The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1877-1885, 1883-10-10
pa .A-n word-Lish,ning


=
Virginia, was the stenogr apher wh,
wrote down The de bates IA the klrs ms
convention. called 10 lie cIde GA the re.
lection or aaiopf.on ~ the Fe,lcra; oa4-
~tltutlon. He was a Scotch law yer am
I a frequent visitor at my then hotu,
about mile from Dluwiidi. L H.
have several times. when a boy. hear,
him tell my father that nothing but ai
autonnaton could have taken down
/ ilenrt's sperct.es. A. thrS acre dcliN.
rred-that flesh and blood could not
Tie SAID that any one turning oyer III
manuscI pts could. without reading !.
word. tell where Henry lad been til,
most eloquent that IH,r ia. bag, .
we're scratched. intcrlIu,u -. (, rittet.
tcross 50 that no one bl. .uscl.
could make any sense out OF them
t.lat when Henry rose 10 one ul thos,
thrilling bursts ol eloquence. in which hIs
speeches abounded, Lhe steno.raph,4
forget hiS task-to HIM the world helu
nothlnu but Henry aud lus words -a.l
else was tor the time forgotten -wheL
Henry became less impas loncd Roo
crtsou recuvore3 his senses-he coui.
not tnen write down Henry's words .
or he had To write what followed Oi th,
speech. When the convention adjourn
ed and he retired 10 his private room ns
mad To MI up the tdcHnd. the blank gap.
This he would do according To hIs besI
recollection. But on reading over this
part written from memory. il was In
vdrlably unsatisfactory. These were
not Henry's words. He would scratcl
out. laterline. and cross-write until Ii,
page became little better than i blotch.
| overheard one OF my uncles relate au
;Liiecdote Conilrmatory OF what Robert
-Dn SAID. That along with hundreds OF
others. he went TO Richmond 10 listen
10 the debates-thal he heard Madison
Richard Henry Lee. Mr.. Jones, and
perhaps other line speakers that very
plainly dressed countrytied-lookiu
Nay began to speak. Ny uncle sald he
vas ashamed for the Old man who was
thus exposing himself. and drew hin-
sell down behind those III front Of him
but tlat. as Henry warmed with his
subject. he began to do better and look
better, so that he (the listener) gradual
ly raised his head higher, aud thought
there was more in the old man than he
had looked for--then he thought TO him
sell "old man you are a perfect tiger
att This was his last conscious
thought. He was taken captive, and
kept 50. until the close OF Henry :
pecch. which lasted about an hour.
think ii may be fairly said that that is
most eloquent which is most persuasive
or convincing. Measured by this stan
dard. think Patrick Henry was the
greatest orator that ever lived. He was
frequently sent Tor to dstan parts OF
Virginia to defend criminals whose cases
seemed desperate. and people hearin.
OF ii would say his was = bootless er-
rand, unless he brought jury with him
But without this privilege he almost al
ways saved his client, although some OF
the very men who had made this pre-
dlctlun were on the trial jury. The
most eloquent man | ever listened to
was Frank Jackson, of Mecklenburg. in
Virginia. who WAS SO nearly totally IL
terate tiat do not think he ever read
more than one book. which was Web
,ter's spelling Look. when at an old
! field school. / have often seen him al
public places. and invariably those who
were near enough To hear him. suspend
ed their own talk To listen to him, even
when this talk WAS OF deep concern 10
| themselves. | have seen men in weak
health remove out of hearing of him. to
avoid the exhaustion OF violent con
tinued laughter. have more than once
seen him as "a witness i'll court. He
would speak but few sentences. when
the who lie audience would be in a roar
Of laughter. OF course this would in.
terrupt his story. and he would look
around at the laughers, and his looks
said plainly, "what in the world are you
all laughing at:' A dry chuckle would
| follow from him. and he would continue
his testimony. Soon the uproar would
begin again. and so or to the end OF
! his story. Shakespeare success as a
dramatist believe is universally main.
| ~ attributed to the fact that he could
and did merge his own identity in the
character speaking. 1t was not he who
spoke but Lear, Hamlet, Othello, Falls
taft, Romeo, or Hotspur. Herein lay
the secret of Henry's unparalleled sue
cess. Blair says that any man will be
eloquent III writing or III speaking, who
does 1t with simplicity and i'll earnest.
Heretrom think our young men (aye.
and women. too,) may draw useful
lesson; and | think the thought may
be pondered to profit. even by our own
noble Vance. Did you ever, Mr.. Edi-
tor. see two highly excited men. even
though utter scamps, engage i'll . violent
quarrel, who failed to draw a crowd
around them: They never pick and
choose words. The great satiris,
Juvenal said of himself, ind,gnatir
facit rersus.' Anger makes my verses
Whenever an audience finds speaker
hesitating about choice OF words, then
attention goes to this. and. to some ex.
tent at least, is distracted from his
theme. W. O. GREGORY.