Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1891-10-09
{ To he continued J
DOERERRN
\ Mirth-rrovoking aud DELIGHTFULLY."- En-
tcrtaining Character.

Shakespeare is always quite indifferent
in his eye, he forgets all about Messlno,
about Sicily, and foreign manners, and
makes his watChmen ms thoroughly Eng
ish us they are immorhlly diyertmg, Mr..
Hatliwell has printed part OF a letter from
Lord Burgbley to Mr.. Francis Walsing,
ham, written in 1886, and describing the
English DoRbcrrys of the day,
"As came from London homcwurd IN
my coach, saw ut every towns end the
number OF ten or twelve standing with
long slaves. " And these worthless he took
for mere idlerS, but he found them to he
watChmen, lying in wait for three male
factors who were wanted. And those
persons who watched knaw only that one
of them had n hooked nosc. Surely "
Lord Burghley goes on, these watchmen
stand so openly In pumps rs no suspected
person will go near them; and II they be
no better instructed but to find three per
sons 10y one of them having a hooked nose,
they may miss thereof" and 80 thank
Heaven that they are rid OF three knaves
Dogberry may have been studied from one
of these intelligent members of the old
English police, He is tNc eternal type of
the conceited official absolutely absorbed
in his own importance, ard among all
Shakespeare's many Malaprops, DOgberry
is perhaps the most consistently entertain
ing. Almost every speech he makes con.
tains Il jewel. Pearls of absurdity drop
from his lips like real pearls from those of
the girl in the fairy tale. All a we'll
tavoured man is the GIFT of fortune; but to
write and read comes 10y nature. v "For
your reading and writing, let that appear
when there Is no need of such vanity
But it is absurd to quote passages which
every one knows 10y heart, and which no
one can read or remember without being
moved to Lord ChesteTheld's vulgar in
trinity OF laughter. Hope aud Swift are
said never to have been heard to laugh
Lord Chesterfield hoped that his son never
would laugh Could any Of those per
sons of quality ever have read the address
OF Dogberry to his watch, or his rcitcr
ated complaints about being written lown
an ass? The delicious eXpedient 10y which
the watch sits on the church beuoh
till two with the proclaimed intention of
then going all to bed, brings about the
fortunate coincidence by which BOrachio
and Conrade are overheard conspiring
The watch RECEIVERS the most dangerous
piece of lechery that was ever known in
the common wealth" and if Dogberry had
not been so delightfully."- DogbeTy, Don
John plot would never have come TO the
ripening, and there would have been no
play. The scoundrels would have been
denounced before cid L,onato in the
morning, before Claudio had the chance
of displaying his odious character ia
church, but, alas, Dogberry, when he does
come to Lgonato with bis story, besows
all bis tcdiousness on him. Yea, an 'twere
a Thousand times more than it IL" There
is a daring and humorous originality
here, which only Shakespeare would have
ventured II there il n parallel to such
momentous news being ~ ab,urdly de-
ldyed 1t is in the Agamemnon, where the
chorus of dotards doIders, and driyels
plays the DoQbprry while fatal net IL
woven, the fatal stroke at the King Of Men
Is being dealt within the palace. But the
Heschy'ean chorus only makes Us angry,
like British statesmen quIbblinR and d.
yldinR and per rating while the DAYS went
by and khaTtOom was left unreieyed.
DORberry, in spite Of our impotence,
compeI5 our mirth in the crisis Of fair
Hero's tate. Andrew Lang, in Harper +
Magazine for September