Byron W. King, lecturer and entertainer

              BYRON W. KING
LECTURER AND ENTERTAINER
KING'S SCHOOL OF ORATORY
PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA
SUBJECTS, PROGRAMS AND LECTURES:
BHAKESPE ARE-RECITATIONS.
NOTE.—Mr. King does not use book.   The plays are committed to memory.
BIBLE READINGS. A Program of Readings and Recitations from the Old and New Testaments. The program is novel, interesting and effective.
STORY OF BEN-HUR. An hour of recitation from Ben-Hur, followed by Miscellaneous Selections.
PHILOSOPHY OF ELOQUENCE. The Character¬istics of Eloquence and the Nature of Expression.
**^LL THK WORLD'S A STAGE." The World as sI«akespeare saw it.
SHAKESPEARE AND THE INFIDEL. The Be¬liefs of Shakespeare and Invrersoll in Contrast.
SHYLOCK, THE JUST. A Study of the Play of ** Merchant of Venice."
THERE'S WITCHCRAFT IN IT. A Study of "Mac¬beth" and Witchcraft of Shakespeare's Time Con¬trasted with Modern Hypnotism.
" WHAT FOOLS THESE MORTALS BE."
"THE BARD AND THE BOOK."
" EYES THAT SEE NOT AND EARS THAT HEAR NOT."
u FOLKS AND FANCIES."
MISCELLANEOUS READINGS.
NEW LECTURES:    " Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness-"     " The Oratory of Shakespeare."
KINDLY    COMMENTS    OF    NOTED    MEN
Russell Con well.
A genius, a man of highest rank in his profession, a King of the platform.
John Temple Graves.
I do not know that I ever met one who impressed me more profoundly as a teacher of Oratory and Elo¬cution, or illustrated more superbly in his own gifts and attainments, the value of his methods, than Byron W. King, of Pittsburgh. He is a scholar, author, ac¬tor, teacher and incomparable orator combined, a glo¬rious combination meeting in an accomplished and lovable gentleman.—Atlanta, Ga., Jan. 29, 1894.
Rev. Leroy Stevens.
From a stammerer of the worst type, to master his difficulty and become the teacher of teachers in his chosen art, has been a triumph indeed.—Western Penn¬sylvania Classical and Scientifical Institute.
Senator Hogg
I introduce to this senate a man who has no equal in his profession, who is an orator, scholar and lec¬turer of the highest rank.—Senate Chamber, Ohio.
Lawrence Barrett.
He has an excellent voice, good action, and fine dramatic talent.    He will succeed.
John B. Gough.
Mr. King's plan is correct. It is the only way to gain and control and audience.
H. W. Lamar.
He is a great teacher. He is a man of most lova¬ble character.
Ignatius Donnelly.
Mr. King's work is that of a master.
Appresciation from the Press
NEW YORK.
New York Dramatic News.
His Shakespeare selections are very successful.
Rochester (N. Y.) Herald.
At the head of his profession.
New York Observer.
This man is a poet and scholar ; all his work proves it.
NEW JERSEY.
Home News, New Brunswick, N. J.
Last night's entertainment in Kirkpatrick chapel closed the sea¬son's course, and it is safe to say there never was a more fitting cli¬max to any previous series of en¬tertainments, no matter how pop¬ular or successful they were. Byron W. King, of the Pittsburgh School of Oratory, was the sole attraction. He touched every chord in the harp of human feeling, smoothed them all out again and sent his au-dience away in a delightful mood.
PENNSYLVANIA.
Pittsburgh Leader.
Mr. King is a most versatile per¬former ; all his work is well done.
Pittsburgh Dispatch.
At home in every line of elocution and dramatic work.
Pittsburgh Press.
Mr. King's work has the equal of anything we have seen on the elo¬cution stage for years.
Pittsburgh Chronicle Telegraph.
Mr. King's work is scholarly and artistic in every respect.
WEST  VIRGINIA.
Mannington News.
His selections are interspersed with short talks which brand him a philanthropist as well as an ora¬tor. It was better than a show and as good as a sermon.
KENTUCKY.
Kentuckian Citizen, Paris, Ky.
Dr. King comes before the peo¬ple the very incarnation of personal magnetism, profound skill, literary tastes and attainments of the high¬est order, and, above all, a lovable, noble character that wins the hearts and moves the minds of men.
OHIO.
Cincinnati (0.) Commercial Gazette.
The entertainment given by Prof. Byron W. King in the M. E. Church last night was one of the most en¬joyable evenings of elocution it has ever been the good fortune of those assembled there to listen to.
Columbus (0.) State Journal.
Professor King has twice enter¬tained our legislators, and is well known here. His work is of the highest class, and he must be heard to be appreciated.
TENNESSEE.
Editorial from Lebanon Democrat.
If wre are to have another Chau¬tauqua next summer we will vote for Byron W. King as the sole and "Only Attraction." Those who missed hearing Prof. King, missed one of the greatest entertainers that ever visited Lebanon.—Jan. 22, 1903.
Lebanon Democrat.
The series of lectures delivered by Byron W.King,President King's School of Oratory, of Pittsburgh, Pa., during the latter part of last week and the first of the present wreek was the greatest treat that the people of Lebanon have enjoyed for many years past. Mr. King ad¬dressed the schools and the people of Lebanon on six different occa¬sions, and neither the speaker nor the people ever seemed to tire. Each time he had something new and something good.—Leading ar¬ticle, Jan. 29, 1903.
DELAWARE.
New Castle.
Dr. King has proved himself to be a most versatile elocutionist and a master of his art.
ILLINOIS.
Chicago Inter-Ocean.
A new reader, a scholar and a gentleman.
Congregational ist.
He always has something new, unique and entertaining.
KANSAS.
Western School Journal.
The lecturer, in the first few sen¬tences, captivated the audience and held it—so to speak —in the hollow of his hand from the first word until the last. Coming to the close of the many sessions and discus¬sions, the lecture was a benediction, and it surely filled every heart with joy.—John McDonald.
MISSOURI.
St. Joe Gazette.
The king of lecturers and enter¬tainers.
Jewish Voice, St. Louis.
Prof. King made a most favorable impression.    His  voice  is a mag-
netic one, and shows excellent cul¬tivation, its range of expression be¬ing almost infinite. May we have the pleasure of welcoming him again in our midst.
INDIANA.
Standard, La Grange.
In a word, Byron W. King is a perfect success, and has established a reputation here that will promise him a warm welcome in the future.
Daily Star Vidette, Valparaiso-
So clamorous was the applause whenever Mr. King appeared to have finished his artistic work that he was compelled time and again to respond to the demands of his appreciative audience. A royal welcome awaits him on his return in the early summer.
NEBRASKA.
Evening Times, Beatrice-He is certainly the King of the platform.
Omaha Bee.
The most eloquent of all lec¬turers.
NEW MEXICO.
New Mexican, Santa Fe.
Hon. George H. Wallace, Secre-
tary of the Territory, introduced Byron W. King, and he held the audience spell-bound for two hours and a half, the silence on their part being broken only by outbreaks of applause. No audience at Santa Fe was ever better entertained than that of last night.
MICHIGAN.
Times, Vassar.
Truly Mr. King is a genius.
Copper Journal, Hancock.
The professor's humor seems to be inexhaustible; it bubbles out spontaneously in the most unex¬pected places, so that the alterna¬tion from the pathetic to the funny is always abrupt.
IOWA.
Herald, Clarinda.
Byron W. King's second appear¬ance at Clarinda was well received at Hawley's last night. Mr. King was introduced by Senator Clark, and for two hours held the rapt attention of the audience with wit, philosophy, original poetry, mim¬icry, impersonation, elocution and oratory.
At the Institutes and Among Educators
0. T. Corson, Commissioner, Columbus, 0. I have been with him at insti¬tutes at different places through¬out the State, and have no hesi¬tancy in saying that his work is of the highest character. His lectures are very entertaining as well as very instructive, and of such a practical character as to do the teachers a great deal of good.
National Educator.
Dr. Byron W. King was on hand nearly the entire week. He is an institute in himself alone. No one is needed beside him either for day work or evening entertainment.
Erie (Pa.) Evening Herald.
Mr. King is an inspiration in himself, always bubbling over with enthusiasm, and  his  talks are al-
ways welcomed, and are instructive as well as entertaining.
Mauch Chunk, Pa.
His farewell talk was a complete ovation.*
•Mr. King lectured here three times a day during the entire week and for three years in succession. He was invited to return for the fourth season.
Lancaster (Pa.) Examiner.
Prof. King is a great example of personal magnetism. He carried the sympathy of the audience all through his address, and at times held their attention so closely as to cause almost breathless silence.
Towanda (Pa.) Daily Review-
Dr. Byron W. King, of the Pitts¬burgh School of Oratory, the inim¬itable King, was introduced to the teachers for the last period. A ver-batim report, if that were possible,
could not tell the story.    One must hear King.
Smyrna (Del.) Times.
The evening lecture by Dr. By¬ron W. King was captivating. He was greeted by an audience that was packed to the door, and for nearly two hours he held them spell-bound. The crowd reached its climax on Friday, the last ses¬sion. The fame of King had come before him, and the people, eager to be entertained, came to the opera house early to procure seats. The crowning address was g>en by Dr. King.
New Milford (Pa.) Institute.
There are no dull moments when this King is on the throne, and never did monarch have more loyal subjects.
FOURTH OF JULY WITH THE ROYCROFTERS 
BUTTINSKY, of the Buttinsky-Family-Robinson, was not there—just the Elect! There were five hundred and sixty-one present, and they came from John O'Groat's to the Isle of Ceylon, and all that lies between, to sit down at meat with Ali Baba, at the Annual Dinner of the Immortals, in the Grove at East Aurora. Nine speakers were present, primed for moose, and the speakers were these : Rev. Madison C. Peters, George Wharton James, Rev. John E. Roberts, John Temple Graves, Col. Andrew S. Rowan, James Whitcomb Riley, George H. Daniel and Byron W. King, worthy kinsman of Starr King, with seven good men and true on the bleachers, as substitutes to bring in oratorical vibrations should any of the others disappear beneath the table, overcome by modesty.
The chairman was Dr. Silas Hubbard, author of the author of " A Message to Garcia." He introduced Byron W. King first, as the last shall be first. Besides that, the good Doctor did not know the man, except by sight, and as he saw that Byron had a marked queerity of aspect, a sort of gibbossity of expression, he thought it would be well to let His Pulchritudes fan the    breeze and strike himself out at once, and so he called him to the oratorical bat.
Byron opened up adagio and spoke about nothing for a minute, and then he paused and smiled—a smile that was contagious. That smile won all, and when he began, it was with an understanding, platitudes were to be left behind and truism waived. He had met the audience and they were his.
The general topic of the meeting was, "What Shall We Do With Our Life ?" As Byron opened up the andante stops and wound into his theme, the air became charged with reasons.    He ceased to be King of Pittsburgh and became a messenger from On High.
The speakers had been cautioned not to talk over twenty minutes each. King spoke for an hour and forty minutes because the audience would not let him stop. After him no one would unlimber his logic, and all the eloquence was bottled for later sessions. Hearts were full and tongues were dumb.
But there was a desire to see the man who had carried the " Message," and so Andrew S. Rowan came forward. " He has the chance of his life to make a fool of himself," whis¬pered an aqua fortis lady from Kansas City. But Rowan didn't. He was as modest as a girl, and his mellisonant voice, as he read his little three minute paper, without a single ref¬erence to himself, was as fine in its way, as King's oration. The man who has taken his life in his vest-pocket and done the Nathan Hale act a score of times doesn't have to talk. So closed the Dinner; one thing had been planned, fate and feeling pied the forms.
But, look you, Brother Byron; you are a practical speaker with twenty winters of lyceum work behind, yet never before did you speak so well and never again will you equal that speech to the Immortals. Those who heard you will never forget you, and as the Pundit Dharmapala from India said, with tear-filled eyes, " It was worth traveling eight thousand miles to hear that man pack the pauses with feeling." Frederick Nietzsche once said this : "Life is that which continually surpasses itself." You surpassed yourself, Byron, and the reason was because you spoke to those who were your intellectual equals, to a combination of head and heart such as you never met before.
Oratory is a collaboration. Truths known by an audience remain sterile until the man of power vitalizes its dreams. The audience that has listened to sublime oratory can be pardoned if it takes a bit of credit to itself. Oratory, like a great love, is for the worthy. ELBERT HUBBARD, in " The Philistine: