow-studeDts of Sbak-
spere. who will doubtless find much TO win their
sympathy as well as awaken reflection. Mr..
Whites style in the long introductory Letter to
George W. Curtis, has certain antique quaint
ness. bordering on afectaticn. The same thing
appears. occasionally, in the Notes. which are
carefully written, but usually with too great q
dread Of familiar and bOmely phraseology. On
this account. We are the more surprised at An ec-
casional slip of dictioD, and the appearance Of
word v ich looks strange in such good company.
For instance, the word missy" occurs more
than once, and we should be glad to know what
it means.
MEMORABLE WOMEN. By Mr.. NEwros CsosLasp.
l2no ~ S5a Boston: TieknS & Fields Sold BY c. 5.
Francis a Go.
This delightful volume, by gifted and sppreciative
Epgli.h authoress contains noble tribute Of sdmi-
ration and sympathy TO the memory Of few select
spirits whose womanly virtues or remarkable history
have made their names the property OF the world.
The purpose Of the book cannot be apty stated
than in the words Of the writer "ln selecting lives
for biographical condensation, she says " have not
been guided BY the admiration so commonly felt for
those brilliant characters who have been remarkable
for merely Intellectual qualifications and Improbable
or ipiudioious heroism; have endeav0red simply TO
set before the young women Of the present day eI-
smnles Of wives and mothers who have done their
du,e. under difficulties and temptations and il in
sone ease. genius has accompanied high moral eudow-
men,s we have all the to be gratifed by
,bs p;c,ure of combined excellence OF heart and mind