The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1921-04-25
WALSH 'sLECTURE
ON AME ORGANISM
A GREAT SUCCESS
Audience Fills Opera House To
Hear Scholarly Speaker
IN APPEAL FOR JUSTICE
Says Progress" Is Overworked
Word--Urges Square Deal
For All

II VI All
DR.. James ]. Walsh is not an orator.
He himself lays no claim to that
lpower which Is said to be able to
Iraise mortals to the skies. But he Is
a profound scholar, deeply read in
history, a patriot and splendid talker.
His platform efforts are really heart
Ito-heart conversations with his audi
jtors. To these qualifications of the
doctors may be added the gift of an
linsinuating humor, together with
keen wit lecture by DR.. Walsh is
a veritable rosary of philosophical OBJ.
lservation and Timely anecdote strung
along the thread of his discourse
All this was made manifest Sunday
night when DR.. Walsh addressed
capacity audience in the Opera House.
His theme was "Americanism" and the
large gathering lent marked attention
to the speaker throughout a discourse
of nearly two hours duration. The
distinguished medical expert was
brought here from New York under
the patronage of the Bennington
Knights Of Columbus.
Lest The Banner reporter forget,
paraphrasing Kipling. two definitions
by DR.. Walsh must needs be recorded
first. They refer to the universal
twins-the optimlst and the pessimist
lIhe pessimist, according TO the doctor,
is a chap who pokes his nose into a
ldungpile and then shouts Mercy,
how 1t smells!' The optimist, he ad.
ded, is the chap who carries a cork
screw in his pocket, even though the
eighteenth amendment did pass.
"Americanisi&' will be found com
pacty expressed in the preamble to
the Constitution Of the United States.
DR., Walsh told his audience. That
preamble, he said, plainly stated that
the new government was being formed
to promote tho general welfare of the
community The constitution was not
la device to protect wealth, or labor,
or the native born in the community,
but to protect everybody 1t was based
on justice, the speaker proceeded. II
justice prevailed today, he said, there
would be little call for charity and no
place for philanthropy in the land.
lie urged that we so back to the gov.
eminent visioned by Lincoln. when
the great liberator pictured a republic
OF, for and by the people.
Education is not the panacea for
Americas ills. he declared. In Shake,
speare's time probably three-fourths OF
the people Of England could neither
read nor write But in that dav the
people OF London flocked to the thea
ters TO witness the performance of the
bard OF Ayon's matchless productions.
} In our day, more people than ever
before can read and write but they
are educated beyond Shakespeare and
prefer Chin Chin and the modern iazz
10 MS tragedies. Lord Bacon was the
greatest Iurist and scholar of his time.
yet he confessed to taking bribes while
ne was lord chief justice of England
bacon defence was, that he was the
greatest chief justice England had for
90 years, which DR.. Walsh admitted
was true" because the other chief ius.
tices were worse"
some Americans prate about our
progress, the speaker continued. And
then he confessed that he didn't under.
stand what these people meant by
progress Here he illustrated bv
an anecdote, Walking from the train
TO MI lecture engagement once in
Boston, the doctor said he intercepted
dignified Bostonian to inauire the
route to the theater.
Are you walking now do you be,
ileve, in the direction of that theater p
the goldplated bean eater inquired.
Yes, came the reply.
wen, drolled the Bostonian. "if
; you proceed that way. your playhouse
is about $4,000 miles; but if you will
retrace your steps, you will find II
about two squares back"
Now, Or, Walsh proceeded, while
was making progress on that journey
was going the wrong way. And SO
. u rs with most of our modern progress
we haven't written a novel in the
last 4O years that viii live The Eng
ilsh speaking people haven't produced
a world thinker in the past 300 years
!, The greatest medical work ever writ
ten was the product of Hippocrates
= many centuries ago. Aristotle had the
I greatest philosophical mind that evel
u illumed the world The best tragedie,
were written by the Greeks. Homer
wrote the greatest epic peom the worlt
has ever heard OF, or course. the
! doctor admitted, we do make the hes
collar buttons
DEPRESSING moment, DR.. Walsh re
d lated meeting with the late Colone
Roosevelt. They were discussing grea
fortunes, And Roosevelt, said the doc
tor, named eight leaders of financ,
n whom he declared to be the most un
s. desirable citizens in the land
o Graft was in evidence during tn
It great war, said DR.. Walsh 1t was JUS
as common during the Revolutionary
N war, he insisted Graft will die, h
IS predicted about two hours after tn
20 human race expires. His cure for tn
70 present national ills was true Amer
H. canism, the Americanism found in tn
ICnNefftrt,o, of fba TTnItnd Ctotae. o,,