be taken from the opening sentences of Burke's long Conclusion in his speech on Conciliation with the Colonies, when he contrasts his own policy with the plan of Lord North: Compare the two," he said. "This I offer to give you is plain and simple; the other full of perplexed and intricate mazes. This is mild; that harsh. This is found by experience effectual for its purposes; the other is a new project. This is universal; the other calculated for certain colonies only. This is immediate in its conciliatory operation; the other remote, contingent, full of hazard. Mine is what becomes the dignity of a ruling people — gratuitous, unconditional, and not held out as a matter of bargain and sale. I have done my duty in proposing it to you. I have indeed tired you by a long discourse; but this is the misfortune of those to whose influence nothing will be conceded, and who must win every inch of their ground by argument. You have heard me with goodness. May you decide with wisdom! "1 Conclusion by Simple Restatement of Points in One's Own Case. An excellent illustration of a simple restatement of points in one's own case may be found in the opening words of Webster's famous peroration in the White Murder Case: "Gentlemen," said Webster, "I have gone through with the evidence in this case, and have endeavored to state it plainly and fairly before you. I think there are conclusions to be drawn from it, the accuracy of which you cannot doubt. I think you cannot doubt that there was a conspiracy formed for the purpose of committing this murder, and who the conspirators were; that you cannot doubt that the Crown 1 Bradley, Orations and Arguments, pp. 68–69. inshields and the Knapps were the parties in the conspiracy; that you cannot doubt that the prisoner at the bar knew that the murder was to be done on the night of the 6th of April; that you cannot doubt that the murderers of Captain White were the suspicious persons seen in and about Brown Street on that night; that you cannot doubt that Richard Crowninshield was the perpetrator of that crime; that you cannot doubt that the prisoner at the bar was in Brown. Street on that night. If there, then it must be by agreement, to countenance, to aid the perpetrator. And if so, then he is guilty as principal." 1 Conclusion by Restatement of Points in a Periodic Sentence. An example of a conclusion by a restatement of points in a periodic sentence is found in Lord Chatham's conclusion to his first speech on American Affairs. "My Lords," he said, "to encourage and confirm that innate inclination of this country, founded on every principle of affection as well as consideration of interest; to restore that favorable disposition into a permanent and powerful reunion with this country; to revive the mutual strength of the empire; again to awe the house of Bourbon, instead of meanly truckling, as our present calamities compel us, to every insult of French caprice and Spanish punctilio; to reëstablish our commerce; to reassert our rights and our honor; to confirm our interests, and renew our glories forever a consummation most devoutly to be endeavored! and which, I trust, may yet arise from reconciliation with America — I have the honor of submitting to you the following amendment, which I move to be inserted after the two first paragraphs of the Address. . . 2 1 Shurter, Masterpieces of Modern Oratory, p. 127. Personal Conclusion Appended to the Summarizing Conclusion. An instance of a personal Conclusion appended to a summarizing Conclusion may be found in the final appeal of Seargeant S. Prentiss in his defense of Judge Wilkin son. Gentlemen of the Jury," said Prentiss, "I shall detain you no longer. It was, in fact, a matter of supererogation for me to address you at all, after the lucid and powerful exposition of the case which has been given by my respected friend, Col. Robertson. It was doubly so when it is considered that I am to be succeeded by a gentleman (Judge Rowan) who, better, perhaps than any other man living, can give you from his profound learning and experience, a just interpretation of the laws of your State; and in his own person a noble illustration of that proud and generous character which is a part of the birthright of a Kentuckian. It is true I had hoped, when the evidence was closed, that the commonwealth's attorney might have found it in accordance with his duty and his feelings to have entered at once a nolle prosequi. Could the genius of 'Old Kentucky' have spoken, such would have been her mandate. Blushing with shame at the inhospitable conduct of a portion of her sons, she would have hastened to make reparation. "Gentlemen:-Let her sentiments be spoken by you. Let your verdict take character from the noble State which you in part represent. Without leaving your box, announce to the world that here the defense of one's own person is no crime, and that the protection of a brother's life is the subject of approbation rather than of punishment. "Gentlemen of the Jury: I return you my most profound and sincere thanks for the kindness with which you have listened to me, a stranger, pleading the cause of strangers. Your generous and indulgent treatment I shall ever remember with the most grateful emotions. In full confidence that you, by your sense of humanity and justice, will supply the many defects in my feeble advocacy, I now resign into your hands the fate of my clients. As you shall do unto them, so, under like circumstances, may it be done unto you." Two other examples of personal conclusions that have never been surpassed for their eloquence in the oratory of the whole world may be taken from the speeches of Webster; one from his speech in the White Murder Case; and the other from his speech before the Supreme Court in the Dartmouth College Case. Webster concluded his appeal in the White Murder Case by saying: "Gentlemen, your whole concern should be to do your duty, and leave consequences to take care of themselves. You will receive the law from the court. Your verdict, it is true, may endanger the prisoner's life, but then it is to save other lives. If the prisoner's guilt has been shown and proved beyond all reasonable doubt, you will convict him. If such reasonable doubts of guilt still remain, you will acquit him. You are the judges of the whole case. You owe a duty to the public, as well as to the prisoner at the bar. You cannot presume to be wiser than the law. Your duty is a plain, straightforward one. Doubtless we would all judge him in mercy. Towards him, as an individual, the law inculcates no hostility; but towards him, if proved to be a murderer, the law, and the oaths you have taken and public justice, demand that you do your duty. 1 Great Speeches by Great Lawyers, p. 123. "With consciences satisfied with the discharge of duty, no consequences can harm you. There is no evil that we cannot either face or fly from, but the consciousness of duty disregarded. A sense of duty pursues us ever. It is omnipresent, like the Deity. If we take to ourselves the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, duty performed, or duty violated, is still with us, for our happiness or our misery. If we say the darkness shall cover us, in the darkness as in the light our obligations are yet. with us. We cannot escape their power, nor fly from their presence. They are with us in this life, will be with us at its close; and in that scene of inconceivable solemnity which lies yet farther onward, we shall still find ourselves surrounded by the consciousness of duty, to pain us wherever it has been violated, and to console us so far as God may have given us grace to perform it." 1 In the Dartmouth College Case, Webster concluded with the following famous appeal: "This, sir, is my case. It is the case not merely of that humble institution, it is the case of every college in our land. . . "Sir, you may destroy this little institution, it is weak; it is in your hands! I know it is one of the lesser lights in the literary horizon of our country. You may put it out. But if you do so, you must carry through your work! You must extinguish, one after another, all those greater lights of science which for more than a century have thrown their radiance over our land. It is, sir, as I have said, a small college. And yet there are those who love it." Here, Webster's feelings overcame him; his eyes filled with tears; his lips quivered; and his voice choked. Then, after 1 1 Shurter, Masterpieces of Modern Oratory, pp. 127–128. |