, 1874-07-12

blared out upon the Associations through tht
trumpet Of the Bureau.
The number of persons in this country OF bott
| sexes and both colors who make, or who are try.
ing to make, fortune bylecturiug, may be safely
put at 500, while the preachers and professors
! who are hungering for engagements" to eke
out enlnll alary, OF increase large
one, will swell the list to about 5000
The topics, as published by tho Bureaus,
range from "Shakspen-e" to Tour First Baby u
from s'The Dynanacs Of Life" to ''.rhe CHM
panzee,' and from ''Ma.rimony" to "What Will
You DO About ?'' There are about half
dozen Lecture Bureaus. some Of whose period
icas and circulars VIC have beon permitted to
examine. The first thing about them that i'm
presses us is the uniformly superlative terms Of
commoudation with which the lecturers arc
spoken Of, not only by the organs OF the Bu-
reaus, but by the press throughout the country.
One lecturer sis es juicy IS a watermelon; -
another sgoes ovor the keys Of utterauce from
tho lowest gutturals up to feminine falsetto."
Another WAS 30 excellent In the art of mimcry
that "some adults as well as children thought
real dog was present." and the 'words" OF
another ''fcll liko drops Of diamonds into the
cars Of the audience" Ageatleman who crowns
his advertisement with his portrait is declared
to be o'' giant in intellect aud '190 pounds in
weight" with ~ head that measures II inches
in circumference" He las good 'digestiye
organs also, and 'a controlling motlve-men-
tai temperament" The personal appearance of
an 'Hon." wi1-snapper is pronounced "intel-
lectnal aud picturesque" and "celebrated hu-
mc7ttst is endowed by the reporter with
tie wondrous storytelling powers Of
Albert Smith, as we'll as the satire and
philosophy Of Thaclleray." The composition of
some ia compared to that OF Macaulny, and
others are nothing less than Deecler, Cough, and
Phillips all rolled into ono individual. A re-
porter describes h:1n=elf as 81 shuddesing before
the ca1stic rhetoric which nid bare the heart OF
the world Of trnde in Troy! 4 member OF
Congress touched the highest point Of power
full oratory Wien he photographed the personal
qualities Of Ulysses S. Grant," md an ex-Mayor
Of New York invariably reaches and softens
the heart by methods as crelitable as they are
refreshing" An x-Major-Gcnerd of Voluu-
teers is the Mirabcau Of orators, md the Mu-
rat OF cavaliers and an 'sex-U. s. Commissioner
to tho Vienna Exposition" will deliver lecture
next winter which, ''considering his European
experiences, Will have the charm of novelty, ~
something to say certainly after the "expcri-
ence" OF "Doss" Shepherd and *'Judge"
Tue names Of lady-lecturers occur frequently,
and. while not whit behind their brothers OF tho
rostrum in hish-pitchcd ''noticcs Of the prcss,"
quite eurpass thom ia attracting the gaze and
pen of the reporters to their ''persona1" advan-
q person ut once handsome and commanding, ~
That OF q ''3lrs." who may be widow or, what
Is saddor, her husband may feel it his duty to
BE- still living in order to look after tie children
And this Of q Nile. -, ''the sweetest specimen
II a Sixteenth Amendment that has eyor gracod |
the build interior Of HOUSES Hall" Another lady |
aas !" a head a rim2erat7-ice and a fresh COM
ple1ion.'' Another displays ia good figure and |
eloquent eyes, and tho reporter in still another |
instance Was enamorad with her s'fuu habit, |
,nd harmonious, yet incon6picuous, dresging."
Accessories arc rcsorted to by some Of the lec- |
urers. 4 ''new humorist onthralls" his hear
,rs with 'sco1osEnl Cartoons" and an older wag
gives m ''eveuing of ventriloquisu1." 4 trav-
,ling Captain will he accompanied by Han
,ah, Joe. aud their daughter Punny, native Es-
]uimnux;' an Arctic explorer will exhibit q |
stuffed reind eer." and "celebrated illuHionist"
will perform the Indian box trick" and the |
i 'acrostat-sp spi1itue1.' In view of such appur-
enancos, We should not be surprised to !
earn that the effects produced upon
.he audiences, or upon tho reporters, |
1t any rate, are everywhere extraordinary. "Riv-
.ted eyes," ''rapt attention. and 'breathless |
interest," are universal. In some cases the in
;erest is "painful." All the speakers ara "ap-
plauded to the echo, aud there are very few but
have the art Of ''znaldpg tho audience laugh |
one moment, and CRY tho next Ono audience,
ne are given to understand absolutely passed |
ato q state Of trance, and the lecturer was not |
} medium" either. She was, however, un-
married, and discouracd on Whom to Marry" |
and, MS the reporter thinks, " n,ellowcd to her
deal )" but then his wish might have been fathcr
10 his report, The British lecturers, re are |
have not been succces, as rule, and |
some of them hare been dismal fixtures. "Their
lectures we're allowed to pass nm.
criticised out of consideration forr their fame
as authors, or their " boneyolence" rs "fe4
nales." The only foreign names of eminence
70 observe in the current lists arc those of
aepworth Dixon aud Martin F. Tupper
The fees Of lecturers are graduated MI the
va3 from $40 and '' find yourself up to $3.50 and
.,pensea. Wendell Phillips received 5000 and
Ienry Ward Beecl1ez $1,000 for two lectures in
his city last winter. The intrinsic value Of
ecture is AZ difficult to fix a. the object which
he comet has in view. But it is evident that
he lec.ure-business has attained enormous pro-
4A&E~