Delaware gazette and state journal. (Wilmington, Del.) 1883-1902, 1901-11-21
aTHREE GREAT ORATIONS.'

DR.. N. O. Schaelfer. State Superin.
tendent OF Publ Q Education OF Penn.
sylvania, lectured before the Primary
Teachers Assoc alton Monday after
noon in the Willard Hall Grammar
School, Eighth and Adams streets. The
subject of the lecture was Three Great
Orations. " He said:
Last year some Of the schools cole
brated the anniversary Of these orHtions.
The first OF these was delivered in the
United States Senate. March ith, 1870,
the SO ond, three days later, the third,
on the 18th of March, the same year.
The first orat on was prepared BY John
e. Ca ihoun, but read by Colleague
beoa use Calhoun. or that day, could
not speak above whisper and came to
the Senate wrapped in flame s. he
died month later disappointed man.
let len years after his doctr ne was the
ayowed doctrine In the Southern States.
The second Of these orRtions--the
Seventh OF March Orationr was spoken
by Daniel Webster, greater orator
than Calhoun This GRAFTON is second
only to his Plymouth GRAFTON, but there
are some historians who claim the 7th
Of March az Webster's greatest spesch.
Everything that he advocated IN this
speech became law, and yet this
orat on lost the presidency for the
greatest of Amer lean orators. And the
third OF these orations lost for its
author the nres denpy of his country.
Who was the author? You think Of
Henry Clay, whose charm brought HIM
the greatest personal following Of his
time. His charming personality, his
magnetism made him almost irresisti-
BILE And yet this was not one of the
greatest ora.ions ever made. What con-
stitutes great grafton There must be
great audience, a great occasion, a
| great aud E;omentous question that
will stir the hearts OF the people. Cay
had all these essentials, but an orAtion
must have the announcement OF a great
truth and this Clay did not have.
Let me tell why Webster's Seventh
OF March Grafton lost him the piesi-
denoy. On! the question Of the ad
mission OF California to the lnion, he
said California and New Mexico are
free by nature and it is useless to re.
enact an ordinance o. nature The next
three national elections were a response
to this speech. His attitude toward the
Fugitive Slave law angered his party
and bis friends and he thus lost the
nomination in the Maryland convention.
The verdict o. history is that the heart
OF Webster beat Tor the Union. Be ore
Calhoun's speech Beeoher wrote ths
most famous editorial ever printed, IN
which he said that slavery and thit
Union could not exist together. Cal
houn agreed with him, but wanted &C
sacrifice the Union to the cause o.
slavery. He said four things must bt
done to accomplish this: First, the
South must take her 8 aves to newly
acquired Western territory; second,
there must he a Fugitive Slave law
third. the North must stop agitation
on the slavery question; fourth, Their,
must be an amendment to the Uonsti
tuition. Among his posthumous paper
1t was discovered that his idea for thu
amendment was tine election OF tive
Presidents, after the Roman custom o
: two c0nsus.
The author of tie third speech wa
William Ii. Seward Alter he delivered
it, Henry Clay declared that he hat
forfeited the resneot OF all American
whose respect was worth having. Tn
very thing that made that speech grea
lost him the presidency.
He declared that the Fugitive Slay
law must ba made less rigid IL it cou.'
be enforced. His doctrine OF Las
higher than the Constitution lost hin
the presidency, but 10 years later II be
came an amendment to the Constitution
During the last few years the doctrine
and arts Of war have been raised t
prominence. would like to emphasiz,
tine doctrines OF William Penn, to lear
to save men rather than to kill.
would have the great orations o
American history taught rs the grea
battles are,