North Iowa times. [volume] (McGregor, Iowa) 1867-current, 1869-04-21
Butlcr's Voice.

Don Piatt writes from Washington !:
"Butler's voice, is fair indication of the
character of Butler. 1t is harsh, broken,
anG exceedingly unpleasant. This matter
of the vocal organs is not sufficiently con-
sidered by students Of human nature. In
the animal kingdom the cry of wild
beast is the carefully-prepared utterance
of the nature Of the beast. From the
hiss of the snake to the roar of the lion,
we have in clear, unmistakable language,
| the sort of an animal we encounter. As
we ascend in the scale, and approach in
nocent, harmonious natures, the utterances
become sweet. The poet tells us:
"All things young and innocent
Are taught, they say, to sing,
sthe maiden sitting at her wheel,
The bird upon the wing"
"The voice of woman, as q general
thing, is soft and pleasant, and, as one
loses the feminine character, her voice
becomes coarse and discordant. PLysi-
clans tell US that the first indications of
insanity are to be found in the changes of
the voice that are ''like sweet bells tangled
out of tune, and harsh" And one can
we'll suppose that the moral insanity, now
so much discussed, is accompanied with
like loss of harmonious utterancc.
"Be that as it may, Buffers voice is a
combination of the growl of tiger and
the hiss of the snake. A timid, sensitive
nature would shrink and shudder to hear
the roll of malignant, angry utterances of
this man. And his appearance, when
speaking, carries out the impression. His
retreating forehead disappears in the ami
NAL developments, that are large, and ap-
pear more prominent from being bald,
while his shaggy, gray eyebrows, throw
in deeper shadow the cavernous recesscs
from which his distorted eyes CLEAN in
wrath. His cheeks are fabby, and fall
over chin that lacks the square promi-
nence that indicates frmness and censis-
tency. In word, his head is the head of
cat, and, when aroused to anger, he
seems to growl and spit until one can al
most see the CLEAN of the white teeth,
sharp as needles. As Schenck sat in grim
silence, listening to the roll Of vituperation
with his square brave face, the scene re-
minded one of wildcat batting bear"
The Decay of Lecturing.
The lecturing system is an example of
the rapidity with which we invent, develop
and wear out new habits in this country.
1t was peculiarly American, and, at one
time had an unbounded popularity. Twelve
or fourteen years ago, nearly every man
eminent in science, literature, philosophy
and politics, was a lecturer; and nearly
every considerable town in the country
had its lyceum or literary association, be-
fore which lectures were delivered every
winter. But there grew up an army of
persons, eminent in nothing, who "took"
to lecturins as business. A hundred
dollars night and expenses paid, was al
together attractive to needy adventures,
who could find little employment for their
valuable talents in ordinary vocations-
particularly as the quid pro gao was the
same we'll thumbed manuscript which had
cost them nothing but few days reading
of cyclopadias, and few hours writing.
The business was new, the entertainment
novel and fashionable, and the public
easily pleased with the cheap conceit of
intellectual Improvement. But after a
while, the public began to grow critical
Of the lectures were Disco
vered to be mere jingles of words and
the more exciting attractions of the theater
and opera re-asserted their old authority.
The business, from being overdone, broke
down, and all the efforts in lecturers, ly-
ceums and library associations, have not
been able to revive it.