New-York tribune., 1908-03-08
EDWIN FORREST.
MARCH .. 1sOs-DEcEMBEn i.. 1872

INSTRUMENTATION of this writer's views concernr
Forrest as there dissensioa about him duril-
his lifetime. The following sheteh may %
found uninterestirg now
No actor of the nineteenth century has been ths
theme Of such acrimonious controversy Edwin
Forrest occasioned. the reason being that absolas
harmony can exist between the anita c0nsfi.
s,,stsms of muscle and mind. Forrest was an M
commonly massive and puissaat animal. and al
of his i,persouations were more physical than it,
,eiIoctuaI while no one of them possessed am COZ
siderable spiritual element In Tire latter part ~
,is life when he bad passed through fiery trials
of afHctfon and been ravaeet vfth grief. he CAV.
a profoundly affecting performance % i>ing Lea.
T-t in his prime cf scaevsr1e-t Hi~ acting IA.
mainly characterized by excessive muscular visor.
He had a magnificent vOiee. poTerful rirh- rapo'ss
various resonant. face o, lecnin~ strength and
lowering menace; dark. piercing eyes a@d Pc
son Of rugged build; and in th@atr.cai sjt'ajiJas
of pariI suspense conflict requiring tse ep7o-
s;+e, of granite sOlidy. physical poVe~ vaH~-
n,e,t trirnutuory Gveryg heini1S vocissrlt,oa. g.,
was tremendously effective
n his bovhood he saw cooVer. f.draund Ecea ari
f.o-rra,- and ripon those sctOfr r. had MODELLED
his stvIe: but he never manifested tae majesty
roGDer,,ant delicacy. and grace dirr,brted 70
C,oo,er nor did he ever display any Of tar char
ac,sristic recorded qualities cf Tho Ge1iE1- of Ed-
mund Kean From the first ana untii t"e 'as'- BIS
acting was saturated with realism ana That
ono reason of his extensive popularity IIe eoud
at ali times be seen. heard and understood iis
struck with a sIetge hammer Not even nerves o:
putta-psrchs could remain un<haNsn b+ his boE.
In ,be manifestation OF terror he olled ont Is
.oc,e contorted his visage. made his frame culver
and used the trick sword with the rafting hilt In
scenes of fury he painted. snorted- and snarled
like a wild beast. In death scenes Us sdsps and
eurrJes were protracted and painfully literal Ths
beIlov that he emitted, when, as s'loaeile'', ~
.t,t.7ad to launch the esiastie3i curse. snosc
a.de the theatre walls tremble- Tle snariing sell
of ferocity that burst from him. when as JACK
f-ade he recognized and spranS upon Lord Say, n
the forest fairly frightened his hearers His VI
terance Of I.ears delirious prayer 70 Nature was
III = Thunderstorm Often he produced amazingly
consoIatory effects-affordins ample sTarcat-oh TO
the overstrained feelings OF his audience Gesirous
as in the stormy passages OF hLnS Lear ana
..otbeIio', the forum scene Of "Ftrg!nlUs, tie
taua scane of ..Fsr1tI1s' and the sca0ld scene OF
Damon and Pythias, that something ternpestCous
and terrific should be said and done 1LsEe are
times when it Is a comfort 70 see sofleDody tnat
ca, LET himself 60 Forrest could HIS style. ac-
cordingly had it's positive undeniable naerits but
neither he nor his apostles were ever SATISFIED with
acknowledgment of those merits al theiF actual
definite worth.
ideal and decisive. IN expression CONSISTENT har-
monious. sustained. and complete-weFe spartaeas'
Jack Cade and Metamora- II was WIN the 4ndla1
ehieftain MetaInora. part he desplSeo-ana WHICH
he ferventIv cursed the public for adIrlrIls-thaS
he gained the bulk OF his fortune his actins
was exceedingly fine in portions OF olhe-o' Damon
and Payne's Brutus- Amply qualified 70 excei n
the vigorous expression OF elemental einouonS ana
the display of robust physical types OF human
nature, insisted on performing 1AaCoS--- "n'OA
reorres quality and breadth OF imagination lhat
he did not possess-and also Haullst,-t1e Intei-
Iectual spiritual, tender. delicate. heart-oroAsni
haunted. vacillating. half-crazed prince-ln Ehicn
part he looked like the FarneSe s1cuies' anu ~c'-
ed like a suppressed tornado
One Of his admirers, that once Ealllard eclor,
James T. Murdoch, extoling his massive and pow
erfuI acting" in chosen characters OF Shake
speare," nkened him 10 the gigantic Noses o.
N1ichelange1o. Much stted enconaiurn or mat SOFT
was provided the public edhcation N the rasrc-
ian of Forests fame; and after his death, muca
of it was crystallized. by the Rev WlIian
RounseviIe AIger. into huge, ponderous, almost
unreadabe biography Of him. IN which there IS am
pie record OF 'the dynamic charge in his nervous
centres, and OF an influence that "undulates away
out to the periphery" He was cnlertain OF ths
robustiots school OF acting. As such he had his
day and an opulent day It was; but when he
found that the educated. civilized world wouia
not accept the robustious school as Identical WIN
the intellectual school. but insisted on distinguish
ing between the body and the spirit hs seems 70
have felt warranted In becoming. as he cid ns-
come a sort OF latter-dey Tinon-
In his private life there time when rs
was unfortunate and unhappy. He had married
In London. 1887. Catharine Sinclair, daughter or
John Sinclair, the celebrated Scotch vocalist, and
for ten or twelve years he had lived happily vtta
wife and sought a divorce y counter suit was
brought a public scandal ensued. and the wife
was vindicated That accomplished genteUonan-
known for many years to the present historian de-
clared to him that Forests Jealous disposition
showed itself almost the first OF their uaried
Hfe-on occasion, strangely enough. taxing
ridiculous form of resentment against the ven
erabIe Lord Jeffrey. the Edinburgh reviewer, one
of her fathers friends and one of the most pune
tiliousy honorable and circunlspeCt old gentlemen
in the British Kingdom. Iago, acute Observer
notices the compulsory power, upon some people,
Of "trifes. light air" 1t was silly lover let
of the OF "Consuelo.'' and found by Forrest
among his wife's papers. that wrought the mis-
chief Jameson, in after years Intimately known
this writer, said that he wrote the letter IN or
der to sustain his idle boast that he could wriIs
exactly in the manner of ''ConsUeIo'-a feat vhics
Mrs. Forrest had declared it impossible he
or anybody else. could accomplish He was leading
man In Forests company at the time and many
persons were reading George Sands sentimental
novel
Jameson always solemuiy declared himself inno
by express train. the Hudson River Railroad.
Glenwood October 8. 1865, and he IS burleo
near YOnkers- AS actor Jameson excelled IN
Iago; Pete. in The Octoroon'. and Steve HaTsrsve
in Aurora Floyd" He wrote several plays On
hearing OF the catastrophe OF his death. ForreSl
wrote:
Il see by the telegraphic news the paper ths
morning that George W. Jameson was killed IsS'
night BY a railroad train. at Yonkers- God 3
great and justice. though SLOW is sure AHothSf
scoundrei has gone to he'll trust forerer
Forrest good hater. He pUbltcLy vh-2ps'
the poet y. r Willis; he would not allow J0Hn
Gilbert. that noble actor and excellent man. -