Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-01-23

TILES prophecy Hiduc W 7eH"eo' WINNING
| in that speech, for he then said that as
soon as the questions arising out OF the re-
| construction problems were settled the
business of congfess would be chiefly that
| Which the financial. banking and revenue
| policy oAthe government cntailed.
There have been since that prophecy was
made some 10 or ~ special occasions in
which many days have been set apart for
| debate upon financial questions, but except
| in the case of the present remarkable de-
| bate no great reputation has been made by
| any member of congress by reason of a
speech so delivered Mr.. Carlisle, now sec
| rotary of the treasury, won his spurs, as did
Mr.. Conkling, by a financial speech which
| was elaborate, lucid and mastery in presen-
| tation Carlisle's reputation, however, was
| gained rather as . thinker than as great
| orator.
The method of preparing public speeches
which prevails now, and to some extent
| the manner adopted for the delivery of
many of them, may account for what seems
| to be Il decadence in the delightful art of
| oratory.
William Pinkney, who is now forgotten,
| but in his day was esteemed an orator of
extraordinary charm, fairly sweated over
| the preparation of his addresses. He not
only wrote but he pronounced each SEN
| tence, striving to get rhythmic quality.
| Having polished and repolished the literary
| form, Mr.. pinkney practiced the rhetorical
graces before looking glass, and one of
| the senators who recently spoke upon the
| silver question used to be in the habit Of
rehearsing his speeches before q full length
glass.
What is regarded as the greatest speech
| ever made in the senate-Webster's reply to
Hayne-hf.d no other preparation than a
study of the subject for 20 years by Mr..
Webster. Haynes speech was delivered ono
day; Webster went to a dinner party in the
evening, sat fora few moments before going
to bed arranging the heads of his reply.
slept as he said like n top, entered the
senate chamber the next morning perfectly
cool, and when he was asked by Senator
| Clayton if he was well charged replied,
"Four fingers. SIR" and u few moments
afterward began Il speech which made his
| tory.
Conkling's genius for oratory rs revealed
| in the senate was the result not only of
native quality, but of the most arduous toll.
! He labored far into the night, adorning his
speeches with quotations that were peril
nent, although not of common use, and en-
riching them by n diction which such
orators as Tom Corwin, Stephen A. Doug
las and even Mr. Blaine pronounced the
| most magnificent and copious possessed by
any American orator Conkling would no
more have read n speech, as is the custom at
! the present time, than he would have ad
| dressed the senate in his shirt sleeves. His
manner was entirely that of Il man deliver
| ing an impromptu address. 1t was the art
| which conceals art. Blaine had that quality,
| too although his speeches were not prepared
| with the extraordinary care which Conk
ling bestowed upon his.
| 1t was the comment Of Mr.. Frederic r.
| CoIdert, one Of the most charming orators
| of the New York bar, that most of the
speeches delivered at the present session oil
| congress read like mere essays, elaborate
| correct in style, sound in reasoning, but en-
| tirely void Of the quality which gives ora
| torical charm and force. Senator Hill pre-
| pared his speech as he would have written
| an essay fer one of the reviews. He had
| no thought of the sound of words, but only
| for their lucid arrangement. Mr. Conklin2
was constantly striving not only to get a
| word which would accurately express his
meaning, but would also when spoken sug
gest sympathetic sound. That is one o.
| the secrets Of Gladstone's charm as an ora
| tor. Blaine had that happy quality, but
| it was intuitive with him.
Bourke Cochran. who carried to congress
a peculiar fame as an orator, does not care
| fully prepare his speeches He relics upon
a copiOus vocabulary, high gift for imag-
ing or picturesque statement and a capacity
for quick thinking upon his feet, so that
with him the rhetorical graces are largely
q matter of habit and intuition. Upon a
financial or legal question Mr. Cochran de-
votes much study and is careful in the ar
rangement Of his argument, but that form
in which it appears when it is delivered
and read is very largely the result of the
inspiration of the moment of address.
Colonel Fellows is another orator who
speaks WITH ease and without previous
preparation, Of writing. It is the opinion
of David Dudley Field that oratory is not
u lost art because men have lost the power
of creating great oratorical efforts or be-
cause men no longer are charmed by it. but
because other things 80 press upon those
who might make great orators that the.
do not have the time or the inclination n
bestow upon Oratory that labor wj.hont
(which its greatest rewards cannot BE gain
ed, and that is probably the reason. in the
opinion of many of those who have Inade
study of orat0ry, why SO few members OF
congress who might have won the most
glorious victories which the power of ner-
Suasi0n by speech can give have failed "a
eecure them in recent years.