Part 3 (1/2)
As you examine this speech you will notice that the speaker himself was moved by deep conviction. His own belief stamped itself upon his words, and throughout there is the unmistakable mark of sincerity.
You are impressed by the comprehensive treatment of the subject. The orator here speaks out of a full mind, and you feel that you would confidently trust yourself to his leaders.h.i.+p.
”When we reflect on what has been and what is, how is it possible not to feel a profound sense of the responsibilities of this Republic to all future ages? What vast motives press upon us for lofty efforts! What brilliant prospects invite our enthusiasm! What solemn warnings at once demand our vigilance and moderate our confidence! The Old World has already revealed to us, in its unsealed books, the beginning and the end of all marvelous struggles in the cause of liberty.
”Greece! lovely Greece! 'the land of scholars and the nurse of arms,'
where sister republics, in fair processions chanted the praise of liberty and the good, where and what is she? For two thousand years the oppressors have bound her to the earth. Her arts are no more. The last sad relics of her temples are but the barracks of a ruthless soldiery; the fragments of her columns and her palaces are in the dust, yet beautiful in ruins.
”She fell not when the mighty were upon her. Her sons united at Thermopylae and Marathon; and the tide of her triumph rolled back upon the h.e.l.lespont. She was conquered by her own factions--she fell by the hands of her own people. The man of Macedonia did not the work of destruction. It was already done by her own corruptions, banishments, and dissensions. Rome! whose eagles glanced in the rising and setting sun, where and what is she! The Eternal City yet remains, proud even in her desolation, n.o.ble in her decline, venerable in the majesty of religion, and calm as in the composure of death.
”The malaria has but traveled in the parts won by the destroyers. More than eighteen centuries have mourned over the loss of the empire. A mortal disease was upon her before Caesar had crossed the Rubicon; and Brutus did not restore her health by the deep probings of the senate-chamber. The Goths, and Vandals, and Huns, the swarms of the North, completed only what was begun at home. Romans betrayed Rome. The legions were bought and sold, but the people offered the tribute-money.
”And where are the republics of modern times, which cl.u.s.ter around immortal Italy? Venice and Genoa exist but in name. The Alps, indeed, look down upon the brave and peaceful Swiss in their native fastnesses; but the guaranty of their freedom is in their weakness, and not in their strength. The mountains are not easily crossed, and the valleys are not easily retained.
”When the invader comes, he moves like an avalanche, carrying destruction in his path. The peasantry sink before him. The country, too, is too poor for plunder, and too rough for a valuable conquest.
Nature presents her eternal barrier on every side, to check the wantonness of ambition. And Switzerland remains with her simple inst.i.tutions, a military road to climates scarcely worth a permanent possession, and protected by the jealousy of her neighbors.
”We stand the latest, and if we fall, probably the last experiment of self-government by the people. We have begun it under circ.u.mstances of the most auspicious nature. We are in the vigor of youth. Our growth has never been checked by the oppression of tyranny. Our Const.i.tutions never have been enfeebled by the vice or the luxuries of the world. Such as we are, we have been from the beginning: simple, hardy, intelligent, accustomed to self-government and self-respect.
”The Atlantic rolls between us and a formidable foe. Within our own territory, stretching through many degrees of lat.i.tude, we have the choice of many products, and many means of independence. The government is mild. The press is free. Religion is free. Knowledge reaches, or may reach every home. What fairer prospects of success could be presented?
What means more adequate to accomplish the sublime end? What more is necessary than for the people to preserve what they themselves have created?
”Already has the age caught the spirit of our inst.i.tutions. It has already ascended the Andes, and snuffed the breezes of both oceans. It has infused itself into the life-blood of Europe, and warmed the sunny plains of France and the lowlands of Holland. It has touched the philosophy of Germany and the North, and, moving onward to the South, has opened to Greece the lesson of her better days.
”Can it be that America under such circ.u.mstances should betray herself?
That she is to be added to the catalog of republics, the inscription upon whose ruin is, 'They were but they are not!' Forbid it, my countrymen! forbid it, Heaven! I call upon you, fathers, by the shades of your ancestors, by the dear ashes which repose in this precious soil, by all you are, and all you hope to be, resist every attempt to fetter your consciences, or smother your public schools, or extinguish your system of public instruction.
”I call upon you, mothers, by that which never fails in woman, the love of your offspring, to teach them as they climb your knees or lean on your bosoms, the blessings of liberty. Swear them at the altar, as with their baptismal vows, to be true to their country, and never forsake her. I call upon you, young men, to remember whose sons you are--whose inheritance you possess. Life can never be too short, which brings nothing but disgrace and oppression. Death never comes too soon, if necessary, in defense of the liberties of our country.”
You can advantageously read aloud many times a speech like the foregoing. Stand up and read it aloud once a day for a month, and you will be conscious of a distinct improvement in your own command of persuasive speech.
_W. J. Fox_
The following is a specimen of masterly oratorical style, from a sermon preached in London, England, by W. J. Fox:
”From the dawn of intellect and freedom Greece has been a watchword on the earth. There rose the social spirit to soften and refine her chosen race, and shelter as in a nest her gentleness from the rus.h.i.+ng storm of barbarism; there liberty first built her mountain throne, first called the waves her own, and shouted across them a proud defiance to despotism's banded myriads, there the arts and graces danced around humanity, and stored man's home with comforts, and strewed his path with roses, and bound his brows with myrtle, and fas.h.i.+oned for him the breathing statue, and summoned him to temples of snowy marble, and charmed his senses with all forms of eloquence, and threw over his final sleep their veil of loveliness; there sprung poetry, like their own fabled G.o.ddess, mature at once from the teeming intellect, gilt with arts and armour that defy the a.s.saults of time and subdue the heart of man; there matchless orators gave the world a model of perfect eloquence, the soul the instrument on which they played, and every pa.s.sion of our nature but a tone which the master's touch called forth at will; there lived and taught the philosophers of bower and porch, of pride and pleasure, of deep speculation, and of useful action, who developed all the acuteness and refinement, and excursiveness, and energy of mind, and were the glory of their country when their country was the glory of the earth.”
_William McKinley_
An eloquent speech, worthy of close study, is that of William McKinley on ”The Characteristics of Was.h.i.+ngton.” As you read it aloud, note the short, clear-cut sentences used in the introduction. Observe how the long sentence at the third paragraph gives the needed variation.
Carefully study the compact English style, and the use of forceful expressions of the speaker, as ”He blazed the path to liberty.”
”Fellow Citizens:--There is a peculiar and tender sentiment connected with this memorial. It expresses not only the grat.i.tude and reverence of the living, but is a testimonial of affection and homage from the dead.
”The comrades of Was.h.i.+ngton projected this monument. Their love inspired it. Their contributions helped to build it. Past and present share in its completion, and future generations will profit by its lessons. To partic.i.p.ate in the dedication of such a monument is a rare and precious privilege. Every monument to Was.h.i.+ngton is a tribute to patriotism.
Every shaft and statue to his memory helps to inculcate love of country, encourage loyalty, and establish a better citizens.h.i.+p. G.o.d bless every undertaking which revives patriotism and rebukes the indifferent and lawless! A critical study of Was.h.i.+ngton's career only enhances our estimation of his vast and varied abilities.