, 1866-11-11
RANDOLPH, THE OCT0R0oN.

Editors Chicago Tribune:
The art of public speaking Ia one that
thousands, Of every race, hue and cline at
tempt; and many are the failures, few the
great successes achieved; for 1t Is not every
man who holds within himself the elements
that enter into the composition Of great
speaker, for it Is equally true Of oratoFy as
OF It's sister Divine Art-Music, that
{" Few can touch the magic string,
And noisy Fame is glad 10 win them.
AIas: ;or thnse rho esnDot sirg,.
But die with all sheI. wnsse IN them"
It is related of An ambitions aspirant for
popular tciet that he prepared grand ora
ton, which he intended to pronounce 1t the
dedication Of bridge, somewhere In New
Hampshire, firmly persuaded tlat on
the suecesa of his efforts depended the
veal or woe Of present men aud fu-
lawyer had committed his speech to mem,
ory, and had It, as the play house people say,
"Dead-1etter perfect, !" for many and on
were the lines be had delivered 1t Ia the SOL
itudes Of his chamber, with all Its fourishes,
gestures ana genudc5fons, to tie intense sat.
isfaction Of himself and his shadow In the
mirror, the verdict being that he had dead
sn1c thing, and no mistake At length the
long looked-for and eventfu1 day came, all
be duly and so1cmuly dedicated to its future
uses, and the magnificent speech delivered
In thrilling tones 10 the thrilling ears of to-
be eutsaneed and captivated thousands The
hour came, and the candidate for laurelled
to the e1peetant throng, opened bis lips, aud
to his utter horror and CONSERVATION, found
that he had utterly forgotten erery scord
Of bis oration save the introduction.
~felaos-eltisens, toFty yeats ago this bridge
and there he stuck, for not smother sentence
could he utter OF the speech that wns to
captivate all hearts Abashed, c.est-fallcn,
but by no means conquered, he speedily re-
Gstned his seifpossession and went on
rsrt and parcel Of the roaring solitude OF
the bowling. damn, fogEy and noIsome vii
derness. lrepcat, fe1io1- 1-conntrymcu, that
on the great and momentous occasion re-
aSa sse s0nits 1@1ony 9iy yS1pIs yo1
able waste, where no green thing-as nov
reared It's head and met the eye; no sounds.
odoruus and soulFubdufng, Of Eurrtinr
brooks and linpia streams combined witfl
the startled car ct the wandering hosfs Of
mankind, disturbed the sarage tranquility
Of serene and gorgeous nature! E1actly
forty years ago this bridge Was part OF the
wilderness, and-and Wish to God IT had
remained 50 and sta5ed there ~ and breaking
hopelessly down, that orator became totally
eztineu.shed, and vent ont In = b:azc Of
funny glory.
This country. with its free institutions, nexs-
papers, schools, COLLEGES, popular ballot elec.
tiona and general diffusion Of knowledge
among the people, has been very prolific of
orators, not few of whom havs been Indeed
great, vhIle thousands Of others, inst falling
short Of "Grasping the keysof f-n,e.'' have
yet reached high places In the Pantheon Of
e1cat epeakes7 nor can there be = doubt that
were /; possl:le TO put Cicero, Cato and De-
mosthencs side by side With some orators
Who are native to our fruitful soil, in an effort
heart with fluent speech aud eloqueare. IN a
.air trial, the latter would easily bear aTav
the olive crown and laurel wreath from the
men Of auld lang sJnc they would In such a
trial unquestionably y bear or the palm OF
victory from their hoary tira1a OF the olarn
days Of Greece and Rome, great and powerful
as fhey coufessed1Y we're
Upon the brightest pages Of American ora
tory inscribed are the nAuaes Of many noble.
and terrible master OF speech, tmonc which
arc the Immortal ones Of Patrick Henri.
Rufns Choate, Daniel Webster. Of whom it
! said he was ''godllke," and that Of Wea-