Page images
PDF
EPUB
[graphic][merged small]

CHAKLLS F. BR.WNE

Photograve a fer a photograph from live

CHARLES FARRAR BROWNE

("ARTEMUS WARD")

THE MORMONS

[Lecture by Charles F. Browne-" Artemus Ward"-humorist (born in Waterford, Maine, April 26, 1834; died in Southampton, England, March 6, 1867), delivered upon his first appearance before an English audience, in Egyptian Hall, Piccadilly, London, November 13, 1866. This was the most elaborate of all of his lectures, and included passages from both "The Babes in the Woods," and "Sixty Minutes in Africa," the delivery of which in various cities from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast, before he went abroad, had established his reputation as an American humorist. It was received by his English hearers with flattering comment. His jokes, one newspaper-writer remarked, "always came just in the place one least expected to find them. Half the enjoyment of the evening lay, to some of those present, in listening to the cachinnation of the people who only found them out some two or three minutes after they were made, and who then laughed apparently at some grave statement of fact. Reduced to paper, the showman's jokes are certainly not brilliant; almost their whole effect lies in their seemingly impromptu character. They are carefully led up to, of course, but they are uttered as if they were mere afterthoughts of which the speaker is hardly sure." Another critic has observed, "However much he caused his audience to laugh, no smile appeared upon his own face. It was grave even to solemnity while he was giving utterance to the most delicious absurdities." The inimitable drawl-impossible of suggestion or reproduction in type-which characterized his speech also added to its humor; while the droll mixture of fact and fancy, serious statement with extravagant flight, gave piquancy to the performance. The lecture was illustrated by a panorama, and the printed programme, reproduced in fac-simile on the following pages, gave a whimsical synopsis of the production, with a special note announcing that Mr. Artemus Ward will call on the citizens of London, at their residences, and explain any jokes in his narrative which they may not understand."]

66

From "Complete Works of Artemus Ward," edited by "Eli Perkins" and published by the G. W. Dillingham Co., New York. Copyrighted.

« PreviousContinue »