Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

around its predestined orbit. For three hundred years he has traveled amid the regions of infinite space. Lone, wandering, but not lost, he has left behind him. shining suns, blazing stars, and gleaming constellations; now nearer the eternal throne, and again on the confines of the universe, he returns, with visage radiant and benign; he returns with unimpeded march and unobstructed way; he returns, the majestic, swift, electric telegraph of the Almighty, bearing upon his flaming front the tidings that throughout the universe there is still peace and order; that amid the immeasurable dominions of the great King, His rule is still perfect; that suns and stars and systems tread their endless circle and obey the eternal law."

The practice of alluding to the creations of the imagination of the poet and the dramatist, and of borrowing freely from their best-known efforts to more fully explain and embellish the theme, is quite common, we might almost say universal. Like almost every grace of speech, it is liable to be carried to excess. The principal aim of the speaker should be to express his own thoughts in his own language; that is, in language which has been chosen according to the precepts herein laid down. The diligent pursuit of this object will soon develop into a habit, and the result in the end will be to leave the speaker in the command of a good vocabulary of his own. One of the main objections to the use of quotations and poetical allusions lies in the fact that the general reader is but little familiar with the great poets and

dramatists. His knowledge is usually of the most general nature, and this very want of knowledge raises suspicion in his mind as to the genuineness of the allusions. The passages, too, which are frequently quoted are mostly of the very highest type of excellence and for that reason above the general plane of the speech, which should possess a general uniformity in style and treatment. We would sug

gest, therefore, that selections should be brief and completely in point, and, above all, of passages that are perfectly familiar to the average intelligence, so that the allusion or quotation will be immediately understood. This is in accordance with the rule laid down by Cicero, viz., that we should speak from the common experience of life; that is, draw our language from sources ordinarily frequented by the mass of mankind. The proper use of allusion and quotation should be to develop more fully the thought of the speaker, by bringing it nearer to, instead of farther from, the comprehension of the hearer. The study of literature should not be for the purpose of drawing wholesale from its treasures when we are unable to fill the demand of the market, but to aid us in developing our own powers, by acquainting us with the use of literary tools and appliances. Let the allusion be pointed and the quotation short, resembling, rather, the scattering of flowers and garlands than the planting of entire gardens. The imaginative element should pervade the whole discourse like the fluids of the system

throughout the body, instead of being collected in one place and for one detached purpose.

We think this view is fully sustained by an examination of the great speeches of the world. We find few, if any, quotations in Clay, Chatham, Webster, Baker, or Prentiss. Burke particularly drew on his own imagination, and surpassed even the poet in the beauty and grandeur of his figures, in the excellence of his embellishments. There are not wanting speakers who indulge in copious extracts from the poets, but it is a practice not to be commended. The mere reference to the poetic thought is often much more effective than the quotation. Thus, Daniel Webster in the course of the Hayne contest said that while he might be possessed of some of that spirit that raised mortals to the skies, he yet possessed none of that other spirit which would drag angels down. This idea is taken from Dryden in his ode on Alexander's feast, and the reference to the thought is much better even than to have used the quotation.

CHAPTER V.

BEGINNING A SPEECH.-EXAMPLES FROM CELEBRATED SPEECHES.

[ocr errors]

WEBSTER.-LINCOLN.-CICERO.

THE trite saying that "a bad beginning makes a good ending, finds no support in the art of the orator. On the contrary, nothing adds so much to the point, pith, and effect of a speech as a good opening. It is this part of the effort which rivets the attention of the audience, and if the impression then made be favorable, it will go far towards securing the success and general reception of the whole.

That there should be a suitable exordium, introduction or preamble to the discourse is conceded by the greatest masters of the art, and examples are very numerous showing its necessity in actual experience. All great speeches are prefaced with some general observations showing either the speaker's appreciation of the solemnity of the occasion, the interest of the subject, or forecasting the line of argument to be pursued. Cicero not inaptly compares the preface of a speech to the portico of a temple or building. To carry the simile a little farther, it might be added that as the extent of the porch depends much upon the country in which the edifice is to be erected, so the limits of the intro( 137 )

[blocks in formation]

-duction to a speech will depend upon the temperament of the audience to be addressed. An earnest and eager assembly will demand an immediate entrance upon the theme, while a not over-zealous auditory may be indifferent as to the proportions of the introduction.

When a subject has been handled by a preceding speaker, who has, intentionally or otherwise, traveled over a wide extent of territory in the course of his argument, and touched upon a great variety of subjects, the minds of the listeners, in following the speaker, naturally lose sight of the original matter of discussion. They take their cue from the orator, and, not knowing the drift of the address beforehand, involuntarily follow wherever he leads. The most natural and proper course for the subsequent speaker to pursue is to recall their minds to the matter in hand, bring them back to the place whence they started, and show them when and where the errors of the prior disputant arose. We cannot better explain this matter than by giving the opening of the speech of Daniel Webster in his famous reply to Hayne, in the United States Senate, January 27, 1830, from which we have had to draw quite freely. Mr. Webster began as follows:

"When the mariner has been tossed for many days in thick weather and on an unknown sea, he naturally avails himself of the first pause in the storm, the earliest glance of the sun, to take his latitude and ascertain how far the elements have driven him from his true course.

« ZurückWeiter »