The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1892-02-18
OHAUTAUQUA
SPEECH AND SILENCE.
(RepOrt for Glass B by Leo H.)

SPEECH AND SlLENCE
(Report for Glass by Leo H.)
According to the Bylaws l must confne the
subject matter of my report to my current studies.
had the classic German Course in English for
my perusal but as several members of our circle
have reported already on that subject. it only re-
mains for to report the different ways in which
a man express his thoughts In the first place
owe an apology to my hearers on account of my
own imperfect expression, at least on account Of
my imperfect pronunciation.
If man has got fine thought and does not
know how to express it. he might as well not have
the thought at all. This may be my under
circumstances. but this shall not hinder me from
finding out in which way another man do it,
Every grammar. no matter of what language. gives
the explanation that speech was given to man to
enable him to express his thoughts. Now. we find
in literature men standing high above the gram
mar who tell us just the opposite thing of Ian
guage. The German classic Boerne said that
"speech given to man to conceal his
thoughts" Schiller wrote that speech was given
to man that he should know best when to be
silent" Such ideas may look funny prima face,
but they are not. They supported even by
Goethe. who wrote that .To speak is silver but to
be silent is gold. and he. too not the only one
it 1 can refer even to the admin istraton of our
penitentiary, which is impressing upon our minds
the necessity of earning gold in place of silver.
Silence is often considered equivalent to an an
swer. which proves that a man express his
thoughts by silence. But will leave the silent
people for to-day and try to find out in which way
aspeakng man can best express his mind.
have read somewhere, 1 am sure do not know
where. that according n Maxwel1 tho princp1o
governing the use of language is that leach sen.
tence should be so constructed as to be under.
stood with the least possible effort the part of
the reader or hearer." And yet we will not find
in the whole world three men who will express
one and the same thought in one and the same
way. Where shall we look for the difference be-
tween them? Is the difference to be found in
different grade of educaton By far not at least not
necessarily. There are different reasons, but as
am limited to-day to five minutes. will call your
attention to one of them only. 1t is sufficient to
compare the French and English with the German
literature to see how short are the sentences in
the French and English and how long are those of
the German books. Victor Hugo. one of the great
est powers in French literature, used the shortest
sentences, consisting often of three, two and
Sometimes only one word. and he wrote hundreds
of volumes. On the other hand. find in the
German books of Schiller. Goethe, Leasing, Heine
and others sentences running for eight or ten lines
in print.
myself remember an instance. 1t was in 1885,
A great disaster had visited Italy. A part of the
country had been overlooked. Over 300, 900 peo-
pie were without bread and shelter Victor Hugo
contributed at that time $4,000 francs for the I'M
fortunates and wrote as follows to the committee
in Rome: gentlemen: Great disaster. My heart
aches. am crying. Enclosed Is, 600 francs. Not
for Italy For humanity. Humanity suffers.
Yours truly, v. H." Seven sentences, no one sen.
tence over three words. in which Victor Hugo ex-
pressed his sympathy. his sorrow, his help, the
purpose of his help and his opinion.
In the history of Austria we find an instance of
man having expressed the wishes of whole
population in a single word, and with that one
word changed the diplomacy OF the empire. At
the time Maria Theresa was empress of Austria
the prime minister and chancellor of the empire
was Count Kaunitz, the greatest diplomatst and
m ost eloquent speaker of his time and even until
day. Swallowed only by Bismarck. He was a
bitter enemy of the Jews. and when a bill was
introduced in the chamber Of deputies for the pur.
pose of expelling the Jews from Austria, he prom.
ised his support. The Jews aroused from
their lethargy. selected man. the richest banker
in Vienna, and authorized him to plead their
Minister Kaunitz, knowing the purpose of his
visit. refused him an audience. The Jew begged
an interview of just minute; he would speak a
word only. The minister took him at his word
and granted him audience with the condition,
sine qua non. to speak only one word. and if he
could express all he wanted in one word he prom.
ised to grant his WISH The Jew having nothing to
lose. accepted the condition and faced the minis.
ter. He was received with a shower of insults
against the Jews. Somebody has said that it is
shocking taste to add insult to injury. but the
power with which Minister Kaunitz was clothed