The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-02-11

Wendell Phillips put himself deliberately on
that side of the barricade that he was not born
on; took his place for life with the
poor the ignorant, the black, Il
race despised and rejected of men.
Now, if some men do this thing people will say
they want something-they are using this phi
lanthropy as means to a private end. When
the ladder has served its purpose it will be
kicked down. Wendell Phillips has not even
been suspected of this inner motive, and
that has been power for him.
cause his heart was pure" He did not need to
hesitate and think, ''Now, how will this help
or hinder me in my chance for placer
The weakness of the ordinary patriot is that
he cannot put his whole strength into it. He has
to reserve much Of his force He must attend
to saving his country and also to saving him
self.
But when q man takes himself out of the way
then there is freedom in his action and an UNI
divided force. He does not need to double and
twist and change his speeches with his latitude
to make one sort of speech at LaPorte and
another sort of a speech at Evansville. 1t is
great help to an orator to have
nothing to do but to tell the truth
1t is, indeed hard task to remember how the
thing is, and also how he has lied about it. Con
trast the speeches of Daniel Webster, before he
wished to be President and after, when he was
thinking, "Now, what is true, and then when he
was thinking what is eXpedient, what is polite
for me- In the list of things which st. Paul
tells us to think upon there is no mention of the
things that are politic-of the things that are
expedient
And st. Paul was an orator himself. He said:
II seek not yours, but you"
When the secretary of a literary society in
any of our towns had written to Wendell
Phillips, inviting him to lecture and asking him
to state his terms, he answered-not once but
many times-'T willeeture on Anti Slavery for
nothing, on Lost Arts for one hundred dollars"
1t has been we'll borne in on us that here was
American who loved a cause more than rank, or
office, or money. In this was power that the
stump speaker, running for Congress, and orator
lacks Edward Everett was an orator, but he
lacked this power. There was cause that he
advocated for nothing HE lectured on Wash
ington in thirty States, and never mentioned in
one Of them what Washington said of slavery"
have heard Edward Everett. With boys
love for great men l spent all my money and the
best part of two days to stand on the end of
plank and hear him at the opening of the Astro-
nomeal Observatory at ALBANY. 1t was as beau
tiful as anything made out of marble, and as
cold. 1t was work of art He had left Boston
the night before, and he described i'll that ora
ton the coming on of day-the first faint flush
of the morning as he saw it through the car
window. 1t sounded extempore, but it was writ
ten in Boston. There his pile of manu-
script before him, the leaves of which he turned
but never looked at. And beside that there was
then being set up in the Office of the Journal
from copy of the manuscript the seeming I'M
premeditated eloquence concerning the coming
of the god of day 1 thought then how a
stormy, cloudy, dark night would have hurt the
Grafton.
weather He was afterward partner and speaker
in union meeting called to denounce John
Brown as felon and to extol slavery as a divine
institution Edward Everett was an aceomplice
in this work, while Wendell Phillips was bearing
the dead body of John Brown, cut down from
the gallows, to his old home at North Elba. He
offciated at his funeral He said in
the shadows of the Adirondack mountains,
a few words of consolation to five widows made
widows at Harper's Ferry and then he said:
John Brown has abolished slavery in Virginia.
You may say this is too much. Our neighbors
are the last men we know. The hours that pass
us are the ones that we appreciate least. Men
walked the streets of Boston when the night fell
on Bunkers Hill, and pited Warren saying,
Foolish man, to throw away his life Now we
see hin standing colossal on that blood stained
sod, and severing that tie which bound Boston
to Great Britain. History will date Virginia
emancipation from Harpers Ferry. True, the
slave is still there; 50, when tempest uproots a
pine on your hills, it looks green for months,
year or two. Stll it is timber and not a tree.
John Brown has loosened the roots of the slave
system. 1t only breathes; it does not live long"
He said in Boston: John Brown has gone to
God with the shackles of all Virginia's slaves in
his right handS He was a prophet, but like
Isaiah and ali prophets he understated the out
come. John Brown went to God with the
shackeles of all slaves in his right hand.
Hindrances help. Wendell Phillips never did
himself justice as an orator unless he Kissed.
When all things were favorable and he was get
ting tame, some friends of his lurking in the
jungles of the back seats would start hiss, aud
then there was music.
At meeting in fremont Temple, in 1861, he
faced roaring mob who had come there to pre-
vent his speaking Finding his voice drowned,
he addressed himself to the reporters in front of
him until the crowd yelled 'lOuder." Turning,
he said, ''Howl on! 1 am not talking
to you; ] talking pointing to
1ha IN .
At that meeting before he rose to speak some
body handed him note. He opened it and
read 'Wendell, in the face of this mob don't
shilly- shally" 1t was from his wife frail
little woman with great strong heart
When we know what kind Of wife he had it
is no wonder he was in favor of woman suffrage.
He heard her voice above the roar of the mob.
From that meeting Wendell Phillips went
home followed by hostile throng. He stood
on the steps of his own house and said: "Gen-
tlemen of the mob of Boston, bid you good
night. You have annoyed me very much by
your censure, but the time will come when you
will annoy me more by your praise" and he
went In to say to his wife that he had not shilly
shallied.
Years ago he was speaking in Philadelphia
Generl Grant was his theme The applause was
weak, and the people seemed stupidity hostile
At the conclusion of his speech, as he turned to
leave there was vigorous hiss He came back
to the edge of the platform and said: Il am
glad to see that III this stagnant old city you
have the life left even to hiss"
Demosthenes had, believe, some natural i'm
pedimentin speech and to cure it he increased it
spoke with pebbles in his mouth spoke amid
the noise of the sounding surf and of an angry
sea. When he had overcome the hardest thing,
all the less difficult things became easy to him.
1t is easy to speak to favoring audience
to tell them what they wish to hear.
But no great orator is made by that kind of
speaking He is made by battle The Swiss
mountain guides walk far and easily a valley
road. Wendell Phillips had plenty of opposition
His foe wounded to death did not know he was
hit till he tried to walk The mans head was
amputated but so neatly that he did not know it
until he leaned forward to reach his hat.
One of his later speeches was before one of the
societies of Harvard, in the presence of the most
conservative class, ministers, lawyers, mer
chants those inclined to stand for what is old