The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-12-27

PROF. CUMNoCK's READING, at the
Methodist Church on Wednesday even
ing of last week, was as entertaining and
instructive performance as any witness
ed here for years. The selections read
cover wide range Of composition, and
give ample play to the readers power.
Passages of a grave and serious nature,
in which courts, and mobiles and mer-
chant princes figure, and life hangs
trembling in the scales of justice, and
hatred, avarice, gratitude and indigna-
ton, swaying strong natures, are por-
trayed by master hand descriptions
of martial scenes, of the tender passion
in all its various moods, of manhood
struggling with adversely, and comic in
cidents, and pieces in Dialect found
place on the programme for the evening.
To say that some of the selections
were read better than others, is but to
assert that no man can represent all
shades and varieties of human feeling,
equally well. The poorest rendition
was not without considerable merit,
while the best would win applause from
any audience, however cultured or criti-
cal.
The tone and bearing of Prof. Cum
nock's ,Shylock seems too proud and
defiant to have been consonant with the
afatu IF Iayx7 No Tn,
Europe, the Israelite was then regarded
with general contempt and aversion, and
his effects were looked upon as almost
legitimate spoil for those who had the
power to fleece him with impunity. 1t
is very questionable whether any mem
Der of that prescribed race could then
have menaced royal court, in the spir-
it which Prof. C.'s Shylock manifests,
without thereby greatly endangering
both his life and property, Nor does
this naughty mien well comport with
ShylOck's discrimination in the earlier
scenes of the play. It is hardly credible
that man to whom such a carriage was
critic and liar as ,Shylock is in negotia-
ting the loan. Prof. @. makes the Jew
SAVIOR too much of Marmion, kissing hot
defiance in the very teeth Of The Doug
las. He makes A7atOniO too feminine,
by substituting timidness for melancholy.
Aptoaaio's letter to Bassaaaio, announ-
cling the danger, betrays no cowardice.
But while the tenor of his words in court
becomes man of steady nerve, the way
in which those words are voiced by Prof.
Cumnock renders the audience appre-
hensive that Aaetonio's courage may for
sake him at any moment and work sad
havoc in the plot; and as they contem-
plate his liability to fall on his knees in
duplication to the Jew, contempt for
his weakness mingles with pity for his
woes.
For n That .A7ad II That was given
SO admirably we'll that it is difficult to
say in what particular the reading could
be improved. Many considered it the
of the evening. A gentleman who has
heard the poem rendered by several
public readers of note says that Prof.
Cumnock's rendition is much the best
he has heard.
Irish character is personated by the
Professor about as truly as it is'ever
| taI ho iCy ot
Irishman. His selections in this depart
ment are well chosen, with perhaps one
exception), and neither the sentiments
nor their enunciatinn can wound the
feelings CT any listener. His good taste
in this matter will not make the Prof.
less favorite with the general public,
and his auditors of Celtic lineage will
not fail to appreciate his justice. The
Irishman so familiar on the stage is
never seen elsewhere, and the actor or
the elocutionist who regards him as a
type or a model displays ignorance, or
prejudice, or both. While this repul-
sive and unreal figure did not appear in
the writes suggests, in the kindliest
spirit, that such forms IS f0raste, rade,
and belare, were coined upon the stage,
and there only are they current. Prof.
Cumnock makes Kitty Of Coleraiae and
Wido,U Malone inimitable bits of char
acterization, and very many of the ladies
were moved to tears by his reading of
Common. which is q most touching record
of conjugal affection and devotion unto
death. The reader is understood to
have said, at one time, that Conner him
self wrote a letter to Nora, and after
ward, that he could neither read nor
write 1t is Lot complimentary to the
intelligence of an audience to ask them
10 believe that Conner WAS man of
quick perception, remarkably apt to
learn, yet unable to count two correctly.
| II Prof. Cumnock ever induces one Of