The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1885-02-06

the witty Senator Vance always insist
that Mr. Hoar got the idea from tn
famous scene in The "Rivals,' wherein
Bob Acres strives to perfect himself il
the art o, dancing by practicing befor
glass, yet Mr.. Hoar's method is pre-
cisely identical with that practiced b,
one of the greatest of American ora
tors, William Pickney.
In style and diction, the most notet
of recent Congresses greatly differ
Mr.. Edmunds' style is that of absolut,
simplicity. His sentences are short
his words express the exact shade o.
meaning he desires it to convey. HI
uses no metaphors, no illustrations
His speech is so clear and as cold al
ice. He never is animated, never bu
once betrayed emotion, but stands lik,
a man in a witness box, his hand.
clasped together, occasionally lifting
the forefnger of his right hand. Every
one listens, every one understands
many are convinced, but none are i'm
pressed, and he never made a hearer,
pulse beat stroke quicker than usual
nor had an auditor who held hi,
breath. Mr.. Thurman, somewhat like
Mr.. Edmunds in his utter simplicity
and freedom from ornament and his
clearness, unlike Edmunds. became
heated, and at times vehement, and
then would saw the air with vigorou.
right-hand blows. Mr.. Carpenter
trampled the traditions of the schools
under his feet when he spoke. His
style was at times exceedingly embel
ished, metaphors suggested themselves
to him as uniquely and appropriately
as they did to Carlyle, his diction was
pure and his sentences rhytbmical
so that at times he seemed almost tc
be repeating blank verse. His high.
pitched voice was singularly pleasing
and was modulated with great skill
With his long, white locks scattered
all over his head, and sometimes over
his eyes, frequently with one or both
hands thrust into his pockets, some
times Practically gesticulatlng, he fol
lowed none of the lessons of elocution.
Yet he was regarded as a singularly
graceful speaker, and every one of his
gestures meant something.
Mr.. Conkling seemed to delight to
play with his sentences. He spoke
slowly, with long pauses between his
sentences, with most remarkable in.
tonation which the curious enunciation
of Henry Irving most nearly suggests.
Mr.. Conkling delighted in involved
sentences, the more labyrinthine the
better. Starting with his subject, be
would frequently insert parenthetical
sentences, with which he would travel
over all the parts of speech, making
inv olutions within involutions, until
Just as he seemed to have become lost
in the labyrinth, he would emerge
plump in the predicate for the original
sentence. This very dangerous habi,
never tripped Mr.. Conkling; and
though with any other man it would
have been tedious, he was able to
make his hearers like it. Mr.. Conk-
ling seldom gesticula,ed and rarely be-
came heated, relying for his strongest
effects upon the suggestion of reserved
power which he we'll knew how to ex.
ercise
Mr.. Bayard labors with a voice that
is weak, almost effeminate. Yet he is
regarded as one of the most graceful
speakers in the Senate. He is more
diffuse in his style than some others,
but no mans diction is superior to his.
Mr.. Bayard follows the traditions of
the schools. His oratory and gestures
are accurately proper, and he never
violates the rules in this respect. Mr..
Vest is flowery speaker. He has
something of Mr.. Carpenters power of
bedecking legal argument with rhe-
torical flowers, and as he sometimes
gets hot with conviction and the desire
of impressipg it, he seldom speaks
without having the entire Senate for
listeners. Two of the most entertain
ing speakers of the Senate are Logan
and ingalls,, and for precisely opposite
reasons. Logan is fierce, often when
there seems to be no call for ferocity
Ingalls, is cold as an icicle. Logan
easily works up to white heat no one
ever saw Ingalls, when he seemed to
have an emotion. Logan wanders in
his enthusiasm all over the fields of
rhetoric, and sometimes gets mired in
to the swamps ingalls, is always clas-
sically correct, Logan is effective when
delivering sled dge-hammer blows, and
absurd when he essays sarcasm, In-
gals never attempts to WELD the
sledge-hammer, but his sarcasm cuts as
keenly, quickly, and deeply as a Jap
anese hari-kari knife. Ingalls, stands
like a STATUE, like the zero point per-
sonified Logan dances aud prances
over the chamber like a hot-blooded
savage at war dance. Both of these
men, however, are effective speakers,
both command the attention of the
Senate and the galleries, and both eff
feet their purpose in their speeches, for
both make an impression,
1t is the opinion of men qualified to
Judge that should a great occasion
arise for the exhibition of eloquence
and oratory, there are men to-day in
both Houses of Congress who would
be able to reach the highest ideals Of
tho orf Naon Vn.L o.,