National Republican., 1873-04-02
Eioqucncc the Handmade Of Freedom.

1he fOllOwlng eloquent ana truthful passage
Is extracted from lecture on the Life and Char
acter Of Henry Clay, delivered by DR.. q. Z. Cox,
at Prof. Taylor's literary reunion, on Thurs,lay
evening last:
That his personal qualities and great yigor Of
intellect had much to do with Mr.. Clay's oratory
cannot he denied; but II we would discover the
real source Of his power, Of ne influence which
he eNcrted upon the day In which he spoke, and
will exert upon future generations, we must re-
vert to the character Of the man for the fountain
ofhis strength. II was remark OF the ancients
that no man could he eloquent who was not
gOCd. This Is true to this extent at least, that
no man can by elOqueHce rouse and control the
hearts OF men unless he pours forth great
thoughts, true thoughts, which embody sublime
principles Of action and electrify the heart by
ennobling motives and deeds.
Let the orator avow the principles Of selfish.
ness and deny the rights Of man; let him
avOwedly teach men TO honor despotlsm and
hate liberty; let him bid men to forget the
brotherhood Of man; let him ayowedly insult
| the supplication Of suffering and wronged hu-
| manity and repudiate the claims Of outraged
justce-it Is not In the power Of genius or learn
Ing to produce eloquence cut Of such materials;
| 1t " not In the power Of man TO sway the hearts
OF the world by such appeals. The electrical
| fire OF eO1uence can oe lighted only In heaven.
Search history through; the great efforts have
| always been In yindication Of right against
wrong; OF liberty against despOtisD OF principle,
and duty against selfish policy; and the times OF
ST. dgges for liberty or religious reformation, or
| the yindlcatiOn OF great principles, are always
times Of eloqucnce. When the IRE comes down
from heaven II always nnds hearts In which TO
kindlc.
The Church has always had Its eloquent men.
Even In times Of corruption II has had enough
OF the nre OF Heavens truth to produce Bossuvts
and MAsslllOns, but where Ia the eloquencc that
ever pleaded for inndellty7 The Reformation
| produced Its bold eloquence, but where Is the
| eloquence that pleaded for the sale Of lndulgon-
cesf Greece had Its Demosthenes, but where Is
/ the orator OF Phlllp7 The Roman republic had
/ Its Cicero, but where Is the orator of the Trium-
vrAte1 The American Revolution had It's John
| Adams and Its Patrick Henry, aud even In the
British Parliament Its Chatham, It's Burke and
Its Barre, but where ia the orator OF King
George. In France liberty had Its Mlrabeau, but
where was the elOqucnce Of tyranny The
| cause Of the Union had its champion, Henry
| Clay but where In his day was the open and
ayowed orator Of dlsmemberment and civil war
| Liberty, with human face OF Intelligence, looks
| forth aud speaks, and the heart Of the world II
| thrilled by her words. DespOtism, like q munied
mute OF the inquisltlon, strikes and Is silent.
| DespOtlsm, In the eXternAls Of mere strength,
| grows like mute bastle, terrific In Its silence.
| Or II ever a bad cause Is defended by eloquence
| It Is by Disgusting Its own nature and falsely Ap-
| pealing to noble sentiments. The tongue OF
man stl1ens when II pleads for injustice, OPP
| preston or selnshness, and the great heart will
not throh In answer to Its appeals.
| The literary reunions, which during the past
| few seasons have been given by several Of our
| prominent citizens, and which Hon. IIoratio
King was the nrst To initiate, have been lnstru-
mental In combining social recreatlons with in-
| tellectnal entertainment OF high order. A
number OF addresses delivered at Mr.. Klpgs dur
ing the past winter have been such as would
| have done honor TO any lecture platform In the
| land. We trust that this feature OF our social