The Morning herald., 1876-10-04
LITERARY MEN In POLITICS.

sent itself in the same favorable light t.
them, as it does to the mind of the creates
of American humorists. He dictates tt
the literary character new avocation
which is as foreign to his tastes as the pull
pit would be to political orator. Litera
ry men are theoretical workers, their pro-
ductions are the result of deep and mature
| thought; it is a work more searching ano
critical than that which compasses the mind
Of the every day speaker. His ideas are
trained in their flood and ebb, and are at nc
time so much at his command that he
could in the presence Of large audience
get up and deliver them in forcih(e, vigo'
rous speech.
There are Of course exceptions to this
as it ia sometimes,t that in an excellent wri-
ter are combined the faculties Of both
writing and speaking, and the same with
a good speaker. But as general thing
the faculties are isolated. Calhoun
was forcible in argument. He was called
the master of logic in the Senate, but his
writings seemed dry and lacking in that fire
and force which they had when enuncia-
ted in his oratory. The same may be said
of Webster and countless others who were
vigorous and able speakers. The two
faculties are in most instances separate;
distinct. They are both gifts, and the
combination of the two is gift extraor-
dinary. The proposition Of Mark Twain,
might be an excellent one, if he were al
lowed to make his selection of those who
are to leave the study and take to this
hustings but in its general application 10
literary men, it loses that brilliancy in
novelty that many of the Republican
papers are disposed to regard it with,
through the iavors that it associates with
he Republinan cause. If it were put in
to practical operation we are Of the op.n-
ion that the mistake would be discovered
before twenty speeches had been delivered
The gift Of expressing thought through
the pen is talent natural to the deep
thinkers, and the thought expressed
vigorously and at the same time
tersely through oratory is the
gift OF those who think more rapidly, ac-
companied at the same time by a tutorship
under strict discipline the harsh school,
OF study which deals with men and things
of the present; moulds and shapes speech
to the tactics of sharp and acrimonious
conflict, but at the same time in polite vein
with the vital issues of the present. There
must he knowlec &c Of and experience
with these in order to take them readily
into the grasp of the mind, and discuss
them with freedom to an audience. Liter
arv men lack in freedom Of speech as is
generally instanced by their preference to
speak from careful preparation in manu-.
script. And apart from all this, the most
successful oratory is that which springs in
tuitively into the mouth Of the speaker
the equalization Of thought with the fuency
Of speech. The incompaiibility of tie two
marks gbe failure of a speaker. These
were combinations Of talent in the greatest
triumvirate the Senate of the United States
ever possessed: Webster Clay and Cal
houn.
1t is a combination that literary men
cannot possess, for they are trained in
schools aissimilar in their requirements is.
We do not have to search far to find this
out. We have too many practical Illus,
trations of it, one Of which is the repug-
nance that literary men have to public
speaking in emergent cases, it is avoided
by them, and the brightest literary gems
that adorn the culture Of our age, have
often been speechless in the embarrassment
Of being called upon for speech.
We think, therefore, that the proposition
made by the great humorist is a failure in
its general application, and it is general as
understood by his call. There is no doubt
that such an innovation would create
revolution in political oratory. Its ten
denotes would be purity. 1t would create
IA new school. It would condemn that
which is taught by such men as Morton
and Ingersoll, VINO not only take their
language from the strongest known to the
vocabulary, with no effort to instruct, but
appeal to the most dangerous passions Of an
audience. BY this means the lessons of
instruction to be given by public speaking
no riciou. and iritate and vitiata puhlic