The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1888-06-16
THE WEIGHT OF WORDS.
como Great Orators and the Marvel
Gus Force of Their Speeches.

81 would give nunCred Bulneds, Salu
Garrick,. ''if could say OH as Whitfield
does.n But Garrick's own power was in the
immense weight he could put into words. He
was as much all orator as he was actor;
and as great an actor as he was orator. 1t
is said that when Jonathan Edwards
preached on SINNERS in the Hands of an
Angry God" his auditors screamed, and
some tainted. 1t is rot to be wondered at,
for never had the English language been
called on to hold so much of diabolical
wrath in the name of infinite goodness. In
these DAYS the audience would tear the man
from the desk and fling him into the street.
Bnt it was the theology of 100, and it was
uttered by the greatest pulpit orator of the
age. When BoSsuet in his funeral Grafton,
denounced the words, 1.-The Princess is
dving-the Princess is dead" his listeners
broke into such a wall of sobs and groans
that he was unable to proceed.
The same words might have been uttered
so as to fall fiat, and awakened not even at
tention. Bossuet weighed his words; and he
made his words weigh. How was it
only that into words he put himselfl
When Whitefield said 'Oh," it was not with
his tongue, but witt all his soul. Fox said
of Pitt that he mot only had word always
at command, but the word that best con
veyed his meaning"
remember when John B. Cough said to
his audience, II will tell you now what will
bappen: | will tell you the silliest story
in the world. There is nothing in it to
laugh at, but you will laugh" Then he
told the story, and we all laughed till we
were sore.
Voluminous authors are not always men
of light words. | do not believe English
literature contains the work of any volum
nous author any way comparable to Wal
fer Scott for uniform value. Notwithstaud
ing the comparative excellence of "Old
Mortality" ,tIvanhoe,n 'Healt Of Midlo-
THAN, land two or three more, there is not one
of his novels ranks as less than classic.
fully sympathize with Ruskin that we
should read "evory word of Walter Scott. "
And as for his poems, we can say quite as
much-they are all worth reading, are all
beautiful and among the everlasting class
les of English literature
THE POWER OF wELL-CHosEN WORDS.
If we study the ancient classics it is clear
that they have retained their hold because
their words were weighed in the balance
till not found wanting, Virgil used up
three wears in writing ten short eclOgueS,
seven on his "Georgics" and upward of
twelve years on the 'Eneid." Yet he is said
to have been so dissatisfied with his work
that he tried to rise from his deathbed to
burn the latter work. 1t is we'll for us that
GUS for us that thousands of other authors
have not in charity to the world burned
theirs The curse of our age is a thin flow
of words-a habit of verbal laxity. There
are few authors who polish or revise
This is owing in part to the demands of
our age for an enormous amount of reading
matter, and in part to the confidence we
place in the twang and ring of words.
Incisiveness, the cutting quality of words,
{c astnar1a1 abOVa VVaipht OF Ollls living
authors in this country, Lowell has shown
great discretion in the use of words, and
has, while turning with versatility in many
directions, always avoided outwriting his
genius. His essays do not equal his poems,
however, simply because as essays, mostly
critical, they do not surpass the general run
of critical essay writing with which En-
glish reviews and Scotch reviewers have
made us familiar DR.. Holmes has sus-
tanned a remarkable evenness of power be-
cause he has made no attempts at vastneSs.
His words are charged with a geniality
throughout that has given him quite as
much popular love as honor.
Plato is said to have rewritten many of
his sentences nine times. Livy is reported
to have turned and returned his words.
Gibbon rewrote three times some of his
chapters. Tasso was a hard worker. Pc
trarch, in his diary tells us: 81 began this
under inspiration at dawn of Sept. 10. L
must make these verses over again; singing
them and transpcsing." His diary runs on
continuously In this strain. Evidently he
did not write for the press under contract,
like Beecher, who would never tiuish an ar
ticle until compelled, and often with the
printers devil at his elbow. We have been
accustomed to think of Emerson as an in
spired writer. 1t was because the light came
into his brain by the way of ideality. He
was in fact a hard worker.
EMERsoN's GUINNESS.
His biographer tells us his sentences were
carefully revised again and again, corrected,
wrought over, portions dropped and new
matter added. He was unsparing in his cor
rectlons; whole paragraphs disappear. In
deed, doubt if less inspi rational writer
has ever attained prominence in our land.
/ remember well how utterly helpless he be-
came on lecture platform before COM
pany OF college students, when he found he
had left his manuscript behind. He could
not extemporize, but was foundered COM
pletely. The college boys looked on in
amazement and disgust, for to them genius
consisted in a command of language But
Emerson could not use one word unweighed
In conversation his words were compelled
to move slowly and soberIy, in the rear of
his thoughts. Bayard Taylor never forgave
himself for the voluminous ease Of his earlier
oughly devoted to a style Of intense care
and labor.
The peculiarly narcotic character of
Tennyson's later work is explainable by a
remark he once made, when friend said of
one of his lines that it must have been a
spontaneous leap of genius. Said Tenny-
son: II smoked dozen cigars over that
line" He has smoked to much. His words
are still the same words, but they have lost
weight. An author who supplements power
with narcotics or stimulants will fail
Of permanent weight, or will lose weight.
Indeed words get thereby temper
airy value to the author, an inconsistent
worth.
TOBACCO AND BRAIN WORK.
believe that habits of thoroughness can
not coexist for any length of time with the
use of the cigar and pipe. The aid is tenn
porary and deceptive. have in mind one
OF the most popular of Boston preachers.
He has ability Of high order which he sus-
talns freely with tobacco. But he has never
written a line that will outlive him. Every
word needs his presence TO give it weight.
de produces nothing inferior and yet moth
ing great. He relies more on his cigar and
inspiration than on close study. He knows
good deal about great topics, buthe knows
no science or philosophy to the bottom. /
believe this class Of writers and speakers is
OF great detriment to their hearers and
readers.
A