New-York tribune., 1911-03-18
ORATORY
Some Famous English Political
Speeches.
FAMOUS SPEECHES. Selected and Ed
itod. with Introductory Notes. by Hei :
bert Paul svo. Pr. xiv, is. BOSTON,
Little, Brown & co.

FAMOUS SPEECHES. Selected and 10 70
itod. with Introductory Notes. by Her
bert Paul. svo. Pr xiv. i5s Boston:
Little. Brown & co.
There are many collections Of famous
orations. covering the widest of possible
miscellaneous fields and "A vast stretch
Of time. They rarely carry the repre-
sentation of the art further back than
the days of Cicero and Demosthenes. and
this point OF departure gives them. In
view of this era of representative gov
ornment n quite understandable bias
toward political speech making. II Is
this class of oratory that is exclusively
represented in Mr.. Pauls collection.
Parliamentary government" he says.
lis government by speaking" and he
continues to analyze the influence this
particular function of eloquence has had
upon the development of its form In
England:
Political oratory is profoundly colored by
the fact that public men In office, and pub
lie men out of ii, are constantly arguing
questions Of policy from the administrative
point OF view. Ii Is obvious that system
of this kind trains the logical as we'll as
the rhetorical faculties. and also gives a
turn 10 political controversy which II would
not otherwise possess. Both In Parliament
and on the platform there is constant APP
peal to public opinion. Moreover. IL
is usually the aim or one speaker TO an,
swer another Thus the whole trend and
shape OF rhetoric In this country are forced
into debate. English speeches cannot be
compared or understood If they are treated
merely as rhetorical exercises, or Isolated
attempts.
Within the scope OF English political
oratory thus laid down there Is ample
room for different methods OF attaining
the desired end, for oratorical devices
and tricks, for exalted fights OF pure
eloquence, for irony, humor. and sober
logical directness, the merit OF the
speech being, however, subject 10 ap-
probation according to its results as
much as TO its intrinsic beauty or power
Some Of the most effective speakers in
Parliament, Mr.. Paul points out, have
been far from eloquent in the rhetorical
sense Of the word. Sir Robert Walpole
for instance. and Peel-his selection has
been made in the main with an eye to
the combination Of logic with rhetoric.
1t is. indeed. capital and truly rep
rcsentative collection that he offers us.
in speakers and speeches. Cromwell
leads, Sir Robert Walpole follows him
with his address that defeated the peer
age bill I'm the House Of Commons, Dc
cember s. 1919. an effort typical of his
shrewd worldly knowledge and argu-
mentative and debative power. 1t were
too long TO print here this books COM
plete table Of contents, but 1t may be
worth while mentioning that IL includes
the elder Pitt on the right to tax Amer
lea. Burke on conciliation with America,
the younger Pitt and .Grattan on Roman
Catholic emancipation, Sheridan on the
trial Of Hastings. Daniel OConnell on
the state of Ireland. Golden on free
trade. Disraeli on the Berlin treaty, John
Bright on Russia and the negotiations at
Vienna in 1870, and Gladstone's great
speech on the Eastern Question. on May
!, 1871 A representative collection. in
deed provided by the editor with
series of most useful brief introductions
on the speakers, the occasion and pur-
pose Of their speeches, and the chara cter-
istics Of their oratory.
Mr.. Paul has included one American
orator, Abraham Lincoln. selecting his
Gettysburg address and that made on
the occasion of his second inauguration.
1t is not in a critical spirit that one re-
grets since the editor saw fit thus to
extend the scope of his book that he has
not gone further. and given our political
oratory representation through some Of
the great speakers Of our revolutionary
period, and of the prolific days that fol-
lowed it down to the outbreak Of the
irrepressible conflict. A book OF Ameri-
can famous speeches. selected on the
same principle as this Of English ones
and edited with the same care and
knowledge, would, one imagines, be not
superhuous addition to our library Of
native oratory.