The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-04-04
Dor the Farmer All Y
Eloquent Men.
By A LAWYER.

E!oauence is incense from the Gods.
II can neither be defined nor described.
account Mirabeau the most eloquent
man who has lived since the birth of
Christ. He died at the age of forty-twp
consumed by the 6res of genius and de
hatchery. Barnave characterized h N
a. the Shakespeare of eioquence = After
his famous interview with Maria Aatoi-
nette 10 which he undertook to save the
monarchy be FASTENED TO the S;a'es-
General. The streets of Paris resouni
ID To the cries Of the news boys as offer
ing the daily papers for sale they shout
ed-"The Great Treason of the Count
Mirabeau." As he passed down the as
~embly he was greeted with storms OF
his>es Ascending the tribune he began
his address with celebrated utterance,-
Silence We thirty voices. When he
finished he was borne 10 triumph upon
The shoulders Of his fellow members
along the streets OF Paris 10 his home.
America has produced but one orator.
The author otthe amous sentiment, give
me liberty or give me death. was hike
Mirabeau evoked from obscurity by the
upheaval Of a giai t-~revolutlon.
Tyranny i, the parent OF genius,
The late war between the States devel-
oped but one man Of genius on the South
ern side; and he was not an orator, but a
soldier. Stonewall Jackson. No great
orator appeared although the occasion
wa e%minently adapted TO a display Of
eloquence.
While 1t is not eloquence, Grays Elegy
is the most complete and soothing
expression of ambition and re greet ever
penned.
There is nothing in language that
equals the eloquence Of Niagara.
Nothing more heroic has been said
than the Great Napoleon's utterance,-
"Soldiers from yonder pyramids forty
centuries look down upon vou.'
Erskines Simile Of the Indian casting
his tomahawk into the ground cannot be
excelled.
Men like Mirabeau, Henry, and Frs
kline appear once In a century.
North Carolina has produced some
speakers whose fame IS likely to survive
for many years. My father has tod ms
that George +. Badger and James Aller
of BERTHE We're the strongest debaters he
ever heard IN THIS State. NV friend
James Bond of BERTHE, who was a mem.
Der of the Secession Convention told m,
he heard Judge Badger speak in thai
body at lengths on the proper hour t,
dine. So realistic was his style that Mr..
Bond added. Il could almost hear tho
dishes rattle and the glasses gingle while
N! mouth watered for the feast"
Any man in Eastern North Carolins
who is fifty years old will tell you there
never was such an orator as Kenneth
RaynOr.
| heard Henry w. Miller speak at OK,
ford in 1860. He advocated the election
OF Judge Douglas in speech which fol
matter, manner and voice, | have never
heard equalled in this State. Badger
and Clingman also spoke at the same
time.
Very few sentiments are eloquent il
aud of themselves. There is more in the
manner Of saying a thing than in tn,
matter. The voice, the gesture. tn,
look these are the levers that move the
souls OF men to action. All speakers are
plagi rists. The audience cares nothing
for the ourcc of a speakers sentences
what is wanted is a graceful delivery anc
a voice distinct and attractive.
El0quence, genuine e.oquence cannoi
be acquired. 1t must be in-born; anc
then it is only developed under certain
conditions and peculiar circumstances