The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1886-06-02


mirations are our inmost feelings touch
ed! Who can picture, without these feel
ings, the majestic appearance of Demos
themes or of Lysias, as they addressed,
from the bema, the most cultivated au-
dience that ever listened to the utterances
of any man-an audience, 80 fastidious in
their tastes, that they spurned all that
were no; perfect. These orators were,
moreover, aware that, unlike our present
people, who sit in listless and submissive
patience and listen to the most fearful
solecisms that ever disgraced q cultivated
language, this audience to whom they
addressed their fiery darts of eloquence,
would evince, in exclamations of disap-
proval and correction, all false and un-
grammatical constructions. And yet, for
days, they would listen, in death-like still
ness, to such men as these. With what
modern orators may we compare such
menS 1t is true that we have our Can
ming who uttered, at Plymouth in 1923,
such forcible, axoimatic truths cur Graf
tan, whose speech, in behalf of the rights
of Ireland, will ever exist as one of the
grandest, the lofties:, flights that elo-
Quence has achieved; our Erskine, whose
apparent defence of Warren Hastings,
echoes, in part, the Grecian forensic ora
tory; our Burke that paints, in plainest
|
ate elouuence, the various scenes of his
narrative. But, in the excitement Of our
adsliration, 7 ask wlleHce camo this i'm
agery, this artistic beauty of language,
| but from the great. tho noble Demos
themes?
Can we, moreover, gentlemen, dare to
compare Burke with Demosthenes7 1t
has been said that as Demosthenes is the
sculptor, 40 Burke is tho paihteri bttt
maintain that Demosthenes, not only
pictures in imagination tho form Of his
DISCOURSE, but chisels away all its rough
ness, smooths, so perfectly, every express
sion, that we are almost forced to believe
that his mind was directed, in its choice
of language, in the composition of his
sentences, by some unseen hand. Who
can read those outbursts of periodic elo-
quence, those inimitable climaxes, those
lofty flights of the imagination which De-
mosthenes has uttered in his speech, "On
The Crown" without being deeply i'm
pressed with their grandeur? Can any
one, 1 ask again, dare, then, to doubt the
superiority and influence of this lam
guage? Can such language, ever, die
Again, how amazed the world must have
mei. those Christian dugtiias that only the
advent of Christ unveiled to the rest OF
the world! England may boast Of her
Hooper, her Cranmer, that died a mar
/ uyr's death but can any martyr ever
eclipse the Christian resignation Of So
crates, he, who, when offered a speech in
defense of his life, although he recognize
cd the inevitable fate that awaited refus-
al, yet refused. In his last moments,
what solace, what sweet consolation, it
must have been, to review the whole
coure Of his life, its fruits, it's influences,
and to know that not religion, but the
paltry thread of life, was subjected to hu-
man decision for they could take his
body, but not his soul.
Nothing can prove more emphatically y
the preeminence Of the Greeks than their
comparison with the Romans. We might
begin with the training of their youths
and conclude with their outbursts of elo-
quence before their general assem- blies.
Each instance, however, would tend only
to enhance the grandeur of the former,
and the deficiencies of the latter. In con-
trasting these two nations, their Language
and their labits, nothing strikes US more
forcibly than this rare quality, evident
among the Greeks, of subsection of per-
sonal ambition to the welfare of their
country. In the Romans,-sad to say
we recognize no such trait. Glance at
their great instruments of antiquity for
instilling, into the minds Of their entire
populace, ideas of general defense and ad'
vancement, their national games. In
Greece, should we pass along the roads
leading to Olympia, we would see them,
for weeks beforehand, carefully guarded
to ensure perfect safety and security to
travellers, when we arrived at Olympia,
we would see grand concourSe OF heroes
and friends, each eager for success, but
calm, impassionate, and patient; and
when the contests began, each race would
be conducted In an orderly manner anu
The judges would award the olive branch,
in accordance with their motto, "Palm0n'
qai n,eruit ferat." Why, this orderly,
well-regulated succession of events
Why did we not see there the brawls, the
uproars, the drunkenness that have al
ways stigmatized not only the Roman fes-
tivals, but also those of our own modern
times? Because not blinded, like mod
ern men, solely with desire of personal
ACKNOWLEDGMENT, the Greeks saw the ben.
eficial Influences Of these games upon the
Grecian wealth, and strove to
employ them in the proper direction.
They had no other channel tn an these re-
ligious festivals of congregating the peo-
pie from the several nations of Greece, in
order to impress upon them the necessi-
ty, whenever necessity arose, of uniting
their forces to resist all foreign invasion.
From their bema, some eloquent orator
poured into the ears Of his silent listeners
volley after volley of the deepest reason
ing. Here it was that DomosthenoS, GRAZ
cd by the love Of his country, uttered his
celebrated Philippics; here friends met,
to renew and to strengthen the friendship
1n nhilncnvhnrc M q G.
cuss the progress Of their sciences; and
here sculpters and painters met to vie i'll
the grandeur OF their works. No person
al anmosities aroused strife among these
people; nc private ambition marked the
various clans or made them use foul
means or fair" to insure their hero's VIC
tory. Such was the influence of the Ne
mean, the Isthmian, the Pythian and the
Olympic games upon the ancient world
that their greatness is still fresh in the
minds Of our people and their echoes will
reverberate till the end of time. So high
ly were they esteemed that each noble
was proud to guide the course Of his
steeds; each victor, proud to wear the
victor's prize.
How different, the Roman games
Each Roman senator or citizen of any
dignity considered it too compromising
| for him to touch the reins of his chariot
Complacently he sat, looking on, while
some slave performed for him this seem.
ipgly irksone task. What caused this
cool indifference? What, this naughty
pride? Was it not the lack Of that Gre
clan, national, pride? There was fore
most, in every Romans mind, his own
clear self. They cherished self-love and
strove to subject, i'll every instance, their
national interests to selfish personal am.
bition. This, alas was what caused the
downfall Of Rome's Caesar. This caused
his dearest friends to become his bitterest
enemies. But this Is not ALL What q