The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1892-09-22
Edmund Russell Makes the Dry
Bones Rattle.
Must UnIearn All We Know and Go to
Initiating the Cat and the
Elephant.

When man comes to our town and tells
US to our faces that we are al wrong in
our makeup, ungainly, rude, awkward,
unnatural in everything we do, he runs
great danger of running himself into the
ground.
But Edmund Russell not only told this
! openly and above board; he proved it and
we had nothing to say, except to applaud
the lecturer for pointing out our defects.
As Matthew Arnold pleaded for the gospel
OF revelation of the mind, Russell pleaded
for tho relaxation Of the body and it's de.
yeiopment after the Delsartian method of
expression.
The lecture was the first of a series
given under the man agement of the ladies
OF the Unitarian church, and the audience.
though small. was made up of the intelli-
gent people; 1.-The fragment which is
always to be found at such gatherings.
Edmund Russell is a living exponent of
the Delsartean school, which is nothing
more than system built up on the natural
and unrestrained development of the body
and mind. As the Christian moralist will
adjure the penitent to be born again. the
first demand of the D3lsartean school is 10
shake of al the artificial restraints that
have hampered and distorted the natural.
The first portion of the lecture was de-
voted TO "reminiscences of the founder of
the system and was beautiful tribute TO
the struggles OF the poor ragged BOY. Del
sarte. who was always asking for princi-
pies, the reason why. After repeated eff
forts he was given chance and for TWO
years was the idol Of Paris, singing lead
ing part in the conservatory. But his
patrons were ungrateful
daE Of
the best l have seen. "A patron be said.
was man who stands on the brink OF a
pond and viii see you go down. but If bv
any struggle Of your own you get ashore.
encUmbers you with hand. Nobody takes
any interest in the young struggling artist.
You know how much easier II is to get in
the front door OF theatre than in the back
door.
Desarte voice was broken by his strup-
gle. He spent five years at the hospital.
Speaking of unnatural people he said !:
Those hard, narrow, repellant people are
not good, because they become bad bv try
ing TOO hard to be good. Goodness is when
we have arrived st the perfection of being
good without an effort.
The fingers are the most highly differ
entiated part of our bodies-the most
mental. The elbow never moves in pleasant
expression 1t always asserts itself when
we want to give out the impression that
we are a little more than we really count
for
People often ask, .sDo not wrinkles mean
charscterw No, they mean the struggle
we have had to get character Most men
go to Congress with wonderful powers
mental. moral, physical-but they break
down just as their powers ought TO be at
their best
Queen Victoria is the most graceful
woman in the world. She is old, stout and
homely, but when she bows to one. she an
/ pears 20 bow to all She has the slow.
rhythmic motion OF the spheres. Our dane.
ing is simply kicking, with the body stand
ing still. The Orientals have for the study
of their lives the rythm of movement pc
culiar 10 animals where all the muscles are
brought; into play. The elephant is the
most graceful of animals, and Queen Vic
toria the most graceful of women.
Did you ever think Madam Janeuescbek
was the most graceful woman you ever
saws Well she was She moves with the
RHYTHM of the spheres. Great bodies move
slowly. Great expressions express them
selves slowly.
We have an ideas that left to chance and
being battered BY time is TO be natural.
That condition Ct decrepitude, called old
age, is going TO be out of fashion some dav.
Mr. Russell was peculiarly happy and
even delicious at times, and the entire lee
ture was spiced with humor and mimicry.