New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-05-24
yp g,cKETT As SIR JOIN FALSTAFF
IN HENRY ".

.eco Thu We find the bad qualities Of the Rich
bought out in the darkest and deepest color', and
49, Of the Hcnrys shaded AMI subdued. Though
s,kpere passed from reign TO another, a. crcun
stance or opportunity suggested, without REGARD 70
chronology, he presents, apparently without Plemeu'
aaiion. a complete chain Of English history IN un'
broken link from the end Of the fourteenth 70 Tue
sose Of the first hall Of the sixteenth century IL 0
historic play Of last night he gorines as u'ua the
Uenrys. The Princes virtue is vindicuteu al 'n' "a
rense Of Falstaf and bis herosn al 'ie eNP,"'0 20
Iotspur Sir John Oldcastle was the ia' Anisn' VINO
figured in the old play entitled " Inc auouS lo'o's
O. of Henry the Filth, which gave nm IMPULSE Ou'
- did not desire to see q Wyciife msrtyr
ridcued sbakspere created that Jolly fas'aii "hoh
a.. oenu. has surrounded with such immortal mirth.
IN Sir John Falstaff we behold a monster mountain
~ CLAW living on the whole surface Of soul and mind.
Grease dripping where feeling should start, fat smol-
deripo where thought shouli stir the moral nature
snootbered by the oppressive steam Of fabby flesh.
Kybsf it leaves unburied Of the man is the under
stapdne of the anmol is the trembling Of the tongue
and pAnting Of the stomach with lust oflusciousness
He loves 10 revel With swnish glee in the deep de-
Igts OF digestion. This painting passion for eating,
drinking and iding is unusually violent because all
other sppetitos arc dead The understanding Is IN
usually keen because all other faculties are duh Not
sDcurnlored with any thought Of his own, he has m
feectual leisure to creep into the thoughts OF Others
lie unastens the nature Of those around ond plumbers
n for bis purpose. He il to secure the means and
influence which will allow him to gorge in gultony
and riot in luxury 10 drink copously to feast rally
70 sleep voluptuously 10 snore swinishy, to dream
bestslIy The yohemenco Of these lusis ire ana IN
spire him He cajoes, amuses, diveris and hatiers
all who are above him. he abuses, torments re'les
and mystifes all who below him. WITH the one
no the peasant buifoon with the other the naughty
knight. BY winning the favor OF the one he
,.cv,es influence: by imposing his prestige
on the other he secures means. Basking
:, tbe sunshine Of his patrons, he shrewdly
Lssks too in the reflection it casts upon his parasites
And when patron and parasite both minister to his
rest gorge he expands and his whole nature dissoyes
mt, one vast sea of mirth and shakes with one huge
roar Of exhiliration gorgeous glow Of fat fills the
al, ohout and surrounds him with hilarious hal0.
Kitchen venches pat him. the boy in the bar-room
fos,s him. rowdes. drunkards and suggards dolize
Rim His vanity is ticked, and swimming in sea OF
,,utony and glory he grows fater and more mTthiul
from day TO day. But his mirth is without malice, hrs
fat burtsno one With man be cannot compete; woman
he cannot please; his belly is his god. lie makes
himself palaabe everybody because he does not give
umbraee TO the self-love of anybody. Embarrassed
by the passions and feelings which agale the eaner
norop Of mankind, his understanding is not absorbed
DIV the cares less corpulent humanity impose ana
fee TO devote hmsefo the requirements OF his carcass
he acquires versatility because he has ever one SEN
sual sense before him. and pursuing 1t necessarily he
exercises his understanding without iatgung It, Hence
ii is that he is always fresh, always on the alert al
ways ready to crack joke, with tingc of droery III
his most serious mood; as bent on laughing at others
az ON laughing at himself Shrewd in his distinctions
between those from whom he has favors to solicit, and
those over whom lac may assert ascendency ana eStort
.bem his anxiety is not TO have his swnish sleep of
sensuality broken; his effort is to remove all anxiety
NV tbe expedionts which his acute understanding sug-
vests But his anxiety creates pleasantness by his
lroorv he oiiarts excite admiration by his ingenuity.
lie is CAPITAL company and laugh with him;
and when he ceases to make them laugh, even those
who are not his friends half like him. The impress on
ne leaves is not of contempt nor of disgust He u
leo sharp aud acute to create contempt too amusing
and ovial to inspire disgust Moreover you cannot
forget he is Sir John Falstaf. If you do forget it, he
reminds YOU at once. lie docs not eat, drink,
snore ike a common glutton, common drunkard,
ar a common sluggard. 1t is the pleasure OF Sir John
to he n elutton. drunkard and sluggard, and If you
find fault with his bestialty he laughs at your yugar-
~ and brags of his nobility. Sir John Is an Old icch
erous, treacherous bosterous, glnttonous, drunken
doc always in debt Systematically dishonest, cow
ardlv soldier lying braggart, a sycophant to the
face and a satirist TO the back of his companionsi
70, somehow or other there is helplessness IN the
mighty mass of fat which hangs about him, which
,lisarms severity and inclines TO sympathy useful
animal inspires you with more respect than falstah,
hut a mean lean man inspires you with more con-
tempt You think of him of one less useful than
an animal and fatter than man, and you WINK al
the vices of such monster Of mortality
Shakspere could hardly desire more graceful tenn
ME 20, The dwelling of his beaueOus images than the
metropolitan Theater Ithas an air of singular light
ness and elegance and from its most distant and Sc
,luded corner it is easy to hear, and be seem
,arce and brilliant audience were last night gathered
within It's walls TO meet Mr.. Hackett in the character
of Sir John Falstaf We would well rejoice TO snare
what appears to be the popular opinion as 10 Inc per-
fiction of this gcntlemans personation; but to our
mind. Mr. Hackett does not by any means represent
The Fas,aff of Shakspcre His personaton is too re-
fined and subdued. If the knight has not sunk IN
Henry the Fourth to that abyss of filth IN which we
find him cnrulfed in the Merry Wives OF Windsor 1t
rvas NOT because his nature not at the time as
corrupt "a afterxard but simply because as long as
Prince Henrys favor shone upon him he could afford
10 abstain from cxtorting money from women under
nre,ense of love- to which his difficulties subsequently
drove him. His expedicnts were less filthy, but his
nature the same. But Mr.. Hacket conveys altogether
false impression of the character by stripping It OF
30 much of its grossness that we see only IN SIR John
n nleasant bon vivant looking much more like com
Portable. COW, sefcomplacent cid French gentleman
D. n. fat furlulpUt