New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1862-10-04
Winter Gurdeu.

The traditions which have corrupted and defor,,.a
the general manner of English tragic acting ar. =.
invariably false to the instincts Of real bnms,,.
that we welcome one touch of nature with ,,o.'
than common ardor. Mr.. Edwin Booths Othsuo
presented last evening for the first time duru, ri,
engagement, was remarkable for the upaG.c,oA
simplicity which guided and controlled the n.,.
Torrance throughout. The absence of tbosa
counterfeit effects by which violence Is usually
made to supply tho place Of force, and riot.
ous fury to stand for subtle intensity. atdad
infinitely to the value Of the personation and il wa
mistake not, to the enjoy ment Of the audience An.
plause was vouchsafed with less tusbulencs than
usual, but deeper satisfaction was manifest. IT,.
, infiequent dsvatons from the moderation Of b.
method-such as profusion Of emphasis and ges;icu.
! lation in passages where though the lsngasgs II
strongly colored, the meaning 10 tranquil enough-on,
showed with what advantage the newer and bette,
principle might have been maintained uninterrupta
As whole the performance was Of % high N
order that we DO not wish TO speak Of it with QUAIL
ication. Neither space nor time allow any Close
review Of its merits; but we woad allude briefly
to one or two important points where conventional
usage is varied with evident skill. The address %
the Senators, in the first act, which Usually, instead
Of isslng forth ga round unvarnished tale, CONES
out so plesered and patched and powdered
with cheap rhetorical devices as 10 uvse
the actual character of Othello thencefouh
and forever, was delivered with modest grace and
with an ease almost colloquial. In the second act,
on appearing to quell tie drunken fray, Mr. Booth,
instead Of brawing and splitting ears with the ret
Of Them overcast the troubled scene by the dignity
of his presence rather than by the severity Of bic
words. THE momenious conversation with Iago, 10
the third act, was conducted with the sane
reprosed energy, and with the ZANE fidelity
to the natural exigencies of the situation.
The touch Of sudden shame and selfreprosch,
after prompting Iago 10 set on his wife to observe
was al effect 10th powerful and genuine. The
wilder passions Of the succeeding acts, while calling
FOX more unrestrainei emotion, were still tempered
with heroic ondeavor to subdue the wrath which
could not be disguised; and the murder Of Desie.
mona became an act Of imagined justice, rather than
revenge The performance lost nothing in real il.
tensily withal, but glowed from beginning to end
with the fire OF the Moors hot nature, which spon
by the eye and varying tone, though not in resound
ing words.
OF tie general performance we have no desire "
speak. 1t was gu. tanned mostly by actors Of the
tladhonAry school to which we have alluded and
which i. always an abomination, more or les
miIigated, according to circumstances. TOeS
players, as rule, hold the mirror up to nature,
wrong side foremost. We snail simply allade 10
the acting of the gentleman who misrepresented
Cassie in tie drunken scene, which was monsrOu
beyond description. How it is possible FOX aOy per.
former to indicate the momsntsry overthrow Of rea.
son in gentleman by coarseness and vulgsrry
beneath the lowest leve, OF Tooies, ii passes our
power to understand. "OIhello is To DO repeated
tonight.