, 1896-11-14
AN ANCIENT ORATOR.
PRESIDENT GRAVES DELIVERS
HIS MASTERLY GRAFTON UPON
"DEMOSTHENES."
by a Large AssembIage-Un-
der the Auspices Of the EpwOrth
L~eague-Full Text OF One of the
Grandest Literary Efforts Ever
Heard in This City.

Nste' h'N' cIl' Vi llIt
Grandest Literary Efforts Ever
Heard in This City.
A very lattering audience assembled
ut the Methodist church last evening
to listen to the lecture of President
Graves upon "Demosthenes." 1t was
given under the auspices of the Ep-
worth League. DR.. Graves contributing
his services for the benefit of the So
ciety, and it is announced that the pro-
ceeds resulting were sufficient to pay
off the debt which had been contracted
in the past.
Prof. Ridgaway, president OF the Ep-
worth League. presided. In introducing
Dr.. Graves he said it had originally
been the intention of the league to
have a regular course OF lectures, as
heretofore, during the coming winter.
hut arrangements had been made by the
Rocky Mountain Lyceum to cover this
city and therefore the league course
had been abandoned with the eXcep-
ton of two lectures. one by President
Graves and the other by DR.. Hall. 1t
was peculiarly fitting that a lecture
should be given at this time upon the
subject chosen by the speaker of the
evening, for great interest had been
aroused in the historic countr OF
Greece by the Olympic games of the
past summer in which the athletes OF
the new world made such famous rec
ord. 1t ave him pleasure to be able
to introduce President Graves of the
University of Wyoming.
President Graves spoke as follows:
Mr.. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:
The Athenians brought orntory to a
point of perfection thai it is never again
likely to attain. That high degree of
excellence was due to the cultivation
of eloquence az a fine art, for it was not
esteemed simply as 4 means of conn
! shing a result. independent of the
medium. The greatest importance was
attached to form, as one phase of that
pursuit of the beautiful which was
dominant in the nature of the Greek.
Those who sought popular favor in
thai field felt an incentive to remove
every blemish that might provoke cen
sure from the Athenian public. each
member of which was a connoisseur in
oratory. For a time. the art of speak
ing became a passion with the whole
people and oratory reached it's climax.
The world has gone by hat stage of its
history and IL power in that direction
is limited to imitation.
EVOLUTION OF ATTIC ORATORY.
There must have been something in
the nature of the Greek tt for
this prominence that was assigned to
eloquencc and for this ardent pursuit
that The Greek was a bern orator and
Homer has been cited to bear witness
to the fact as indicated by the resplend,
ent gems Of oratory with which the
lliad is studded. The heroes in the
great enic arc c,ntinuauv b, -, n,uiny
their fo1l,we,s doh,,.n, with thu ,.bo,
Ieadars and dac,,iming no tbe;r fo.s
I'll ;s i, is ,r,u.d ra,-o,ls an ohidi,o
ha,ief an ,be mart, of rho noe, ,b,t tbosa
f,r u,bor ,bo ~ ,,, :,.o,ao, had
q, ;rho,.r lava of s,oooh-uoliro
who, ,ho.oro ,h, a,.noo, ,L.,
had hoa u
nod had noarm 10 f.n .ho craohs
souob, soma orber utor,r, torm u,bioh
sbor,d ,nsw,. tho n..ds of ,b. TINA
and in wb;cb thar nrasont hon, Of
mind s,or,d ..uro,k Ito sro,n,h ..
Tho, h,.b,
a.,.r, n,ooa of odr,,so, in .,o et,h
oon,urr .hotoro Ch,,s, ond ~, rho 40
u,,ua ,o,o :, ,h, ESQ.,
medium through which to present the
claims of those who had suffered by the
changes OF government.
The efforts to adjust the rights of the
several contestants resulted in orator.
cal prose; something not as formal or
exalted as poetry, but elevated above
the language of common life, and LAY
ing an advantage over poetry in that
1t admitted OF being u to techni-
cal and somewhat mechanical rules in