The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1878-01-24

| ts3l tIsso ever SGOCd The
foot-Hghts, and how dare the gentleman.
| who SO far as We can determine from his
article. did not know of even the exist
! ence of those great actors. how dare he
presume upon the ignorance of his read
ers to the extent of hazarding such
reckless statements We do not know
how all these men represented Shylock,
| and we shall not ask e. have orr conjec
lures accepted in lien Of authoritative
| evidence. We hope tn be soon in pos
session of proof, awaiting which, we
| shall not wrong them nor enceavor to
| deceive our readers. But we have the
| statement of as observing and critical
| gentleman rs dwells within our city, to
| the point that he has seen the elder
| Booth as Shylook. and that the persona
ton by this ''great authority" was that
Of ali aged man. We have the state
ments OF more than one of our citizens
| who tell us they have seen Edwin Booth
bow down meath the feigned weight of
! years, n the same role. We have the
statement of one who has heard the
noted reader and tragedian, Murdoch.
| and he is said to be on our side. And
if Prescriptions are to be INDUCED, it is
more likely that the master opponents
of tragedy conformed their action to the
\
rather than to a strained construction, or
| the colloquiaIisms of children. Our
readers viii please keep in mind, too, that
! the only given evidence relating to Mac
ready's Shylock, is a portrait, drawn by
| an artist who may or may not have done
| the actor Justice. Until it's accuracy
| can be properly impeached, it must be
| accepted for what it is worth and
| meanwhile, our opponent has arrayed on
| his side the formidable authority OF one
| picture.
! 1. (c.) Advanced age is naturally asso-
| ciated with extreme avarice, In the pop
| ular conception of the miser. This fact
| our opponent admits in the first chapter
| OF his Biography. The association is
| inst, for it is based on the universal ex-
| perience and observation of mankind
1t is OILY when the generous impulses
| of youth and full manhood have depart
| ed, and natural desires are stated, or de
| clined IL force, and the finer sensibIlities
| are blunted by long attrition in the
rough walks of life, that the principle Of
| acquisitiveness reaches the highest stage
| of development and domination, to the
exclusion of nobler feelings and aspira
| tions. Then only are ali the mental
| faculties capable of concentration on
| one sordid object. 1t is only when the
natural affection, implanted in every
| human heart, is no longer excited by
the helplessness Of offspring, or the ne
| cessity for their protection aud proper
| guidance, that the parent can so largely
| forget them in his worship OF wealth
| II Shylock, with his unidentified intellect
uality, was a man of such physical vigor
and uncontrolled passions, there must
/ have existed for him other allurements,
4 L
other ambitions, there must have been
| open to him other fields in which dis
tinction might be won and achievements
| wrought, and these considerations would
| have operated to distract his attention
from the sole pursuit of gain. Greed
| aud hatred seem to have been his motive
| springs of action, but the latter was
| kept in subsection to the former. The
| charms of sooia! intercourse, the prompt
| ings of parental regard, the fierce pant
| ings of his heart for vengeance, the big
| oted tenacity with which he chung to
his creed, the cruel wounds which his
| pride reosiyed as the hands of Antonio,
are all ignored, or kept in check: CT CON
cealed, that his ayarice may have the
fuller and freer scope. We are at loss
to understand how one with the rich
blood of manhood pulsing through his
] arteries, the glow of health flushing his
cheek, the light of passion flashing il
/ his ere, the swell Of revenge heavirg his
| breast, clinching his digiie, and vibrating
| through his voice, the ring OF resolution
| in his tone, and elasticity and firnlness in
| his trsGd: could be at one time cring
| ing coward, q plotting ii..l, {, coal hypo-
critic, and little later be transformed
into being, magnificent in his bursts
1 L L l.. y,
| we are noe endowed viii. lie bGiir4ited
| powers Of conception that can bring
| such character within the possibility
of poetic creation. The contemplation
of this supposed phenomenon, we must
leave TO those more highly gifted than
ourself.
| We have just reoeiged 9 iei,ker On this
| subject from gentleman III Chicago,
| who says, among other things:
Edwin Booth. Barrett wallack, (probably
| the superior Shylock of them alb, represent
! gray. have looked through AEacreadys Rem
! iHjseefees, but can find nothing rs to his con-
ception OF the character. ] nave seen Aiurdooh
| and Booth represent ia nervous. why. bent,
| cringing, vndictive old man..
| 2 Shylock's intellect was too keen,
| his methods too cautious and calculating,
| and his wit too sharp and biting, to bea
! clustering, overbearine man. 1t is not
| the fashion OF his people TO affect this
| manner, nor was it the fashion Of the
times in which he lived, to have borne
with Hebrew insolence. had he felt ever
SO much disposed to give it vent. It's
1 first ebuillIol,s .,cuie, base ,.eeG so
! 50 sharply rebGked, as 10 have etlectualiy
| prevented any recurrence of the symp-
| toms. This is sufficiently shown by
| the contemptuous epithets SO literally
bestowed on Shvlock. He is called
s'misbeliever, cut-throat dog :sthe dog
| Jew" s'this currish Jew" this ''cruel
devil" and several other choice tit bits
| of nomenclature are larishlY conferred
| on hila, 10 pl6Eq Tie esbiplgticy; IL y,Lich
| he is held. It is no less clearly shown
| by Shylocll's moving racitals of his own
wrongs, and by the patience and suffer
ance'' with which be says he has borne
them. 70 further set forth the treat
ment which his race suffered, and more
! firmly to establish that he could not
with safety have defied the head Of the
! government and shown disrespect to the
| court, we quote tro1l the work which
| our opponent considers such high au
| thorlty:
"Shylock is not more cruel than his age.
Christianity by means of the 1nquisition. In
| pression-a power which seized on every pre-
text which could supply it with an excuse for
! confscation of property, insolent scorn, the
| death by rope or FIRE: and the desps-
ed Jew saw in every Christian an eppressor.--
/ T1fliS'S Illustrated ShGkespsre
There are here DO laudations of Vene-
tan liberaiity. aething tls5 seonsc lead
us to infer that in Venice a Jew might
be more insolent than his countrymen
~ IL