The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1866-12-25

The medical students whose vagaries at
the st. James Hall on Tuesday have ex'
cited general attention, were OF the type
scarcely caricatured by Charles Dickens
IN his well-known fancy portrait, Mr.. Bob
sawyer. Before the time arrived for the
lecturers appearance on the platform, dis
cordant noises issued from one particular
point Of the hall, to wit, the large gallery
at the end opposite the organ. Deep
groans, violent spasmodic noises, suggestive
of that state of physical suffering which
our ordinary experiences Of the Channel
may serve to recall, sharp and sudden cries
of pain, as If caused by the extraction Of
tenacious double tooth, and, in short,
every exaggerated imitation Of anguish that
the human voice is capable of atfording,
greeted the lady even while she remained
hidden from the eyes of the crowded as
scmblagc.
AT eight o'clock Mr.. Nimmo, under
whose management the course of lectures
by DR.. Mary L. Walker appears to have
been planned, came to the front Of the or
chestra, and there waited very patiently
for chance of making himself heard. He
then claimed fair hearing for lady,
stranger, who had received from the gov
ernment of her country medal for valor-
Gus conduct. He called on the audience
to respect that decoration and the wearer
of it; and his emphatic little speech, as
matter of course, was loudly applauded.
As the lady affects singularity OF at
tire, and even donates considerable pait
of her address to a yindication of"bloomer"
doctrines, as illustrated in herself, we are
fairly justified in speaking of her personal
appearance, which is that of a delicate
woman, younger than she states to be,
with compact, comedy head, of the shape
conventionally known as the Madonna,
and with a rather fragle-looking form,
prettily clothed in sort of vivandiere cos
tune, either black or invisibly blue.
A naiuete in DR.. Mary B. Walkers mode
of mixed preaching served for time to
amuse her hearers; but after she had pro-
ceeded with her strange combinations OF
pathos and pantalettes, physiology, clinical
| operations, and negro emancipation, with
no apparent purpose of striking into line
| of connected narrative or argument, the
noise in the gallery recommended. Miss,
or rather DR.. Walker, who spoke in
American" but who was tolerably well
understood except when using adjectives
| Inc SOIIiSS do WINS, "Vuio AZ "'''N
have conquered the antagonism of the
clique in the gallery if she had kept lit
tie nearer to her expressed theme, and
simply told her experience in college, in
private practice, and in the Federal army; !"
but she had allowed herself so liberal a
scope for the discussion of the pantalette
question and the rights Of the negro, that
there really was little chance for her doing
justice to the subject announced for treat
ment.
| The interruptions were sometimes posi-
lively brutal; as when an evidently dis
trcssing cough with which the lady lectu-
rer was troubled, and which caused her
unmStakable pain, was mimicked by male
threats and lungs in the Bob Sawyer inte-
rest. This manly amusement at one pc
Rod threatened to produce rather serious
consequences, for gentleman in the body
of the hall got up and proposed forcible
clearance of the gallery; and great many
hands were held up in favor Of the motion.
An interval OF comparative quiet ensued,
and the lady was permitted to finish her
lecture, though some of her ingenious pa
thos occasionally provoked laughter even
among the better disposed part OF the au-
dienCe.