Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1875-03-06
oRArOxY IN COURTS OF LAW.
Providence Journal.


The opening address Of Mr.. Tracy, II
behalf of Dir. Beecher, was a written
document, and was read to the jury
from the manuscript. The Nelg York
| Times, In calling attention to the fact
speaks Of II as an indication, among
many others, ''that we are beginning
TO lose the art Of public speaking.
By this remark it is not meant TO deny
that ''the supply Of speeches, or Ofper-
formances so called, is quite large
/ enough" but that our stand
ard IS becoming lower, and
that "we are deterio-ating both
in the degree and IN the means Of ex-
cellenee." OF this, we think there can
be no doubt. The speeches which are
delivered IN Congress, nowadays, are
seldom more than dissertations which
the authors have prepared on the sub
iects that are to be discussed. When
the subjects come up for discussion,
members take these dissertations from
their desks and read them, Just as they
would any other treatise which they
might select. This clearly is not ora.
tory or public speaking. 1t is merely
reading what has been written
This practice, it appears, has now
been transferred from the deliberatIve
assembly to the forum, and IN the most
remarkable Jury trial in American his
tory, we see a leading advocate opening
the defense Of his client by reading for
two or three days a manuscript state
ment Of his case 1t Is certainly a
novelty which may well attract atten-
ton. 1t was a case which, more than
most others, demanded a thoroughly
prepared and fervid address, without
any intervention of manuscript, to be
made directly to the minds Of the
Jurors. Their prepOssessiOns were to
be removed, their good will was to be
conciliaged. and theywere to bepersuad-
edin all possible ways toput favorable
construction upon the testimony that Is
to be introduced. The work was one
which called for the best effort of true
forensic OratOry. Instead Of this, we
behold for the first time IN an Ameri-
can court Of justice, an advocate read
ing a written address which he had
coolly elaborated and committed to
paper in his Office many hours, per-
haps many days before. Should this
example be followed, it IS undoubtedly
true, as the Times declares, that We
shall soon cease to have any great jury
lawyers ar anything deserving the name
Of forensic elOquence.
There is no country IN the world IN
which there is so much speech-making
as here, and none IN which speeches
for all occasions are produced with so
great facility. 1t has long since ceased
to be any distinction for an American
to make a passable speech 1t is what
almost every American can do. 1t is
possible that this very facility has
tended to lower the standard, and as
the practice Of public speaking has be-
come more common, to reduce that |
speaking to a lower grade. 1t Is GER
tainly no longer possible to point, !
anywhere in this country, to such |
orators as In former generations |
both the forum and the |
Senate. What everybody seems to do I
so easily, nobody cares any longer 10 /
DeSIOW laDOE upon OI excel III II inc |
crowd of speech-makers the art Of /
speaking has declined. Besides this, a
great debate is no longer for the par
ticular assembly that engages IN it, |
but for the whole public. Reporting |
has helped to spoil OratOry. Speakers |
everywhere now address themselves, !
not to those who are present and hear, |
but to those who are absent and read. |
This is becoming true even Of argu-
ments in courts Of law, for causes, !
though they may be decided by judges |
and juries in the courts, are also read /
and thejudgmentsOn them are reviewed, /
in the homes Of the people. It wasun-
1OUbtedly a consciousness Of this that /
led Mr.. Tracy to write out IN full his
three days opening address, and to
read it to the jury. He expected thus
10 appear 10 better advantage before
the vast multitude who are sure tOread !
what he has to say. The practice Of
he great masters of forensic OratOry
vas 70 aim at the jury, and at the jury
llOne. If the jury were persuaded to
yive a favorable verdict, they did not
are for anything further. Were they
light, or were they wrong? !