The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1913-09-02

~ IN III ttALt.- EL
and education. in social life. in ~
and in religion. We are ~
ing to inculcate the doctrine OF peara
and hope hat President WilSor
peace plan will end toward the do,rr
away Of war and the promotion ~ =
ternational friendship and love
despair II giving you the impr.e-
sion tina Mr.. Byan's converSat,-
makes upon one with whom he ,al..
face to face. His c-ountenance X ia
a benediction, and his voice is So me-
low and sweet. The sentences com.
forth SO beautifully rounded that thy
make you think Of a Plate
engraving. At one point in the con.
versatiOn I involuntarily said
You certainly can say things bean
tifully.'
Il do not like that word beaut
full replied Mr.. Bryan. Il wol1.
rather ave you say that l speak fof.
bly, and clearly. l think clearnesS a.,
statement is the most important thin.
in oratory, and it is that at which
have always aimed. and tried L. II
tain. ] remember Of making a speech
upon the tariff now more than twent,
years ago, at the close Of which a MAJ
came up and said: NJ BRYAN
have been anxious to hear You. You
are not as eloquent as l had expected
but you made that subject as clear as
it could be made. At the same meet
ing another man said: Why. a man
could understand that speech II ne
| could not read or write. | consider
| those two remarks a greater compH-
ment than any l could have had ~ to
elegance of dictiOn."
when did you first realize that
c~learness was the chief element OF
successful oratory?"
Il do not know. I suppose il nat
urally came through my study Of my
audiences in my long career as a
speaker. l hav beer speaking more
or less all my life. do not believe
that the orator is born rather than
self-made. Birth is but the smallest
part OF his equipment. Good speak
ing comes from study, hard work and
practice. You have got to know what
you m talking about and you must
mean what o say. II you do not
know a thing you cannot tell il, and
if o dc no believe it and feel il in
your heart o canno make anybody
else feel or believe it. You must
state things clearly in order to have
men understand you. and next to
clearness of statements, you need con
ciseness of statements: that is of say
ing much in a few words"
I here asked whether originality
Al op>NA III +
saying that man muGt have new ideas
In order to impress the public.
We'll, as to that" replied Mr.. Bry-
an, there are not many ideas that We
Of the present time can claim as abso-
lutely our own. Mankind has done a
lot of thinking since the creation, and
if you will rae you concepts back
Ito the beginning you will find the
germs Of most Of them somewhere or
other. The number Of really new ideas
is not large, although the number Of
; applications OF an idea IS infinite. A
large part of the oratory Of the pres
ent IS the application Of the wisdom oi
!, the past to the conditions Of the pres
ent."
) AS We talked about o~ratory / refer
red to the many speeches Mr.. BryaT
, had made, showing him a statemen
! that he had made 500 speeches II
) 1896, had addressed 800 900 people il
r 1897 and had altogether spoken Il
3 more than three millions, face to face
: within the past sixteen years. AS h
looked at the paper l said: Il sup
s pose you have addressed more peopl
than any man who has ever lived
r Yes, l think that is likely true,
Y was the reply. 1T is certain that If
nave spoken to more persons than an.
t man now living l AVE spoken to NOR
than any man dead, because the fur
/ ther back o go the fewer the crowd
and the more difficult the travel. Il
no previous time could a man hav
a Travelled SO much az | have"
d Il have been told that you hav
made $4,000 a a by your lecture
That is not true. I nave receive
e a great deal, but not so much as tina
would say, however, that ] hav
l. made more speeches for nothing tina
y l nave Tor pay. l do not receive pa
Tor political speeches, and my Sunda
u speeches, except at chautauQuas, al
o iTee- 90 not think that money mai
ing Is the chief end Of man"
But. Mr.. Bryan, do you think or
n man can earn $500 a year,"
, Yes. And in this lam not speakir
Re OF myself. but I do think tina we ha'
e many men who have earned mo-
q tnan 100000 during every year
Re their working lives. A man can hol
ie eSuy earn what his services are wor'
liz TO SnC1efV hat, - 1900 o1nG