The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-05-08

thlng TO Say--Somethlng worth saying
something that people would be glad 10
hear, This Is the important thing. Back
Of the art of speaking must be the power
10 think. Without thoughts words are
empty purses. Most people imagine that
almost any words. uttered in a loud voice
and accompanied by appropriate gesture,
constitute an grafton. l would advise the
youung man TO study his subject. to And
what others had thought TO look az il
from all Sides Then l would tell him to
write out his mind, SO that he would know
exactly what he was going to say. Waste
no time on the how until you are salts
fed with the what. After you can think
of how 1t should be said Then you can
think about tone, emphasis and gesture;
but il YOU really understand what you say,
emphasis. tone and gesture will take care
of themselves. All these should come
from the inside. They should be in per-
feet harmony with the feelings Voice
and gesture should be governed byl tho
emotions They should unconsciously be
in perfect agreement with the sentiments.
The orator should be true to his subject,
should avoid any reference to himself.
1.-THE great column of his argument
should be unbrolSen. He can adorn IL
with vines and flowers, but they should
not be in such profusion as to hide the
column. He should give variety of epi-
sode by illustrations, but they should be
used only for the purpose OF adding
strength to the argument.
THE man who wishes TO become an ora
tor should study language. He should know
the deeper meaning of words. He should
understand the vigor and velocity of verbs
and the color of adjectlves. He should
know how to sketch scene, TO paint a
picture, to give life to action He should
be a poet and dramatist, painter and
an actor. He should cultivate his lmagina-
ton. He should become familiar with the
great poetry and fiction, with splendid apd
heroic deeds. He should be a student OF
Shakespeare. He should read and devour
all the great plays. From Shakespeare he
could learn the art of expression, of COM
preston, and all the secrets Of the head
and heart
THE great orator is fun of variety-of
surprises. Like a juggler, he keeps the
colored balls in the air. He expresses
himself in pictures His speech ~ a piano.
rama. BY continued change he holds the
attention. The interest does not flag. He
does not allow himself to be anticipated.
He is always in advance, He does not re-
| peat himself A picture is shown but
once. So an orator should avoid the COM
monplace There should be no stufflng, no
| filling. He should put no cotton with his
| silk, no common metals with his gold. He
| should remember that "gilded dust Is not
as good as busted gold" The great ora
tor is honest, sincere He does not pretend
His brain and heart go together. Nothing
| IL forced. He knows exactly what he
wishes TO do-knows when he has finished
| IL, and stops.
| 'Only great orator knows when and
| how to close. Most speakers go on after
| they are through. They are satisfied
| only with lame and impotent
conclusion Most speakers lack va
riety. The great orator is full
| of episode. He convinces and charms
| by indirection. He leaves the road, visits
| the fields, wanders In the woods, listens to
| The murmurs of springs, the songs of birds.
He gathers flowers, scales the crags and
comes back to the highway refreshed, in
! vigorated. He does not move In a straight
| line. He wanders and winds like stream.
| "Of course no one can tell man what TO
| do to become an orator The great orator
has that wonderful thing called presence.
| He has the strange something known as
| magnetism. He must have a flexible, must
cal voice, capable of expressing the pathet-
| ic the humorous, the heroic. His body
must move in unison with his thought lie
must be a reasoner, a logician. He must
| have a keen sense of humor--of The laugh
| able. He must have wit, sharp and quick.
| He must have sympathy. His smiles should
be the neghbors of his tears. He must
have Imagination. He should give eagles
to the air, and painted moths should fiutter
In the sunlight.
while 1 can not tell a man what to do
to become an orator, l can tell him few
things not to do.
There should be no introduction 10 an
grafton. The orator should commence
with his subject. There should he no pre-
"a M
ton. He should say nothing about him.
self Like a sculptor he stands by his
block of stone. Every stroke Is for pur-
pose AS he works the form begins 10
appear. When the statue is finished the
workman stops. Nothing is more difficult
than 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 blossom, the fruit. No delay. A
great speech Is a capitalization IN It's log
ic, an eflorescence in its poetry"
"Can YOU give a few Illustrations
drawn from your own experience and OBJ
servation of public speakers"
wei, to tell you the TRUTH" reJoined
Col. Ingersoll, Il have not heard many
speeches. Most OF the great speakers IN
our country were before my time.
heard Beecher, and he was an orator. lie
had Imagination, hunor and intensity. His
brain was as fertile as the valleys OF the
tropics. He was too broad, too philosophic
too poetic for the pulpit.
Now and then he broke the letters o.
his creed, escaped from his orthodox pri-
son and became sublime.
"rbeodore Parker was an orator. H'
preached great sermons. His sermons or
'Old Age and Webster and his addres.
ON Liberty were filled with grea
thoughts. marvelousy expressed. Wher
he dealt with human events, with realities
with things he knew he was superb. Wher
he spoke of freedom, OF duty, OF living L
the IDEAL, Of mental integrity. he seemed
, inspired
webster, never beard. He had grea
qualities; force, dignity, clearness, gran
} deur: but after all, ne worshlpped III
past He kept his back 20 the sunrise
There was no dawn in his brain. He wat
not. creative He had no spirit Of proph
ecy. He lighted no torcn. lie was 10
true to his IDEAL. He talked sometimes e.
though his head was among the stars. bu
he stood in the gutter. In the name OF re
ligion he tried 10 break the will OF Step1ei
Girard-to destroy the greatest charity Il
all the world; and IN the name OF the SAM