Cedar Falls gazette. [volume] (Cedar Falls, Iowa) 1860-1895, 1868-01-03

a correspondent for the Chicago 7ri-
Dune teifsu why Lyceums pay better
In the West than In New England:
'.fhe Iyceum In New England Is i'm
demoraiized condition. Lyceums
cannot arrange paying courses, owing
TO fiie fact that the best lecturers get sO
much more i'm your young Western
cities than our Eastern communities
can afford To pay. A town OF Ave
thousand people, with you, has 81 X
enterprisinl, warm blo,ded young
men, who want TO take out three youhg
ladies' apeace, once week, to a lecture,
where u similar town with US has six
not very young women who must stay
at home in pinched and chilled maid
hood, because the seventh woman alone
can get beau. With you in the West,
also. people read aL home less than with
US in the East; u good lecture is more
serviceabie In the West than In the
East. The consequence need not be
pointed out. The West pays the best
lecturers much better than we cail.
Hence our lyceums iaiiguish."
On the same subject, the writer fur
ther says:
There is one point, ir ain not mis-.
/ y
come TO great mean IN reatfing their
lectures. The1ecture should be spoken,
not from memory of written words,
but from thorough study, aud right out
of the lasd aud heart at llie nioiaent.
This, IL Is we'll known, is the melhod
of Mr.. Phillips. Charles Dickens does
not read, he tells TIE stoyy, hardly took
ing at his book, and by no n,eal,s strict
ly following Ii. Newman Hail is
effective chiefly becaase of qualities i n
his discuiirses vi hiel, would drDp out or
be greatly impaired III he attempted To
read SERMONS. Undoubtedly some Inc n
have gifts which will carry them
through In spite Of the dlsadvant tayes
of confinement TO Ilanuscript. And
yet tlsese men, thoroughly trained to
use their powers as Mr.. Phillips uses
liis, would gain ininleilsly. Rev. Jacob
Manning and John nj. Langston, i'm
the Parker fraternity course, did not
near do themselves justice, because they
read written lectures. The success, ii
seems to me, of the pulpit, inflIe future,
absolutely depends on giving divinity
students ~ thorough training In flle
great art OF thinking well and speaking
well without written preparations. In
New Eng ianderen tlle pulpit is steadii v
much less heed the new communities
give to the pulpit. or course every one
can name exceptions, but they are
found in men WHO begin to understand
aud to meet the demands of tlle new
time. As a whole, the pulpit will fall
utterly, as far as "a large aud most intel
ligeit class are concerned, unless it
avail itself OF that most remark able of
gifts, tie gift of ready address, supple
mented and furnished always by the
power To write well upon OCCASION.
believe experience will prove that the
two gifts pull admirably together, the
writer writing better after discipline in
ready speak ing, aud the speaker speak
ing better for discipline with the pen.
Whoever thinks to improve by giving
up writing will soon come to grief.
study with the peii, and study hard,
harder than Ii you depend, d ON the
written production then when tile
topic 80 studied comes up tn be spoken
upon. after ripeniDg i'm the mind, tile
word will he not only fresh and al,i-
mated. but well reasoned aud cogeiit- -
this seeins to l,e the best rule. laef-
.'The lecture platform Is broader
pulpit. pulpit for the leaders OF their
time, the men who are best as scholars.
Thinkers aud speakers. Probably tile
lecture Is to play the first part in the
popular working out Of the great bu.
man problems in America. In 1t will
be heard the i'est and abiest men. speak
ing apart from all narrow Interests, dis
regarding all lines of restriction and
exclusion. speaking as men 10 men.
10 he worthy To stand OH this broad
platform Of popular ministry IL an aim
rs hon orabie as any which the most
eminent can put before themselves