The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1883-02-21
ANORATOR0 ON ORATORY
HON. DANIEL oueAER1Y's LECTURE
At the OV.r, Hou,e Las. S'sht-rhe 0, OuIhts',
the Field aud The Power Of 0rAtou-Ihs Age
OF It's Supremacy Past and the Reign
OF the Press Insugarattd.

The lecture at the Opera House last nigh;
by Hon. Daniel Dougherty, OF Philadelphia,
on "oratory," attracted an audience which
allied every available space down stairs aud
overlooked To some extent into the gallery.
The fame Of the speaker was well attested by
the character Of his large audience, which
was not exclusively composed Of habitusl
lectnre.gOers by any meaEs.
Mr.. George Mathison, President Of the
Knights OF St. George, the society for the
benefit Of which the lecture was given, pre-.
senled Mr.. Dougherty, who was received With
applause. He Is q plea'ant looking gentle
man OF full habit and commanding appear.
ance, his dark hair, sprinkled with gray, re-
cediug from his forehead, and bis smooth face
friuged with gray side whiSkPrs, His mal,
per Is easy, and he suits .'the action 10 the
word, the word TO the %actiou.h His reception
by the mixed audience was very tAttering.
He spoke Of the rsquisit. 5 to oratory as re.
Purdt d by various famous orators, fronI Cicero
70 the present day, and declared that true
! orators are much rarer than commonly estt.
mated. He reviewed the history OF oIatoTy
briefly, alluding to famous occasions OF
which 1t had moulded the popular will aud
changed the whole course Of history. He
was Of opinion / At Il was iIlNOssiels TO dis,
play oratory 10 delivering q wElttsn speech.
The popular idea that The finest speeches
preserved were elaborated and considered at
leisure, may be In a measure correct, but the
greatest sp~eeches-tho<e which effected the
greatest ends, had the most power, were in'
spired by the occasion, aud possibly never
recorded or preserved. Both the younger
and the elder Pitt declared that they would
rstheF hays one Of BQtipgbroke's speeches
preserved than all the stored wealth Of
buried ages, yet o Of his speecheR, whose
fame In tradition and vhoas wfilings stamped
him as the greatest English orator, could
now be read.
Some amusing stories OF embarrassment
arising from III iorGetlulness OIL the part OF
orators who had prepared speeches. were
told, and provoked hearty laughter .Qne Of
tlieSe at tile lecturers OWL Expense, told With
dramatic portrayal OF its incidents, was par.
ticularly we'll received.
Some amusing limitations OF the tame style
OF oratory now Affected In the British Com
mons and House OF Peers were given, and a
contrast invited between this and the elo'
duence OF Chatham aud his contemporaries,
The present style, the speaker held, was
adopted by such men as Disraeli, Bright,
and othpEs yhoSs oratorical powers h other
spheres are we'll known, 10 place them on a
plane with the merchant or business mar
who can only state his views In q plain, bust.
ness.like way. II Is only In the speeches o.
such men as Bright 10 the vast assembl es oil
their constituents thst their real charapteriS
tics as orators are displayed. Great as Dan
lei h'Connell was 10 Parliament,it was when
he stood upon the platform and held a con
-. apn hunleaI Thousand npnull
bound By the spell Of his voice that his great
ness as sn orator was manifest,
The most favorable field nov left for the
orator was the pulpit, the lecturer continued
and on this head he spoke at some length.
Toward the close ofthe lecture Mr.. Dough
erty recited Marc AptoDy's Grafton over the
body OF Caesar, with analytic remarks, aud
in concluding declared that the days when
the orator could sway and rule the popular
masses was gone. The orators star began &c
wane when the printing press arose and 10
day the nress occupies q grander position
than eyef the orator did. The orator at bes,
could speak but TO thousands; the press ad'
dresses hundreds Of thousands. The orators
speech dies with the sound thal
gave 1t birth; words issued from the pres,
live forever on the impetishable page. And
now the orator speaks not so mpch TO the
audience before him ~ to the greater audi
ence which will .peruse his words as they
come next morning from the press.
Upon the platform with Mr., Dougherty
were ahont a score Of prominent gentlemen,
among them Governor Jackson, State Treas
urer d'Brien, President Farnsworth, OF the
Senate, Mayor Miller, Secretary OF state Stall
maker, NJ. Reilly, Esq Ri. Rev. Bishop Kahn,
Judge 0key johnson. Judge Samuel Woods,
Mr.. W. c. Haudlan, J. NJ Ewing, Esq 7. N.
Riley, Esq,. Mr.. w: 7. Wiley, and Mr..
George Mathison, and the members OF the
committee.
At the conclusion OF the lecture, many
citizens embraced the opportunity 10 meet
Mr. Dougherty, and 1t was evident that he
had made an unusually good impression on
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