Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1884-09-26
Edward Everett's Ora tory.

Edward Everett Was perhaps tn" most fip-
ished platform speaker ever heard III thu United
States. He bestowed the greatest ajas uron
his speeches, and tried to make them s0 ON
picte that not word or d gt*trc" should ,>a
suggested ~ the inspiration Of d liver His
ogatlOns were planned with so n1urn iorethuught
that no afterthOught was allowed 70 cnapgn
even the carve of an atttutle CT he Iu,irtlns-
OF an eyebrow. No actor eyer h n more con
tidence in his art than had tlll5 cuusrinrnase
rllctOrcian in his OraIurlcal tics
1t was well known that he h.,.I ain tricks
Of delivery. But carefully wHr' they re-
hearsed that only the initiated hea rtr could de-
tect them in the public performance. '"The
art conceals tbs art!'' was said again ami again
by the cultured persons who listened to ann
In his Grafton on Washington there i pas
sage of thrilling power in which he appgtroph-
lies the patriots OF the Revolution. Once when
no was to deliver tie Grafton there was N OLD
soldier Of the Revolution among tho-9 who
had been invited to meet the orator in tho 81
try and accompany him to the ptatforrn.
When the old soldier was introduced ID Mr.
Everett, that gentleman took him aside ana re
qnested him to rise and stand before the All IL
ence when he should hear certain words that
he would address to him personaIv The
audience IL rapt attention When be reached
the point i'll which the old soldier wa, to AXE
part, he turned toward hiIc with The e1c.ama-
ton, "Rise, venerable man"
The old man rose from lis char
''S,t down, sir! sit down! 1t is Us who
should stand in your presence"
Rounds Of applause greeted the acJ, AMI
even those who knew the orator. tactics
thought that, for once, he lad been betrayed
into an Improvisation.
What :. strange man that Mr.. Everett is
said the OLD man to his ne!ghbor. "a be took
his seat He asked me to rise, and nov he
tells me to sit down don't understand it"
One of his favor1te devices was to provide him.
self with the physical object to which he in
tended TO refer, and at the proper moment ex-
hibit it to the audience.
In his grafton on Webster, he spoke Of HIM
as 'soIne mighty admiral, dark and terrible;
his broad pennant streaming as the main, the
stars and stripes at the fore, the miZZen and
the peak.
As he spoke these words ne caught up
from the table the flag Of the Union and waved
it to and fro. Shouts OF applause greeted tho
apparently unconscious but studied gesture
In the days when the public were excited
ne described in an eloquent speech the electric
wire which was destined to lie on the oceans
bed and connect two continents IN rha mist
OF the description, be took quickly from hi3
pocket q piece OF the Atlantic cable, and held
it up before tbs wondering eyes ofthe audience
He spoke OF it SIS murmuring through
leagues Of ocean the thought Of America, and
as being greater wonder than tho printed
page which lnur1nnred TO rs through the cen
turies the thought of Homer. As ne uttered
this, he held up a small copy Of the ''flhad''
and the odyssey"
1t was pleasure 20 listen TO this briliians
master of the rhetoricap' Z art But pleased -
was the taste, the heart remained uDnOved
Every one admired the orator; few went away
mastered by his ideas, The secret Of thus des-
tuition of power was that the rhetoric. and not
the idea, had mastered he orator