Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1884-07-04

OLD Aihenian comedy operated In this way :
When . large body OF people has coss.
mon opinions or feelings. these feelings and
opinions are intensified In each individual
by the demonstration that 80 many others
share them. A public meeting tends In
ifsef TO quicken enthusiasm for party or
a cause. Arisiophanes gave the most bril-
liant expressions TO thoughts with which
thousands were In symrfny. Can u be
doubted that he exercised great influence
against everything that was regarded as q
dangerous innovationy lie .wculd be a
bold man who presumed 10 say how much
the old comedy had TO do with the plie-
nomena Of oligarchic reaction IN the latter
part OF The PelOponncsiaa war, but 1t had
some influence.
TIE ORATOR.
Just az The old comedy was losing It's
| freedom OF utterance q new agency began
| TO appear. which invites comparison with
| Journalism OF a calmer and more thought
| ful type. Rhetoric hid now become de-
veloped art. Skill analogous to that Of the
modern Journalist ws often required for
purposes OF speaking by the citizen OF
Greek republic. He might desire TO
urge his views In public assembly where
the standard OF speaking was high. and
the audience critical. He might be codn
PEELED to defend hrs fortunes, or even his
life. when the result world depend on ora
toricsl dexterity. A class OF men existed
who composed speeches TO deliver In Jaw
courts. TIE new art was naturally enlist
ed IN party politics We should note that
the spoken rhetoric or antiquity bore GER
tais analogy 20 The more elaborate efforts Of
Journalism. Demosthenes and Cicero are
examples Of this. Take the example Of
Lysias at the Olympian ies wal Here the
orator is essentially on organ Of patriotic
opinion, and his highly-wrought address Is
finished leading article. for which the
orator sought the largest publicity.
THE DRAMA.
In Roman literature we find the FIRST and
last attempt Of comedy to serve as an organ
OF public opinion. The Roman reverence
for authority was outraged by the idea OF 4
public man being presented in a comic
light on the boards OF a theatre. Hence
the personal criticism OF statesmen passed
at Rome into another kind OF compost
si,ion-satire. Among all the forms OF Ro-
man literature, satire stands out in two
fold distinction. First, il is genuinely
natural. Next, il Is the only one
which has continuous development.
extending from the vigorous aye OK
the comm nwealth INTO the second cen
tury OF the empire. Satire il pre-
eminentIy the Roman literary organ OF pub
lie opinion. It's tone is that OF an ordinary
Roman citizen speaking his mind frankly
TO his felIow-citizens. An easy. contiden-
tai manner in literature seems TO have
been congenial to Italian tastes. The man
who first established satire as an outspoken
review OF life was essentially q sashing
Journalist. This was Luciliui. He attacked
the high born. and did not spare the pie.
bean offenders. Even The Roman ladies OF
the time do not wholly escape.
There is yet another agency common to
Greece and Rome-the oraclcs, who often
played m important part in directing pub
lie opinion at critical points. There were oc-
casiOns when the oracle became the organ
OF a political party. Thus when the noble
Athelisn family Of the Alem1onid9 bribed
the Delphlan priests to make the oracle an
organ Of public opinion in favor OF freeing
Athens from Peisistrstus Apollo kept up
at this time a set OF leading articles. a. il
were.
A brief mention Is due to those Roman
publications which in form come nearest
our newspapers-the official gaZettes.
Julius Caesar first caused the transactions
of the Senate TO be regularly published.
Further he instituted regular official ga
gette O! general news, the ActG diurm4.
The attempt here has been to indicate
some Of the partial equivalents for such 81
uttersncc which may be traced in classical
antiquity. Such retrospect may serve TO
quicken our sense Of an nestimsble gain 10
civilized life, gain OF which the magni-
tude is easily forgotten, because the opera
ton OF the benefit has become so regular
and so familiar.