The Portland daily press., 1872-10-01

EDMUND YATES ON THE PLATFORM
Edmund Yates, the author, just arrived
in this country, made his bow upon the lee
ture platform in New York on Friday eve
ming last, and his appearance and method is
sketched by one of the newspapers in these
words:
1t is common and popular superstition
that every man who writes half dozen sue
cessful books must have pale and eonsump-
tive appearance; that he must be weak at the
knees; that he will be afflicted with bad hear
ing and difficulty in the eyesrght. There
fore all were more than agreeably disappolnt-
ed when tall-six-foot gentlemen, in unex-
ceptional evening dress, with the orthodox
white tie, the Drawn and muscle of Life
Guardsman, stepped upon the platform to re-
ceive one OF the heartiest welcomes ever Civ
en- by New York audience to a stranger.
Mr.. rates has large, massive features,
parts his dark hair in the middle, and he
got to work last evening with the ease
and force of an accomplished crcketer To
be brief, he bowled his way into the hearts of
his audience and made them feel as easy as
he felt himself, which, without any disrespect
to Mr. Yates, is no slight accomplishment.
There were no dramatic effects or accessories,
there being simply mahogany reading desk,
big pitcher of ice water, large tumbler to
drink it from, and dozen or so of cartoons
and crayons made by Firth, John Leech, and
Marcus Stone, which were amply illustrative
of the characters introduced by Mr.. Yates in
his lecture. The lecture was entitled ''Mo-
dern Society,"" and has been deliverd by its
author for a hundred nights in London. Mr..
Yates dealt gently with his subjects, and now
and then little bits of his books and magazine
articles appeared; but their appearance was not
obtrusive, and hearty laughter and applause
were yielded to the energy of his description
and the excellent drollery of his mimicry
There is a placidity and ease about English
humor that strongly contrasts with the gro
tesqueness and wild abandon of American
humor; but the most earnest admirers of
'Artemus Ward'' or MARK Twain cannot
but endorse the clear-sighted and pungent
terseness of the hits made by Edmund Yates
at the fashionable follies of the day. He is a
close observer of whatever is ridiculous and
overstrained in the social anachronisms of the
world in which he moved, and his sketches of
the physician who, after the manner of Aber-
nethy, but lacking his ability, first pockets
the patients guinea and then insnlts him; or
the "lady's DOCTOR" who is shod with velvet,
and whose tongue is dsgustingly oleaginous !;
of the ''old young lady," who has seen too
many watering places; OF the "dawdling
we'll" who carries off the belle of the eve
ming from the 'bashful young man. with a
yawn and a sneer. and of the too indulgent
papa at the seaside, who is a bear in his
counting-house in the city, were all well done
and ELECTED the heartiest tributes from an
audience who were more than eager to an
ticipate every joke and stroke of humor made
manifest during the evening. There is moth
ing bitter or coarse or painful in the style of
Mr.. Yates. and the ladies particularly seemed
| to enjoy the entertainment, and where the
ladies are secured it is unnecessary to say that
more than half of the battle has been fought
| and won.