New-York tribune., 1873-02-15
sHAKEsPEARE's HUMOR.
TouCHsToNE, BOTTOM, DoGBERRY, AND
MALVOLIO.
IrcTrRF RY THE REV. JOHN WEISS -FOUR
ANlIYZED.

..,.,s q, sbaNesneare by the Rev. John Weiss, was
given At Robinson Hail. last evening The subject was
sThe Humor Of Shakespeare, aud the lecture was an
analys OF the characters OF louVhstonV' DVe
Nerry and Mayolo.
.M,ch Ado About Nothing" he said among other
,h,nes has delightful bit of character painted In Dog
eeYry who got his position by being well TO do. Per
haps il was owing 10 the political ring OF the country
He had picked up the terms and diOms Of speech and
hIeW them up like life belt. He ties his conversation
into knots OF absurdy. He is too the most original OF
naiaprops He says TO the watch, Comprehend all
yagrant men," and has furnished 20 the world that
adrot phrase comparisons are odious'" his ora'n
seems 10 webfOoted and tumbles over itself IN trying
TO reach swimming grounds His own set had not dis
covered his maapropsms for they were accustomed to
those nlspacngs OF terms lie was not among 'D0se Vi
more refinement.
lie is not the only DOgberry. You recolect IN the LIE
of Abraham Lincoln the story Of the Western lawyer
who said he never could tell story with embezzemens
have heard OF stout. cheerful. and polite Dogoerry
who had arrived at the discretion OF fifty
years when bis parents died. Then, in reply
20 some friend, he said, "I a poor orphanless
man. The person remarked Of his nephew thaI
he had not decided yet. but he was preponderauhs
There a worthy old deacon Of the oden tlme' VINO
was repeating Wattss hymn, line for Ilhe ana reau II,
eve rancied sinners come" DOgberry would have SAID
,hev ought IN he damned into everlasting redemption
when the Boston fire was stopped at the new PosOhce
an unfinished building, man standing near
was heard 10 remark, "Well | am giad they
have cot that fire under headway at last
Another man said: ." II man should draw pisto ON
me- do yon think would put my knife in his jeopardy
venerable clergyman, when he found an lneoriateu
person in the gutter said him; MY TREND now o1u
you get there 7" The man, with just tWhke VI JoS
said nOta outstanding" This amused the cIciES man.
and ne went home and tried TO impat II 10 tne "llcp'
his bosom. Z" He said to me. nevertheless lne
auarty of shakespeare's malaprOpsm is not strained
They would be likely that they have an ur
OF verisimitude that sometimes Ike better 'nan o
rect words. when LauncelOt Goboo runs away IIi"
Sbylock, saying the most contagious neno' AOe
berry has pondering look. His boast OF apparent o
heetion and mbecile cOnfusion-these 40 Ho' 'o
trav him because il passes for temper
OF concession and the wisdom OF COMPROMISE
No he goes on dismsslng himself and sammnS the uoor
without knowing II. He never called Ass oeiore'
for Conrad was probably the first ireespoken prisoner
nc had met He wanted the man punished who called
him "ass" not the man who the slanderer of Hero
Here the comedy OF DOgbeTrys character requires
touch OF humor for obliged 10 tolerate some
times those who do not know our serious MOODS Jus
too itself cannot make mp its case without non SeqS'
PAROLES who shows the white feather says he can DC
crushed by plot" The absence Of plot is quite as
fatal Two soldiers who sent TO arrest the Duchess
OF Berry searched the whole house without success
They lighted fire TO warm themselves, and roasted her
out from behind the chimney Dogberry's actions were
necessary 10 show the innocence of Hero.
In Twelfth Night" vice is shown TO be ridiculous
by others likewise absurd Not OF them separately
is humorous. We say with Viola: II hate ngratitude
more than lying. vainness, OF babohng drunk
We always have, as she d1d, some vice that
we hate worse others. IL is generally The one we
have no particular desire practice. Mavoho is the
steward Of Ohyias household and liked for his grave
and puDcOus disposition. At some time OF his life he
has read gentllty is like Sunday suit at which no
one thinks OF railing. Olivia has occasionally dropped
phrases which he has turned into partiality. This
the man of reserve He can never take
joke. He wonders now Olivia tolerate the
the clown Ohvia hits the difficulty when she says that
sick with selflove and testy with distempered
appetite. Now, there is Shakespeares complication
Imagine this satTnne aud selfinvoved man obliged to
consort daily with Sir Toby who hates going to bed
untitled can. He has Sir Andrew for boon companion.
"when he is not in liquor, he is fudded with inanty"
Bir Toby borrow money OF him, fosters his notions
The steward right when he informed TINS
precious set that they idle things No doubt he
was the best man Of the lot he prohibits the carous
inR at midnight such way that like them, we call to
Maria for another sOup fresh dryness sets In when
such man as MavoO comes 70 US. He becomes an OBJ
,ect of animOsty and they try to make him ridiculous
There is no humOr in seeing him fall easily into their
device. SO do revenge ourselves upon
one another using not our strength, which
would be tragedy, but our weaknesses In this gentle
manner the wbirligg Of time brings in his reyenges
would like have you notice great point In shake
that he Oeiguttu lndTh ldholOIOu VI ho
virtues into Whatever gifts man has become
divine permission for selfeOnsderaton. The mOdesty
OF some prevent any public exhibition OF this consdera
lion. For instance the profits Of the Globe and Black
friars Shakespeare his house in Straord but his
poverty IN the matter OF consideration made 1t nhabta
bic The neighbors did not have his greatness thrust
upon them. Macbeth, Hamlet, and Lear were not
known to be in town. These mighty shapes
silently waited until the worlds worship
should match them. By and by in the course Of times,
whole nations had 10 be mustered IN 10 meet his match
Icss greatness on an equal footing Now there is the
point that Malvolios sObrety, his measured depOrt-
soent his nice cleanly ways, the inevitable re-
suits Of his setlOve. This tendency 10 the peacock
style is discovered in the very act by the smile with
which our eye.
Bottom has nothing Of the quality which believe
Margaret Fuller the first IN this country TO call
aIoneness" Bottom thinks he play all the parts;
II let alone he would appropriate the whole interude.
He is one Of who help us 10 recover our re-
spect for a liberal education man among the few
who give us a kind OF feeling Of pleasure that the
Creator had hand in them. The first bit of hattery
turns his whole pretensions Bottom miscalls his
words sheer rusteity and not from any attempts
10 copy the language of his superiors. The word
alleviate, winch he mas solnetlmes heatd, mas Deen
aggTayate" al last He has not picked them up They
have blown into his mind and lodged there; He is not
an fool when he wakes up out Of his Sleep he
had dream but is very reluctant 20 speak about IT,
every H. like the OSTRICH he had lodged with
birds who do not n.y. he might have WauGed Tor ms
daily naiis leather but he flew close the and
waited for the first test of his sweet and fresh i'm
Partially.
when YOU pass from Jaques 10 Touobstone, in As You
Like II, the bitterness is dspeled, and the pulse
it vitality. He things quite as sharp but he
has tone oi genuine hunOr ana his good nature never
deserts him. except when his legs desert hun. We
should think the iayOTed Audrey would not have been
t his taste When he answers the sentimental night 9I
KOsalind he y parOdie IT, Jacques meeting Orlando
The difference between his wit and that OF
TouchsiOneis subty shown throughout the play. Ja-
ues when the vrtue OF complete
yIoent world passes into the vice OF discomfort.
TOuchstOBe the RadDess or being member,
s alive OF this inevitable world and the delight OF toll