Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1894-01-06
ORHTORY.
lis influence in the Nineteenth Century


to vote iof % Republican. This party
spirit and lear OF thc party lash, boo the
speaker HIMSELF has been potent against
his power U4 an orator The
orator. il he would influence men, must
be bold. manly and fearless lie must
strike for what, iu Dis heart Of hearts. Doe
believes 10 be r.gnt let the blows iall
where they VIII ur bis utiyuugcs VIII Doe
o. sham. The fear oi how his speech
may be taken by the chufch member, 900
one part OF IBIS district. or the WHISKY
men Ia another part, cripplci the M
Hucncc OF men who uthclwite mi aht
speak in tones ol thunder aud with ihe
effect OF lightning.
There is another reason why at Che
present time men do not become more
famous as orators. We uuqug5u1naul}
have men OF great orat0rIcli power but
the great commercial enterprises OF tine
day the great corporations, seize upon
these men as soon li they show what
is iu them aud no man can become "a
splendid orator Too the service of uuttr'
priscs and corporations that too often
compel him 10 take the side against the
rights of the people.
John NJ. Thurston, general solicitor OF
the Union latihc railway viii PROBABLY
end bis days in iis service, without leave
iug q lasting impfgssiu ION behind him as a
public speaker. but ! think be is. without
exception. the most Cloqutu, imam |
have ever listened Co.
Robert o. lngcrOll, DO his nomination
of James G.. Blaine. where hu described
his Hs Tie plumud Knight carried tHc
convention by storm. Zoo che days gi
Burke Chatham aud sheridan Doe would,
believe. have uuirtnkcd any of them
as an orator Had 10 no, been ilt Dos
unfortunate attacks upon the Bible aud
Christianity 3t time when iuHdcltty
ed him with N1utcry. Doe would undouot.
eddy bc the greatest American orator oi
today. lnpuuonHl magnetism and in the
power 90 express beautiful sentiments
iu the most touching language, hc BIAS ON
equal Inlfc are many other men iu
the United States who possess the uatu.
ral qualifications OF great orators aud
should there BE- q national crisis would
no doubt become famous, but whose
names for reasons before stated are not
likely TO pass into history as those Of
great speakers.
Let US, however, turn back 20 the
the s"cund quarter ui the niucigcuiu
, century, when historians coucrdc that
umioual power was potent 800 uur dgs.
| tiny. and q study OF iis influence at this
I time and of tie conditions tllt rendered
I Nc POSSIBLE may give u4 another answer
to ihc question ui why DO is not more
effective today. ln tie history OF tlu
United States there have been two
periods in which Che power az ortuly
was supremcly felt; from 400 90 0 IS. or
during the time ct the securing oi the
independence hy the American gJlunic8i
and from 1925 or 1850 90 1850, when the
l questions Of uulHuatt.un, tatcs rights
/ au' slavery were before the people, /,
| Is of the later period that / shall par
] ticulaHy speak, but 10 order TO under
I stand the later We must refer TO The
earlier.
The conditions In the ias, half OF ihc
/ eighteenth aud the hrit hall ui the nine
tccn,h centuries were peculiarly favor
| able to oratuIicil iulucucc. We were
then homogeneous people, we wcr,
I alike iu Impulse. language and cduca'
tiuu. 4 gfJat majority ui rs were
/ EuglIslapuaan Americana. The
nations OF continental Europe had moi
sci poured their millions upon as whu
neither understand our language noi
appreciate our institutions We were d
people dominated by strong moral con
vIctious. The strong moral energy Of
the Pilgrims and other colonists whu
came 10 the New World 20 seek po'Iu
cal and religious liberty was sail potent
among as.
The latter part Of the eighteenth cen
fury had been richly luiicd with en-
largcd civil and religious Liberty. Mir
aDeau In France, Curnn, Eukiuc, Chat,
than, Burke and Fox, in England
] Patrick Hgnty Adams, Jefferson and
Hamilton, IN America, bad in the latter
part OF the eighteenth century given
uttcrancc TO sentiments OF liberty and
patriotism that were declined by every
school boy IN the first half Of the nine
tcenih. 10 was not then in bad form
to show a little enthusiasm Tor uul
native land. The American iag was
always hailadwith q cheer The Fourth
otluly was @ great day ltwas nottheu
the fashion To be English. The men
who now turn up their "UuuscB' be-
cause II rains w London, would then
have been taued and iealherd, In the
schools. patriotic speeches were learned
by heart. There were not as many
books in the homes, but the qualify
averaged better. A copy Of Milton was
IN almost every farmhouse. The light
literature was not there, consequently
no temptation TO read IL to the exclusion
OF the other. In the schools every Friday
afternoon was given up to rhetorical
culture. Choice extracts from ancient
and modern classics were memorIzed
and made q part OF the very fiber OF the
young students nature. a contempt
Tor the classics and craze for q smlt'
teiiug Of the sciences had not vet en-
tered our colleges. Daniel Webster
never spent a day disseciing the tgl, OF a
tadpolc. and he probably did not know
the difference between glstCropod
and cephalopod, except that his know
ledge of Latin and Greek would tell him
az once that the one has is feet upon ii5
stomach, and the other on rs head.
The great orators of this and the last
century were educated mainly In mlihc'
mates and classics, and more classics
than mathematics. Pit, from Dis ear
Hest buyhood had his powers Of speech
and expression trained by rccltIns daily
choice passages rom the best English
authors, by rendering aloud passages OF
Greek and Roman oratious 900 choice
English. Tie amiliarized himself thor
ouEhly with Milton and Shakespeare,
and learned page after page by heart
The same was true OF Fox, Curian
Erkine and Burke. Burke had Cicetos
uratiuns at his tongue end and Webster
} read and re-read the Greek, Roman and
} English classics until they were q parl
..l ~. ,tnrt. h.tUs. auN hte f.tUu tNnmuIf Il