General John C. Black

              Lecture Tour

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General John C. Black
A SLAYTON ATTRACTION



Announcement
THE Slayton Lyceum Bureau takes great pleasure in presenting GEN. JOHN C. BLACK to Chautauqua and Lyceum audiences:

GEN. JOHN C. BLACK, President of the United States Civil Service Commission, was born at Lexington, Miss.  He removed with his mother, in boyhood, to Danville, Illinois, and was educated in the common schools of that place, and afterward at Wabash College, Crawfordsville, Illinois.  When the Civil War broke out he was one of the first to enlist, joining the Montgomery Guards on April 14, 1861, as a private, for three months' service, this company becoming Company I of the 11th Indiana Zouaves.  At the expiration of this enlistment he went to Danville, Ill., and recruited a company for the 37th Illinois Volunteers, of which regiment he became major, and took part in thirteen battles and two great sieges.  He was promoted lieutenant-colonel June 9, 1862, and colonel February 1, 1863, serving until August 15, 1865, and being brevetted brigadier-general of United States Volunteers for gallantry in action at the storming of the Blackely batteries.

After the war ended he studied law, and was admitted to the bar in 1867, engaging in the practice of law at Danville, Vermillion county, Illinois, attaining a position of distinction in his profession.  He was prominent in the politics of Illinois as a Democrat, but as he lived in an overwhelmingly Republican district, his candidacy for Congress in 1866, 1880 and 1884, on the Democratic ticket, did not result in his election, although he had, in each instance, a substantial lead over his colleagues on the ticket.  He was the Democratic candidate for lieutenant-governor of Illinois in 1872, and the caucus nominee of the Democrats in the Illinois Legislature for United States Senator in 1879; and one of the first acts of the Cleveland administration, inaugurated March 4, 1885, was the appointment of General Black to be United States Commissioner of Pensions, which office he held until the close of that administration in 1889.

He was elected in November, 1892, as a Democratic candidate from the state at large, to the Fifty-third Congress, but resigned his seat December 12, 1894, to become United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, which office he administered 1895–99.


He was nominated for Governor of Illinois by the National (Gold-Standard) Democracy, but declined the nomination; he returned to private practice, 1889 to 1903, and was appointed, December, 1903, United States Civil Service Commissioner, and elected president of the board, still holding that office.

General Black was married at Urbana, Champaign county, Illinois, September 28, 1867, to Miss Adaline L. Griggs.  He received the honorary degree of M. A. from Wabash College, and that of LL. D. from Knox College, Galesburg, Ill.  He is a Companion and Past Commander, Commandery of the State of Illinois of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States, was Department Commander of the Grand Army of the Republic for Illinois, 1902–03, and Commander-in-Chief of the Grand Army of the Republic of the United States, 1903–04.



TITLES

The Evolution of a Leader; or How Grant Came
Civil Service Reform in the United States
Despise Not the Day of Small Things (For Sunday)
American Destiny



HON. W. J. BRYAN

Gen. Black is an orator, a great orator—one of the first whom I had the pleasure of meeting.  I am sure that he will be a great success on the lecture platform.

DR. FRANK W. GUNSAULUS

I have urged Gen. Black to go into the lecture field.  He is a great orator and has a great message to give to the public he has so long served.

GEN. LEW WALLACE

General Black is one of the few men for whom I have a cordial and deep affection.  He was a brave man and a splendid soldier.  He is an able lawyer, a brilliant orator, without an iota of demagogery in his make-up.

E. BENJAMIN ANDREWS
CHANCELLOR, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA

General John C. Black last evening delivered the mid-winter commencement oration at the University.  He spoke on Abraham Lincoln.  It was consummate oratory.  General Black has in a pre-eminent degree the power of presenting his thoughts in great and impressive masses, free from perplexing details.  Dealing alone with the points of salient human interest and holding up to view only generic aspects of the matters treated, he succeeds in rendering recondite topics easy, and common things sublime.  His elocution is faultless, his manner neutral, his voice at once sweet and powerful, and the moral tone of what he says altogether healthful.



THE RECORD-HERALD, CHICAGO
He was an orator of remarkable power and was gifted with a grace of manner which made friends for him wherever he went.  Soon he became known in every county, and today there is no public speaker who is more certain than he to receive a hospitable welcome in any part of the state.


FRANK LESLIE'S ILLUSTRATED PAPER
General Black is admittedly the leading political orator of Illinois, and an advocate of the highest quality in his profession—the law.  Large brained, quick witted, with a piercing deep blue eye, a clear strong voice and much grace of gesture, few can equal and none surpass him in the forum or the council.  His record alike in war and in peace is without a blemish.


THE JOURNAL, SPRINGFIELD, ILL.
One of the grandest political demonstrations ever witnessed in Springfield was that accorded Gen. John C. Black at Chatterton's Opera House last evening.  The auditorium was packed with an ideal audience, comprised of thinking, educated and intelligent voters, with enough women present to give it an air of refinement.  The address by Gen. Black was pronounced by many the master effort of his life.  Sincerity and patriotism rang in every utterance, and the erect, dignified figure of the speaker commanded the respect of every one present.  Frequently the speaker was interrupted by the spontaneous enthusiasm of the assemblage.  At other times, so deeply did the points lodge within his hearers that they forgot to applaud and sat in dumb silence, overawed by the depth and sublimity of thought and expression.


FORT WAYNE JOURNAL
General Black was introduced and spoke for over an hour and a half, completely charming his audience by the magic of eloquence and the tragic rehearsal of army scenes and memory pictures of other days.


LA FAYETTE DAILY COURIER
As an orator General Black is easily the peer of any public speaker in the United States, and while the beauty of his remarks was intensified by his masterful delivery, the text in cold type is hardly less charming.


INDIANAPOLIS JOURNAL
The guest of honor was General John C. Black, of Illinois, who delivered an address on General Ulysses Grant.  The address was in the nature of an oration and was a splendid effort.


MARQUETTE JOURNAL
General Black has justly earned his reputation as one of the most eloquent and forceful public speakers of the West.


DANVILLE WEEKLY NEWS
As the General closed, the people broke into three cheers for Gen. Black.  Numbers grumbled because he quit.  All the vast audience that filled the amphitheatre and the story above it, and that flooded the stand which stood almost in the center of the track, scarcely moved throughout the marvelous speech, but often cheered and manifested approval.


FREEPORT DAILY JOURNAL
General John C. Black is one of the great orators of this country, and one reason for his great success as an orator is that he is always thoroughly prepared to speak upon any subject that he treats upon in his public speeches.



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