The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1889-01-09
THIRTY-sEcoND ANNUAL
SESSION OF THE SOMERSET COUNTY
TEACHERS INSTITUTE.
fcanlinasd fem Eirst R4gs.l


fconf;nnsa J,em First Puget
WEDNESDAY RvKSlss SESSION.
Music-rhorus, conducted by Prof Case ;
Away, away. at break Of day Mrs. from
well. pianist.
Song by Miss Harrison, after which, by re
qest, she sung, Twinkle, Twinkle Little
Star
Solo. by Prof Case: " Barbara Fritchie.r
Prof. Berkey then introduced Hon. Daniel
Dougher,y, in "orato's and orasory. He
said
II propose to give q few thoughts ON ora
tors. Genius can assume nothing more Won
derfnl than oratory. The orator can inspire
all The passions-sear, grief. love. patriot
ism. creed, t~raiioroas designs-anything.
He who possesses this rare gift, ifhe does not
abuse II. has q power over the race for good
possessed by few, and can mold them 10 his
will.
Many prefer the debaier, ready on the mo
ment to refute the argument Of his opponent
and confute them with the forceof bis logic
Others prefer the scholar, preparing in his
study the pages that he reads to bis audience
The ideal Of still others, is the declaimer, II
these be orators. then the country is full OF
them.
II may be said that comparatively few
mortals ever had the combined gifts of the
orator. Every speech, the vein of which is
TO persuade. must stand ON a firm basis OF
common sense, and must not violstethe laws
Of good taste. The orator should be as he
was in Rome and Athens scholar. IL is
in the delivery before the audience that the
true orator appears. You viii remember
thai Demosthenes declared the three requi-
sites Of the orator 10 be action, action, &C
ton. / prefer the dictum of Lord Lytton.
acting. acting, acting. Cicero expressed the
same thought when he says lac must know
what to say and how to say ii. He irurther
says, the orator must possess the memory Of
lawyers, the diction o fpoets-
This IS the power of the orator who, with
out scenery, by the mere power Of his voice,
swa.s the muliitude. This was the power
that the Macedonian dreaded more than the
phalanx. that saved Rome, that awakened
France. that kindled the fires Of our Reyolu-
ton. that gave 10 Ireland her only years of
liberty. When the orator calls into play his
utmost powers. it is more than the reason
that is to be swsyed iris ~passion-all the
p~assions Of the mind. How is il that YER
diets are 50 often won, despite law, oaths, the
solemn surroundings Of the Court II IS be-
cause the power Of oratory causes the pas
sious TO unbalanoe the power Of the head.
There are occasions when all that is 10 be
aimed At Is toplease. \ lawyer who attempts
to address a bench Of Judges will convince
them of the little knowledge he possesses of
his duty if he attempts to appeal to their
passions on acold question Of law.
1t is the glory OF oratory that its most IL
lustrious Interpreters have been men Of UNI
hlemished integrity. Il may be that the
ablest speeches we read have been written
before-berhaps after delivery. The sFeech
Of Webster in reply to Hayne, was delivered
from only a few notes 50 the speeches of
Pitt rave never been preserved.
A lecture may be delivered TO twenty au-
diences, but n genuine speech Is delivered to
but one audience, and is called out by the
peculiar circumstances Of the occasion. It's
said that Curran and Brougham prepared
those splendid bursts Of eloquence in which
they indulge. The style of delivery varies
with the individual Cicero, after a splendid
speech, was enerv.ted for days. The Eng
iish people have changed read the speeches
ofChatham, and then read the speeches OF
the age Of Victoria.
1t has been said that at the present day an
~oratoricsl effort would not be tolerated in
the House of Commons. (Tbc lecturer here
illustrated the msnne Of several prominent
members of the English Parliament. Strange
as these mannerisms seem to US, they are in
accord with the taste OF the English House
ofCommons to-day. In the parliamentary
debates all that is required is sense, and il
that be present, II matters not how rough
the manner. how rugged the rhetoric. The
debates are only talking, and taking just as
the country member would talk at his office
or factory. Bat don't consider me as IN
derrating the English House Of Commons.
IL Is supposed by some that a new field is
opened in our new field Of lectures. thus
rowling a custom Of Greece and Rome. A
lecture is really not a speech.
The finezt field for oratory IS the pulpit
every advantage attends the pulpit orator
But strange as it may seem, It's a rare thing
to hear an orator in the pulpit. A Divine
asked Garrick "HoH Is it that you actors
produce an effect by speaking ficiion2
Ganick answered We actors speak fc-
ton as though it were truth. while you Di-
vines speak truth as though It were fiction.
The greatest drawback 10 oratory in the pull
pit is the character Of the sermons delivered,
Nobody denies the ability Of tie men who
fiji the pnlpit, bur their sermons are cold,
abstract essays. The great aim Of ihe pull
pit IS not to convince The mind, but to teach
the heart.
The preacher has the most unl:nited com
mand Of M He can command all
the passions; everything dreaded; all that is
touching, whatever IS touching, be can use.
Next to the pulpit the finest field FOR orators
Is stump speaking. as We call II. A fne
example is given by Shakspere in his play
Of Julius Cesar-by Antony's speech over
the dead body Of Cesar Brutus had appar-
entity captivated the Assembly Marc Antony
comes and by exciting sympathy he ends
by carrying them with him, and they burn
the houses OF Brutus aud the rest. ans drive
them from Rome
The days Of orstory have passed away. II
may be that in The future men will be born
who will rival the ora,ory OF the days thai
are gone. oratory can never wholly die &c
long As liberty sarviye-. The poweR9f tho or
atOr sank when the printing press arose. III;
orator nay move an audience: the press cas-
move a nation. Let the press be true Il
itself as the orator has been : never using IL
influence where II should not never sup.
porting wrong in preference to right Ifli
shall do this in the future. no one viii regtI
that the days Of oratory are past.
Adjourned.
THURSDAY HoESTSS sEssloS-rxAcHERs sFEc
IAL SESSION.
Music by the Institu,e-H Help It on
Talk on music IN the schools, by J. D
Meese, Meyerslale.
Music should be taught in all our schools
Every scheoI-room should cpnfain an organ
Don't persuade yourselves that good musi'
consists in loud yelling Il the teacher can
sing let him get some teacher 10 read. Then
are two things that will he accomplished il
1--WE years from now. lst. There Will I've al
- a. ILL -