Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-10-30
NaSt's lecture.
A FULL HoUsE-AN INTERESTING AND IN
STRUCTIyE ENTERTAINMENT S
GREATEST CARICATURIsT LECTURES FOR
THE FIRST TINE IN RUTLAND.

THE FIRST TINE IN RUTLAND.
The first lecture of the season, under
the auspices of the Y. NJ. c. A, took
place at the Opera House last evening,
when Thomas Mast, the inimitable Am
erican caricaturist, delighted and amused
an audience which filled the house to
overlooking Mr.. Mast cannot be called
an orator, nor does he make any preten-
sions to the title. He delivers his lee
ture in a simple, conversational style,
without any attempt at OratOrical dis
play or effect. Mr.. Mast is truly a Won
derful artist, and his lecture, although in
itself interesting and instructive, with
out the caricatures, would, as the Bos-
ton Journal truly says, be like the play
of Hamlet with Hamlet left out The
audience could readily recognize the
features of Tweed, Andy Johnson, Ben
Butler, and Uncle Sam, which have be-
come so familiar to the whole country in
the pages of Harper's Weekly. Mr.. Mast
drew these pictures off very rapidly and
dexterously. With great apparent ease,
as if the task was the merest Child's
play, he would draw off the main out
lines on large paper, standing at one
side of the stage, and then with few
more strokes, rapidly given, he would
present to the astonished audience a pic
ture so absurd, and yet so easily recog-
nized, that itwould bring the house down
in roar of laughter. The lecturer was
introduced to the audience by Mr.. Joel
NJ. Haven, of the Y. NJ. G. A. commit
tee. Mr.. Mast, in commencing his lee
ture, said that to every one, man seems
to be a different creature. To the me-
chanic, he would perhaps seem to be a
tool-making animal. TO the tailor, a
man might seem to be a clothes-wearing
animal. To the artist, he would appear
to be noble creature, who buys and
pays him for his pictures but to him
man seemed to be creature that laughs
and enjoys joke. He then drew in
rapid manner, with very few strokes
the picture of a man in the last convul-
sions of fit of roaring laughter. The
resemblance was so perfect of man
really enjoying a hearty laugh, that the
audience were instantly convulsed and
became in a measure originals of the
picture. 'HNever," said the lecturer,
shave 1 seen any animal, except our
own distinguished selves, who could en-
joy a joke" re
Since Darwin has made his new dis
covery as to our ancestry, the lecturer
said he had closely observed the facial
peculiarities of the animal claimed to be
our ancestor. No judge could assume
as grave and dignifed an appearance as
does the countenance of the monkey.
Edwin Booths face in the opening scene
of Hamlet wears gloomy expression,
but it is joyous as compared with the
unchanging melancholy of the perform
ing monkey. That fact alone he used
as an argument that we could not have
descended from monkeys. Like Falstaff,
he is the source of fun to others without
being in the least degree funny himself.
The best races of men are those who
laugh the most. Who ever imagined
John Chinaman singing comic song
A man who was said to have poisoned
his wife was absolved in the minds of
some people because he was such fun
ny man, they said he was too droll
to commit murder. The Ameri-
can people of all people on earth are the
wittiest.
Here the artist drew picture of the
Englishman who always speaks the ex-
act truth (?) in saying we are serious
people, and presented him in such tell
ing attitude, with his umbrella
he always carries, supposing that it al
ways rains in America as it does in Eng
land-his opera-glass and eye-glass,
which are his invariable companions,
that the audience heartily enjoyed the
scene.
He said in looking over an English en-
cyclopedia of humor he found that a
large share of the jokes were those of