The great orators of the world did not regard eloquence as simply an
endowment of nature, but applied themselves diligently to cultivating
their powers of expression. In many cases there was unusual natural
ability, but such men knew that regular study and practise were
essential to success in this coveted art.
The oration can be traced back to Hebrew literature. In the first
chapter of Deuteronomy we find Moses' speech in the end of the fortieth
year, briefly rehearsing the story of God's promise, and of God's anger
for their incredulity and disobedience.
The four orations in Deuteronomy, by Moses, are highly commended for
their tenderness, sublimity and passionate appeal. You can
advantageously read them aloud.
The oration of Pericles over the graves of those who fell in the
Peloponnesian War, is said to have been the first Athenian oration
designed for the public.
The agitated political times and the people's intense desire for
learning combined to favor the development of oratory in ancient Greece.
Questions of great moment had to be discust and serious problems solved.
As the orator gradually became the most powerful influence in the State,
the art of oratory was more and more recognized as the supreme
accomplishment of the educated man.
_Demosthenes_
Demosthenes stands preeminent among Greek orators. His well-known
oration "On the Crown," the preparation of which occupied a large part
of seven years, is regarded as the oratorical masterpiece of all
history.
It is encouraging to the student of public speaking to recall that this
distinguished orator at first had serious natural defects to overcome.
His voice was weak, he stammered in his speech, and was painfully
diffident. These faults were remedied, as is well-known, by earnest
daily practise in declaiming on the sea-shore, with pebbles in the
mouth, walking up and down hill while reciting, and deliberately seeking
occasions for conversing with groups of people.
The chief lesson for you to draw from Demosthenes is that he was
indefatigable in his study of the art of oratory. He left nothing to
chance. His speeches were characterized by deliberate forethought. He
excelled other men not because of great natural ability but because of
intelligent and continuous industry. He stands for all time as the most
inspiring example of oratorical achievement, despite almost insuperable
difficulties.
_Cicero_
The fame of Roman oratory rests upon Cicero, whose eloquence was second
only to that of Demosthenes. He was a close student of the art of
speaking. He was so intense and vehement by nature that he was obliged
in his early career to spend two years in Greece, exercising in the
gymnasium in order to restore his shattered constitution.
His nervous temperament clung to him, however, since he made this
significant confession after long years of practise in public speaking.
"I declare that when I think of the moment when I shall have to rise and
speak in defense of a client, I am not only disturbed in mind, but
tremble in every limb of my body."
It is well to note here that a nervous temperament may be a help rather
than a hindrance to a speaker. Indeed, it is the highly sensitive nature
that often produces the most persuasive orator, but only when he has
learned to conserve and properly use this valuable power.
Cicero was a living embodiment of the comprehensive requirements laid
down by the ancients as essential to the orator. He had a knowledge of
logic, ethics, astronomy, philosophy, geometry, music, and rhetoric.
Little wonder, therefore, that his amazing eloquence was described as a
resistless torrent.
_Luther_
Martin Luther was the dominating orator of the Reformation. He combined
a strong physique with great intellectual power. "If I wish to compose,
or write, or pray, or preach well," said he, "I must be angry. Then all
the blood in my veins is stirred, my understanding is sharpened, and all
dismal thoughts and temptations are dissipated." What the great Reformer
called "anger," we would call indignation or earnestness.
_John Knox_
John Knox, the Scotch reformer, was a preeminent preacher. His pulpit
style was characterized by a fiery eloquence which stirred his hearers
to great enthusiasm and sometimes to violence.
_Bossuet_
Bossuet, regarded as the greatest orator France has produced, was a
fearless and inspired speaker. His style was dignified and deliberate,
but as he warmed with his theme his thought took fire and he carried his
hearers along upon a swiftly moving tide of impassioned eloquence. When
he spoke from the text, "Be wise, therefore, O ye Kings! be instructed,
ye judges of the earth!" the King himself was thrilled as with a
religious terror.
To ripe scholarship Bossuet added a voice that was deep and sonorous, an
imposing personality, and an animated style of gesture. Lamartine
described his voice as "like that of the thunder in the clouds, or the
organ in the cathedral."
_Bourdaloue_
Louis Bourdaloue, styled "the preacher of Kings, and the King of
preachers," was a speaker of versatile powers. He could adapt his style
to any audience, and "mechanics left their shops, merchants their
business, and lawyers their court house" in order to hear him. His high
personal character, simplicity of life, and clear and logical utterance
combined to make him an accomplished orator.
_Massillon_
Massillon preached directly to the hearts of his hearers. He was of a
deeply affectionate nature, hence his style was that of tender
persuasiveness rather than of declamation. He had remarkable spiritual
insight and knowledge of the human heart, and was himself deeply moved
by the truths which he proclaimed to other men.
_Lord Chatham_
Lord Chatham's oratorical style was formed on the classic model. His
intellect, at once comprehensive and vigorous, combined with deep and
intense feeling, fitted him to become one of the highest types of
orators. He was dignified and graceful, sometimes vehement, always
commanding. He ruled the British parliament by sheer force of eloquence.
His voice was a wonderful instrument, so completely under control that
his lowest whisper was distinctly heard, and his full tones completely
filled the House. He had supreme self-confidence, and a sense of
superiority over those around him which acted as an inspiration to his
own mind.
_Burke_
Burke was a great master of English prose as well as a great orator. He
took large means to deal with large subjects. He was a man of immense
power, and his stride was the stride of a giant. He has been credited
with passion, intensity, imagination, nobility, and amplitude. His style
was sonorous and majestic.
_Sheridan_
Sheridan became a foremost parliamentary speaker and debater, despite
early discouragements. His well-known answer to a friend, who adversely
criticized his speaking, "It is in me, and it shall come out of me!" has
for years given new encouragement to many a student of public speaking.
He applied himself with untiring industry to the development of all his
powers, and so became one of the most distinguished speakers of his
day.
_Charles James Fox_
Charles James Fox was a plain, practical, forceful orator of the
thoroughly English type. His qualities of sincerity, vehemence,
simplicity, ruggedness, directness and dexterity, combined with a manly
fearlessness, made him a formidable antagonist in any debate. Facts,
analogies, illustrations, intermingled with wit, feeling, and ridicule,
gave charm and versatility to his speaking unsurpassed in his time.
_Lord Brougham_
Lord Brougham excelled in cogent, effective argument. His impassioned
reasoning often made ordinary things interesting. He ingratiated himself
by his wise and generous sentiments, and his uncompromising solicitude
for his country.
He always succeeded in getting through his protracted and parenthetical
sentences without confusion to his hearers or to himself. He could see
from the beginning of a sentence precisely what the end would be.
_John Quincy Adams_
John Quincy Adams won a high place as a debater and orator in his speech
in Congress upon the right of petition, delivered in 1837. A formidable
antagonist, pugnacious by temperament, uniformly dignified, a profound
scholar,--his is "a name recorded on the brightest page of American
history, as statesman, diplomatist, philosopher, orator, author, and,
above all a Christian."
_Patrick Henry_
Patrick Henry was a man of extraordinary eloquence. In his day he was
regarded as the greatest orator in America. In his early efforts as a
speaker he hesitated much and throughout his career often gave an
impression of natural timidity. He has been favorably compared with Lord
Chatham for fire, force, and personal energy. His power was largely due
to a rare gift of lucid and concise statement.
_Henry Clay_
The eloquence of Henry Clay was magisterial, persuasive, and
irresistible. So great was his personal magnetism that multitudes came
great distances to hear him. He was a man of brilliant intellect,
fertile fancy, chivalrous nature, and patriotic fervor. He had a clear,
rotund, melodious voice, under complete command. He held, it is said,
the keys to the hearts of his countrymen.
_Calhoun_
The eloquence of John Caldwell Calhoun has been described by Daniel
Webster as "plain, strong, terse, condensed, concise; sometimes
impassioned, still always severe. Rejecting ornament, not often seeking
far for illustrations, his power consisted in the plainness of his
propositions, in the closeness of his logic, and in the earnestness and
energy of his manner."
He exerted unusual influence over the opinions of great masses of men.
He had remarkable power of analysis and logical skill. Originality,
self-reliance, impatience, aggressiveness, persistence, sincerity,
honesty, ardor,--these were some of the personal qualities which gave
him dominating influence over his generation.
_Daniel Webster_
Daniel Webster was a massive orator. He combined logical and
argumentative skill with a personality of extraordinary power and
attractiveness. He had a supreme scorn for tricks of oratory, and a
horror of epithets and personalities. His best known speeches are those
delivered on the anniversary at Plymouth, the laying of the corner-stone
of Bunker Hill monument, and the deaths of Jefferson and Adams.
_Edward Everett_
Edward Everett was a man of scholastic tastes and habits. His speaking
style was remarkable for its literary finish and polished precision. His
sense of fitness saved him from serious faults of speech or manner. He
blended many graces in one, and his speeches are worthy of study as
models of oratorical style.
_Rufus Choate_
Rufus Choate was a brilliant and persuasive extempore speaker. He
possest in high degree faculties essential to great oratory--a capacious
mind, retentive memory, logical acumen, vivid imagination, deep
concentration, and wealth of language. He had an extraordinary personal
fascination, largely due to his broad sympathy and geniality.
_Charles Sumner_
Charles Sumner was a gifted orator. His delivery was highly impressive,
due fundamentally to his innate integrity and elevated personal
character. He was a wide reader and profound student. His style was
energetic, logical, and versatile. His intense patriotism and
argumentative power, won large favor with his hearers.
_William E. Channing_
William Ellery Channing was a preacher of unusual eloquence and
intellectual power. He was small in stature, but of surpassing grace.
His voice was soft and musical, and wonderfully responsive to every
change of emotion that arose in his mind. His eloquence was not forceful
nor forensic, but gentle and persuasive.
His monument bears this high tribute: "In memory of William Ellery
Channing, honored throughout Christendom for his eloquence and courage
in maintaining and advancing the great cause of truth, religion, and
human freedom."
_Wendell Phillips_
Wendell Phillips was one of the most graceful and polished orators. To
his conversational style he added an exceptional vocabulary, a clear and
flexible voice, and a most fascinating personality.
He produced his greatest effects by the simplest means. He combined
humor, pathos, sarcasm and invective with rare skill, yet his style was
so simple that a child could have understood him.
_George William Curtis_
George William Curtis has been described in his private capacity as
natural, gentle, manly, refined, simple, and unpretending. He was the
last of the great school of Everett, Sumner, and Phillips.
His art of speaking had an enduring charm, and he completely satisfied
the taste for pure and dignified speech. His voice was of silvery
clearness, which carried to the furthermost part of the largest hall.
_Gladstone_
Gladstone was an orator of preeminent power. In fertility of thought,
spontaneity of expression, modulation of voice, and grace of gesture, he
has had few equals. He always spoke from a deep sense of duty. When he
began a sentence you could not always foresee how he would end it, but
he always succeeded. He had an extraordinary wealth of words and command
of the English language.
Gladstone has been described as having eagerness, self-control, mastery
of words, gentle persuasiveness, prodigious activity, capacity for work,
extreme seriousness, range of experience, constructive power, mastery of
detail, and deep concentration. "So vast and so well ordered was the
arsenal of his mind, that he could both instruct and persuade, stimulate
his friends and demolish his opponents, and do all these things at an
hour's notice."
He was essentially a devout man, and unquestionably his spiritual
character was the fundamental secret of his transcendent power. A keen
observer thus describes him:
"While this great and famous figure was in the House of Commons, the
House had eyes for no other person. His movements on the bench, restless
and eager, his demeanor when on his legs, whether engaged in answering a
simple question, expounding an intricate Bill, or thundering in vehement
declamation, his dramatic gestures, his deep and rolling voice with its
wide compass and marked northern accent, his flashing eye, his almost
incredible command of ideas and words, made a combination of
irresistible fascination and power."
_John Bright_
John Bright won a foremost place among British orators largely because
of his power of clear statement and vivid description. His manner was at
once ingratiating and commanding.
His way of putting things was so lucid and convincing that it was
difficult to express the same ideas in any other words with equal force.
One of the secrets of his success, it is said, was his command of
colloquial simile, apposite stories, and ready wit.
Mr. Bright always had himself well in hand, yet his style at times was
volcanic in its force and impetuosity. He would shut himself up for days
preparatory to delivering a great speech, and tho he committed many
passages to memory, his manner in speaking was entirely free from
artifice.
_Lincoln_
Lincoln's power as a speaker was due to a combination of rugged gifts.
Self-reliance, sympathy, honesty, penetration, broad-mindedness,
modesty, and independence,--these were keynotes to his great character.
The Gettysburg speech of less than 300 words is regarded as the greatest
short speech in history.
Lincoln's aim was always to say the most sensible thing in the clearest
terms, and in the fewest possible words. His supreme respect for his
hearers won their like respect for him.
There is a valuable suggestion for the student of public speaking in
this description of Lincoln's boyhood: "Abe read diligently. He read
every book he could lay his hands on, and when he came across a passage
that struck him, he would write it down on boards if he had no paper,
and keep it there until he did get paper. Then he would rewrite it, look
at it, repeat it. He had a copy book, a kind of scrap-book, in which he
put down all things, and thus preserved them."
_Daniel O'Connell_
Daniel O'Connell was one of the most popular orators of his day. He had
a deep, sonorous, flexible voice, which he used to great advantage. He
had a wonderful gift of touching the human heart, now melting his
hearers by his pathos, then convulsing them with his quaint humor. He
was attractive in manner, generous in feeling, spontaneous in
expression, and free from rhetorical trickery.
As you read this brief sketch of some of the world's great orators, it
should be inspiring to you as a student of public speaking to know
something of their trials, difficulties, methods and triumphs. They have
left great examples to be emulated, and to read about them and to study
their methods is to follow somewhat in their footsteps.
Great speeches, like great pictures, are inspired by great subjects and
great occasions. When a speaker is moved to vindicate the national
honor, to speak in defense of human rights, or in some other great
cause, his thought and expression assume new and wonderful power. All
the resources of his mind--will, imagination, memory, and emotion,--are
stimulated into unusual activity. His theme takes complete possession of
him and he carries conviction to his hearers by the force, sincerity,
and earnestness of his delivery. It is to this exalted type of oratory I
would have you aspire.