New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1855-04-13


French, where, even in the smallest srsn yenents,
tie most exqusie tact and inesse are brought into
play Can anything this earth too, be more
RIDICULOUS and absurdly anti French than this Freach
nober speaking Of the " tournure and 8 Ie nc sas
quo" Of her daughter Mr.. Bul~er inserts tnese
phrases to supply the sbeence Of French spirit With
tie pressbce OF French word. 4, is precisely the
afeotsicn Of many men who ssh to pass for kno~-
ing Language OF which they igoorsat and annoy
every ore with the constant repetition OF certain
ftereoyped phrase, which they have acquired With
greet officially and retain With sell greater. Monsieur
Desehspeues being taken in so sofly BY the impos-
tor Prince is another ef BulEer's blunder. The
merchants Of Lyons proverbially the shrewiest
Of the mercisl men Of France; and II they have
borros which surpssses all Others in intensity it is
Of that osfDg crtv Of Italian Princes and Count.
with which Psris sbcunds. IT. iostesd Of nskiog
Claude Prince Of Como, Bulwer hsd made him
Prince George of Cambridge, or Prince hurst, toe
in probabilities Of the plot would be less giaringy
Offensive. But the moet objectionable part Of tae
whole play Is the ubfruthfulness to womans nsturs.
and 81 French nature, Of the "L Lady Of Lyons
b. rself She vas not literary belle, nor phisn.
tbropic belle nor p-etc belle, rons -tninded
belle but an ever dsy belle, viGh grest presepsons
and With great wealth and besuty to sustain them;
with iust sbrepce OF heart enough to marry without
love- Il the man is Indifferent her and suits her
Arrangements but yet with presence OF heart enough
TO crush all arrangements beneath the little foot, If
the Oh IL interesting anc hss caught Der fancy Bat
with all Der even dsy belle is n, she had all the pro-
pos, fptsse, Enforcement aud espieglerie which Pau
lire has not In word she bad all thcse peculiar
encb endowu ebts. the spirit OF which little
be caught by Epgishmen as the words csn be trans
lated into Englsh language. The real Lady Of Ly-
OILS wss petlsnt esprit, and II in sparkling
satiop with some dazzling prince, che was full of
provoking bouderie, a. If gracefully to iai-
ply that besuiy owned mo sovereign She
would rot bend her proud ard graceful little
head to any prince. Bat Pauline docs aud overd,e,
it. Pauline Wtrther, indeed, Q sentimental German
Hiner who had sat up late at night and irfsmed
her imse nation over that thrilling novel which has
worked such exeiteD ent in the regions of German
sew-dom. entitled " Rinaldo Rinsldbi, might, in the
romance of slumber, have spoken such words a.
these: Sweet Prince, tell me again CT thy palace
&" BY the Lakeof Como -. Oh, - the bee upon the
flower hang upon the honey of thy eloquent
tongue Am I not blest. and, il love too
wildly, who would not love thee like Pauline"
Such sichly trash might be spoken in such dream
by Pauline wertner of Seroprinzenthal, bat not by
Pauline Deschapelles ef Lyons. Nor would any
lady of Lyons, nor any other lady Of any other
place on earth, have ordered her servant TO offer
brute violence to a messenger Of posty and flowers
those twin earands which even the mesnest hand is
allowed to drop on the shrine Of beauty woman
lie always pleased and fsttered with mark Of adni
ration from even the humblest man, provided it is
conveyed in form which acknowledges her divinity
IL fav
always foreives the lacbes however extravagant and
passionate, into which it maddens men. And how
ever the lady Of Lyons might have smiled at or
pitied the foolish passion OF garden boy sbe would
never have offered, with unwomanly and un-French
cumsiness, 80 gross an insul! az Bulwer makes his
"lady" offer to poor Claude II is only toward the
close of The play that the sympathy awakened BY her
giving way to the natural sway of kind and wousnly
emotion saves the piece from that death which befs
the Duchesse do Ia valiere," and makes rs forget
for While in the interest feel for the true, the
counter felt character Of the counterfeit belle.
In Claude Melno,te we find gallant, generous,
weak, vain and ambitious youth who loves q woman
far above him 10 rank, and TO deserve her strives
to attain by r. MUS what is denied BY prejudice This
subitio receives most po werfa stimulant from the
progress Of the Revolution in Paris He enlists, and
like many brave child Of fortune, climbs to high
rank From the appeal to the feelings OF some Of toe
incidents and the little genius required to represent
either Of The principal characters this play has ac-
qnrtd false popularity. There is scarcely young
laoy or gentleman who has 1pired to drsmatc
laurels for the last hall dozen years, who has not
made the maiden bow 10 one Of these characters.
It's glare 20 attractive % moths. e ho Fever Of the
most fake Ind mereicious character and the sooner
Mr. Forrest blos ii fro his list and the public filings
II from the stage the clearer and healthier will DO tae
dramatic atmosphere.
Claude Melpote requires for personation simply
youth. vivacity, and good elocution. The success
Of the personaton depends up the presence Of the
firtt auality-youth. Its absence covers both play
and performers with ridIcule. Mr. Forrest 10 not 60
ridiculous as many other eminent performers who
Rave undertaken the part; because, though not
Young. he has q vigorous presence, which does not
m.ke the idea Of love- though II makes many OF the
in p..soned words in which is uttered subject Of
l.nebter. An sctor is not responsible for age or
pby,ioue il 10 true; but he is responsible for un-
dertalirg pats for which they wholly unfit him lfs
braxpy backwoodsman from Kentucky appears In q
brilliant ,sloon in Fif:h-svenue, all powdered and
buckled and essays to dance a sehottische or ma-
zou,ks the world laughs, not at his huge paws and
bu,ly yieor but at his sudacous folly, in so for
getting them, as to sttemp, ,uch foais The idea, in
the sane way, of an inaeIible, strong matter
offsct man, wiring rhspscdcal verses to his lady
loye-decaely senoirg her flowers, and rOnanticaily
drawing her imsge, is SO perfectly iudicrous tA.'
when Mr.. Forrest enters with big bound, we much
raiber ICY him killing the old man and woman who
oppose BIZ. suit with the rife he carries, than using
II as gentle toy of sport, and wearing the ar OF
Iapeuifhipg troubsdonr carving upon every tree the
r,na NJ sweet Pauline and conf airing up 70 his tcc