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Homer is still Homer, and the same may be said of Demosthenes, Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon. They were pioneers in regions of thought that still engage the understanding of men. These authors should be known, if possible, not with that degree of accuracy that would be required of a teacher, but generally; the student should have a good conception of their characters. So in art. Much of it has perished, but enough of it remains to show what manner of men there was in those days. From the graceful column we can form an idea of the beautiful temple to which it belonged. We can feel that Demosthenes spoke to an audience of artists, of architects and builders, men accustomed to forms of beauty. These things afford not only a store of knowledge which it is well to have at hand, but they serve frequently to inspire eloquence, the very thing we are seeking. The orator is often called upon to draw comparisons, admonish against errors in life, in habits, against political corruption. Where can he point but to history? He draws his inspiration from the past. True principles of conduct, public or private, were the same then as now. The only difficulty lay in discovering them and applying them when found.

There are many lessons to be found in Roman history. From Rome we have much of our civil law, to say nothing of her master spirits in war, in literature, in discovery, in conquest, in philosophy; many of her great battles, civil commotions, in

trigues, and intestine troubles, we can and do forget. But the grand outlines and the great characters we should remember. Her religion, for instance, has entirely passed away. We still have her Coliseum, her Virgil, her Horace, her Cæsar, her Cato, her Cicero, her Brutus. What was poetry and eloquence then is poetry and eloquence to-day. Then there is Egypt with her pyramids, Persia and Media, and last but not least, Palestine, each with its offering to inspire good and wholesome eloquence. It is in this sense that Cicero describes history as "the witness of past ages, the light of truth, the life of memory, the guide of life, and the messenger of antiquity."

It is not the history of the ancients alone that should claim attention; that of more recent times is full of interest. All our modern governments are products of medieval ages. There was a long formative period between the disintegration of the Roman Empire and our present leading nations; it is one that deserves special study. Our own country above all has an interesting page for the stud nt. Her form of government is peculiar and demands the greatest attention. Nothing similar to it has ever been tried. Our peculiar relations to Great Britain at the time of the Revolutionary War, our history from that time to this, the unhappy Civil War and the causes that led to it, are matters of much more importance and interest than many things usually given to the student in the course of

his education. From the debates between Randolph, Clay and Calhoun on the tariff, Webster and Hayne on the domestic relations of the States, and Lincoln and Douglas on the status of the negro, discussions which for keenness of logic, elevation of sentiment, fertility of expression, and all the graces of elocution, will compare with any efforts in ancient or modern times-from these contests the American student will readily perceive that no more interesting themes for the display of his art can be found than in his own country.

A few words may be said as to the study of the Latin and Greek languages. Is a knowledge of them necessary to the orator? Much argument may be advanced on both side of the question. One thing we know, and that is, they contain the very best models of the art. The time and labor it requires to obtain a knowledge of them cannot but be of great advantage to the student. It demands great care to acquire it, and it affords excellent practice to be able to translate them into good English. Nothing can be more beneficial, and hence their study must be commended. Orators there have been who knew but little of the ancient classics, but they are exceptions. There are also other fine specimens which may be adopted in their place. If time will permit, however, the classics should be studied; if not, the next best thing should be done, and that is to spend much time in careful composition.

Among the things which should enter into and form a part of the education of the orator no subject is of greater importance than literature. We will have much to say of this under the head of language. In its literature a nation lives and transmits its image from one generation to another. In it is embodied the motives, the passions, the inspirations, the feelings, the hopes, the lights and shades of mankind in their progress through the ages. What we know of Greec and Rome we obtain from their literature.

The Bible stands pre-eminent as a book to be carefully studied. Aside from its theological value, it has a wealth of rhetorical lore that enables one to illustrate every phase of life, every movement of the intellect, every aspiration of the soul. No work, either, is generally so well known. As we listen to its teachings from our childhood, we learn by heart its great lessons, and the illustrations of allegory, metaphor, and parable, by which those lessons are taught. A noted example of its value as an adjunct to public speaking is found in the debate between Lincoln and Douglas. In the leading speech of the former, he quoted that portion of Sacred Writ which says that a house divided against itself cannot stand (Mark 3:25). The orator alluded to the condition of the United States, divided into half slave and half free States. The advantage of the quotation consisted in its being well known and readily understood by those to whom it was ad

dressed, and it presented the idea of the orator in less words than it would have taken to express it in his own language. Another example will be found in a speech of Thomas Erskine in the celebrated case of Markham vs. Fawcett, an action for damages for the seduction of the plaintiff's wife by defendant. The seducer was the friend of the plaintiff, and as such had been a welcome guest to the house which he had dishonored. The orator, after endeavoring in eloquent terms to show the enormity of the offense on account of its being perpetrated by a friend instead of an enemy or a stranger, quoted with fine effect the scriptural language, as follows:

"It is not an enemy that hath done me this dishonor, for then I could have borne it. Neither was it mine adversary that did magnify himself against me; for then, peradventure, I would have hid myself from him. But it was thou, even thou, my companion, my guide, mine own familiar friend." Ps. 55:12, 13.

We might multiply examples to the same effect. Too frequent allusions to Scripture, of course, should not be made; one reason of which is that the sacred volume is daily expounded by the ministers of religion, and a too steady reference to its great texts would transform a speech into a sermon, two classes of oratory which are quite distinct.

Next to the Bible in range of thought, general adaptability to the expression of the various and varying interests and passions of mankind, are the

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