The clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1883-1888, 1886-07-07
For The CLARION.
SEARGENT S. PRENTI3s.
No ".

lOlty HShO Ol supreme gifts. lie has
reason, memory and imagination. He
appeals to the past. He is in subtle
sympathy with the present. He de.
scribes the future. He interprets eyery
passion, and gives inspiration to every
thought. lie Is reason personified, and
the noblest prophecy of the immortal in
man. lie touches dry facts, and they
become living forces. lie recalls events.
and history becomes grand procession.
Ee stirs the imagination, and all the
poetry in human nature responds, and
men are led TO do his will His face i
study, when he kindles with the gran
deur of his theme. His voice has more
potency than all the orations of music
His sentences are the throbs Of his heart.
and become the jubilate or litany OF
nations.
The difference between the orator and
the mere elocutionist is wide The mere
elncutionist never fails. He has his
piece committed, his gestures and EN-
phasis arranged. Edward Everett was
a conspicuous illustration Of this. His
eulogy on Washington was written and
rewritten and committed to memory.
His gestures from the gingling of the
money in his pocket, 20 the apostrophe
10 the glass Of water were all prepared,
recited, and perfected. 1t was very fine,
in a certain way beautiful, but the
mechanic art was there. At Gettysburg
his oratiOn was finished with all the
rheturician's skill. but the few sentences
from Mr.. Lincoln are immortal. Mr.
Everett was finished elocutionist. Mr..
Lincoln was a cOnsummate orator.
The orator never fails. When Webster
was grand, it was the grandeur OF
Niagara pouring down world Of waters
y. hen he failed, ii was a terrible failure
When Clay was at his best, he almost
drove men crazy with enthusiasm
When ae failed his friends had TO apollo
gize for him. The orator has his moods
Inspiration is not always at his COM
mand.
The written page may be as eloquent
as words can make it, and few be moved
by reading it. Eloquence can be elegant,
but there is no eloquence, unless il
moves men. An orator, be he elegant
or coarse, moves men. Prentiss always
moved men. de was of the most sensi-
tive and refined type of mind. He
moved cultured minds through his re
finement. But his audiences were often
the toughest minds. He moved them
with equal care.
The appearance OF the orator has
something subtle in it. Webster was
grand. Such head and face is not
seen but once in thousand years. Cal
hOun, pale, tall, white haired, looked as
if he had just come from his library,
where he had read the wisdom OF all
time. Clay, handsome, commanding,
his rare smile, keen wit, wonderfui
voice, al . imperial wave of his hand, Il
cavalier full Of dash, and ready to charge
the foe.
Mr.. Prentiss had not .he advantage of
presence. A picture at twenty -one rep
resents pale young poet. Another at
twenty eight shows little more mascu-
Unity, but the same dreamy face. He
was small of stature, and not hand
some feature, save his eye. On the
platform, seated among men, he looked
like a very old boy. But when he rose
to speak, and shook his bushy hair, and
flashed the lightning from his eyes, 1T
was wonderful. Men cursed in anger,
or became frenzied with delight.
Friends, foes, negroes, every one would
swim river TO hear him. And he was
unconscious of his power. Simple as
child, and modest as a maiden, but
rouse him. and he was Webster, Cal.
houn, Clay, and John Randolph all in
one speech.
In 1888, Mr.. Preutiss appeared in
Washington as member of Congress
from Mississippi. His right to a seat
was contested on account of some irreg
ularity in his election, and another
claimant with a strong following was on
the ground. 1t was the golden age of
oratory in the history of both houses OF
government. John Quincy Adams, Le-
gare, Corwin, Henry A. Wise, Bell, Fill
more, and Caleb Gushing were In their
glory. A resolution offered by Howard,
of MARYLAND, that, as. S. Prentiss and 4.
J. Wood are not mem bers of the Twen-
tv-ffth Congress, and are not entitled to
their seats in the House as such," sprung
the debate, and for three successive days
in speeches of three hours, Mr.. Pren.iss
held this splendid array OF genius and
learning spell-bound by his oratory. 1t
must have been an impressive scene.
The old hall with its lofty dome, the
crowded gallery, the pale poetic youth,
who often leaned upon his stafi Tor sup
port.
The speech was wonderful. 1t was
not fully reported at the time, Tor the
reporters threw down their pencils. say
ing, ave cannot report man who talks
as though he were inspired. From his
graceful exordium, to his burning pero.
ration. it is model, and no spe ch OF
equal length, and equal merit has ever
been made in America. Compact, strong,
chaste, ornate, strongly cast III the IRON
mould of logic, it flowers with the rarest
beauty of genius. ltreminds the classic
reader OF Cicero against Cataline, and
there are some paragraphs OF eloquenee
so overpowering, that Cicero would
have bowed in the orators presence,
When the vote was taken, 1T was one
hundred and seventeen to one hundred
and seventeen. For moment there
was pause, and the Speaker almost in
articulately whispered, "the Speaker
votes ave" 1t was straight party
vote. Mr.. Prentiss was defeated, and
vet no living man had ever won such a
triumph. He returned to Mississippi,
and was welcomed with the thunder of
cannon, became candidate, was elected,
and in due time took his seat, and all
this ere be was thirty years old,
When MIR. Prentiss stood before that
august body his friends must have felt
some trepidation. He had won fame
before iuries and large audiences of
miscellaneous people. But he stood
now i'm the presence of masters. Ot his
feelings at the time, he said II felt as
self-possessed as | ever did before mag
istrate's court" 1t was not the self
possession of vanity, but of well or
dered mind.
Henry A. Wise gives a description Of
Mr.. Prer tiss at this time. The two,
with Menefee, of Kentucky, were in
vited to Havre de Grace, Maryland. to
address mass-meeting of Wings. Wise
led. followed by Menefee, and both wert
brilliant orators. Then came Prentiss
and Wise declares his first words had an
electrical effect.
"Fellow-citizens: BY the Father Of
Waters at New Orleans, | have SAID
Fellow citizens, on the banks OF the
beauliful Ohio, | have said Fellow
citizens.' Here say 'Fello~-citizens.
And thousand miles beyond this
north. thanks be to God | can still sa,
Fellow citizens Then, says MIR. Wise
",n one single sentence he saluted hi'
audier ce. drew every man, woman ane
child. near to him. made himself dear Z
them, and by word covered the cont
nent. Every hat was whirled In tn
air, every handkerchief was waving, tn
weikin rang with hurrahs. the multitud
hurried up to the stand Never for ont
moment did he release his grasp upol
that mass of humanity. He rose highe
and higher. went up and on, and on, AM
on far away like the flight OF the carrie
pigeon After the speech was over w