It Was Very Disappointing

Senator Eavid J'. Hill read nis ü- tle plece beíore a fair sUed audienee l&ht Friday evening in University Ij all. If the senator coud have Veen a spectator oí the scènes wh'.ch oeeurred here three years ago, whèn his great politiial rival, President Cleveland carne to Ana Arbor, and then compared those stirring scènes with the quiet and unostentatious, yes, e-ven tame reception Ie ïeceiveO., -the green would ceriainly have t,utliercd in his oyes, an:l lie would havo gone (rom Ann Arbor with vengencc in his raind anJ hatrei in his beart. But then, th3 ciKUinstances tv erf. different, and it is very douhtful if those scènes ■would íigain be iepeeted, even If bo dis'.inguished a personage as the president himself hould appear here during his term of office. As a lecturer Mr. H:ll U disappoiatiiJg. Ir Is the same o'd storj". "Wten men vrho have achieved fa me Fiep upoa tho lecture platform, outsid-3 .their special ïield, they lafl to enthusiasm. 16 Ava-i the samè with RceJ., McKin'cy, "Wilson, Halstead, and others who ba.e appeared here. It is to be rcgretel tJiat the as.ori&tion that brings them her:; a:e ol''iged to ho'.d letures ín a hall ■sa here politica! speaking is p.ohü i:ed. (ould H.l! have i-poken en politics, the.i thj audienee would have leen given an idea of his power and eoquence. an 1de x of those qualitles tbat have made the man great. As It %vas it was simply tedious. TVhile Mr. Hill's ideas of Old Landmarks are good, yet evevy idea lie expreesed, every thought he gave ut1 ei anee to, was familiar to perhaps every person present, There was jicthing new, no hing enlivening, nothing eathusiastlc in the enti.-e leciuie- Occas onal'y one wou'.d caten a gleam of the reader"s oratorical e.biüty. and, Irom that cou'.d Imagine ■what the lecturer m'glit have done Ds not been tied down to manuscript anti given a theme th it he was interefeied in. ' A man "wlio carrles hls audience ■nith him," is the man -wlio has something io say beeause he beheves he Is ii! the risht. Plain Abraham Lincoln, -witli the love of human freedom glistening írom hls eyes, and he cause oí liumanity welling up Irom his heart giving utterance to his w'ords, was a power. Why ? Because he had a theme that was so dear, to him tbal, it brought into activity aü ihe eueigies o; his brain and manhood. The -trouble with these great men v. lio come hcre to lecture is twofoUl. In the iirst place thoy nmst talie about something in which they liave no special interest. Like the njau on tl.e farm, they are hired, and must earn theiv wagee. 'lhey are tölking, not irom the love th;y Bear any cause or any subject, or uecause they have someihing to say, but Êimply lor pay. The next trouble is that eve.ry one who comes here is afraid of his audiece. Ho thinks Ihe people here aro keen critica, and consequently he makes elabórate preparation and insteac' of throwing aside hU manuscript and appearing natural, lie is áll the time on the alerta lest some vngrammatical teitence or questionable phrase should escape his Ups. ïhis is the most serious of the two as iar as the audience is concerned. It prevenís the man from acting out his natural self and gives the audience a lot of gdod English bub no ualism, no r.ew id: as, and nothíng lo bui ihem u-i or interest the.n. Geu. Gordon nas a notable exCC-ption to this, and his grand lecture v. ill remain impressed upon the minds of those who lioard ib as long as they lhe He pictured to hls audience scènes and deeds -of the late war, and relied upou his momory insteid oí bis manuscript ior correct Eng'.i=li cxpicsslon. In latt every one was ko interestei in tliat lie had; to .say tLaL they never nofciced whether it was exactly accurate or not, and to toli tlio trntb they did not care. "Wc might in justice to the tenatot state, tliat h-3 did resommend the lowing as deslrable clianges to be made in the constltution oí oiir country : 1. Au extensión oí Lhe term of piesident to six years, vvithiio tecond 2. Jile.t.o:i o; toaators by popular vctet. 3. Granting the president power lo yei.0 separate items in au appiopriation bil.. 4. ProhiLitiou oï tlie ïiUt to ist-u, any paper moey with iegal tenútí" pioviSions And lie a!so advocated very firmlv the dol. ars oï our daddtes I:i this connectioa it migho be weü te 'say that tliet-e was quita a dilie grumbljus iiom people wüo paid ,! ,or a ticUeo auJ. were ob iged to talie a poar seat, while tliere v ere a Jarge number oí good ones maikel "reserved" wli eli no one occupied. .