The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1877-09-07

Although It Is generally conceded that
the art Of ssstump oratory" Is carried to
its highest degree Of excellence In this
country, Il Is, nevertheless, safe 70 ven
ture the statement that the ability need
cd 10 deliver an extemporary address
which shall be considered masterpiece
both from rhetorical and logical stand
point is possessed by very few men here
or elsewhere. The ready speaker, who
can At a moments notice stand up and
pour himself out in words, Is almost in
variably man of superficial attain
ments. The great requisite for one Of
this class is volubility Of speech. In
CHANGING over the sarface Of the matter
under discussion he finds but few mem
tai obstacles in his way, while rs rule
he is not too closely bound down by
correct considerations. On the other
hand, man possessing equal powers
Of expression, combined with a greater
range Of intellectual vision, is placed in
a comparison Of this kind at great dis
advantage. A multitude Of ideas sug-
gest themselves to him which the other
would overlook, which may both sup
port and modify the argument he wishes
10 advance. lie is, therefore, obliged
to arrange and classify his remarks, and
in so doing he sacrifices directness for
the visionary hope Of obtaining, through
the use of parentheses, an additional
clcarness in statement.
Ii was no doubt personal experience
Of these difficulties that occasioned the
paradoxical advice given by one of the
greatest orators that America has ever
known, that "the way to make agood
extemporary speech is to prepare Il in
advance. = Certainly those addresses that
are any thing more than ephemeral
have received vast deal Of preparation
. before, and often, indeed, no little
emendation after, delivery. The fine
; cutting satire; the sudden burst Of elo-
quence; the happy illustration that
seemed so thoroughly spontaneous, have
usually been the result Of days OF care
full study and hours Of patient rehearsal.
Even little dramatic effects are not over
looked by an orator who Is DESTROYS Of
making the most Of his subject. As an
instance Of this, il is related Of the late
: Edward Everett that upon one occasion,
when he was 10 answer TO an after-din-
ner toast mt public entertainment, he
went into the room a short time before
: the dinner was served and
had one of the attendants place
J small American flag amid
the decorations on the wall behind his
seat. Later on, in the midst OF his
: speech, his eve, as ifby accident, caught
e sight Of this flag, and, tearing il from
its fastening, he entered on a fervid
apostrophe to those who first gave the
country its flag and name. Now, in this
!, every word and gesture had been previ-
!. ously arranged, and it may be added
/. that an extemporary attempt To equal
Il it in point of effectiveness would have
resulted in lamentablc failure.
i II Is impossible for any one to have
his ideas so well in hand that on the
!. spur Of the moment he can talk or write
= as well as he could II he had given the
! subject thoughtful consideration. Ever
!. when this has been done, and the speak
!. err in his notes has clearly mapped out
:. the line Of his discourse, II usually hap
pens that in force and beauty Of OK
y preston he falls far short Of what h,
7 had hoped 10 do. One of the most re-
markable illustrations Of this difference
between intention and execution Is founs
in the celebrated reply 81 Daniel Web
stcr to the speech Of Mr.. Hayne. The
y pcrorati0n. which begins with tn,
: words, " When my eyes shall be urnc'
=, for the last time 10 behold the sun il
= heaven, may not see him shining 81
!. the brokcn," etc, is too well known 4
Y need further quotation. Most Of Us hav'
: in school-hoy days acclaimed ii over an'
a over again, and no doubt innocentl,
y wondered how the grand and full
= rounded periods sounded when the,
y were first uttered. Unfortunately, n
: now turns out these were never spoken
y but, like Congressional speeches Of th
present day, we're what Mr.. Webster in
Il tended To say. The speech as deliveries
y was taken down in shorthand BIZ Mr.
= Joseph Gales, the editor Of the Naficnd
2 Inteiiigencer, and ii was from his note
'e that Mr.. Webster subsequently wrot
" out and gave to the world what ms sine
n been known a. the reply 70 Mr. Ilayne
D These notes have lately obtained a semi
er publicity, and il is curious 10 contras
n the clumsy and involved mode of OK
E. preston in which this concluding sec
ton was delivered with the smooth
flowing diction Of the popular version
As spoken. this was as follows:
When my eyes shall be turned for the la
time on the meridian sun, hope ! may g
e him shining bright upon my united, free
n and happy country. hope ! shall not lis
\, 10 see his beams failing upon the dispense
=. fragments 81 the structure of this once glorl
!. Gus Union. ! hope may not see the flag (
4 my country with its stars separated or Oh
n liberated: torn By commotions, smoking wit
ID the blood Of civil war. | hope may not -
,e the standard raised Of separate States right
" star against star, and stripe against stripe
4 but that the flag OF the Union may keep u
p stars and stripes corded and bound togeth,
=, In indissoluble ties. hope shall not -
i. written a. is motto. first Liberty and the
M Union. hope shall see no such deln~is