To admit of oratorical treatment a subject must be worthy of noble thought. No trivial topic will answer. A student once offered the plan of an oration on the subject, “The Dog as Man's Best Friend," stating that his purpose was to induce his hearers to buy a dog. It is needless to say that the discussion of such a theme is not oratory. That student might have been a "howling success as the doorkeeper of a menagerie, but he would hardly be likely to develop into a Demosthenes. The harangue of an auctioneer or a street peddler is never synonymous with eloquence. If the theme is ignoble, no art can make the discourse noble. At the best the result will be either bombast or burlesque. The speech must be on a theme suited by its very nature to quicken the mind, to lift the imagination, to stir the feelings, to strengthen the convictions, to arouse all that is highest in the speaker and prepare him to exercise his best powers with such vigor and effectiveness that his hearers will not only be led to accept his opinions, but be strengthened in the determination to act accordingly.

The intimate relation between the theme and its treatment cannot be too strongly emphasized. A theme may, in itself, be a good theme, yet not a theme suitable for oratory, properly so called. Nor does the fact that it is orally delivered necessarily classify the discourse as an oration. Because all orations are oral addresses, it by no means follows that all oral addresses are orations. Such addresses may be, and often are, simply expositions of some truth, or some idea, or some fact. They may be

merely essays in criticism or in history orally presented. The method of presentation does not in itself classify them as orations. A subject to be suitable for oratorical treatment must, as already suggested, be susceptible of such development as shall appeal to the whole spiritual nature of the hearer to his intellect, his sensibilities, and his will. Then and only then is it "a worthy and dignified theme.”

3. In the third place, an oration is an oral discourse on a worthy and dignified theme adapted to the average hearer. The speech, in both theme and treatment, should be of such a nature as to appeal to the every-day mind. It is not, exclusively, for any "aristocracy of intellect "; nor, on the other hand, is it primarily for the dullard. It is, at once, for all grades of ability and training, such as are to be found in any popular audience. It is this element that lies at the basis of any rational discussion of oratory as an art. For, since the art does not find its end in itself but is practiced with a view to its desired effect upon the hearer, any treatment of the subject must be mainly occupied with a consideration of how best to accomplish this purpose. How shall I gain the respect and confidence of my hearers? How shall I remove their indifference or, it may be, their prejudice toward my subject? How shall I excite their interest and convince their reason? How shall I arouse, control,

and direct their passions?

How shall do all these

things so as to lead them, ultimately, to the desired decision of will? These are questions that the orator

must, consciously or unconsciously, ask himself in preparing and pronouncing every speech. And the answer to these questions involves all the considerations that have to do with the discovery, selection, and arrangement of material, with the choice of words, the construction of sentences, the use of figures, the employment of illustrations, the final delivery in a word with all the considerations that involve questions of invention, of style, and of utterance.

4. In the fourth place, an oration is an oral discourse on a worthy and dignified theme, adapted to the average hearer, and whose aim is to influence the will of that hearer. It is a speech pronounced in order to persuade. As such it belongs to the highest type of prose discourse. It may, and not improbably will, contain exposition and argument, but it does not find its end in these forms of discourse. They are satisfied when they have enlightened the understanding or convinced the reason. Oratory may subserve both these purposes, and may likewise kindle the imagination and arouse the emotions, but it does not stop there. It not only appeals to the intellect and stirs the sensibilities, but most of all, it lays hold of the will.

It is this feature more than any other that differentiates oratory from all other types of discourse. One may pronounce an oral discourse on a worthy theme, but unless his speech is designed and adapted to move the will it cannot properly be classed as oratory. Webster truly describes eloquence, which is the soul of oratory,

as "urging the whole man onward, right onward to his object." He who fails to attain that “object," fails in his ultimate purpose as an orator. Whatever other excellences his production may possess of learning, of noble thought, of beautiful language, lacking the element of persuasion, it is not oratory. The crown of eloquence encircles the brow, not of him that "draws a bow at a venture," but of him that consciously and successfully aims to bring down the game. The true orator, as the late President E. G. Robinson, himself no mean orator, was wont to say, "puts a hook in the nose of his audience and leads it"; or, to use the expressive phrase of President Martin B. Anderson, the orator by the power of speech "brings things to pass." Thus it was the highest praise of eloquence when, after listening to a fiery philippic of Demosthenes, the Athenians raised the cry: "Up, let us march against Philip!"

CHAPTER II

TYPES OF ORATORY

HE fourth characteristic of an oration, as above de

THE

fined, gives rise to the inquiry whether we do not too much limit the province of oratory by describing it as invariably an appeal to the will. How, then, shall we class those addresses that do not aim at definite action? Dr. Nott's great address on "The Death of Hamilton," Webster's speech on "The First Settlement of New England" were not these orations?

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This inquiry suggests a distinction, which needs to be recognized, between the different types of oratory distinction based on the recognized difference between speeches calling for immediate and definite decision and action and those not so calling. This distinction gives rise to a twofold division, to which have been given the names: Determinate Oratory and Demonstrative Oratory.

1. Determinate Oratory.-Under this name may be included all those examples of persuasive speech that anticipate direct and specific action on the part of those addressed.

The action contemplated in this class of discourse may culminate in a vote, a resolution, a verdict, or in a silent yet real resolution to pursue a certain course. But it is definite and the operation of the will is positive and