New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-04-11
TUE PRESIDENTS SPEECHES
.ropv POLITICAL AND OTHERWISE.


Feo OrIn" hedges. The United States Book Company.
,,oob philosophical speculation has been in
90 in by thoughtful writer's as to the causes
ou' .So decline of oratory. But at the outset i'll
VI ..h discussion prime question must be dis
SUI of What is oratory? Something has de-
p''Sna beyond "A doubt. The public speakers of
u'I Soy do not talk as Webster did. nor as
u.scber did Perhaps they couldn't il they
.r;od but that does not prove that their method
', impressng the public mind is less cllectual
,nneals 10 sentiment and emotion arc not UNI
.,nmon in the addresses Of those who are reckoned
,be popular speakers of to-day. yet the phrases in
b;rh such appeals are conveyed are constructively
o,, different from those that live in the oratory
=, the past But it is not TO be assumed that on
his account oratory itself has declined The
,sasons why formal addresses are made have not
.banged They are here and now just what they
we're when DemOsthenes vainly strOve to arouse
,he sluggish Greeks, when Cicero hurled anathcmas
g, the head of Catilinc. when Burke asked the
Judgment of the Lords against the wise and un-
scnpulous Englishman who offered an empire in
atonement for his crimes and judged his judges
rell or when Webster prayed that he might
never see the sun go down on dismembered
Union Despite the wonderful growth of another
,rent Of public information and instruction.
neakers we're never so numerous or audiences so
aCer as they are to-day Methods have changed
and something has declined. but is il oratory?
President Harrison has few Of the talents which
in the past have been thought to distinguish the
orator, and yet one who has them all reckons him
among the most effective public speakers that
over addressed an American audience. The COM
nents Of Harpers Weekly" upon the Presidents
southern speeches were curiously interesting, for
they touched upon his style and method as we'll
as on the sentiments he uttered, and they revealed
The impression produced by Mr.. Harrison's terse.
and direct mode of speaking upon
the mind Of one whose graceful and splendid
periods are listened to with unmeasured delight
by every cultivated audience. To Mr.. Curtis, GER
ainly. the President appeared as orator of great
pc rsuasive power, not more TO be esteemed for
what he said than for his skil.ul way of saying
t. lie was among people hostile to the princi
pies he represented and the policies he was en-
forcing And yet, though warmly processing
hose principles and earnestly urging those poll
ZONE and appreciative applause. The secret lay
in the frankness and directness of his speech in
It's lofty and patriotic tone In it's evident sincerity
in the modesty Of bis manner and in the wonder
full lucidity with which facts were stated and
arguments presented.
The volume of speeches which Mr. Hedges has
put together calls public attention again to the
Presidents remarkable art II is chiefly an art
Of statement. method Of arranging facts. 1t
is essentially lawyers art; not that many law
yers have it, but that it is the peculiar art which
lawyers covet and aim to acquire. 1t establishes
at once common feeling Of sympathy and re-
'pect between orator and audience 1t assures
The speaker that he is being listened to with
attention and the nearer that he Is being ad
lressed sincerely and in the effort TO convince
Ind persuade. Its appeal is to the mind and soul
L proceeds without cunning 1t makes use Of no
literary trick. 1t is possible TO no one who is
not sure that he believes what be says and really
considers the saying of it a duty. II 1t can be
lefned, it is the art Of grouping facts so as TO
compel them of themselves and as the necessary
result Of their arrangement TO enforce certain
meaning Their logical lesson is UNANIMOUSLY told,
and the man who disputes it is apparently under
the necessity Of rcsorting to false method Of
grouping them. In this practical generation and
In this land Of thinking men, it must be con-
,eded that the Presidents is q high form Of ora
tory The average American audience is pleased
% be allowed TO do its own concluding. 1t wants
the essential truth and the great orator OF to-
lay is the man who possesses keen sense OF
a clear grasp Of the important
facts, and power Of expression which puts them
All in the briefest possible time and the fewest
possible words into a clear well-toned picture
With true perspective.
IL will hardly be questioned that President
Harrison's speeches have made permanent i'm
pessjon upon the country and have given great
popular strength 10 the policies they have advo-
Gated But their chief charm lies in the plain
and homely definitions of that doctrine which
s peculiarly American and only constructively
partisan Such, for instance. are the passages
which follow:
manly assertion by each OF his individual rights
md manly concession OF equal rights to every ouei
man, is the law Of good citizenship.
I am a thorough believer In the American test OF
haracter The rule must be applied 10 mans
,wn life. when his stature is taken. lie Will not
uld high who does not build for himself
Tie American home is the one thing we cannot al
ord 10 lose out OF the American life. The American
ONE where the father sbdes in the respect ana the
nOther in the deep love Of the children that sit
bout the freside; where all that makes us good IS
aught and the first rudimcnts Of obedience 10 law
orderly relations, one TO another are put into the
Dung minds. That which distinguishes US from otlier
atoms whose political experience and history have
zen full Of strife and discord is the American home
ghere one wife sits in single uncrowned glory.
TheIe have been two conquests-one with arms,
he other with the gentle influence of peace-and the
at is greater than the first Tie first is only great
S it made way for That which followed; and now one
gain in our devotion to the Constitution ana the
avs one again IN the determination that the question
the severance Of the Federal relations OF these states
hall never again be raised, we have started together
pon career Of prosperity and development that has
v yet given only the signs Of what is 10 come
This great army had covered the country with the
mantle OF It's protection the SHOWS Of spring cover
he early vegetation. and when tho warm sun u
'eace shone upon IT 1t disappeared as the snow SINKS
nto the earth TO refresh the summer growth.
And now, standing on the line which divides these
NO States, beg 10 call attention to the fact how