Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1877-01-31
M. Rurdefie's lecture.

Mr.. Robert J. Burdette, the local
editor Of the Burlington lfu'rk-hys
whose humorous writings have made
for him national reputation, has re-
Gently augmented bis good lame ~
his advent in the lecture Held. his
lecture entitled "The rise and faii OF
the Moustsche,n has been delivered
In Burlington and . few other cities
of Iowa and Illinois. aud has every
where been greeted with apprecia1ise
audiences, and received very high
commentator from those fitted 10
Judge critically of lis merits, ar.
Clark of the Keokuk Gate Cry, q
gentleman of acknowledged literary
taste, says Of the lecture:
We said the other day that II ar.
Robert J. Burdette should succeed IN
pleasing Keokuk audience with ms
first effort upon the rostrum we shouiu
predict for him In the near future D
REPUTATION in the lecture field. COM
mensurate with that he now enjoys as
: humorous writer. keokuk auuieh-
ces are rot always large. bat they are
pretty much always critical. One OF
That Kind was present last evening 10
hear Mr.. Burdette deliver for the FIRST
time his lecture on "rhe Else and
Fall of the Moustache,n and IL was his
success In entertaining it that prompts
as TO venture the prediction reiefrcd
To. The lecturer was introduced by
DIR. Cleaver, aud In less than hNe
minutes had fully ingratiated himself
into the good graces of his audience;
The amount Of fun which he crowded
into those five minutes put every
body i'm excellent humor for what ioi-
lowed. lie took the boy OF tender years
and followed him through the differ
ent periods OF his growth-his boy
hood period, his first long coat PERI
cd. his moustache period, and his love
making and matrimonial period pict-
ureing all the characteristics OF Toms
nature with life like accuracy. A vein
OF genuine humor prevailed the entire
lecture. and while the grotcsque and
Iudicrous portions of IL were capital,
the brilliant flights OF rhetoric which
the lecturer frequently INDUCED IN
were not the least to be commented
by any means. w uhtosEt SIha.s"A
NAV be made of the manner OF deliv-
cry. IL must be conceded that the
matter was excellent throughout The
lecturer spoke for an hour and three
quarters, and during that time the in
terest never tagged a particle.
The merits OF MIR. Bnrdettes iect-
ure as an essay were very marked.
We have no lecture By Mark Twain,
Josh Billings, Mortimer Thompson,
or any humorist that had so much
brain. so much fine writing, so much
bright wit put In cultured literary
style as Mr.. Burdette puts I'm this
Unframed In speaking, his voice does
not serve him at its best, and his de-
livery had to be rapid i'm order to
bring the lecture within two hours.
But some parts of his speaking were
dramatic and greatly interesting, and
show that he can make his speaking
az fine rs his writing, by proper dis
cipline. There were several periods
OF fancy as delicate as Irving's, and OF
sentiment and touching pathos as de-
licious as that of Tx Marvel Ia Dream
of Life, or the 'Reyeries of Bache-
Ior.' and these were far from being
the least pleasing part OF the address.
We are glad Mr.. Burdette came to
Keokuk, and can assure him that so
far as we have been able to learn, he
made decidedly favorable impression
upon the audience.