MR BURTON'S ENTERTAINMENTS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XLIX, Issue 12648, 8 November 1905, Page 2

MR BURTON'S ENTERTAINMENTS.

THURSDAY AM) (FRIDAY

EVEENINGS,

air Burton's " evenings" are giving great satisfaction everywhere he has appeared, iand. the following is from a 'highly eulogistic notice in the " iManawatu Herald ":—To Mr Alfred H. Burton 'belongs a keen insight into human nature and a power of interpreting that 'human feeling, whether fresh from Nature's handiwork or from the printed page, that is vouchsafed to few, and Should therefore lbe doubly prized by those whose ■privilege it 'may be on some •Hare occasion to sit spell-bound at the exhibition of the wondrous gift. Deep feeling for the sadness of tragedy, a ready grasp of the incisiyeness of satire, and ikeen appreciation of humour, •all of these does .Mr Burton possess, and to say that his audience sat silently : attentive during Ms recital of extracts ' from Thackeray's wonderful work " Vanity Fair" were to j>ut it weakly ■indeed. It was tihe deep breathlessneiss of enchantment, as anight be experienced 'by a child on hearing some one of the tales of tine " Arabian Nights Entertainments " read to him; though probalbly not one present had not read of the inimitable (it is devoutly to be •hoped) 'Becky Sharp, or the angelic sweetness of cAtdelia-iSedley, or the varying qualities of other characters in the book; not one, we venture to say, but was astounded so much (had been missed in his or iher reading. Silence, deep and sustained —except when, on some rare occasion, the lecturer brought out the sparkling merriment that lay hidden in some humorous passage, a ripple - of laughter swept over his auditors, only to be immediately hushed by his lapse into a delineation of pathos' or an excursion into the turbulency of outraged honour or high-spirited devil-may-care good (humour—marked "the reading throughout, and than this -what could be more truly indicative of appreciation? A striking personality, a -voice so perfectly under (control whether in the fierce language of the strong man's anger • or of - a woman's agonising cry of de? spair, or the gentle pleading such as might only fall from the lips of an Amelia Sedley, a complete loss of self in the theme of his discourse —all these combined to make Mr Burton's audience feel that they had indeed been enjoying a literary treat, and that when he closed the pages of his book and resumed ihia seat they had 'been suddenly deprived of something they could ill do without. Then did their pent-up feeling find vent in an outburst of applause as spontaneously hearty in its integrity as ever t~" favoured any public speaker on the stage. In moving a heary vote <of thanks to the •lecturer, iMr A. D. Clemett made reference to the great pleasure felt, he was sure, 'by all present, at the literary exposition'they had heard, v In diking this motion, Mr John Stevei^^^He of the extreme pleasure ' he faac^HPirienoed in listening to the able lecture. To (his mind there were two classes of men whose works were important factors in the development of a national life—the author and the poet. But on an equal plane with these two was the 'man who could interpret them; he who could, make their works reially understood 'by their fellows." . The evenings are undoubtedly of great educational value, and deserve liberal patronage. Tickets may be purchased from the local committee.