Year: 1872

Hlr. stanley's Second Lecture at Stein


way Hall-The Journey from Zanzibar


to Unyanycmbe.


Mr.. Henry M. Stanley's second lecture at Stein
way Hall was delivered last evening before an at
tentive and intelligent audience. The lecture was
descriptive Of the march Of the HERALD expedition
into the Land OF the Noon, and was more interest
ing both in treatment and delivery, than the pre-
vious enort. But it was far from being marked
success. Mr.. Staney's el0cution Is bad, though it
improves as he gets into his discourse, and might
be made acceptable II his manner of treating his
subjects was such as to insure partial forgetful-
OF his faults or oratory Unfortunately, this is
not the case. The story OF the grave duties Of his
mission was long ago detailed, and what remained
for him as lecturer was not to tell over again his
journeyings and his triumph, but to draw
vivid pictures OF the strange land into which
he penetrated with such great courage and
persistency. Lecturegoers care lit tie TO be told
OF Livingstone as missionary or Livingstone as q
traveller by person whose personal experiences
are as remarkable as were those OF Mr.. Stanley,
and consequently this part of his lec-
ture last night was intoerably dull. On
the other hand, though not enlivened
by the orators skill, his narrative OF the
way in which he was sent on his perilous journey
was well received, because it had in 1t some Of the





The preliminary journey, his arrival at Zanzibar,
the preparations Tor the march and life at Baga-
moyo, which occupied fully one-haf OF his lecture
last night, were dry and dull, because Mr. Stanley
has utterly mistaken the necessities OF the plat
FORM His map OF Central Africa Is not used, and
the specimens OF cloths which he brings ON the
stage are quite as useless, for he does not
know how to make his hearers interested
In them by making them illustrative OF his
subject. In everything he overlooks the personal
and the peculiar and treats only OF the geograph-
ical and the commonplace. Nobody cares to hear,
after the matter was SO fully treated IN the
HERALD, OF Mr.. Stanley's journey from Zanzibar to
Unyanyembe and Ujiji, but everybody would have
been glad II they could have had personal talk
even though the talk was all on one side, about the
sights, OF which Mr.. Stanley can say so much. In
stead, Mr.. Stanley is giving only geography and
natural history, and his anecdotes are spoiled in
the telling All this Is unnecessary, and it would
be cruel to Mr.. Stanley not to say so. II he has
half the courage before an average civilized
audience that he showed In the wilds OF Africa he
can at once overcome his deficiencies and make
his stories as entertaining as IL Is possible to
make the tales OF travel and adventure which
1t is In his power to tell. To do this he OF course
must foreg0 his manuscript and, forgetting the
singsong and doleful monotone In which his voice
is too often pitched, simply talk 20 his auditors OF
what he saw, heard and suffered while doing his
duty so nObly to the HERALD, TO humanity and 10
science. His lecture on Friday night, In which he
will tell how he found Livingstone, ls an excellent
task at best to read from manuscript and Mr..
Fr0ude, the historian, and other eminent men have
failed on the pl atorm but Mr.. Stanley need not
fail. He has 80 much to tell that is interesting
that all he has to do Is to tell It. but the only way
In which he can tell 1t successfully In the easy,
natural way by which Mr. Dickens made his old
stories new and fresh whenever he chose TO read
a chapter from any OF his works.