father was Thomas Sheridan, author of a Pronouncing Dictionary, and a
distinguished teacher of elocution. His career was brilliant and
successful, both as a dramatist and an orator. He entered Parliament in
1780 where his first speech was a failure; and when told, at its close, by
one of his disappointed friends, that he had better have stuck to his
former pursuit of writing plays, he rested his head on his hand for some
minutes, and then exclaimed with vehemence, "It is in me, and it shall come
out of me!" And so it did. Of his speech against Hastings, on the charge of
the Begums, Mr. Pitt said, "an abler speech was perhaps never delivered;"
and Mr. Fox characterized it as "the greatest that had been delivered
within the memory of man." But his convivial habits betrayed him into gross
intemperance, and he became bankrupt in character and health, as well as in
fortune, and died on the 7th of July, 1816, at the age of sixty-four, a
melancholy example of brilliant talents sacrificed to a love of display and
sensual indulgence.
4. II. This is a very useful piece for practice, on account of the
excellent illustrations of emphasis and inflections which it affords. The
third paragraph is a fine example of the circumflex slides.
5. III. From the speech on the Begum Charge, before the House of Lords,
sitting as a High Court of Parliament, June, 1788, and, said to be the most
graphic and powerful description to be found in the speeches of Sheridan.
--Oude, (ood.): Begums, Hindoo Princesses.
--Zenana. (ze-náh-nah): that part of a house in India particularly reserved
for women.
6. IV. THOMAS SMITH GRIMKE was born in Charleston S. C., September 26,
1786. He was a descendant of the Huguenots. In the days of Nullification he
supported the General Government. He was an eloquent advocate of the
Union, and in a Fourth of July Oration at Charleston, in 1809, he
graphically depicts the horrors of civil war, which must follow disunion.
He died on the 12th of Octobers 1834.
8. V. Lycian (lí-she-an ): Achæan ( a-kee'-an): Hanseatic (han-se-at'-ic),
from Hance (hän-seh), a German word signifying "association for mutual
support." Hamburg, Lubeck, Bremen, and Frankfort, constitute the present
free Hanseatic cities.
12. VIII. CHAUNCEY A. GOODRICH Occupied the chair of Rhetoric and Oratory
in Yale College, from 1817 until 1839, when he was transferred to that of
Pastoral Theology, which he filled for more than twenty years. His chief
literary works are his "Collection of Select British Eloquence," an
excellent book, and his revised and enlarged edition of "Webster's
Dictionary." Mr. Webster's argument in the Dartmouth College case, was
delivered in 1818 and Professor Goodrich says that he went to Washington
chiefly for the sake of hearing it.
14. IX. JOSHUA QUINCY was born in 1772 and graduated at Harvard College in
1790. He was in Congress from 1805 until 1813; mayor of Boston for six
years, and President of Harvard from 1829 until 1845. He died July 1,
1864. This extract is from his Centennial Address on the Two Hundredth
Anniversary of the Settlement of Boston, delivered in 1830.
16 X. Bon Homme Richard: (bo nom ree'-shar'') Guerriére: (ghér-re-air'').
17. XI. WILLIAM ELLERY CHANNING, grandson of William Ellery, one of the
signers of the Declaration, was born at Newport, R. I., April 7, 1780. In
1798, he was graduated at Harvard, with the highest honors. For nearly
forty years he was pastor of the Federal Street Church in Boston. The
collection of his Works embraces six volumes. He was one of the most
eloquent of American divines, and he wrote largely on war, temperance,
slavery, and education. He died October 2, 1842.
22. XIV. Tyrol (tyr'-ol): Innspruk (inns'-prook): Scheldt (skelt).
23. XV. THOMAS FRANCIS MEAGHER, an Irish patriot and orator. At present a
general in the United States Army, and a stanch friend of the Union.
25. XVII. HENRY GRATTAN, born at Dublin, July 3, 1746; died May 14, 1820.
He was the greatest of Irish patriots, and the greatest of Irish orators.
His forte was reasoning, but it was "logic on fire." A distinguished writer
described his eloquence as a "combination of cloud, whirlwind, and flame."
His style was elaborated with great care. His language is select, and his
periods are easy and fluent.
27. XVIII. RUFUS CHOATE was born at Ipswich, Mass., October 1, 1799,
graduated at Dartmouth College, with the highest honors, in 1819, and died
at Halifax, while on his way to Europe, July 13, 1859. Gifted with the most
brilliant intellectual powers, he was ever a hard student. Mr. Everett says
of him, "With such gifts, such attainments, and such a spirit, he placed
himself, as a matter of course, not merely at the head of the jurists and
advocates, but of the public speakers of the country." His most famous
oration is his Eulogy on Daniel Webster, delivered at Dartmouth College.
Mr. Choate's works have been edited, and an admirable Memoir of his Life
written, by Professor Samuel G. Brown, the whole being published in two
octavo volumes.
29. XX. Boëthius ( bo-e'-thi-us).
--Sibyl (sib' il ).
30 XXI. From a Lecture on the Eloquence of Revolutionary Periods, delivered
in Boston, February 1857.
33. XXIII. gobelin (gob'-e-lin): Pericles ( per'-i-cles).
37. XXVII. MRS. LYDIA MARIA CHILD, whose maiden name was FRANCIS, was born
in Massachusetts, but passed a portion of her earlier years in Maine. Her
literary productions are numerous and are characterized by vigor and
originality of thought. She has been very prominent in the anti-slavery
movement. A work on the subject of slaverey, published by her in 1833,
produced a great sensation. This selection is from The Rebels, a tale of
the Revolution, which was published in 1825, when she was quite young.
41. XXX. PATRICK HENRY. This distinguished "orator of nature" was born in
Virginia, May 29, 1736. He was a member of the first Congress, which met in
Carpenter's Hall, at Philadelphia, on the 4th of September, 1774. For
several years he was governor of Virginia and for more than thirty years he
stood among the foremost of American patriots and statesmen. He was one of
the earliest and most powerful opponents of British power. In 1765, as
member of the House of Burgesses, he introduced his famous resolutions
against the Stamp Act, which proved the opening of the American Revolution
in the colony of Virginia. He died on the 6th of June, 1799. His life has
been written by William Wirt. This speech was delivered about one month
before the battle of Lexington, so that his prophecy, "The next gale,"
&c. was almost literally fulfilled.
44. XXXIII, Præsidium ( pre-sid'-i-um): a guard.
-Puéblo ( pwa'-blo ): a village.
---ranch: a hut, or collection of huts; a farming establishment.
---Tehuauntepec (ta-huán-te-pec).
46. XXXIV. REV. ROBERT HALL, an eminent Baptist minister, was born at
Arnsby, England, August, 1764, and died at Bristols, on the 21st of
February, 1831. His writings, which have been published in six volumes, are
highly finished in style, and display a remarkable combination of logical
precision, metaphysical acuteness, practical sense and sagacity, with a
rich luxuriance of imagination, and all the graces of composition. Dr. Parr
says of him--"He has, like Jeremy Taylor, the eloquence of an orator, the
fancy of a poet the subtlety of a schoolman, the profoundness of a
philosopher, and the piety of a saint."
47. XXXV. JOSEPH STORY was born at Marblehead, Mass., September 18, 1779.
In 1810 he was appointed by President Madison Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court, and in 1829, he was made Professor of the Dane Law School,
which office he held until his death, September 10th, 1845. He was an
eminent jurist, an eloquent orator, and a finished scholar.
--Siloa: the metre here requires the accent on the first syllable
(sil'-o-a, ) though most authorities make it (sil-ó'-a.).
52. XXXIX. REV. ELIJAH KELLOGG, a clergyman in Boston. He wrote this piece
especially for declamation. This copy is a recent revision by the author
for Hillard's Reader.
54. XL. From a speech delivered in the House of Representatives of the
United States, January 8, 1847.
56. XLI. From an oration delivered at the seat of Government, on the
occasion of laying the corner-stone of the National Monument to Washington,
July 4, 1848.
70. LIII. FISHER AMES was born at Dedham, Mass., April 9th, 1758, where he
died, July 4th, 1808 He was a member of the first Congress under the
Constitution, in which body he remained eight years. In 1804, he was
tendered the Presidency of Harvard College, which he declined.. He was an
excellent classical scholar and an accumplished orator. His speech on Jay's
Treaty, from which this extract is taken is a production of the deepest
pathos and richest eloquence. Webster is said to have committed the whole
speech to memory in early life.
92. LXIX. Brougham's career, though brilliant, has been marked by the most
extraordinary inconsistencies and contradictions, and now, at the age of
eighty-five, forgetting his brave denunciation of slavery, he takes sides
with a wicked rebellion, which was set on foot for the establishment of an
empire based on slavery.
97. LXXIII. RICHARD LALOR SHIEL was born in Ireland, August 17, 1791 and
died in Italy, May 23, 1857. He entered Parliament in 1830, and at the
time of his death, he was Minister at the Court of Tuscany. For bold,
impassioned declamation, this extract has seldom been equalled.
--STRAFFORD, EARL, whose family name was Wentworth. Rene gade, because
having at first resisted the arbitrary power of Charles the First, he
afterwards became so obnoxious to the people by his own exercise of
arbitrary power that he was impeached of high treason and executed.
--one man of great abilities: LORD LYNDHURST, who was born in Boston,
Mass., May 21, 1772. He was the son of the eminent portrait and historical
painter, John Singleton Copley.
68.--Assaye (as-si'), a small town in Hindostan, where the Duke of
Wellington commenced his career of victory in a battle fought September 23,
1803.
98. LXXIII. Waterloo: (waw'-ter-loo,) battle of, June 18, 1815.
--Vimeira: (ve-ma-e-rah,) a town in Portugal, where the Duke of Wellington
defeated the French, August 21, 1808.
--Badajos: (bad-ah-hoce') a town in Spain, taken from the French by the
Duke of Wellington, April 6, 1812.
--Salamanca: (sah-lah-mang'-kah) a city in Spain near which the English,
under Wellington totally defeated the French, under Marmont and Clusel,
July 22, 1812,
--Albuera: (al-boo-a'-rah ) a town in Spain where the British and allies
gained a victory over the French, May 16, 1811.
--Toulouse: (too-looz') a city in France, where Wellington defeated the
French under Soult, April 10, 1814.
99. LXXIV. FRANCIS WAYLAND, President of Brown University from 1827 until
1856, was born at New York, March 11. 1796. 111. LXXXIII. Edward Everett
was born at Dorchester Mass., April 11, 1794, took his degree at Harvard
College in 1811, and was settled over the church in Brattle Street, Boston,
in 1813. In 1815, he was appointed Professor of Greek Literature in Harvard
College, and he devoted the four succeeding years to study and travel in
Europe, with the view to further qualify himself for its duties, which he
assumed in 1819, with those of editor of the "North American Review." Both
these positions he held till 1825 when his took his seat in Congress as
Representative from Middlesex County, which he held for ten years. He was
Governor of Massachusetts from 1836 until 1840. In 1841 he was appointed
Minister Plenipotentiary to the Court of St. James and on his return home
in 1846, was elected President of Harvard College, which position he
resigned in 1849. He succeeded Mr. Webster as Secretary of State, in 1852,
and in 1853 was chosen to the Senate of the United States, but soon
resigned on account of ill health. Edward Everett is the most accomplished
orator in this country, and he may justly be styled the Cicero of America.
His splendid oration pronounced August 26, 1824, at Cambridge, before the
Society of Phi Beta Kappa, closing with the beautiful apostrophe to
Lafayette, who was present, placed him before the public as one of the
greatest and most accomplished orators who had ever appeared in America.
The reputation then achieved by him has been steadily advancing for forty
years. On the breaking out of the rebellion, he at once came out boldly in
support of the Government and the constitution, and during the struggle
thus far, his matchless pen, his eloquent voice, and his great personal
influence have been employed, on all proper occasions, in maintaining the
cause of his country. Three large octavo volumes of his orations and
occasional speeches have been published constituting a body of eloquence
and learning, which has been surpassed by no other orator in the language.
111--From an oration delivered at Plymouth, on the anniversary of the
landing of the Pilgrims: 22d of December, 1824.
114. LXXXVI. From an oration delivered at Bloody Brook, in South Deerfield,
Mass., September 30, 1835, in commemoration of the fall of the "Flower of
Essex," at that spot, in King Philip's war, September 18, ( O. S.) 1675.
114. LXXXVI. Mount Hope: a beautiful eminence of Bristol County, R. I., on
the west shore of Mount Hope Bay.
118. LXXXVIII. Nevada, (na-vah'-dah): Antilles, (an-teel'): Archipelagoes,
(ar-ke-pel'-a-goze).
120 XC. From a eulogy delivered at Boston, September 17, 1850, on the
occasion of the inauguration of the statue of Daniel Webster which stands
in front of the State House.
121.--Condé (con-da'): Rocroi, (ro-kroi'): Arbela, (ar-bee'-lah).
123. XCII. JOHN PHILPOT CURRAN was born at Nermarket, in the county of
Cork, Ireland, July 24, 1750, and died at London, October 14, 1817. His
voice was naturally bad, and his articulation so hasty and confused that he
went among his school fellows by the name of "Stuttering Jack Curran." His
manner was awkward his gesture constrained and meaningless and his whole
appearance calculated only to produce laughter, notwithstanding the
evidence he gave of superior abilities. All these faults he overcame by
severe and patient labor. One of his biographers says,--"His oratorical
training was as severe as any Greek ever underwent." Constantly on the
watch against bad habits, he practised daily before a glass, reciting
passages from Shakespeare, Junius, and the best English orators. He became
the most eloquent of all irish advocates, and for more than twenty years he
had an unrivalled mastery of the Irish bar. He was member of the Irish
House of Commons from 1783 to 1797. In 1806, he was made Master of the
Rolls, which office he resigned in 1814.
127 XCV. CHARLES JAMES FOX was born on the 24 th of January, 1749; was
educated at Eton College and Oxford University. He was fond of the classics
and took up Demosthenes as he did the speeches of Lord Chatham. As an
orator he was much indebted to the study of the Greek writers, for the
simplicity of his tastes, his entire abstinence from everthing like mere
ornament, the terseness of his style, the point and stringency of his
reasonings, and the all-pervading cast of intellect which distinguishes his
speeches even in the most vehement bursts of impassioned feeling. But his
tastes were too exclusively literary. He could discuss Greek metres with
Porson, but he had little acquaintance with the foundations of
jurisprudence, or the laws of trade; and he always felt the want of an
early training in scientific investigation, correspondent to that he re
ceived in classical literature. He took his seat in Parliament in 1768. He
was the first man in the House of Commons, who took the ground of denying
the right of Parliament to tax the colonies without their consent, and he
went on identifying himself more and more to the end of life with the
popular part of the Constitution, and with the cause of free principles
throughout the world, aiming always amid all the conflicts of party "to
widen the base of freedom,--to infuse and circulate the spirit of liberty."
He made it a point to speak on every question that came up, whether
interested in it or not, as a means of exercising and training his
faculties, for he was bent on making himself a powerful debater. His love
of argument was perhaps the most striking trait of his character, and "he
rose," said Mr. Burke, "by slow degrees to be the most brilliant and
accomplished debater the world ever saw." There was nothing strained or
unnatural in his most vehement bursts of passion, "his feeling," says
Coleridge, "was all intellect, and his intellect was all feeling." In his
language, Mr. Fox studied simplicity, strength, and boldness. "Give me an
elegant Latin and a homely Saxon word," says he, "and I will always choose
the latter." He died on the 13th September, 1806, and was buried with the
highest honors of the nation, in Westminster Abbey.
127. XCV. This extract is from his speech on the rejection of Bonaparte's
overtures for peace which was delivered February 3d, 1800 and was
considered by most who heard it as the ablest speech he ever made. This
selection is a fine illustration of the use of the circumflex slides.
---Suwarrow: a Russian general. Praga: (prah'-gah).
129. XCVI. Utrecht, (yoo'-trekt): Blenheim, (blen'-hime).
131. XCVIII. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS, son of John Adams, the second President,
was born at Braintree, Mass., on the 11th of July, 1767. He took his degree
at Harvard College in 1787, a year after his admission, having been
prepared for an advanced class, in Europe, where he had previously resided
for several years. He studied law with Theophilus Parsons. at Newburyport,
and commenced practice in 1790. He was a member of the Senate of the United
States from 1803 until 1808. In 1806 he was appointed Boylston Professor of
Rhetoric in Harvard College, which office he held for three years. In 1810
he was appointed Minister to Russia, where he remained until 1815, when
with other Commissioners he negotiated the treaty of peace with England at
Ghent, and was appointed Minister to that country in the same year, a post
which his father had occupied before him, and which is now so ably filled
by his son, Charles Francis. He served as Secretary of State during the
administration of Monroe, whom he succeeded in the Presidency. On his
retirement from the Chief Magistracy, he was elected to represent his
native district in the House of Representatives, until his death, which
occurred the 23d of February, 1848. His career as a member of the House was
distinguished for his fearless and uncompromising defence of the right of
petition, and for his bold and effective opposition to the usurpation of
the slave power.
133. XCIX. Gracchi: (grak'-ki) two distinguished Romans, sons of Cornelia.
135. CI. JOSEPH WARREN, the first great martyr in the cause of
independence, was born at Roxbury, Mass., June 11th, 1741, and was killed
at the battle of Bunker Hill, June 17, 1775. General Warren acted as a
volunteer at the battle of Bunker Hill, serving as a private in the ranks
in the redoubt having borrowed a musket from a sergeant. When urged against
hazarding his life on that day, be replied enthusiastically,--"Dulce et
decorum est pro patria mori."
141. CV. WILLIAM PITT, the younger, was born on the 28th of May, 1759, and
was the second son of Lord Chatham. He was educated at Cambridge
university, where he continued nearly seven years, devoting his attention
mainly to three things; namely, the classics, mathematics and the logic of
Aristotle applied to the purposes of debate. In early life his whole soul
seems to have been absorbed by one idea--that of becoming a distinguished
orator. "Multum haud multa," was his motto in most of his studies for
life. This language gave direction to most of his reading in English
Literature; he had the finest parts of Shakspeare by heart; he read the
best historians with great care; he entered Parliament in 1781, and at a
single bound when only twenty-two years of age, he placed himself in the
foremost rank of English statesmen and orators, at the proudest era of
English eloquence. He was made Prime Minis ter at the age of twenty-four,
and he continued to fill the first place in the councils of his country
during most of the remaining period of his life, which terminated on the
23d of January, 1806, in the 47th year of his age. As a debater in the
House, his speeches were logical and argumentative. The strength of his
oratory was intrinsic, and his speeches were stamped with the inimitable
marks of originality. This extract was taken from a. speech of the
abolition of the slavetrade, in the House of Commons, 1792, which is
regarded as one of the most brilliant displays of his eloquence.
143. CVI. HORACE MANN was born at Franklin, Mass. May 1796, and gradu ated
at, Brown University, in 1819, with the highest honors. After a successful
career as a politician having served in both branches of the Legislature,
on the organization of the Board of Education in Massachusetts, on the 29th
of June, 1837 Mr. Mann was elected its Secretary, which office he continued
to fill with great ability, for twelve years. His twelve Annual Reports to
the Board of Education probably constitute the most readable and
instructive series of educational documents which has been produced by one
mind in any language. On his retirement from the Secretaryship, he was
elected Representative to Congress to fill the vacancy caused by the death
of John Quincy Adams. Having served in Congress two terms, he again
returned to the educational field by accepting the Presidency of Antioch
College, at Yellow Springs, Ohio, where he died.
144. CVII. DANIEL WEBSTER was born at Salisbury, N. H., on the 18th of
January, 1782, and graduated at Dartmouth College, in 1801. His college
life was distinguished by assiduous and various studies. He was admitted to
the bar in 1805, and commenced the practice of law in his native town, but
soon after removed to Portsmouth. He removed to Boston in 1816, and died at
Marshfield, Mass., October, 1852. He was the first orator, the first
Jurist, and the first statesman of his generations in America. His most
famous forensic per formance, was his argument in the Dartmouth College
case. His greatest parliamentary effort was his second speech on Foote's
resolution; and his most important diplomatic service was his negotiation
of the treaty of Washington, in 1842. His speeches and orations have been
published in six volumes, with an admirable memoir, by Mr. Everett.
157. CXVI. This Will: of Stephen Girard, of Philadelphia, providing for the
founding of a college for orphans.
160. CXVIII. This selection is the peroration to Mr. Webster's second
speech on Foote's resolution.
165. CXXII. This extract is taken from the address delivered by Mr. Webster
on the occasion of laying the corner-stone of the extension of the National
Capitol.
168. CXXIV. From the address on the laying of the corner-stone of Bunker
Hill Monument, at Charleston, Mass., the 17th of June, 1825.