The Idaho world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1864-1918, 1873-01-23
IDAHO WORLD.
RFcoIIEcTIoNs OF EDWIN FORREST
SOME NEy ANECDOTES.

49,,
fnrr years ago, stopped at Columbus, Ohio
and while there, was introduced to him Dy .
mutual friend. Next morning | met him al
the depot. The trains were all snoW-b0und
and late. and the weather was cold and gloomy
He was on his way to Toledo to fulfill an en'
gaeement. ut seems to me-" said |, "that
man as famous and wealthy as you are, ought
TO be able to keep out of these big storms ana
enioy himself at e." Yes" said Forrest,
II know great many people think am Ola
enough and rich enough to retire from the
stage; but shall never retire until retlfe
into the grave. l have known great many
successful merchants to retire from business 1T
sixty wears of age, when they had compe
tence: but | was counting up, the other day.
and found that their average lite OF retire
ment was not FIVE years. They might have
lived to- eighty in active business, but they all
seem to rust out in few years when they att
tempted to lie by-just like ship-she1 last
twice as long on the ocean as she will ut The
docks"
He went on to say that he was going to To-
ledo, and from there to several other points, to
fill professional engagements. He did not be-
lieve that when he got home his receipts would
more than cover his expenses, taking the whole
trip into account. But" said he, Il don't
care for that; am going to keep on the stage
as long as live, and when you hear Of my re-
tirement you may conclude that have not the
physical power to make AN exit or an entrance"
The physical ailment he most feared was the
govt, which he said was inherited by him. lie
had always been temperate in eating and drink
ing; but he found the govt troubling him more
and more us he grew older, and finally. on ac-
count of his disease. he had to abandon the
stage, and appear behind the reading desk in
the last year of his life.
He was playing in st. Louis about n year
ago, and during his stay in that city spent an
hour with him every day, in his room at the
Planters. You could tell from his humor at
the breakfast table whether he had had good
audience and good support the night before.
| met him at his coffee one morning. after he
had played "Otheilo" the night before. 'How
did you like it," said he. l replied that |
thought he deserved unusual credit tor having
given so good an "Othelo" to such a poor
"Desdemona." Yes" said he. did you
ever see such an abOmnable farce as she made
out of it, She gave the lie to the whole thing
she made 'Othello' n laughing stock for being
jealous of such a creature as she was. Why if
that had been actual life. do you suppose I'd
have gone crazy and ranted about such crea-
ture as shef No, sir. I'd have been apt to
sue for divorce instead of that And felt. all
the way through, that l was making fool Of
myself in trying TO make it appear that loved
her. .Otheilo has always been very peculiar
play to me, and generally refuse to play it
except to some pesdemona' who comes near
to what we all suppose the original was" At
ter q good deal of criticism on some Of the
other actors in the piece, all OF whom seemed
to have disguised him, he said: 'If l had
known you were in the audience, | believe Id
have sent you word to try and get some one
to raise an alarm and break the thing up.
never felt such relief as when l saw the cur
tain go down on the last act
Forrest was great IN many characters, but
toward the close of his life he was greater in
" Lear than anything else He played it dur
ing his last engagement in st. Louis, and
doubt if there ever was finer piece of acting
seen on the stage in that or any other city. In
private conversation he was quite egotstcal /
le cOGld play Lear" better than ANY other
living man. Il have made special study of
madness for twenty years." he said. Il have
listed every great lunatic asylum in the world,
md / know more about mad men than any q
'ther doctor or actor in America There
must be many readers of the Democrat who
ememher that Lear" and the occasion to
which refer. DeBars was crowded from pit
0 dome, with one Of the best audiences ever d
ssembled within its walls From his curse of ?
Goneril" in the first act to his tondling of :,
cad :" Cordelia" in the fifth. it was a master Il
iece throughout. l saw him next morning :"
We'll, what did you think of Lear" said he. g.
answered that there seemed to be but one opin-
On on that subject, and that was one of une "a
ualed favor. He replied that he had seen a Sc
rcat many criticisms of his Lear" but he a,
ad never seen what he considered Just one m
r one the writer Of which thoroughly under. 81
TODD the subject. and knew what to expect
rom Lear"
"some of them talk of me being too loud mr.
nd strong IN the mad act. l used to think so m
lyself until mailman. who was naturally G'
der and weaker than Lear" threw me over en- en-
is shoulders as he would toss an old broom. an an
was in an asylum in Paris. was visiting
rere, and the superintendent showed me an an
d white.headed man, who had been soldier
the old Napoleon. He seemed to be perfect.
quiet and peaceabe. l talked to him for
me time on q. green sward behind the build
g, where he had been airing himself He o ou
,nserted to all l said on general TOPICS, and to
Id me his life and history. began to talk gu
'out French politics, and said something thu
,ainst. the old Napoleon. when suddenly he
lied me and threw me into the air. He Ger
light have killed me If the keeper hadn't in. eqa
rfered to quiet him. He weighed less than 70, ros
o pounds, and was more than seventy years Of
q. and weighed $50 pounds and was young =
ID active. Ten minutes before, or ten min. the
es afterwards. child could have knocked ant
NJ down, but in the ecstacy of his madness o.
was 9 giant and had giants strength. q
'om thet day tothis ! have laughed at those :
ID anu quiet 'Lears' we hear about. They Q
Q untrue and unnatural" fn 7