ARCHIBALD FORBES.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume IV, Issue 843, 16 January 1883, Page 2

ARCHIBALD FORBES.

The name of Archibald Forbes is so widely known and his lectures have been so successful both in America and Australia that we fully expected to see the Town Hall crowded on the occasion of his first appearance in Ashburton. This, however, was not the case, for though there was a very fair attendance there were more vacant seats than there should have besn, considering the merits of the

lecture. Few men have passed through so many hardships as Mr Forbes has,' but still he is in the prime of life, and judging from his appearance he is capable of going through as much in the future as he has done in the past. The subject of the lecture last night was the “ Experiences of a WarCorrespondent, and after prefacing it with a little anecdoti concerning General Skobeleff and himself, Mr Forbes went on to give the audience his notion of an ideal war-correspondent, and his enumeration of the qualities necessary for the holder of such a position caused considerable amusement. Personal reminiscences of the Franco-Prussian Wa”, the Servian campaign, and the Russo-Turkish, Afghan and Zulu wars followed. It is unnecessary to speak in detail of the lecture, in which the scenes of the various campaigns Mr Forbes has witnessed were described with great graphic power, enlivened here and there with touches of quaint dry humor, that were heartily appreciated. At the outset the lecturer asked the audience to forgive him if his remarks savoured of the egotistical, explaining that no method had yet been found to enable a man to speak of himself and not lay himself open to that charge. There is no need to say that a lecture coming from a journalist so distinguished was a literary matorpiece. Whether it was in describing the state of Paris after the entry of the Prussians, or

the celebrated attack of ihe Russians on Plevna, or narrating the pathetic story of a young sergeant in the Germ m army who was married on the eve of a battle in which a few hours later he was killed, the lecturer was equally successful. What gives to Mr Forbes’s narrative special interest is the fact that he does not treat of other men’s adventures, but the audience know that the man who is speaking to them has endured the vicissitudes he narrates. There can be no doubt that the duties of a war correspondent are sur-

rounded by very great danger, and in this branch of journalism Mr Forbes has every right to claim that he has inaugurated a new era. As he pointed out last night, the correspondence of Dr Russell, at the time of the Crimean war, differed altogether from what was demanded by newspaper readers now. Five and twenty years ago people were satisfied if they were furnished with the details of a battle some days after it had been fought, but now the telegraph wires are brought into requisition, and news of vic : tory or defeat is transmitted and is known to the stay-at-home public very soon after the event has tran pired. Indeed, as Mr Forbes instanced, on one occasion he was able apparently to “ beat time, 1 ' and the I readers of the Daily News received intelligence of a victory in Afghan at eight o’clock in the morning when the message was actually dated two hours later. But though the lecture was, of necessity, chiefly concerned with the personal adventures o? Mr Forbes, the lecturer did not fail to recognise the merit of many of his confreres. The generous tribute to the brave MacGahan, a name that will long be remembered in the annals of journalism, was loudly applauded, and his humorous description of the young gentleman who was sent to assist him in Servia, and who turned out to be absolutely useless, was given in such a manner as to evoke hearty laughter. From first to last Mr Forbes keeps his audience interested. He has a story to tell and he tells it well, never letting the horrors of war become too prominent, although we are made to perfectly realise them, as for example when he described the terrible spectacle that met the eyes of those who passed over the field of battle

after the massacre of British troops by the Zulus. Mr Forbes may not possess the qualities of a professional lecturer; his speaking is at times rather strained, but this is of little moment when the subject matter is so excellent. It is not too much to say that no entertainment at once so interesting and instructive as that of Mr Forbes has ever been given before in Ashburton, and it is to be hoped that there will be a larger attendance at the lecture to-night than there was last evening. “Kings and Princes I have Met ” will be the subject treated of, and judging from what our contemporaries sayabout it, those who are present may expect a genuine treat.