The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1864-04-08
Written for TEE CALIDoNIAN1
W endell Phillips.

! II mas Deen charged against US Americana
as weakness, by our brothers over the sea
! that we are nation of orators. But we can
we'll let them have their little jest at us
while we are conscious of our superiority in
this particular. 1t is true we are fond OF
public speaking, and to this penchunt. may
IN measure be attributed our superiority
Every little hamlet has its orator-not Cice.
ro or Demosthenes, it is true but oratorial
merit, like all other, is relative, and he who
who possesses it in the greatest degree has
mis- small pre-eminence.
Our lecture system has within the last ten
years developed much of this talent. New
England can boast many excellent speakers
and prominent among them all stands Wen.
dell Phillips. His eloquence is the logic oi
fire." 1t is difficult to tell precisely in wha,
his irresistible power consists. You cannot
compare him with Everett. You may con-
trast them, and our own opinion is that the
contrast will result in favor of the former.
In scholarly attainments, cultivation of intel
lect and refinement of taste, he is scarcely
inferior to Mr. Everett. While the latter is
chaste to fastidiousness, and cold as marble,
The former, though but slightly impassioned
and rarely vehement, is always earnest. We
mean not merely that earnestness of manner
which is often painful through sympathy with
the speaker,and which manifests itself only in
externals, but the very earnestness of the
soul. He is the orator of the feelings, not
of the passions. Neither has anything of
the dramatic in their style of oratory; Phil
lips has perhaps even less action than Ever
ett but he is man Of powerful convictions,
and Courage to utter these convictions On all
proper occasions, with terseness and force
seldom eQualled. On the other hand Mr..
Everett is singularly timid, and if he pos
sesses strong convictions has not the power
to impart them to his hearers. You are
cha :med but not convicted. He lacks but
enthusiasm to rank among the greatest of
orators. Both prepare their orations elabo-
rately and deliver them from memory.
The power Of oratory is one of the rarest
gifts conferred upon mankind. The orator
like 8" the poet is born" You cannot discov-
er the secret of his art, for art it is, though
the qualities through which it manifest itself
are innate. No two orators possess precisely
the same gifts. Contrast Cough and Curtis
for they have little in common-each is
powerful in his own province. The former
is not simply an orator; he combines in a
remarkable degree the qualities of the ora
tor and the actor. Though he is not man
of superior intellect, education or culture, he
will draw larger houses than any other man
in America. He has neither grace of man
ner nor sweetness of voice, but he will make
you laugh or he will make you cry at will.
He has the wonderful power of sending
through every nerve that magnetic shiyer Of
delight as though it were some palpable fluid
coursing and throbbing in your veins. Peo-
pie flock to hear him because he appeals to
the senses and does not tax the intellect
He gives his audience recreation.
Curtis has more points in common with
Phillips. In personal appearance they are
not wholly dissimilar. The countenances of
both men will impress you with the benevo-
lence of their expression. Meet them where
you will and you will say they are men of
warm feelings and truly sympathetic natures.
Those who expected to see in Mr.. Phillips a
coarse, burly, fierce looking, ranting stump
orator, were disappointed. We are apt to
ors. But they are rather like the gentle
Erasmus, who hug the truth more closely to
their hearts when prosecuted for its sake,
and with the sublime old philosopher forced
to recant his heresy of the earth's motion
when released, cry out I" Still it moves u
Both Phillips and Curtis have been earnest
laborers in the work of ameliorating the
condition of their fellow men. Both are
what the democrats call negro-worshipers.-
In oratora style the two are widely different.
Phillips has none Of that graceful imagery
which is always playing about the productions
of Curtis-none of those felcitous conceits SO
impalpable and Elusive that they elude
the grasp when We would seize and analy yze
them. His style is more terse, trenchant and
incisive, and hence better adapted to didactie
efforts. He never wastes words. In him
you find none of that brilliancy of style
which is apt to pass for affiuence of thought
He is brilliant sometimes, but in another
way. He has the rare power Of expressing
his thoughts with that point and force which
carries conviction. His brilliancy is that o
the chain lightning you stand startled ane
amazed. While that Of Curtis is tn,
aurora borealis-you wonder and admire
Yet his style is plain and simple. He never
amuses you with that elaborateness of imager!
in which Beecher sometimes INDUCES. HI
gives you no startling antitheses or abrnp
transitions. He never resorts to the tricks
of the rhet. rician. He drives strai ght on
ward to his conclusions, and if they are no
always legitimate, his hearers must hav'
care or they will think them so. Like Cur
tbs, too, he wields with power that terrible
weapon of controversialists-irony; thougl
he Yields it not like him. The latter give