The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1896-02-09

his time, and his remarks compared
with those that appear from day to day
in The Congressional Record would in,
dictate that he was not overestfmated by
his fellow men. And yet Cicero excelled
IN sarcasm and witticisms. Those were
two of his leading characteristics.
The more serious foe of oratory has
been the remarkable growth of the news
paper. Formerly the orator told people
what to believe, and they believed it.
Oratory nowadays is most effective on
jurymen, and those who inform them
selves are not selected as jurymen. This
goes to prove that oratory hourishes best
among the ignorant.
The "spellbinder" Of today is general
| ~ a man who could not charge any adj
mission. If he were to do so, his life
would be one of extreme isolation.
1t is said that Cicero during his at
tack upon Catiline made many humor-
GUS bits st his adversary and told some
excellent stories fresh from the cloak
room. In his style he resembled Senator
Jeter G. Pritchard of North Carolina,
wiping his nose with the same air of de-
fiance and abandon in the midst of q
thrilling period.
During the defense of Murena, Cicero
is said to have made an address which
sbounded in witty and humorous out
bursts.
If the humor Of our own orators has
destroyed the power Of American ora
tory, what is the matter with British
oratory? 1t is an entirely different bug
altogether. Those who have listened for
a few weeks to the porterhouse elo-
quence of parliament will agree with
me that its foundations are not being
Slapped by humor.
The truth is that we live in a most
practical and prosaic time. When a city
can be destroyed at a distance of eight
miles and a large iron cook stove full
of explosives may be thrown into New
York from beyond Fire Island, what
sort of employment is there for poet
laureate or big browed orator with a
cloven breath?
No, it Is not true that humor has
wrecked American oratory, for even the
destination that the morning papers pub
lished his funny anecdotes two weeks be-
fore he arrived. Our after dinner people,
Of course, tell humorous stories, but
that is not generally regarded as oratory.
Speeches which go with great eclat at
dinner when the pudding sauce has been
rather exhiIarating often read rather
tamely at the breakfast table, especially
by people who were not invited.
Oratory in the days when it took the
place now occupied by the telegraph, the
press and the tutor, was as often wrong,
too, as right, and to this day Cicero is
condemned for using his great gift for
the inexcusable death of Cathegus and
Lentulus.
A great many people overestimate the
value of oratory. Oratory must have a
just cause or it becomes a power for
evil Some think even today that Patrick
Henry was the direct and sole cause of
American independence because he gave
the Revolutionary war permission to
come
Such, however, was not the case
We need not bewail the conditions
here which have brought about this
change. When a great newspaper re-
duces its price, ii is more important TO
the American people than the birth Of
DemostheneS. Everything which en-
cOurageS Us TO DO our own thinking &C.
ments another granite block into the
beautiful pedestal of civilization.
When We may glance over a days his /
tory Of the world between our oatmeal |!
and our Goldfish ball, the opinion Of one |
man assumes its true value. When five I
or six well informed men III an audience .
shake their heads at en- orator, he begins !
melting at an early date.
What becomes Of the young orators /
who roUnd out the exercises at college /!
They go forth with !
the applause OF their neighbors still ring /
Ing IN their ears, and II is their inten-
ton TO mold great masses of mind into .
shape, but we find them later on en-
gagged IN the IRE insurance business or
travelling with "a sJereopticuh through
the remote precincts Of our frontier.
What happened 10 Cicero in the year
5S b. c.. He Went into exile, and his
house was burned down by those who at
one time sat speLsouno within the sound
Of his voice
Roma Patrem Patri9 Ciceronem
liberia dixit' was true in IS. but in SIS
Sic semper gloria mundi" was the fatal
watchword. Egotism got the better of
Cicero, and he made the mistake CON-
mon among orators OF mistaking his elo-
cutlonaTy powers for common sense.
Even his best friends were az times
forced TO admit THAI Cicero relied more
On his larynx than he did on his cere-
brUm.
The American Indian was bv nature