The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1881-02-12
LII L LECTURE COURSE
In 1o ARHAT oDDFEI, o,,,s
Eloquent Grafton on .1,f.
Possibilities,

' Grafton on "Lif. and lie
Possibilities"
,ris;,o sentative Elkton audience oo
,nJ ,. 81 large proportion Of the ;n,a,,: '''ii-
-. '"ie" classes Of the town ,ro.e
,besansah er OF ladies and gentlemen fro.a
, oJi r City and, vicinity, asse,nr, pn,
,e ocoa.' eil'ws Hall, en- Monday event.
.n., o'e'S'on being the OPENING 81 , t"'nss' :
T. H. ~, course Of lectures nv -, I
u.s. 81 i homas Guard, whose renn: =. ene {,
char aaiar lecturer, as we'll ,s o., r, :
cialIy adj drawn an assemblies l"enf q
it was nearlqe alike in numhsrs "" ii
appeared, accom- the lecture was snn OF
w. j. Jones, Esqs., aat -, O'Clock ~. az
when Mr.. Jones very per, the l4.t,,s co
the orator of the evening, aI.llis ann; tel
the Methodist Church of the W, 10y,
present attached to the Baltimore ora
ence. The dimlv-li.hted Hall, on Mol.fee
night, debarred those who had never hear,
DIR. Guard the pleasure of seeing distinct,
his features. which, by the way, is the neces
sary condition to the thorough enjoyment o
listening to- public, or we might add. t,
any speaker. This pleasure is no mean on,
in Dr. Guards case, for he possesses unuSua
facial power and expression, his Celtic orr
I gin bespeaking itself at one moment in til,
mirthful twinkle of the eye, and the next il
a broad and irresistible wreath of humor
followed in an instant by an appealing OF
! sympathetic glance, i'll which he displays
! great mobility of countenance Many Der.
sons, not habtual listeners of Dr. Guard
experience considerable difficulty in hear
/ ing him distinctly, not because his voice is
weak, or because his utterauces are iudis-
tinct, but on account of his Irish accent and
his rapdity of utterance. His pronuucia-
ton of the words force and beautiful -
was particularly noticeable for the reason
named. Heis unusually rapid rs speaker,
his sentences rolling out in successive waves
of words, one figure, trope, or metaphor fol-
lowing close upon another, which, under
the inspiration of the moment, his fine i'm
asinative power paints in language ut once
forcible and well chosen. He is
\ DRAMATIC SPEAKER,
too. Indeed, considering his nationality, he
could scarcely be any thing else, his action
being easy and unrestrained. He impresses
you at once us Il natural orator. his gesture,
whether mild or excited, being exactly
suited to the word. To those who can re-
call the polished defamation of Edward
Everitt, who, few years ago, by his popu-
lar lectures, particularly that one on Wash
ingt0n, earned the reputation of being the
most finished American platform orator,
DIR. Guard is rs opposite as the zenith to the
nadir. The one (Mr. Everitt) was the per
lection of a graceful and artistic elocution-
list. His gestures We're, indeed, perfect in
their grace. The rising and falling intiec-
tons Of his voice fell on your ear like crcs-
cenio and diminuendo passages when struck
upon the piano forte by some gifted mast
clan. They were delightful to listen to, but
they We're only artistic. They stirred no re-
sponsive chord in your bosom. The effect
though admirable, was altogether studied,
and you felt disposed to resent the impress
nation. Just the opposite, however, is the
case in listening to DIR. Guard or any other
natural orator You cannot help listening,
and listening, are unconsciously stirred by
his power. lou feel, and are fascinated in
the feeling. You don't resent it as a trick,
but know, as you feel, that your emotion is
a just tribute to true oratory, and not the
ungenuine product of studied defamation
In producing this etfect--and that legiti-
mate-of
GENUINE oRAToRY,
and one by the way as agreeable as legiti
mate, DR. Guards voice is an important
factor. IT is a fine natural organ at once
clear, sonorols. and sympathetic. He knows,
too, how TO use it, as should every public
speaker and keeps it well up in the roof of
his mouth, speaking from the throat and not
from the chest. As a consequence, his con-
versational tones are as distinct, and his
voice as clear, after two or three hours use
of it, as when he first begins 20 speak. In
he is Emphatic, and in per-
soual appearance, not in actual resem blance
of feature, suggests Henry Ward Beecher
less his avoirduroiS, having strongly marked
features, which evince character and decided
Having thus given such of our readers rs
were not fortunate enough to hear him OH
Monday night some idea of the personnel of
this popular pulpit orator, we turn for a
to the subject of his address, g Life |
and Its Possibilities, not, however, attempt |
ing any extended synopsis of it, which. the
fact that Dr. Guard spoke without notes OF
renders rather difficult.
Properly speaking, his lecture was not
such, but rather grand GRAFTON upon the
higher phases and attainments, physical, |
intellectual and celestial, Of that granGlest |
of all divine gifts-lite Eloquent through |
out, in some respects it was even rhapsodic, |
the highly imaginative mind of the speaker |
carrying him away into beatitic visions of !
life, in its highest and grlndest possibilities,
both present and future. 1t was not didac- |
tic or practical address upon the opportuni- |
ties and possibilities that await every one |
who shares the general blessings of exist |
ence, but a religiously philosophic and de
voutly metaphysical view of life in its |
higher planes. Speculative, yet orthodox, |
poetic, at times even mystical, yet compre-
hendibe and real. TO the inquiry, What
is life" he answered that he has never met |
its perfect definition. 1t is, indeed, Il mys-
terry, yet recognizing the symbols of life
mower 1ctiNity h1iSS-jp all ifS nb.,SpS
whether in life vegetable, life animal or life |
human, he rejects the theory of evolution
in explaining its origin, and repudiating as
unorthodoX the meteoric and speculative
theories of the scientists, SO called, recog-
niZes the Christian truth that at some
GIVEN TIME
life first put in its appearance upon this
planet the work of 4 creative fiat, from
Him who was pre-existing and everything.
That life Sprang from life, and not from
nothing. Thus attrbnting to an uncreated /
first germs of life, the I
orator took up in succession the attributes .
Of physical and intellectual life, and graph
lcally described the teeming abundance of /
''S''"oic anu 'tHlllal Creation III Africa, !
where was first most strikinSly impressed |
upon him the wide diversity OF it in its !
lowest phases. Wherever he stepped he |
disturbed life, atomic in its crystal palace,
drop of dew, on the sod, under the sod, |
in the air, where upon myriads Of locusts
fed the locust bird, and in turn upon it prey
ell other birds innumerable.
Advancing in the scale, he dwelt espe-