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

We

We think this view is fully sustained by an examination of the great speeches of the world. 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.- -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 )

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.

Let us imitate this prudence, and before we float farther refer to the point from which we departed, that we may at least be able to conjecture where we now are.”

In like manner where a certain subject has been much discussed, as, for instance, that of slavery in this country just previous to the Civil War, then a speech might be begun the same way, even though there be no opposing adversary present. Such was the case with Abraham Lincoln in his celebrated speech at Springfield, June 9, 1858. Mr. Lincoln opened thus:

"If we could first know where we are and whither we are tending, we could better judge what to do and how to do it. We are now far into the fifth year since a policy was initiated with the avowed object and confident promise of putting an end to slavery agitation. Under the operation of that policy, that agitation has not only not ceased but has constantly augmented. In my opinion it will not cease till a crisis shall have been reached and passed. A house divided against itself cannot stand.' I believe that this government cannot endure permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the union to be dissolved, but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it and place it where the public mind will rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction, or its advocates will push it forward till it shall become alike lawful in all the states, old as well as new, north as well as south."

These will serve as samples, or guides, for the introduction of the speaker, as well as of the speech, to the audience; none better can be found. It may be remarked that they are brief, very brief indeed if we compare them with the able efforts which followed. This point should be carefully noted. It happens occasionally that a speaker will consume some very valuable time and waste a fine opportunity in telling his audience what he is going to say, instead of immediately proceeding to say it.

A good illustration of a suitable opening or introduction is to be found in the oration of Cicero in defense of a client named Aulus Cluentius Habitus. The Cluentian family had been involved in considerable litigation and domestic infelicity arising out of the machinations and ambitious designs of the mother, named Sassia. Sassia had married a man named Oppianicus, and there then arose a constant feud between Cicero's client, Cluentius, and his mother and stepfather. There were several lawsuits between them and charges of bribery were freely made. When the courts had decided one way, the other side immediately carried the matter before the people, and thus a large amount of scandal and prejudice was engendered. When the cause in which Cicero was engaged came on for trial, his first effort was to endeavor to remove this prejudice from the minds of the judges, so that they might receive an impression of the case as though it had been brought before the public for the first time. He did this in the following manner:--

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