the heights of grandeur he attained in the public lecture and the anniversary oration.

In 1860 the State of Georgia had one representative in Congress, who deserves a place among the Alexander H. princes of eloquence. He was, like CalStevens. houn, Clay, Benjamin, and Jefferson Davis, a product of the South. Yet he possessed a more logical mind than many of his contemporaries, and stood on a plane above them as a statesman. His voice was heard warning against the movement which ended in civil war. But when the die was cast he loyally followed his State into the struggle which followed. As an orator, Mr. Stevens was argumentative in style, polished in speech, and possessed of a voice the cadences of which were most pleasant to the ear. His fame suffered because his eloquence was drowned in the roar of the battlefield, but in the light of history his worth to the world and his shining abilities at the bar and in Congress have been placed in the true perspective of those times.

Beecher.

The selection of one preacher to stand as a representative of pulpit oratory in the United States Henry Ward must result in many invidious comparisons. Eloquence in the pulpit, as on the platform, has been of an exceedingly high order in this country. The many great preachers of the nineteenth century will compare favorably with the few of other ages, and there is an important sense in which pulpit oratory has had a new and vigorous development in our day. But the pastor of Plymouth Church is, after all, a typical preacher of his time. He stood between theological extremes.

For many years he gathered within sound of his voice all classes of men from the great centre of population to which he ministered, and his sermons were multiplied in print and distributed throughout the length and breadth of the land. He was, at least, the great religious instructor of the country. As an orator, also, Mr. Beecher stood high. To an imposing presence he added a silvery voice of rare compass and power, while the arrangement of his material and his methods of presentation were such as to thrill the hearer and capture his judgment. He spoke for the most part extempore, and his sermons sometimes lacked literary finish. At times he may have been led to the utterance of extravagant doctrine, and it might be possible to find theological contradiction in his published sermons. Yet his work stood the test of popularity for half a century, and could not be smothered by malice or cut down by criticism.

Turning now from the dead to the living-from past history to the present time-we find the lists full of able statesmen and eloquent public Contempospeakers. No other age of the world, rary Orators. perhaps, and, certainly, no other country, could assemble so many worthy of mention. In the political field names crowd each other. They are confined to no state or section. New England has its men of eloquence to take the place of those of a former day. The Middle States have theirs; the South and the West have new champions of their interests as faithful and capable as any; and the whole country is represented in Congress, on the platform, and in the

pulpit by speakers who have few superiors in any age of history.

were.

It is to be remembered that the purposes and occasions for eloquence are no longer what they once The enemies which threaten a country like ours are not marshalling their legions on the frontier. Public discussion is not now animated by the rancor of the slavery controversy. The times are more peaceful, and eloquence adapts itself to the changes which have come to the nation and deliberative bodies. There is no call to-day for the impassioned appeals of Henry, the ponderous arguments of Webster, or the fiery invectives of Calhoun. Oratory is

of a milder type, but the discerning student is not prepared to admit that public speech is decadent.

The debates which now arise in legislative halls are no less masterful than those of other periods in our country's history. Vehemence and deep feeling are not the only elements of oratory, and we must not mistake noise for eloquence or bitter invective for substantial argument.

The addresses on the Cuban crisis and the Philippine question compare favorably with those of the Mexican invasion or of the Civil War. And it was only in the last national political campaign that a single speech delivered in Chicago electrified millions. For whatever may be thought of his opinions, the results flowing from the oratory of the candidate of the Chicago Convention of 1896 have had no parallel in the history of this country.

The names of a score of public men in Washington come to mind, distinguished alike for their eloquence

Hoar, of

and the long periods of their service. Massachusetts, and his younger colleague, Lodge; Aldrich, of Rhode Island; Gorman, of Maryland; Morgan, of Alabama; Vest, of Missouri; and Mills, of Texas, are names which will endure. Allison, of Iowa; Teller and Wolcott, of Colorado; Nelson, of Minnesota; and Thurston, of Nebraska are oratorical giants reared in the great West. In the House of Representatives names no less illustrious appear, and when the history of this age is written, it will be found that its political orators are no less conspicuous than its great men in other fields.

In the pulpit, almost every large city boasts of its eloquent clergymen, and the masters of demonstrative oratory are numbered by hundreds. Yet with all this wealth of natural ability we have few great speakers. We lack men, who, by the consensus of opinion, are entitled to rank in this age as Webster, Clay, and Calhoun did in theirs. Such men are bred of crises, and with the occasion will come the leader able to command its circumstances.

What Oratory Is-Divisions of the Subject-Didactic-Nash, The Citizen and the Man-Deliberative-Fox, On the Overtures of Peace-Forensic-Erskine, The Defense of Stockdale-Demonstrative-Eulogy-Everett, Eulogy on Lafayette.

what oratory is, and to specify the various forms or varieties it assumes. Webster defines oratory as the What art of public speaking in an eloquent Oratory is. or effective manner. Another definition might be added by way of amplification, that oratory is to speak in public so as to please, arouse, convince, move, or persuade one's hearers.

Upon one point all are agreed-that oratory is speaking in public. It is evident, however, that all public speaking is not oratory, for anyone can recall instances when a man has stood before an audience, has spoken, and his discourse has fallen flat and profitless on the ear. No; the true orator accomplishes more than the mere utterance of speech. His words must have an effect upon those who hear.