INTRODUCTION In the title of this little book the word forensic is used in its broadest sense. The exercises which have been chosen for practice in declamation have been taken mainly from the oratory of the forum. The chief sources of these selections are the debates of legislative bodies and deliberative assemblies, the special pleadings of the law court, of the hustings, and of the mass meeting, and the arguments of the political pamphlet and of the occasional address. All true oratory is persuasive. Public speaking which aims only to explain or to instruct does not deserve the name of oratory; but public speaking which not only convinces the intellect and shapes belief, but also arouses the emotions, stirs the soul, and influences conduct, is oratory of the truest type. True oratory, then, the art of convincing and persuading men, appeals both to the intellect and to the emotions. Its ultimate aim is to influence the thoughts and feelings and actions of men. This is certainly the most practical and useful sort of public speaking. That our schools and colleges have of late years come to recognize the importance of careful training in this kind of public speaking is only another sign of the strong practical tendency of modern education. In almost all our secondary schools and higher institutions of learning there has been a marked increase of intelligent interest in oratory and debate. Educators have been led to give special attention to training of this kind because they see that proficiency in practical public speaking is likely to be most immediately serviceable to young men if they are to take an active part in public affairs. The well-trained public speaker and the skillful debater are likely to be among the most useful and most influential members of any community. Before the student, however, takes up the more difficult work of composing orations and of participating in public debates, it is desirable that he should have some practice in the art of public speaking. In most high schools and colleges such preliminary practice usually takes the form of an exercise in declamation. In preparing for this exercise the difficult question that generally confronts the young student is, "Where shall I find a suitable piece to speak"? To meet the need of such students, this little book of eloquence has been compiled. The editor has aimed not only to furnish the student with suitable selections for declamation, but to bring together a large number of short speeches and orations which will serve as suggestive models for his subsequent work. |