The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1893-11-28
INGERSOLL'S LECTURE.
THE NOTED ORATOR SPEAKS ON
THE IMMORTAL sHAKESPEARE
To Large and Appreciativo Audience.
Many Prominent Cis izens Were Pres
ent and Enjoyed the Discourse.

Is.was a large and sele { audience that
greeted Col. Robert Ingersoll on the coca :
sion OF his lecture at Blackstone hsll last
evening and the many admires OF the lee
turer were ia rcwise disippoirte'. The
speaker lecture oa "Shakespeare" and
for nearly two hours feid tho close atten-
tipn Of all. The lecture in brief was AS
follows:
"More than three centuries ago
the most intellectual man OF the
human race was horn. This was Shakes
peare. He was Tot OF supernatural ori-
gin, his father AMI mother were both
English. There was no celestial demon
stration at his BIRTH and il is generally
conceded that not one drop Of royal blood
ran in his veins. This tabe be-
came the wonder OF mankind.
Ia his early life We can ind nothing in
his surroundings calculated TO SOW in his
miud the seeds or the sublime. We are
not certain that he attended school in
his uutive o VII, but we do know Tint he
was "a gentleman. His father seems 20
have been an ordinary man. Nothing
il k.own OF his mother but her name.
In those days but little attention was
given TO th, biography OF woman, aad
IL man became great no ore asked who
his mother was, but were solicitous as 10
who was his father. But there never
was man however great who had
not great woman behind him. it mas
been said that man OF genus should
select his ancestors NTH care, but most
OF the great ncn of tho world are like
mountains with the valley OF auc stry OH
Que side and the depression OF pc s.erity
OH the other.
''In those days Shakespeare was not
connected with any buslness. lie WAS
called vagabopd. Amid tho surround
ings of his early life he rose superior To
cil cunstanccs and left us the remarkable
poetry il his unriyalled plays. There is
wonderful career connected with
this mau. In his plays no mention is
made OF q man oSw woman living Ia his
time. No king, queen, poet, author or
artist OF bis day figures in axy of his
plays Is iu not strange that he does not
mention s,ne Of these We c N
easily see that Shakespeare knew
little about kings, queens and mobiles,
that he was not familiar with the life Of
these rerso iages is Ger ain. He gives { :
his noble ctara ters high IN oughls ii d
deep mirds which those who know are
cer;ain they conl never poss ,ss.
la his plays, Shakespeare did not rely
upon the stage carpenter nor scenic
painter 10 produce tho effects lie put
his scenes In his lines. lie C ired little fer
plot. very little for irprise and stage f.
feets, nor in rel fire. Plot Is a
kind OF cunning, and this does belong 10
the highest minds His thought Is
s,ronly expressed. Shakespeare belongs
to all lands and all pla. es. His characters
are perfect, aud for this reason, that lie
dealtwith ele pentary things, with univer-
sal m n. He knew iha lregar'iless OF sur
roundings tn, heart was Influenced by
the same passions and emotions the
world around ld worked his characters
in that manner. There is nothing IN the
range of thought That Shakespeare
did not depict. He knew a.l tn, pas-
sions. the vices, the emotions OF human
beings; the thrills of love and the hatred
OF hne. He had felt every JOY that sheds
its radiance on human faces and his plays
display all these qua tiles.