The Greenville times. [volume] (Greenville, Miss.) 1868-1917, 1884-11-08
Where Are the OratOrsi


possesses all the qualifications Of
oratory-voice, eloeutiOu, ideas,
vOeabulary-and all the charms of
these which combined make what
men call 'style' in OratOry, and
excepting Fellows and Cochran,
who proved delightful debaters,
there were no orators in the con-
yentiOn. There were, of course,
some good speakers, like Wallace,
Kelly, Mckenzie, Grady, Waller,
Abbott, Cummings. Clack, but or.
atory is more than voice, more
than the ability TO make a clear
statement of fact in dlctation ap.
appropriate and correct.
What are our colleges doing in
these later yearsi Are we to
have muscular development every.
where except in the throati Are
We to have gene ration of men
who can write and not a dozen
who can speaki Is the handling
of an oar skillfully come to be
more important than the handling
of ideas vocallyi Is the art of
sparring with the gloves more de.
sirable in our day than the art
ofthinking on the feeti Must our
young men practice dancing, ten.
mis-. polo, base ball, cricket, and
shall nobody practice oratoryi
Or does culture delude itself with
the belief that oratory is simply
ideation, requiring no special mus.
cular coursei If Demosthenes
had thought so, Greece might
have perished sooner. If Cicero
had thought so, Catiline might
have ruined Rome. If Pitt had
thought so, many noble measures
would have been long delayed. If
Mirabeau has thought so, the gal.
axy of France would miss one
shining name. If Grattan had
thought SO, the Parliament Of Ire
land would not have shown that,
when permitted to do so, Ireland
can govern herself better than
her enemy has governed her. If
Patrick Henry had thought so, the
American revolution might have
been postponed. If Charles Sum.
ner had thought so, American his.
tory would read less sublimely.
Oratory is truly an art as poet.
ry, or sculpture or painting. 1t
has its science; aud like poetry,
like sculpture and like painting,
its laws must be obeyed. 1t is a
double art; an art of the mind, an
art of the muscles. 1t requires
strong and plant, soft and supple
vocal chords, and their strength
and pliancy, their endurance and
their timbre are the product of
cultiyation-that is, Of practice ac-
cording to law. 1t is double art
in its code of gesture and attitude
facial expression, and all variety
of bodily action, influence by the
progress of the speakers ideas to
be expressed simultaneously by
words and bodily action; and this
again, can be correctly acquired
only by cultivation-by practicing
according to law. 1t is not enough
to have education. 1t is not
enough to have memory; indeed,
many of the finest orators have
feeble memory and must trust to
the Spontaneous inspiration of
time, place, occasion to move
them to effort. But, whether the
spoken Thoughts be uttered with.
out preparation or be written and
committed, their delivery in an ef-
fective and pleasing form is an art
wholly apart from imagination or
diction. 1t is a muscular art, the
aesthetic art of the muscles; and
1t can be acquired only by study
of principles and by actual prac.
tice. Mr.. Hubbard had more
voice than Colonel Villas, and on
the scales would be more distin-
guished, but 1t was only Colonel
Villas that even the least discrim.
mating as well as the most cult
ured pronounced the orator.-Ex.
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