CHAPTER XV

DIVISIONS OF THE SPEECH

The usual divisions of a speech are: 1. The Introduction. 2. The Discussion, or Statement of Facts. 3. The Conclusion, or Peroration.

THE INTRODUCTION

This is a difficult and critical part of a discourse. The immediate object of the speaker should be to gain the attention and good will of the audience. To this end he will begin modestly and with something familiar or acceptable to them. The language and style should be plain, direct and deliberate. While the attitude of the speaker should be deferential, it must be remembered that "nerve" and self-confidence are essential to success.

Dr. Russell H. Conwell suggests three desirable ways in which to commence an address: 1. By anecdote, which places the speaker in a pleasant relationship with his audience. 2. By reference to the importance of the subject to the welfare of the audience, thereby creating an intense interest on the part of the audience who believe they are to receive a personal benefit. 3. By showing personal interest in the success of the audience, which awakens, reciprocally, the interest and sympathy of the audience toward the speaker.

The following introductions, taken from speeches of recognized merit, will repay careful study and analysis:

1. First of all, fellow citizens, I pray that God may inspire in your hearts on this occasion the same impartial good will toward me that I have always felt for Athens. and for every one of you. In His name, in the name of your religion and your honor, I ask that you will not let my opponent decide the way in which I shall be heard-I am sure you will not be so cruel!—but remember the laws and your oath, which, among the many obligations imposed upon you, require that you hear both sides alike. Not only must you not condemn beforehand, not only must you listen with impartial ear to accuser and accused, but to each you must allow perfect freedom in the conduct of his case.

Eschines has many advantages over me in this trial, fellow citizens, and two especially. First of all, our stake is not the same. It is a far more serious matter for me to lose your esteem than for my adversary not to succeed in making out his case. For me but I will not allow myself to begin by making an unlucky forecast. For him, however, it is merely a game.

"The Oration on the Crown."

DEMOSTHENES.

2. MR. PRESIDENT:-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. Let us imitate this prudence, and, before we float farther on the waves of this debate, refer to the point from which we departed, that we may at least be able to conjecture where we now are.

"The Reply to Hayne."

WEBSTER.

3. "There was a South of slavery and secession-that South is dead. There is a South of union and freedom-that South, thank God, is living, breathing, growing every hour." These words, delivered from the immortal lips of Benjamin H. Hill, at Tammany Hall, in 1866, true then, and truer now, I shall make my text to-night.

Mr. President and Gentlemen: Let me express to you my appreciation of the kindness by which I am permitted to address

you. I make this abrupt acknowledgment advisedly, for I feel that if, when I raised my provincial voice in this ancient and august presence, I could find courage for no more than the opening sentence, it would be well if, in that sentence, I had met in a rough sense my obligation as a guest, and had perished, so to speak, with courtesy on my lips and grace in my heart.

Permitted, through your kindness, to catch my second wind, let me say that I appreciate the significance of being the first Southerner to speak at this board, which bears the substance, if it surpasses the semblance of original New England hospitality, and honors a sentiment that in turn honors you, but in which my personality is lost and the compliment to my people made plain.

"The New South."

HENRY W. GRADY.

4. GENTLEMEN OF THE JURY:-Mr. Kenyon having informed the court that we propose to call no other witnesses, it is now my duty to address myself to you as counsel for the noble prisoner at the bar, the whole evidence being closed. I use the word closed, because it certainly is not finished, since I have been obliged to leave the seat in which I sat, to disentangle myself from the volumes of men's names, which lay there under my feet, whose testimony, had it been necessary for the defense, would have confirmed all the facts that are already in evidence before you.

"Defense of Lord Gordon."

LORD ERSKINE.

5. FELLOW COUNTRYMEN:-At this second appearing to take the oath of the presidential office there is less occasion for an extended address than there was at the first. Then a statement, somewhat in detail, of a course to be pursued, seemed fitting and proper. Now, at the expiration of four years, during which public declarations have been constantly called forth on every point and phase of the great contest which still absorbs the attention and engrosses the energies of the nation, little that is new could be presented.

"Second Inaugural Address."

ABRAHAM LINCOLN.

6. For more than twenty-five years I have been made perfectly familiar with popular assemblies in all parts of my country except the extreme South. There has not for the whole of that time been a single day of my life when it would have been safe for me to go south of Mason and Dixon's line in my own country, and all for one reason: my solemn, earnest, persistent testimony against that which I consider to be the most atrocious thing under the sun-the system of American slavery in a great free republic. [Cheers.] I have passed through that early period when right of free speech was denied to me. Again and again I have attempted to address audiences that, for no other crime than that of free speech, visited me with all manner of contumelious epithets; and now since I have been in England, altho I have met with greater kindness and courtesy on the part of most than I deserved, yet, on the other hand, I perceive that the Southern influence prevails to some extent in England. [Applause and uproar.] It is my old acquaintance; I understand it perfectly-[laughter]-and I have always held it to be an unfailing truth that where a man had a cause that would bear examination he was perfectly willing to have it spoken about. [Applause.] And when in Manchester I saw those huge placards: "Who is Henry Ward Beecher ?"-[laughter, cries of "Quite right," and applause]-and when in Liverpool I was told that there were those blood-red placards, purporting to say what Henry Ward Beecher had said, and calling upon Englishmen to suppress free speech-I tell you what I thought. I thought simply this: "I am glad of it." [Laughter.] Why? Because if they had felt perfectly secure that you are the minions of the South and the slaves of slavery, they would have been perfectly still. [Applause and uproar.] [Applause and uproar.] And, therefore, when I saw so much nervous apprehension that, if I were permitted to speak-[hisses and applause]-when I found they were afraid to have me speak-[hisses, laughter, and "No, no!"] —when I found that they considered my speaking damaging to their cause [applause]-when I found that they appealed from facts and reasonings to mob law-[applause and uproar]—I said, no man need tell me what the heart and secret counsel of these men are. They tremble and are afraid. [Applause, laughter, hisses, "No, no!"] Now, personally, it is a matter of very lit

tle consequence to me whether I speak here to-night or not. [Laughter and cheers.] But, one thing is very certain, if you do permit me to speak here to-night you will hear very plain talking. [Applause and hisses.] You will not find a man-[interruption]-you will not find me to be a man that dared to speak about Great Britain three thousand miles off, and then is afraid to speak to Great Britain when he stands on her shores. [Immense applause and hisses.] And if I do not mistake the tone and temper of Englishmen, they had rather have a man who opposes them in a manly way-[applause from all parts of the hall]—than a sneak that agrees with them in an unmanly way. [Applause and "Bravo!"] Now, if I can NOT carry you with me by facts and sound arguments, I DO NOT WISH YOU TO GO WITH ME AT ALL; and all that I ask is simply FAIR PLAY. [Applause, and a voice: "You shall have it, too."] "Liverpool Speech."

HENRY WARD BEECHER.

THE DISCUSSION, OR STATEMENT OF FACTS

This is the main portion of an address and should be marked throughout by sound logic and common sense. It is well for the speaker to begin with facts that are familiar to the audience, then they will more readily follow his leadership into new and uncertain fields of inquiry.

The essential elements to be observed are unity, order, movement. By unity is meant singleness of idea and freedom from unnecessary digression. There must be an intelligent order throughout, to give clearness to the spoken word. There must also be movement, or development, that the speech may make progress and bring the hearer to his destination. This is the very life of discourse, without which public speaking would be both uninteresting and unprofitable.

Iteration, the repetition of a word or phrase, if not overdone, may frequently add force and clearness to a speech.