Owingsville outlook. [volume] (Owingsville, Ky.) 1879-192?, 1897-03-11
Ingalls, on Bryan.
[st. Louis GIobe-Democrat.I

and other points in the South and
East. Referring to the announcement
that w. j. Bryan had abandoned his
lecture tour, and would hereafter de-
vote his efforts to bimetallism, Mr..
Ingalls, talked as follows to CORES
pendent:
coincidence of three things is
necessary To a great speech. There
must be a speaker, an occasion, and
an audience, either sympathetic or
hostile. OF these the audience is
perhaps the most important. Shakes
peare, who says everything better
than anybody else, hits the truth
when he makes ROsalind declare that
| y jest'~ prosperity lies in the ear
or him that hears it, never in the
tongue
OF him that makes it.
This is rs true of an Grafton as it
is of joke. The prosperity of
| speech lies i'm the ears Of the au-
| dience; never in the tongue of the or
ator. of course, powerful speeches
have been delivered To listless hear
ers; Burke's magnificent efforts emp
| tied the House of Commons, though
they will he read by scholars till the
sunset of time as models of sonorOus,
rich and majestic elOquence. Ii was
said of Rufus Choate that he would
| appear before some Probate Judge in
a dingy office, with no spectators, and
blaze along the pathway of the stars
with as much energy and display MS
though he were commanding the ap-
plause of listening Senates. Quite
likely, Denosthenes with his mouth
full of pebbles, delivered powerful
harangues against the huctuat1ng
clahlors oil the inarticuiate seas, but
| IL remains true, as popularity cOnsld-
cred, that the great effective speech
es OF the world have been made by
the hearers quite as much a. by the
orator:
| This was pre-emlnently true OF
organs speech at Chicago, which
VIII probably stand as historic eX-
ample among the conspicuous or
atorlcal trlumphs oil the nineteenth
century. Taken as an intellectual
effort, the address was distinctly
commonplace. lt mad neither depth,
conference nor originality. Its Piati-
tudes We're the canned goods OF the
trade. Its ornaments were tlnsel-
It's climax was borrowed, without
credit. But notwithstanding these
defects and lnfirmlties, Judged by re-
suits, IL must De taken as one OF the
most remarkable achievements our
times Its prosperity was IN the ear
OF the convention, not IN the tongue
OF Bryan. He was IKE the ROD that
conducted the Dolt from the sur
charged thundercloud. He said at
the opportune instant what the fren-
zied multitude wanted TO utter He
was the crater or the volcano; the
|
central figure In an unprecedented
drama. lie eliminated In that tre-
mendous episode which cannot be
duplicated.
opportunity Knocked at his gate,
and he heard and obeyed the sum-
mons. Inc campaign that followed
was hysterical and labor o u s {.
Thronging myriads assembled, ex-
pect1ng to have the miracle at Chi
cago repeated in their presence. They
listened with lncredulity and con-
sternation to the mechanical decla-
nation OF an orator reciting familiar
kphrases. Wherever he appeared Bry-
pm sank in public estimation, not
Joy any fault or his own, but because
fthe people had measured him by
their imagination ana not by their
Judgment. They demanded the i'm
possible, ana he emerged from his
unprecedented canvass with the YER
diet that he was versatile, common
place, swallow politician, ana not
great inspired popular ieader anu
tribune OF the people. bryan Is Mhat
Mrs. harrington called a very Hull
speaker; Facility or speech Is Ia
tai gitt. me man VINO, without much
meditation, study and forethought,
can depend upon an uninterrupted
How OF language before an audltn nee
ON any subject with which he Is 6ut
ilhperiectty acqualilteu, Il eNPosed 10
a weil,nigh IrreslstiDIe temptation To
mehtl lhuotehce- Inc utsPosi'loh
10 rely on the inspiration OF the mo
ment grows win indulgence anu at
last becomes the habit OF the mlnd.
From what heard IN Atlanta; L
should Judge that bryan came 10 that
engagement without lnuch prepara-
ton. Not long before the h1ur ne
progressed 10 De IN doubt Nhat ne
should say, though TINS may nave
been one OF the tricks Ol the business.
Henry winter Davis uSed 20 come
Saunterlng INTO the House OF repre-
sentatlVes NJ washington with ms
overcOat on MS arm ana ms nat ~
his hand, lounge INTO MS seat, as III
it was his purpose to remain only
moment, Just wnen some measure
which he had previously learned was
coming up whereupon, he Would al
dress the chair, express surprise, ana
launch into an apparently extempo-
raneous speech that had been elaoo-
rately prepared Tor the OCCASION Ros-
coe Conkling and Matt Carpenter
were not wholly devoid OF such artl-
fees, designed to impose upon the
credulous, and to deepen the erect
OF their really great powers, by the
impression OF n miraculous or super
natural endowment that separated
them from the role OF common men,
But the quality OF Bryan speech
at Atlanta eNonerates him from the
imputation of stage play, because 1t
did not reach high level in any
part. He had a large house and his
reception was cordial, but the general
verdict of friends and opponents was
unfavOrable. The material OF the
discourse was not novel, nor was its
treatment original. The delivery was