St. Paul daily globe., 1895-11-27
THE GREAT ACTOR DISCUSSES
THE DRAMA VERY ENTER
TAININGLY.
\ DELIGHTFUL LECTURE.
AMUSING SLIP OF MIR. FOLWELL
IN INTRODUCING MIR. JET
FERSON.
ORATORY AND ACTING DIFFER.
SpOntaniety and Feeling Declared
to Be the TOuchstOnes of
All Art.

Stripped of the garb which makes
him Rip Van Wrinkle and Bob Acres
and DR.. Pangloss, Joseph Jefferson,
the loVable and inimitable actor, the
king of American comedians, ap-
peared before a Minneapolis audi
ence yesterday afternoon in role
new to them. Nevertheless, none
who listened to his delightful dis
course of over half an hours dura-
ton could doubt for a moment that
the platform was his native heath,
as we'll as the stage. 1t is true, he
failed in attempting to down, for the
time being, the irTepreSSible old Rip,
that would reappear again and again
in some sly twinkle of the eye, or
in a gesticulation, or in a certain
tagging of the limbs, betokening
weakness of age. The lecturer him.
self expressed a hope that he would
be forgiven, should he forget him
self occasionally and present bits of
Rip Van Winkle, Mr.. Golightly, Ca
leb Plummer Bob Acres, or the ven
cradle DR.. Pangloss, D. D., LID.
The comedian was ever present, and
the sheen of wit sparkled in his eye,
as he talked, mincing his remarks
here and there with delightful bits
of anecdote and reminiscence, which
made his talk more interesting.
1t was a cultured audience that
greeted Mr.. Jefferson at the Unitar-
ian church yesterday afternoon,
when DR.. Folwell introduced him,
and in doing so made a funny slip,
presenting the comedian as "Mr
Van" whereupon he recovered
himself, and said "Mr. Jefferson" ;"
About 400 people occupied seats in
the church, and listened with closest
attention to every word that dropped
from the lips Of the actor-lecturer
When the crowd had recovered its
composure after spending the force
of its risibilities upon DR.. Folwell's S
mistake, Mr.. Jefferson began by re-
calling an occasion where he was in
troduced to an audience as Mr..
Washington Irving" an equally fun
ny situation.
He spoke without hesitation, and
was Immediately upon excellent
terms with the audience. He ap-
peared without any manuscript, save
small card, on which he had jotted
down few facts, not to be forgot
ten. By way of an introduction. he
stated the necessity of preparation,
in order to do anything we'll, and re-
lated how once, when he and Billy
Florence were together, on the last
night of their partnership, both pre-
pared speeches the day before which
they expected to deliver, when en-
cored at the close Of the perform
ance. Florence was to speak kindly
of Jefferson and then Jefferson was
to say good word for Florence. The
eventful night arrived, and the
speeches never came Off He then
said that he hoped his listeners
would be gentle with him if he did
not show up as we'll as they were
wont to see him upon the stage.
There, he said, he had the advan-
tages of support from others, the ad-
vantages of costume and of scenery,
but on the platform he was stripped
of all dramatic surroundings, and
thrown upon his own resources, and,
to quote him exactly, having only
the disguise of a gentleman
He then took up his first thought,
the difference between oratory and
q
distinction between the two.
Many actors had wondered why they
were not successful on the stage,
while many actors were at a loss to
understand their failure upon the
platform. The two, oratory and act
ing, said Mr.. Jefferson, go hand in
hand, to a certain point, but there
they part and go their separate ways.
The orator must be impressive Who'll
ly, while the actors first requisite is
that he must be impressionable the
orator talks always to his hearers,
but never has to listen, while the
actor is frequently at his best when
listening. He quoted as Illustrations
the case of Othello, when he is re-
buking Cassie, Othello being there
the orator and Cassie the actor.
Again, in Romeo and Juliet" where
Romeo, the orator, pleads for the
love of Juliet, the actress. Said he:
I'm all the arts and in literature
there are the two elements, oratorical
and dramatic. The journalist, the
essayist, the writer of newspaper ar
tinles is the -nrat tor in litara t1,ra