The Washington herald., 1914-05-07
HISTORY BUILDERS.
Two Examples of Oratory Which Will
Endure.
Written expressly fo- The Herald.)
by DIR. 4. J. EDWARDS.


ny DIR. Z. J. EDWARDS.
In a recent communication made b.
James Bryce for publication and bearing
the high authority of his distinguish,
name and achievements. he said that h
regarded Gladstone, John Henry New
man. and John Ruskin as the three grea
masters OF the English tongue. Mr.
] Bryce did not include any American Ii
This pre-eminent list of masters of Eng
hsh. Yet the late Senator George F
\ Hoar was accustomed to speak OF Ed
/ ward Everett as one OF the masters O
English of the nineteenth century, and t.
assert that one OF the reasons why Ed
ward Everett had obtained this master,
was his habit of converting the classics
Latin and Greek-into English, doing tina
over and over again.
The late James C. Carter. who for thu
last twenty years OF his life was regarded
by many as the leader of the American
bar. said to me a year or two before his
! death that the United States had fur.
nished as many masters OF English In
the past fifty or sixty years as England
herself had done. He called to mind the
statement made by Rufus Choate many
Years ago:
The four great inteIlects and the four
masters OF the English tongue were Nil
49, ''hahtspthit' E.uInunC
Burke"
Mr.. Choate himself. Mr. Carter said
was wonderful master of the English
tongue. He had not only a capacity for
wonderful imagery and for peculiar and
Yet singularly appropriate metaphors. but
he had unique gift of so speaking that
II seemed as though speech oozed from
every pore Of his body.
Choate. l know. was a diligent student
81 the ancient classics. He never Der
United a day to close without having road
page or two of the Latin and Greek
authors. Yet the most careful ANALYSIS
will not detect the influence of these
classic writer's upon Mr.. Choate's speech.
His speech was himself. and that, Der
haps. Is the highest test of oratory II
there be the stimulus of great intellect.
l have long regarded Samuel J. -Tilden
as perhaps our greatest master of Eng
lish prose when utilized to express no.
htical thought. His style is clear and
crisp, and never detected anything lack
ing in his written style II was, however
a style that would be attractive to none
out lawyers or students OF political in
situations
l was once told by Sydney Webster that
Daniel Webster completely altered his
style after he had first served in the
Lower .iorse of Congress. His earlier
style was fiowery. He used long words.
subsequently he abandoned that style.
making choice of the short, Anglo-Saxon
words as far as possible. Mr.. webster.s
model was the King James translation of
the Book of Job
We have now two examples of oratory
by Americans which will become classic
In fact they have already become classic
One Is the peroration of James @. Blaine's
eulogy OF James A. Garfield and the other
Is Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address
These. / am sure. will be preserved for
future generations. and will be read by
them when everything that has been
written or spoken by Americans is un-
known. excepting possibly to scholars.
Copyright, 1914. by Dr. p. J. Edwards AL right,
reseryedl
Tomorrow DIR. Edwards Will tell Of
"a Senator'S Opinion of His Fellows
Powers"