The Hickman courier., 1874-03-07
yAGARIEs OF THE ROsTRUM.

\ sattOmuIs the 1Oulcs ana tn'
J. <s&Ss Theatrical Lecture.
in the March Galaxy has thii
to Eome of our platform lecturers
In the amusement column of yester
days paper were these two attractive
| advertisements
GREAT LEcTURE.-Miss Myrtle de la Hooks
Boone. aged sixteen years. viii lecture at -
/ this evening, on - Her Experience as a Can.
yasser," aud other topics.
| LECTURE ExTRAoRDrNARY.--Frank Massey
VIII lecture this evening at, etc, on " HIS Tx
perience as a Lord at Cape NJ y" Oul
fashionables viii flock TO hear him.
Thesf link, embraced all the lee
! tnring.. fcGrces of that evening in the
| for mental food between the x
perience of sixteen-year-old canvasser
and that of confessed swindler ! In
the hall where the sham lord displayed
himself, DIR. SchoNppe had discoui sed
some time before, Tor the reason that
he had been eonTieted Of murder and
1870 sr we al repiember that
1!s 49, -. 75nonid Stokes snne
Tweed outIiye their sentences, they viii
of course be ready to moralize IN public
on Z" My Prison Experience, like
pair of SilvSo Pelicoes; and the con-
vict jackets might~De shown, to draw
larger audience.
We laugh at these absurdities, but
they are no worse than the parade of
women whose only claim to be heard is
couple of yards of "store hair, a
green velvet riding habit, and pair of
white gloves. There is small sense
now days in the Spanish saw that ga
woman and hen are soon lost by gad-
ding abroad" and even from the earli-
est ages women have thought, wrought
and fought as worthily as men-and
talked too, for that matter for, if So
crates "lectured," so did Xantippe, the
Mrs. Caudle of antiquity. All 1 mean
to say is, that a lecturers sex, or the
cut of her garments, is hardly ground
enqzk for her asking an audience.
1sd form is equally overrun with
with Wmasculine notoriety hunters.
People there are who think it glory
enough for one life to figure as the cen
trail actors in a divorce suit, and to have
their private letters published in the
nee espapers; and such people naturally
fioA upon the lecture-stage, in order TO
be seen, trying tc crowd off the learned,
wise, and illustrious.
The popular humorists are, taken as
a class, probably the dreariest IN the
army of ecturers--though there are
splendid exceptions, like Artemus Ward.
l must say that even the printed wit of
many professional clowns of literature,
such as the eccentric St. SlOcum, and
the sly Tommy 1'ompkins, is to me not
very diverting for when "jokes must
be misspelt lest they be missed, or sep
arated into one line paragraphs to pro-
vide them with points" they become
somewhat sobtrusive. Nevertheless, as
The testers cane daily, with hop, skip,
lump and suhmersault, before the pub
lie, it is plain they amuse. and amuse,
900, week after week, year after year,
with the same musty tricks, the
same stale gibes, spelling of "ov,"
and writing 2 in place of {" "to," with
kindred wisicisms. They are the Tom
Fools of current literature, never say
ing a word without a grimace, always
in patches and paint, earning,
like other mountebanks, an honest live
Iihood by atrade that gives mirth to null
{ sis1ass ~, & Bnt Mhen the hnmorist. mount
itv he loses the old coigne of vantage
and encounters novel drawbacks. His
natural phiz may be anything.but funny
like Pantaloons with the daubs of
his voice may be-generally is-weak,
husky. harsh or squeaky his gestures
NAV be awkward, his whole manner I'M
pleasing and since no art can make
the suoken "of as ludicrous as II 1t
were tov," nor the spoken g to as If
it were so, 'hhis strongest prop may be
emf from under the hapless humorist at
the start.
Skill in mimicry is a fortune to the
lecturer for, as many people, having
scruples against the thea
tres rely on lecturers for their fund OF
dramatic entertainment, it Is found that
good readings :" compel large audlen-
ces. and that theatrical orators are ad-
nired. Such an orator is Cough, who,
I suppose. may be taken as typical lee
turer' since "to him." says the Rev.
r. 7. Cuyler, in a sketch written for
a religious newspaper, belongs the
unioue distinction of having addresse !
more human beings than any man now
liyiax on the globe. For thirty years
no IAN has commanded such crowds.
The secret is "his most dramatic voice
and gesticulation for it may be pre-
sumptious to say 1T, continued the dl-
vine. g but 1 have often thought that
co. =. the real rival OF Garrlck. he
IA ebeen a mother, child, plea
dine brutal husband, planta-
ton negro, Scotch deacon, french-
man. a raw Irishman, pompous cox
comb, poor besotted topper. all in one
bour's address. And he excelled In ey-
ery character. Truly, God made won
derful creature when he made John b.
Gough." AS the most apathetic nearer
of this versatile person must own his
oration to be as "gooo as play," his
vaIue to those who cannot frequent the
stage is specially great.