Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1899-11-11
Edmund Burke, Sheridan, Hen
ry Grattan, Philpot Curran
and Their Speeches.
Daniel O'Connell, the "First
Orator Of Europe" Whose
EIoquence Overcame All.
MEMORIES OF GLORY AND PATHOS.

The Irish are born orators and Ireland
stands proudly foremost among all the
countries Of the earth as being the mother
of orators whose names will 1--we as long
as the race itself. These men were
Graded in adversely, grew to manhood
under oppression, and their whole lives
were long cry against injustice and per-
sccution. Their voices were attuned to
defiant themes, and under these circum-
stances their eloquence found vent, an
eioouence which to this day appeals to
human sympathies and finds an echo in
the human he1rt Take the name OF
every Irish orator and you will lind that
all their eloquence had but one object
their country and her welfare-and one
might say was so much incense, so many
burnt offerings laid upon the altar OF
their country. And who were Ireland's
greatest orators3 naturally first mention
EDMUND BURKE.
He was greater thinker thar either Fox
or Chairman, though inferior to them
in declamatory skill. He ranks not
merely with the eloquent speakers OF the
world, bnt with the Bacons and the
Shakespeare. In the variety and extent
of his powers, as an orator, statesman
and a debater, he surpassed every other
man of ancient or modern times. His
speeches and pamphlets are saturated
with thought; they swarm with ideas.
Probably no orator ever lived on whose
lips language was more plastic and due
tile. His speeches abound with the most
solid and brilliant eloquepce, argumenta-
tive. emotional and descriptive; in fact,
there is hardly any species OF oratoricai
excellence which may not be found IN
heaped up profusion in them. With an
imperial fancy that laid all nature under
tribute. he gave utterance to his magni-
ficent conceptions unfortunately in sort
of lofty shrill cry, with awkward manner
and gestures, which tended much to
empty the benches and disperse the men,
hers of the House who read next day
with admiration and delight what they
refused to hear the night before.
One of the finest specimens OF his elo-
oueuce is the famous passage in his
speech upon the Nabob of Arcot's debts
in which he describes the descent OF
Hyder Ali upon the Carnatic. To read
this is never to forget it, 1.-THE black
cloud" into which Hyder Ali "coni-
bounded all the materials OF fury, havoc
and desolation, which hung for while on
the declivities Of the mountains" the
"storm OF universal fire that blasted the
land" the prisoners developed in
whirlwind of cavalry" the people in beg
gary nation that stretched out Its
hands for food, 'the impious vow Of
Hvder Ali and his yet more ferocious
SON" so completely carried out that wher
the British army traversed the CarnatiC
for hundreds of miles in all directions
:. through the whole line of their march
did net see one man. not one child, mol
one four-footed beast Of any description
rhateyer. universal silence reigned ovel
the whole region" The best proof o.
the vividness and intensity Of this pas
sage which 1 could not quote in full, Il
the fact hackneyed as Il is, no peraon o.
seusibility can read 1t without tnglinl
of the blood In every vein. II is sale
that during the trial Of Warren Hasting
In Westminster Hall. when Burke, will
an imagination almost as oriental as IN
scenes he depicted, described IN word
that viii live as long as the English Ian
guage, the cruelties inflicted upon tn
natives by Debi Sing, one Of Hastings
agents. q consulsive shudder ran through
The whole assembly. Indignation an'
rexs filed the breasts OF his hearers
some 81 the ladies swoonei. and Iiasiine
himself, though he had protested hi
lnnocenoe, VAS overwhelmed with ~
mosse. nsionlnhment and terror. IN con
clndlng hls speech, which iarted fou
days and 10 possibly the greatest on
ever dellsed.~hF. Burke ended with
nsrossllon more majestic, imposlng an
impressive siaa any other 10 b. found !
III folsnelc praspry. u VS. ~ appfopn
sls snalng IL shs MAI q esss that lss'
~ .sssn yssfa. and sqrh pas ~ sne'
fhal ~. kurke llmefll dropped he hto
ul.ta III handa. and uETfsilrlned eopein
80 hsafd fhfonRl,en, lhf feli endlfne'
n i a|tIrali ~ farm . nl' efanlcn ~
xnfDlptn,
contemporary a Nplkfr' hffan'
- h.4. 49, a124Nalf lpfg1f lIT&4fFt