Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1879-10-04
Great Speeches,

\ New York paper, reviewing Edwin
G.. Whipple's "Great Speeches and Ora
tons of Daniel Webster" assumes as
something to be taken for granted that
the subjects which called forth many OF
his great speeches being OF local and
ephemeal nature, no longer possess any
public interest, and that the same want
of interest attaches TO the speeches
themselves. Had the reviewer COnsid-
cred for moment that there is no more
deeply-seated conviction in the popular
mind than that Daniel Webster was
great orator, he might have been less
hasty, in COnSignng both speeches and
subjects to a common oblivion. Cicero
well observes that the ignorant are as
good judges OF oratOry as the learned,
and that the judgment of the two never
differs when the orator Is really great.
4 great orator, said he, should be able
to effect three things-to inform his
hearers, TO please them, and TO arouse
their passions. DemOsthenes, when
asked what were the requisites of a
great orator, replied: First, action; sec
Ond, action; third, action. Both the
Greek and the Roman understood the
secret OF their own greatness.
OratOry is essentially the speech OF
action, and great Grafton must be de-
livered on a living subject. An orator
may be eloquent and pathetit on dead
theme, but ne can not be grand. Speaker
and audience must alike feel that they
are part of the Grafton itself, when
oratory assumes its highest flights. The
orator must utter living truths in Ian
guage pleasing to his hearers, and WELD
the eloquence of a great mind with a
grace and power which forces his hear
ers-learned and unlearned alike-into
close communion with that divinity
which is in himself The theme may
not be great. 1t may be commonplace
even trivial. The great orator is often
greater than his theme; hence it results
that the fame of great orators alone
often preserves from forgetiulnCSs the
subjects which called forth their powers.
The intrigues of Philip among the little
States OF Greece would have small in
tcrest now were it not for the lmmor-
ality with which the tremendous phil
ippics Of. DemOstheneS have clothed
them. What American reader would
be familiar with the impeachment of
Warren Hastings, if his interest werenOt
aroused by the magnificent araignment
OF Burk? The New York reviewer has
fallen into the error OF assuming that an
orator can.-only become great by the
grace OF intelligent criticism; whereas
experience abundantly confirms the
observation of Cicero that greatness
rests equally on the judgment OF those
who are incapable oicriticisng it.
Men have an instructive appreciation
OF whatever elevates their spiritual ma
ture toa closer accord with their Crea-
tor. The divine spark within them
readily CLOVIS aireSh when famed by
the slightest breath of Divinity itself.
The immortal part of IA eagerly and in
tuitively grasps whatever ministers to
its longings. Hence the great prOduc-
tons Of the human mind are great in
themselves, land possess a fascination in
nowise dependent on the place OF their
origin or the circumstances which gave
them birth. Homer has almost no per-
sonality. The place OF his birth, the
place Of his death, and the time when
he lived, are unknown, and there are
no authors footprints in the Had. Yet
the poem remains, the delight OF the
Woodworking modern as it was OF the
rude and pugnacious man to whom ITS
mythical author sang it, Other great
poems have the same inherent MINOR
alitv. Few among the thousands who
delight to read them can tell why.
They only know that these great poems
set certain chords in their natures 10
vibrating as no other poems can.
\ great speech, like q great poem, has
within itself the elements of immortal
jty. 1t is pregnant with an inspiration
which the reader wildly realizes.
great orator will no more down at the
bidding OF cOnnoiseurs than will the
creative mind OF the universe eNtingulsh
itself because OF inappreciative matter.
Daniel Webster stands out prominently
among the great men OF his country as
the great orator. The country has pro-
duced other orators who, during their
dav, were as high inpublic notice as he.
They did the State some service, but
their lives filled the measure OF their
fame. Their renown died with them.
But a belief Crept into the popular
mind, and grew and became strong, UNI
Ill its legitimacy is no longer question
ed, that he was the great orator. The
unlearned and the learned have passed
the same judgment, and all have the
same appreciation OF his great speeches.
As the years gradually accumulate be-
tween his own time and the present,
public interest in his great orations
steadily increases. Those productions
Of giant mind are OF that immortal
kind which are always obtrusive. They
force themselves into notice by their
own intrinsic worth. II it were other
wise, the term great speeches" would
be a miSnomer. A speech which does
not survive the importance OF its sub
ject can not he great. To be great it
must be read for itself alone. That
Webster's great speeches are of this
kind, that judgment OF the unlearned
I L.. L