The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-02
IN REMINISCENT VEIN.
Decadence of Oratory-What COnsti-
tuteS Effective Public Speaking.

L. P. Root in New York Post.
Some weeks ago | sat with my friend
the lawyer, before the blazing logs on the
study hearth talking of orators and ora
tory. In the course of the converse ton
l remarked that no such effects were now
produced in popular assemblies as followed
the speeches of Brougham, Sheridan,
Fox Clay. aud Webster.
AS 10 that" replied my legal friend
you are oounfounding effect with cause
The tremendous power OF such addresses
as you have in mind really lies IN the I'M
pressionable and high wrought mood OF
the hearers. People commonly overlook
the fact tina, emotions go with the sympa-
thy and convictions of an audience. Great
sentences in notable speeches rarely thrill
the opposition benches"
This remark set me thinking. And /
began to recall some incidents which,
with an exception or two, have never
been recorded In print; incidents Illus
trating various phases of our smoke-talk
1t was my privilege to hear Tom Reeds
address to his Portland constituents jusS
after his fight against dilatory and fill
clustering tactics in Congress. City Hall
was filled with most enthusiast site Reed
following, and when the great rolling
body, the bullet head. and twinkling eyes
appeared upon the platform such a rear,
But with the frst sentence deadly silence
ensued. The speaker described most
graphically the stages of the battle paid
his characteristic compliments 10 the de-
mocracy, and then suddenly stopped
| full ten seconds. In a tone Of infinite
| testing, he began again: And when we
| cleared the decks for action" But the
orator proceeded no further. The tre
| mendous Implication conveyed in that one
phrase raised pandemonium. There were
bowls, cheers. cries. hats and canes in
air, waving handkerchiefs, with bedlam
blocking utterance for a good five min
utes. And when quiet was restored, every
man looked at his neighbor as much as
to say: What on earth set you off like
that" 1t is hard to answer that ques-
ton on psychological grounds. Was it
Tom Reed with his pat sentence, the emo
tional Mysteries of 1900 people, thought
vibration. or what? Daniel O'Connell
never provoked more frenzied outburst.
Now it is possibly true-as some plead
that there are no living orators OF the
type mentioned You do not find a giant
eight feet in hight in forty parades OF
fine troops. Nature occasionally breaks
a mould. And now and then che discovers
that marvellous eloQuence does not even
depend upon numbers for inspiration,
The statement may seem surprising. but
venture TO affirm that the late f. p.
bate on a noble topic could be as thor
| oughly eloquent before a handful of peo-
PIE as many famous orator. | shall
never forget a debate on the immortality
of the soul | cnce heard between Ingersoll
and Whipple. A few very well-known PEG
| pie. and some not known at ALL were
brought together by merest chance at a
small summer hotel on the Massachu-
sets coast. From the veranda we used
to watch the twilight merge slowly into
the glory of evening, and as the stars be-
gan to glow Ingersoll or Whipple would
start the discussion Ingersoll usually
threw down the gauntlet. Whipple inva-
riably answered "Adsum" to the chal-
lenge. Slight in stature. in appearance
the man of books, with glorious eyes that
burned or melted according to the mood
Whipple showed a keen lance at the
breastplate of his antagonist-and often
pierced. On this particular evening the
question of the immortality of the soul
was argued brilliantly. Whipple talked like
one inspired, as Coleridge might have
talked. minus his droning. The sparkle
of his wit was never kesn But Ingersol
rema ned obdurate in his determination
to ccncede no automatic truth OF human
experience. Suddenly. with the voice and
miln of man en- fire with intellectual
bun impersonal heat, Whlpple sprang
fro m his chair. his eyes blazing like twin
s ars, and fairly shouted: Thunder and
lightning Ingersoll! l can't pound an idea
into your head" The effect was irresisti-
bly, comical. A roar OF laughter followed
in which the Colonel heartily Joined. The
contrast between Whipple's old-fash oned
prim 'daleness Of manner and his uncon-
verlional TIN si CONFUSED the company.
Now IN the large view OF oratory this
quality con only be predicted of him who
strs the emotions of his auditors into
great pillows of sentiment. or clear-cut,
| incisive debate there is always sufficlen-
| Cy in most dellberative bodies. But he
who strikes deep to the very heart Of pub
| lie feeling in a single impassioned SEN
! tence. of epigrammatic pungency, is rare
| indeed. Take those memorable words from
| the speech of Henry Grattan, where he
laments the downfall of the Irish Parlin-
ment. Il stood by It's cradle; I followed
| its hearse! Could anything be fner7 But
| imagine these words spoken IN the pres
ence OF an unsympnthetic. fascinating as
sembly. Some might appreciate their
power and pathos, but the majority would
laugh at Grattan's peroration as a piece
| of fustian rhetoric. The line of demarca-
ton between cheers and jeers is emotional
| rather than reflective.
II Is also certain that the man who is
| capable OF the highest forensic eloquence
| will sometimes venture upon a thing that
would be q 1at-footed failure from the
| lips of n speaker of average ability Years
aso / heard William NJ Evarts respond for
his class Of the Yale alumni meeting The
| gathering that week was brilliant in the
extreme, The heart OF "Old F0li' has been
| stirred by fervid addresses of distinct con-
zrstulstory order. When Evarts came for
ward, what did he do but give an account
Of visi, he had made that morning TO a
show tent, where learned pig Was on