Green-Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, 1884-02-06
The Great Orator.

The Great Orator.
Wendell Phillips was of Boston birth
educated at the Latin school and ut Har-
vrd college when he graduated in 1881
Re was Il son of Boston's first mayor and
VS. born November 20, 1911, and dice
last Saturday afternoon. He was admitted
10 he Suffolk bar but quit the legal PRO
lession because, it is alleged, that he had
sciuples about being SO far party &c
what he deemed covenant with he'll"
,hu is the United States constitution. al
r,mptning an attorney in court would
MAX, him. Besides this when he Joined
he anti slavery folks it was death to pro-
irssional practice in Boston.
Phillips was the greatest orator of his
country except Webster; and with thai
exception of the English speaking race Of
his day. And it is hardly right to put the
God!ike Daniel in the scale to weigh down
any body. For Webster was a king ofmen
is great mind shone through grea
presence, both such as none other wal
endowed with. So that when he walked
London streets men turned and looked
and wondered what king had passed
Phillips like other men than Webster
lacked the front of Jove. But what a
man without it could do before an audi
ence, he could do.
Phillips was plunged into the anti-slav,
cry cause by seeing the work Of the mob in
1885 when Garrison was dragged in Bos
ton streets with rope around his neck,
Before that he had thought somewhat
heretical thoughts about slavery it is true
but his patrician blood was fired at the
sight of The brutality that was counte.
nanced if pot done by respectable" Bos-
tonians.
A few years ago we heard Mr. Phillips
in lecture here tell about the Garrison
mob and in the course of his talk the
uncompromising and outspoken nature Of
the man came out. After setting forth the
deformity in Boston be paused an instanl
before passing to another matter and with
just enough of gesture to indicate hi,
audience said, you mobbed man here
that same day" And we doubt not that
Phillips in his own mind as by his words
held his Montpelier audience too blame fol
the mobbing of May thirty-fve years OF
more before and despised them as well a.
their ancestors for it.
For he carried with him in his pleasan
progresses through the country after tn.
war the remembrance Of the days when
Kisses and rotten eggs were not unknown
to him as we'll as to his humber brethren
And he never forgave the men who abused
him or his CO. workers. Or perhaps il
would be better to say that he always
despised them-that he ever cared enough
about them to forgive or not forgive is
very doubtful.
He went his full oratorcal pace the first
time he ever really spoke for the anti
slavery cause. 1t was of all places in
Faneuil Hall and the speech that made
him famous was unprecedented. HI
went to hear and not to speak. Elijah P
Loveoy had been murdered at Alton, III.
and a meeting was called to express
opinion thereon. 1t was attended no
only by abolitionists but by that "Boston"
that wanted no blatant abolitonism in it
This was in 1887 and James +. Austr
was then encouragement of Massachu
sets. He was at the meeting and was
spokesman for those who meant to captur,
it. He made violent speech in whicl
he said that Lovejoy died as The foo
deth. When Austin was through Phillips
n young and unknown man, despising the
rot that Austin had been talking, and
being filled with wrath poured out the
walls of it on the unfortunate attorney
general and all who thought with him.
on their principles and their words, and
carried the audience so that Lovejoy's
murder was rebuked from Faneuil Hall.
Phillips oratory cannot be described
any more tnan Initiated. III was 10 De seen
and heard and then was its perfection
known. His judgement was often wander
ing strangely about, but he always talked
like an angel though generally an aveng.
ing one. His life was spent as the cham
pion of the poor and oppressed and he was
always angry for them. So he had the
weakness as we'll as the strength of the
angry man and his mistakes were those
of anger.
His cause was great and he was fully
equipped to present it face to face with all
mankind. 1t was largely because it had
n great orator whose words cut and
burned for it that it had so soon its war
and its victory. Which victory indeed its
advocate did not regard as victory but
as wayside success on the road to the
perfect equality OF all human beings.