St. Paul daily globe., 1890-01-31

Dougherty has o,justly earned?
Daniel Dougherty has been prOmi-
nent figure in American politics the past
thirty years, and needs no Introduction
to his fellow countrymen. EX-Mayor
G. ID. OBrien recognized this fact last
evening, when introducing the lecturer
to the assembled ladies and gentle
men there was a good sprink-
ling of ladies present. Mr..
Dougherty had been accompanied
on the platform by Gov. Merriam and
Hon. Ignatius Donnelly. He was
greeted right heartily on rising to de-
liver his lecture, and the commanding
presence of the orator was seen to great
advantage. Tall, erect, robnst-looking,
gray locks clustering round his head
thinning off to almost badness at the
top-Daniel Dougherty stood, the very
picture of an oratOr-a leader OF men.
His opening words were aedressedin a
low, sweet. rising voice. Oratory was
lightly treated, and the requirements of
an orator enlarged upon.
There were and had been few orators
for why? Orators were born, not
made. Mr.. Dougherty prettily sized up
| the difference between an orator and an
ordinary, every day stump speaker, de-
batter or decaimef. An orator must
have a mind to conceive and. es-
tongue to fire an audience with
his own thoughts and emotions. That
such men were scarce was shown by
the fact that England, with all her in
tellect, had had but four orators, and in
the United States, where good speakers
abounded, the names of their speakers
might be counted on the fingers.
What glowing picture was that Mr..
Dougherty drew of the ancient
orators. How the present day I'M
ness, as he POLITICALLY conjured
up before the minds of his hearers these
giants of the past-men of irreproach-
able character and of great courage. A
true orator should never prostitute his
heaven-born gift or utter sentiment
that came not from the heart. He
might be wrong, but he should be sin
cere. 1t was the glory of the old coun-
tries that its most illustrious interpret
ers had ever spoken the sentiments of
their hearts, and that they were not
feared by the wrath of kings or terri
| fled by mobs TO betray their convictions,
their country or their God.
Warming as he proceeded, encour-
aged and cheered by the enthusiasm he
was arousing, Mr.. Dougherty planted
his soul into his theme and ruled with
absolute sway, the monarch of the hour.
From these Instructive and absorbing
remarks on what anorator should be, Mr..
Dougherty turned to the lighter side
of his lecture and gave series
of mimic sketches on modern
orators. The wide divulgence between
the orator of to-day and the orator of
the ancients was strikingly shown, and
none but master mind could have ac-
complished. The style of speaking
now generally followed in the English
house of commons-thatb building which
has thrilled with the fiery eloquence of
Burke, theipersHasive periods of Sheri-
dan and the charming, lofty sentences
of Chatham, Fox, Pitt, Bolingbroke-
was cleverly depicted by the lecturer.
MIR. Dougherty particularly illustrated
Lord BeacOnsneld benjamin DisraeD,
Mr.. Gladstone Lord Cairns. The
manneriSms he. displayed when de-
picting Mr.. Gladstone'S oratory were
strikingly life-lille; but it is fair to take.
as sample piecesof oratory, the several
replies made by Lord Beaconsfield and
others in the house; of commons. Would
it not be better to illustrate the styles
OF these orators, as noted when they
were delivering speeches during any
important debate or at any big. popular
gatherings Lord Beaconsfield could not
have stirred the masses of Eng
land. as it did, if his oratorical
efforts always came up to the caIibre in
dicated by Mr.. DougherUy. 1t was par
ticplarly noticeable that none of the
American orators were touched in this
connection by the lecturer. 1t was
while giving these personal sketches
Mr.. Dougherty was presented with a
beautiful basket of flowers.
The grandest field for the orator was
the pulpit, but Mr.. DoughertY almost
pitifuAy regretted the few preachers
there were of more than average ora
torical ability. A congregation should
not be told Sunday after Sunday that
God liveth; that virtue was
right and vice was wrong. Those
fundamental truths they were told
in the Sunday school. and, perhaps,
long before at their mothers knee.
There was much wider field for the
clergyman than that. as well as the
well-prepared essay, with its firstly,
seventhly, lastly and in conclusion. my
brethren" Mr.. Dougherty condemned
the sensational preaching, which
merely pandered to morbid tastes. The
preacher had the great past and the in
finitude Of the future to draw upon.
Next to the pulpit. Mr.. Dougherty
placed the public assembly as the next
up with Marc Antony's eulogy of
Cesar, which was greeted with raptur-
Gus applause.
The peroration was grand, high, lofty
and full of beautiful thoughts. The
lack of orators was traced to the
rise Of the printing press and
growing power of the newspapers, and
the lecturer touched on the great good
which had resulted therefrom, express
ing the hope that the high integrity ex-
hibited by the orators in the past would
be maintained by the daily papers. "If
Its aim be the welfare of the people, the
honor OF the republic and the glory of
God, then we may be we'll content that
the days of oratOry are over"
Mr.. Deugherty resumed his seat amid
IeSOuDdiDp annlausa