Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1866-01-15
"Au idol on whose wings
Great minds are carried only TO extreme;
To be sublimely great, or 10 be nothing"


70 be subiimeiy great, or tO6o nothing"
Mr.. Forrest grasped, and has held as if
by magic power, all the elements which
make up the art dramatic. They are sub
iect to bis will. Over those he has thrown
a brilliant halo-an emanation OF genius.
An actor. is one who declaims, or acts
a part. ActeuT, to manage, prompt per-
form, &c. There are many actors who
never 90 beyond the mere study of the
words of an author. They begin as APP
prentices and end as journeymen; to them
the whole business is simply art. Others,
again, aspire to the mastership, and these
are the men of genius, that very quality
which gives light to darkness, and illumi-
mates mind by its celestial power. Thus
Mr.. Forrest is enabled to grapple, with the
creations OF the dramatic poets in whose
hands they become "living things"
Through him the beauties of the art are
incorporated with the grandeur and sub
Unity OF the subject. Homer was the
greater genius, Virgil the better artist"
will scarcely apply TO our modern poets or
artists, simply because, generally speaking,
there is more display OF the latter in all
their works, than tuere is of the former.
We are too, apt to initiate rather than
originate.
Comparisons have been drawn between
Mr.. Forrest and Mr.. Macready, by Eng
lish critics, and even by some of'our own,
and the above quotation of Pope is given to
prove the latter the greater genius. Mr..
Macready was cold, stately, unclassic ac-
tor. His Othello was masterpiece of ART
without the display of one particle OF
genius. 1t was cold, passionless, Inarble-
like. His love scenes were tame and forced;
words tell upon the ear like, hail drops,
stunning and chilling us. His cold, stiff,and
mechanical measured stride (chalked and
lined, and laid out on the stage
system, by which his night work
was followed up) appeared to
us as finished piece of me-
chanical labor, in which the poet was act
ing the part of an apprentice to a master
carpenterl This stiff, starched style OF act
ing, devoid alike of soul, genius or feeling,
is not, in our humble opinion, the true sell
ence of acting. Kean. the elder, amazed,
astonished, startled US by his genius. CooP7
er and Fenner possessed alike the two quail
tiles which make men great-the perfection
of art blended with genius Ben. Cooper,
in his brightest hour, could never pale the
lustre with which time and study has en-
circled the brow of Edwin Forrest. Coop
ers Othello lacked the genius loci, whose alb
sence rendered her impersonation simply a
finished performance. Mr.. FORESTS 0thello
is perfect masterpiece. Even kean's Wild
and erratic rendition was lost in the gram
deur and fervOr of the former. No man
that we ever heard, and we have, heard
many, from Fennell down to the present,
ever gave the passage. "0thellOs occupa+
tion's gone" as Mr.. Forrest gives it even
now. 1t was painfullyrimpressive, even at
ter the utterance of this line, 8 Farewell! |!
Othello's occupations gone,n q sadness re-
mained ON the mind like mildew on flow
er, for like its scentless petals, we felt as if
the sweet perfume of our life had gone out
with that Of Othello's. Such was the im-
preston its powerful rendition left upon.
US. Forests delineation OF the character
of Othello stands out from the dramatic
picture gallery living subject; its great
ness scars above all art; he invests it with
a charm that gives him the title of the only
living artist capable of drawing Shaks-
peares characters trueto life. The London
Morning Herald, speaking of Mr.. FORESTS
Othello, on his first visit to Europe, said
"Here and we are aware of the hazard
Gus assertion), Mr.. Forrest really appeared
to leave behind the best 0ihello of them
all.n The press generally was warm in
his praise, and such men as Sergeant Tall
fourd, Sir u. Bulwer, Charles Kemble,
Douglas Jerrold. and Others, not only took
him by the hand, as compliment to the
man andsthe actor, but on the enthusiasm
his powerful acting gcrcated in their minds.
Perhaps Mr. Forests Macbeth, G0rir
olanus and King Lear may be considered
his best Shakespeare character; while Rich
ilfed, Virginius and Damon his best Of the
miscellaneous personations. In Coriolanus,i
the person, or rather the individuality of
the actor is scarcely --recognized-it stands
out bold relief from the historical picture
a glorious portraiture--itselt alone. The
mere actor loses himself fn the intensity Of
the subject and Is obseureda by flashes of
genius he throws around IthencreatiDRuof,
the immortal bard,a Thus the diamond
bright from the poets mine receives from
master hand a briHiancy that ,dazzles. as
he flashes it. proudly before us, Mr.. For,
rest invests Coriolanus with d dignity of
which no other man within our .ree0llec-
tion is capable. .gOlaiqo tedl 81 4naGo
\ Mr.. Forests personispe peculiarly adapted
to- Roman charactersl9 He standssb sbeforeus,
amodel for an artist. y His frame. ,0f the
Herculean order; we'll formed limbs, sYrl-
metricai in their construction; his features
are strongly marked, and susceptible Of
being made stibservient TO the depicting bf
all the passiOnsn Indeed, he has studied the
science of each department. Of the art so.
closely that in his delipeati0nsOf the start
ling portions Of chagRe ter the pbseyveE,i In
the Intensity Of aseene, almost imagInes it