The Fast Young Men Go To Clubs, And The Fast
Young Women To Dances, As Fast Young Men And Women Do In Other
Places That Are Wicked; But Lecturing Is The Favorite Diversion Of
The Steady-Minded Bostonian.
After all, I do not know that the
result is very good.
It does not seem that much will be gained by
such lectures on either side of the Atlantic - except that
respectable killing of an evening which might otherwise be killed
less respectably. It is but an industrious idleness, an attempt at
a royal road to information, that habit of attending lectures. Let
any man or woman say what he has brought away from any such
attendance. It is attractive, that idea of being studious without
any of the labor of study; but I fear it is illusive. If an
evening can be so passed without ennui, I believe that that may be
regarded as the best result to be gained. But then it so often
happens that the evening is not passed without ennui! Of course in
saying this, I am not alluding to lectures given in special places
as a course of special study. Medical lectures are, or may be, a
necessary part of medical education. As many as two or three
thousand often attend these popular lectures in Boston, but I do
not know whether on that account the popular subjects are much
better understood. Nevertheless I resolved to hear more, hoping
that I might in that way teach myself to understand what were the
popular politics in New England. Whether or no I may have learned
this in any other way, I do not perhaps know; but at any rate I did
not learn it in this way.
The next lecture which I attended was also given in the Tremont
Hall, and on this occasion also the subject of the war was to be
treated. The special treachery of the rebels was, I think, the
matter to be taken in hand. On this occasion also the room was
full, and my hopes of a pleasant hour ran high. For some fifteen
minutes I listened, and I am bound to say that the gentleman
discoursed in excellent English. He was master of that wonderful
fluency which is peculiarly the gift of an American. He went on
from one sentence to another with rhythmic tones and unerring
pronunciation. He never faltered, never repeated his words, never
fell into those vile half-muttered hems and haws by which an
Englishman in such a position so generally betrays his timidity.
But during the whole time of my remaining in the room he did not
give expression to a single thought. He went on from one soft
platitude to another, and uttered words from which I would defy any
one of his audience to carry away with them anything. And yet it
seemed to me that his audience was satisfied. I was not satisfied,
and managed to escape out of the room.
The next lecturer to whom I listened was Mr. Everett. Mr.
Everett's reputation as an orator is very great, and I was
especially anxious to hear him. I had long since known that his
power of delivery was very marvelous; that his tones, elocution,
and action were all great; and that he was able to command the
minds and sympathies of his audience in a remarkable manner. His
subject also was the war - or rather the causes of the war and its
qualification. Had the North given to the South cause of
provocation? Had the South been fair and honest in its dealings to
the North? Had any compromise been possible by which the war might
have been avoided, and the rights and dignity of the North
preserved? Seeing that Mr. Everett is a Northern man and was
lecturing to a Boston audience, one knew well how these questions
would be answered, but the manner of the answering would be
everything. This lecture was given at Roxbury, one of the suburbs
of Boston. So I went out to Roxbury with a party, and found myself
honored by being placed on the platform among the bald-headed ones
and the superlatively wise. This privilege is naturally
gratifying, but it entails on him who is so gratified the
inconvenience of sitting at the lecturer's back, whereas it is,
perhaps, better for the listener to be before his face.
I could not but be amused by one little scenic incident. When we
all went upon the platform, some one proposed that the clergymen
should lead the way out of the little waiting-room in which we
bald-headed ones and superlatively wise were assembled. But to
this the manager of the affair demurred. He wanted the clergymen
for a purpose, he said. And so the profane ones led the way, and
the clergymen, of whom there might be some six or seven, clustered
in around the lecturer at last. Early in his discourse, Mr.
Everett told us what it was that the country needed at this period
of her trial. Patriotism, courage, the bravery of the men, the
good wishes of the women, the self-denial of all - "and," continued
the lecturer, turning to his immediate neighbors, "the prayers of
these holy men whom I see around me." It had not been for nothing
that the clergymen were detained.
Mr. Everett lectures without any book or paper before him, and
continues from first to last as though the words came from him on
the spur of the moment. It is known, however, that it is his
practice to prepare his orations with great care and commit them
entirely to memory, as does an actor. Indeed, he repeats the same
lecture over and over again, I am told, without the change of a
word or of an action. I did not like Mr. Everett's lecture. I did
not like what he said, or the seeming spirit in which it was
framed. But I am bound to admit that his power of oratory is very
wonderful.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 105 of 141
Words from 106192 to 107202
of 143277
