largely depended for the dissemination of general knowledge as well as for the presentation of social and political problems. It afforded an almost ideal method of developing a vigorous and independent public opinion through the stimulation of reflection and discussion. The limitations of opportunity which made the lecture course a characteristic form of entertainment in New England during the greater part of the nineteenth century had the fortunate effect of fostering an appreciation of good thinking and a demand for it in public speakers. By intellectualizing amusement it stimulated the habit of criticism, and through the inducements it offered to scholars and thinkers of the first rank it secured the spread of philosophical ideas and helped to sustain general interest in public questions.
One has only to contrast with all this the popular lecture of to-day to realize how far we have traveled from these earlier intellectual preoccupations. Leaving out of question the field of political discussion, which has had an unlike as well as independent development, and limiting consideration to matters of common interest, to general information and culture, science, art, literature and philosophy—the transformation will not only be found radical, but will be seen to follow a course parallel to that which has been traced in magazine and book-making. Dependence is no longer upon the substance of what is presented alone; in many cases it has not even chief place. In lyceum days the lecturer relied upon his own resources. Success and failure turned upon the question of his ability alone; there was no dispersion of responsibility. Except for rhetoric and wit he had no means of tricking out his wares. There was no second line of defences to fall back upon; for his discussion of art was not illustrated with music and Greek dances, nor his lecture on natural history supplemented by lantern slides and moving pictures. What the speaker had to say was all that counted, and it is only when audience and lecturer stand in this direct relation that the intellectual quality of public speaking can be sustained.
That it has not been sustained is beyond question, and its decline is closely associated with the increased use of pictures. Practically all popular lectures are now illustrated. One scarcely dares come on the platform alone or in full light; whatever one's subject, the text must be supplemented by pictures. If a human life is to be studied, not only are portraits secured, but pictures of parents, birthplace, and associates, copies of autographs and human documents of all kinds. If history is to be discussed, archives and museums are similarly ransacked for illustrative materials which are reproduced upon the screen. If countries are to be described, their physical features, cities, monuments, architecture, dress, customs and industries are pictured; and an exhibit of natives in their national garb as well as of their implements and products is not infrequently brought upon the stage.
