The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1866-05-17
A WINTER WITH TUE AMERICAN
PERIPAIETICS.
RY eroRor AlgREp rowNgENp.

By GEORGE ALFRED TOWNSEND.
when the war was over, and the omnous
truism OF "all quiet GU the Potomac had be.
come an everlasung nptaoh, i gave away the
aggregation OF homes aud hide which had car
RED me through the final battles, and felt verv
much Ike Centaur amputated above the
shoulder-hlades. ...-...
/ hope / am nos uncharitable in admitting
that | was very so ry 10 quit the war; The
salvos OF peace made me bereaved man. They
literally threw me upon tue world. Not, of
course, that ] could not eetgplenty to eat aud
drink, and tr ends to share NJ; but my occupa
ton was gone the 2e5t, and bubble, and muscu.
lanty of lite; the pleasant liltleness OF its pur-
poses, the whole social fabric which bounded it,
the elect camps, the tavorie generals, the pre-
terred pathways over which ] cantered with no
destiny but the delivery of my dispatches; to
this choice and vagarious existence, prolific OF
energies but without the aching OF ambition
had succeeded career without horizon,
consciousness that in the wide, wanton peace
was useless as the dlsmounted cannons, the
folded signal flags.
IL was, therefore, with that feeling OF rellet
which follows every new suggestion that 10 Ok
up this letter at the Office OF the journal whicn
called me it's "Own:'-
Dear sir:-The Blconian Assoc alton Of the CITY
OF POttawa attain nstTucts me to inYiie YOU TO oe-
hVer the thId lecture OF tnelr course. Inc authOr
OF the brilliant letters upon the death OF Aero and
the battle OF six Plongs shoulC possess somewhat OF
what MontaIgne calls the faculty OF chattyness
We shall be glad to pay you the customary nj uol
lars and expenscs aid IN toe event OF our accept
ance wall ind you some engagements in our de-
pendences. =, r. ,,
Corresponding Secretary"
The relief that felt, when | read the fore
gong ,trice was not unmixed with a shrinking
Sensation, a5 OF Cnctnnatns suddenly sum.
moued TO the head of the Roman armies. My
regard tor public speakers, never profound,
amounted in the space OF two moments to the
deepest admiration. What were dodoing chain,
canister, and lead, to the deadly concentration
OF hundred opera-elasses and the inward
comparison OF thousand silent iurymen and
gossps, who had listened TO the silver periods
OF Wendell Phillips, and lived an intellectual
lifetime in every eplgram OF Mr.. Emerson
Hidden behind my sanCtum curtains, with
sauCy and itching qnil to skirmi5h before the
hippant body of convi ctions, of which every
Journalist has a corps P01mee, | could wound,
demoralize, or rout village OF sentimental.
lists; but to uEmask In the presence of the foe,
and show them the nakedness OF the oracle they
care d--Ugh it made me ashamed.
What faculties had for public speaking? My
voice was sharp, but sharpness without volume
was like one OF Fanaguts rams without weight.
/ was accused OF confidence, and had deXte-
rously affirmed the mistake, but my conscience
whispered TO me that 1t was only a species of
sensiuyeness too proud to shrink when it
wanted to. Had | grace? Hol ho! it had
taken me a week to sit astride horse; my sister
would not waltz with me; gestured most e1ec
tIvely with my hands in my pockets | was too
intense in every subject to be earnest in any;
and never took a lesson in elocuton since ban
ished from the nursery, prematurely, for ST.
lenCe.
In brief was beardless youth of twenty.
four, with That unfortunate BROWNIES of locks
and lghtness of eyes for which one is chal-
lenged at the polls as a minor up to his fortieth
birthday.
do not say that am giving fair picture of
myself in this; but it is faithful copy of my
conceptions Of myself when the Pottawatta-
ME Association summoned me to the ros-
trum. Just at this wavering time, however the
Thebes Association, the ,AleXandrian Library,
and the Irrawaddy Institute sent on word that
they joined the POttawattamies, and were quite
anxious to hear me talk at my earliest pleasure.
Very soon had some twenty applications, and
when showed them to Mr.. Pi1ip. the manag
ing editor he said:-"Go in ! lecturing is the
easiest way in the world of getting on"
therefore replied to the Pottawattamies that
i should be happy to address them upon the
''Recreatons Of our Special Correspondent"
early in December. and next day great num-
bers of people in the city of Pottawattamie
were reading my name on deal walls, and won.
dering what my "Recreatlons" had been, and
how much asked to tell them. In the course
of a week the POttawattamie daily papers came
to hand, and as | looked over the list of lee
tureTs who we're to favor the Assoc iqtiOn during
the winter felt the shrinking sensation again.
and wondered by what subtlety OF communica-
ton my name, and the productions of it, had
ever recommended me to that remote public
which had arisen to confronC me ny the shores
OF Lake Erie, as suddenly and as intimidatingly
as from the same spot the stature OF the great
Pontiac himself invoked the earliest English
professors, Himmaaya and Bourgeoise the first
university oracle, the second natural philo-
sopheT as daring as Herbert Spencer, whom he
loved; the NapoleoniC historian, Hlbitt; the
versatile divine Mallett; the great Cough, IN
spired OF temperance; De Seville, the most
original of humoristS out of the nursery; Tous.
saint and Petard, aboriginal agitators, and Gene
raj Taionis, the atistcian OF valor. Sand
wlched amidst so much learning, fully entered
into the feelings of junior counsel, retained in
terrific murder trial. if indeed, my fushes
were not as guilty as those OF the criminal, sur
rounded by so much learning. That | had
previously lectUred was no assurance whatever
Rather did suffer infinite suspense at the ad-
monition of that wild foraY upon the Lanca
shire coast, where l spent my last sovereign to
make public sentiment on the American ques.
tion and was paid in storms of cheers and
eounter-cheers, with scarcely enough glory to
reach Liverpool In the meantime the lecture
associations, representing their own interests
were emphatic In their Endorsements. 1t made
me pale to read paragraphs from the Hudson
to Lake Michigan, dilatng upon the huenCy OF
my address, the sonOrOusness of my utterances
and the pictorial dignity Of my characterize.
tions. The Secretary OF the Pottawattamie had
versatility OF laudation little short OF genius,
and he must have set all the boys III Pottawat-
tamie to saving their siXpenQSs tor the arrival OF
the great Manhattan elOcutionist
The interval was brief, and tried to prepare
my essay, but with these etlervescent feelings |
indicted only incoherences. Day after day
slipped by-not IN procrastination, for | avoW
that | never worried so hard in my lite-but
every sheet that composed dropped piecemeal
to the basket, and the nights we're no more real
than the " Sleeping Beauty's" when the whole
parquet Ogles her as she dreams; till, at last /
awoke with thrill one Monday morning, with
only thirty-siX hours between me and publicity.