The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1898-05-05

ian. He must have keen sense of humor
of the laughable. He must have wit,
sharp and quick. He must have sympathy.
His smiles should be the neighbors of his
tears. He must have Imagination. He
should give eagles to the air, and painted
moths should futter in the sunlight.
While / cannot tell man what to do
to become an orator, can tell him a few
things not to do.
There should be no introduction to an
GRAFTON. The orator should commence with
his subject. There should be no prelude,
no flourish, no apology, no explanation.
He should say nothing about himself
Like sculptor, he stands by his block
of stone. Every stroke is for a purpose.
AS he works the form begins to appear,
When the statue is finished the workman
stops. Nothing is more difficult than a
perfect close. Few poems, few pieces of
music, few novels end WELL A good story.
great speech, perfect poem should end
just at the proper point. The bud, the blosl
som, the fruit. No delay. A great speech
is crystallzation In its logic, an effiores-
cence in its poetry
Most of the great speakers in our coun-
try were before my time. I heard Beecher.
and he was an orator. He had imagina-
ton, humor, and intensity. His brain was
as fertile as the valleys Of the tropics,
He was too broad, too philosophc, TOD
poetic for. the pulpit. Now and then he
broke the letters of his creed escaped from
his orthodox prison, and became sub ime
Theodore Parker was an orator. He
preached great sermons. His sermons on
"Old Age and webster and his adj
dress on Liberty were filed with great
thoughts, marvelously expressed. When he
dealt with human events, with realities}
with things he knew, he was superb.
When he spoke of freedom, of duty, of liy-
ing to the ideal, of mental integrity, he
seemed inspired.
Severe on Daniel Webster
Webster I never heard. He had great
qualities; force, dignity, clearness, grand
eur; but after all, he worshipped the past.
He kept his back to the sunrise. There
was no dawn in his brain. He was not
creative. He had no spirit of prophecy.
He lighted no torch. He was not true to
his ideal. He talked sometimes as though
his head was among the stars, but he
stood in the gutter. In the name of reli-
gion he tried to break the will of Stephen
Girard-to destroy the greatest charity in
all the world and in the name of the
same religion defended the fugitive slave
law. His purpose was the same in both
cases. He wanted office. Yet he uttered
few very great paragraphs, rich with
thought. perfectly expressed.
Clay 1 never heard, but he must have
had a commanding presence, chivalric
bearing heroic voice. He cared little for
the past. He was a natural leader, a WON
derful talker-forcible, persuasive, con-
q
of metaphor, but he was practical. He
kept in view the end to be accomplish d.
He was the opposite of Webster. Clay was
the morning, Webster the evening. Clay
had large views, wide horizon. He was
ample, vigorous, and little tyranical.
Benton was thoroughly commonplace He
never uttered inspired word. He was an
intense egotist. No subject was great
enough to make him forget himself. CAL
houn was a political Calvinist-narrow,
In 10 tuoc not IN nro tnr-
He delivered essays, not orations
Cossuth and Tom Corwin
1 think it was in 1851 that Kossuth visitf d
this country. He was an orator. There
was man. at that time, under our flag,
who could speak English as well he.
In the first speech read of Kossuth's was
this line: Russia is the rock against
which the sigh for freedom breaks"
In this you see the poet the painter, the
orator.
s. s. Prentiss was an orator, but, with
the recklessness of a gamester, he threw
his life away. He said profound and beau
tiful things but he lacked application. He
was uneven, notwithstanding ordi-
nary things on great occasions, and now
and then, without the slightest provoca-
tion uttering the sublmest and most beau
tiful thoughts
In my judgment Corwin was the greatest
orator of them all. He had more arrows
in his CULVER He had genius. He was full
of humor, pathos, wit, and logic. He was
an actor. His body talked. His meaning
was in his eyes and lips.
Governor o. p. Morton, of Indiana, had
the greatest power of statement of any
man I ever heard. All the argument was
in his statement. The facts we're perfectly
grouped. The conclusion was necessity.
The best political speech I ever heard was
made by Goevrnor Richard j. Oslesby, OF
Illinois, 1t had every element of great
ness, reason. humar. wit, pathos. imaglIla-
ton and perfect natura'ness. That was in
the grand years, long ago.
Abraham Lincolns Masterpiece
Lincoln had reason, wonderful humor,
and wit but his presence was not good
His voice was poor, his gestures awkward
but his thoughts were profound His
speech at Gettysburg is one of the MASTER
pieces of the world. The word here is
used four. or five times too often. Leave
the "heroes' out and the speech is per-
feet.
OF course, have heard great many
takers, but orators are few and far be-
tween They are produced by-vicsorious
nations-born in the midst of great events.
of marvellous achievements. They utter
the thoughts, the aspirations of their age
They clothe the children of the people in
the gorgeous robes of genius They inter-
pret the dreams. With the poets, they
prophecy They fill the future with fc-
roic FORMS with lofty deeds. They lie
tasr focta touard the dawn--foward tha