The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1890-11-30

the Worlds fair. Here is one from Yon-
kers asking me to deliver an address at
the unwilling of the soldiers monument.
The Rev. DIR. Halliday, who is over eighty
years of age. asks me to speak at his an
nv raGs
speak at q meeting of its members. The
Young Mems Christian association of Cleve-
land desires me to speak at the dedication
of their new building. Archdeacon Mackey
Smith wants me to speak at his church to-
morrow night. A Harlem lecture society
writes that it has engaged me to lecture be-
fore its members on the 25th, and wants to
know my subject. These, yon see, are few
of the invitations that have.
. Orators like Daniel Webster and Edward
Everett are capable of speaking upon any
subject at any time. It is to be said that
men who are not lawyers have not, as
rule, this power. The mental training that
the lawyer requires to arrive at success in
his profession demands of him the ability
to grasp any subject in very short time. He
must muster its details so that he can 81 eak
upon it more intelligently than the special
list himself. If the merits of the case de-
pend upon the way in which watch Is
made, he must be able to explain to the
judge and the jury just how this is done in
such simple and clear language that they
will all understand what he intends to con-
vey.
$50 it is with every other subject. Where
the specialist would bury the important
points under a mass of details, the lawyer
must present them SO that every man can
understand them fully. 1t is true that the
knowledge that he displays is likely to be
surface information. and that really he
knows not nearly SO much IA the specialist,
but when it comes to explaining the essen
tial points to others, he is able to do that
perfectly. There are very few orators OUT
side of the legal profession: All the others
are more apt to be specialists. There are
MANY very eloquent men in the pulpit. but
l know of none that can speak we'll upon
the platform upon subjects not connected
with morality or religion. Beecher WAS un-
questionably very eloquent speaker. and
he had some success as lecturer; but ms
work on the lecture platform did not com
Storrs is also very eloquent speaker, but
it may be said of him, too, that he is a
specialist.
When minister tries to talk politics he
always makes failure of 1T, and his
speeches upon other subjects that are not
associated with his speciality are poor in
comparison with those that are. The same
thing may be said of the men who have
made regulations in congress, in the senate,
and in the legislatures. Their speaking is
confined to their specialties. They may
make GOOD political speeches. and be ex-
cellent in debate, but their limitations
show themselves when they 90 upon the
general lecture platform. Roscoe Conkling
was a good illustration of this fact. He
was for years looked upon as the leading
orator Of the senate, but he was never a
success on the lecture platform. What is
oratory? take it to be the presentation of
the essential features of subject in an in
teresting manner. The orator must not be
a specialist. He would become uninterest-
ing if he attempted to reveal all the details
of the subjects upon which he is speaking.
To sum it all up, the orator should press
the button, and the audience will do the
rest. The audience is always quick to take
a suggestion, and if the orator pauses after
he has made hit to explain it, the audi
ence has gone beyond him.
1.-The assertion that there can be a spe-
cialist in after-dinner speaking ia particn-
larry absurd in our day, when we have din
ners by SO many different societies and
dinner speeches of to-day cover everv kind
of subject. We have dinners by scientific
societies, by college fratsrnities, by politi
cal clubs, by churches, artists. dinners te
Stanlev and don't know what else. Every
church in this city, with the exception Of
the Roman Catholic, has now a MONTH,
dinner. at which the speeches are of thu
most serious nature, and upon all the liy,
| questions of the day. -, man who car
speak we'll after dinnertf. speak well a
| any time, tor he must be prepared to speal
upon any subject. II is true that . mar
| must not be too prosy after dinner. but i
cause of the late hour at which the speak
ing begins. At nearly all dinners the speak
| ing does not begin until nine o'clock. Tha