The Davenport gazette. [volume] (Davenport, Scott Co., Iowa) 1841-185?, 1851-05-29
ANCIENT AND MODERN ELoouENcE.

oRAToRy-The art OF speaking Gpts dd pefsEa-
| dend,tm,--CIcERo.
Lord Brougham says that the s'immeas-
arable superiority" Of ancient over modern
eloquencc, '.proceeds, 10 part, from the
greater power Of The languages, especially
the Greek-..,he instrument welded by the
great masters of dic,ion; and in 80 far the
superiority must forever remain nndmin-
ished by any efforts on the part Of modern
rhotoriciansn This author, we are Of
opinion, places entirely too much stress up
on the superiority OF the Greek and Roman
languages. In the ilea OF another, it was
the men who made the language, and not
the language which made the men. There
were other collateral and superior causes
| of the excellence Of ancient over modern
eloqnence.
A few weeks since we preached an idea
in relation to the subject, the gist Of which
may not be thoroughly understood. II in
tended to convey the impression that the
reverse was true OF the opinion usually en-
I,er,ained, that the number OF books, period
icals and papers, and the low price a, which
they were furnished at the present day. ai.
iorded greater facilities for the prosecution
Of the art Of ora,ory than were presented
the ancients.
There is no doubt TINT the form of gov
eminent had much to do with the encour-
ssement of oratory among the ancienis.
While the little republics that studded the
shores Of the Mediterranean Sea abounded
with orators, we hear nothing of eloquence
in Persia, Egypt and the East. In the for
mer, every question Of public utility was
discussed By the people and he who excel-
ed in e,oquence swayed the body Of the
people and hence reaped the highest honors
of the state. A laudable emulation was
excited which. in part, gave TO ancient ora
tory that superiority which il possesses.
Ora,ory, among the ancien:s was no,
only considered a fine art, but the first
among the fine arts. In their academies
so much attention was devoted to il that il
formed the main branch of education; all
other branches were made subsidiary to it.
This in fact is the main cause O! the supe-
rior,y Of ancient to modern oratory.
With US eloquence is made subordinate
to all other branches Of education, and in
deed in many Of our schools and colleges is
scarcely deemed worthy place. Youth
are taught to recite poem. lauguldly to
repeat few verses, or sleepily to rehearse
an ancient Grafton, and their elocu,ionary
education is complete. A few in after life
display The energy Of Patrick Henry, 20
forth to the woods and declam to the trees,
and become eminent in the art. The ora
torical education of young men, we repeat,
generally ceases with few declarations
at school, under the direction of Professor
who similarly taught is unacquainted with
the art.
We would that ora tory could be made
the leading branch of English education.
and we think il properly understood ii
would speedily become such. Teach a
young man 10 express bis ideas tluen,ly
and he will take pride in storing his mind
with such useful information as will after.
wards prove serviceable to him. But load
his mind with intelligence and neglect 10
open the avenues Of communication and
unless he possess an ardent thirst for the
acquisition of knowledge for its own sake.
he will soon allow the proceed Of hard stu
dy TO waste.
Execution is subject in which we have
always fol, deep interest and having for
many months access TO the classes of two
of the best Professors of oratory our coun-
try has produced, We have felt panied 10
observe the inat,ention given the subject
in our schools and colleges But as il is a
subject in which we cannot expect the gen
eral reader to take interest, we conclude,
deploring with the author Of the able ar,i-
Gle in Black wood, the time devoted in mas
tering Greek composition and Latin prose-
dy, which might have been SO much more
usefully employed in acquiring knowl-
edge Of this useful branch Of English edu-
cation.
THERE is general dearth Of news a.
rnong our exchanges. They come to US
guitless Of an item Of interest. Even To-.
Gals have become scarce, while telegraph
news is out Of the question. Can't some
body kick up muss generally? We are
almost tempted with the editor Of the Bos.
ton Times to append the following
n. B. a suitable reward will be paid
for respectable earthquake, on applica,