Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1871-06-03
HORACE GREELEY.
His Lecture Last Night on "self.
made Men,

1
made Men,"
Mr.. Greeley arrived in this city las
evening at seven o'clock via the Mem
phis and Charleston railroad. AT the
theater about six hundred of our citi
zens listened to his lecture on "Self
made Men," His appearance ON the
boards Of the theater was greeted with
applause.
HOW HE LOOKED.
The Philosopher of the Tribune pre-.
scented the benignant appearance Of q
man who loved his fellow-men, resemb.
ling in this a philosopher of the old
school. He is an old man, with warm,
kindly expression of face; bald-headed,
and grey whiskers; in fact, the term
venerable appearance would convey
the idea exactly. He was dressed in a
black dress coat; loose, baggy black
pants; white vest, black neck-tie, and
white standing collar-none of them
fitting his person, but presenting q
careless appearance. His frame is
massive not vigorous, but heavy.
His gait is exceedingly awk-
ward he rolls like sailor on
shore, and does not appear at home on
the lecture stand. A pair of gold spec
tacles adorned his face, and in his left
hand he carried a bandana silk hand
kerchief, which he Airted about as if it
was the red flag of the Paris Commun-
lists. His favorite posture while lee
turing was to lean his left arm ON the
stand 1.-THE red handkerchief in his hand
and his right hand resting on his hip.
The broad brimmed straw hat was care
lessly thrown aside for the time. To
sum it up, Horace Greeley does not pre-
sent the appearance Of beau ideal lee
turer either in appearance or manner,
but he seemed to be man in whom
strong characteristic traits and eccen-
tricities existed.
HIS LECTURE.
For half an hour it seemed as if the
"self-made men" would never put in an
appearance. He carried his hearers to
California, where the giant trees of
Mariposa resembled the "Sons of Anak.
After dwelling at considerable length on
California scenery, and comparing it
with Niagara, Mount Blanc, Rome and
Venice, he introduced the first self
made man" as Benjamin Franklin,
whom he followed from the fellowship
to Versailles-from a chandler to an
ambassador. Daniel Boone was the
next portrait. He said Boone was no
patriot, because he never joined the ma
tional forces during the war" Robert
Burns came next, and the speaker dwelt
at length upon this, his favorite poet
Shakspeare's portrait closed the list of
selfmade men," and after another
eulogy on Franklin the speaker con-
cluded his lecture.
The lecture was carefully prepared
and was written in severe yet chaste
style. The idea of CHASING Burns and
Shakespeare, the great geniuses OF ballad
poetry and the drama, as self-made men,
was not generally regarded as correct.
His self-made men were intellectual men,
not men who put money in their purses,
and who come up to the popular idea OF
the term. Mr.. Greeley, while speaking,
gestured almost exclusively with his
right hand, and occasionally he nodded
his head forward at the close of SEN
tence, as if to impress its import upon
his audience. His voice is somewhat
monotonous, and is strongly tinged with
the Eastern or New York twang. The
lecture was full of philosophical truths
and well turned phrases, and can be
summed up as exemplifying the idea;
That the true Eden lies before, not be-
hind us.