CUnrneU Hmn^ratty $tbrarg BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME OF THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF flenrg W. Sage 1 891 /\.:3A9.m. ^-2Jlt.. 9306 Cornell UnWersily Ubrary Cornell University Library The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924031431590 THE STRUCTURE OF AN EFFECTIVE PUBLIC SPEECH BY HARRY B. BRADBURY of the New York Bar Author of "Bradway's Forms of Pleading," etc. An efficient aid to professionals and laymen. A very necessary pocket volume for those who desire io become proficient in the art of public speaking. 1917 THE SHERWOOD COMPANY NEW YORK Copyrighted, 1917, by HARRY B. BRADBURY INTRODUCTION. During the Season of 1914-1915 a special class for advanced students of Public Speak- ing was organized under my instruction. It comprises a number of business and profes- sional men, one of whom was the author of this book, Mr. Bradbury. Membership imposed the responsibility of preparing a speech for each meeting, which was subsequently delivered before the Speak- ing Club, and then criticised by the other mem- bers and myself. The speeches were excellent in many ways, but they were generally found to be weak in form and construction. It was realized that no substantial advance could be made imtil further instruction was given in these essentials. Mr. Bradbury supplied that need by writing a series of papers on "The Structure of an Effective Public Speech." They were found to be such a valuable contribution to Public Speaking literature that the members of the class earnestly requested him to put them in printed form. He very kindly did so by pub- listing them privately in book form. This limited edition was soon exhausted, and at the request of The Sherwood Company it is to be reprinted and sold to the general public. The difficulty that the members of this class labored under is common to most students of Public Speaking. They do not give sufficient attention to the study of speech form, nor do they always have a clear purpose in their mind before writing the speech or delivering it. Mr. Bradbury has been successful in setting before them the information they need in sim- ple, concise, and interesting style. In doing so he has placed every student of Public Speak- ing and Oratory under a great debt of grati- tude. WALTER ROBINSON. PUBLISHER'S NOTE. Mr. Walter Robinson, who wrote the Intro- duction on the succeeding page, is the instruc- tor in charge of the Public Speaking Club of America, which has been an active organiza- tion for nearly ten years, at the West Side Young Men's Christian Association, in New York City. He also holds the important posi- tions of instructor in oratory in Drew Semi- nary, in New Jersey, and in the Jewish Theo- logical Seminary, in New York City. THE PUBLISHERS. CONTENTS. Page Publisher's note i Introdnctioii ii Preface to Second Edition 3 Preface to First Edition 6 Chapter L Preliminary 9 " IL Divisions of an Oration 17 " m. Introduction, or Exor- dium 21 " IV. Statement of facts, or Narration 47 V. Proposition 75 " VL Argument and proof. . . 85 Vn. Refutation 99 " V iH- Conclusion or Perora- tion 107 " IX. Addendum 123 PEEFACE TO SECOND EDITION The publication of this second edition of the "Structure of an Effective Public Speech" for a larger field than that occu- pied by the first edition, affords an oppor- tunity to expand into somewhat more of a treatise, a work that originally consisted merely of a collection of brief speeches, to which were added a few extracts from famous orations. Practically all of the original material has been retained. This has been done for two reasons. In the first place the author has not been per- suaded by later and fuller experience that there were serious errors in the original small volume. Such press notices as have been printed seem to confirm this view. The criticism of friends and others who read the first edition were also of such a nature that the author was encouraged to 3 believe that the doctrines advocated were reasonably sound; some of these criti- cisms, indeed, were couched in language which induced the belief that they were dictated by friendship rather than impar- tial criticism. No attempt has been made to produce a complete guide to public speaking. The structure only of such addresses has been considered. In the second edition, however, each point has been amplified and enriched, either by further discussion of an original nature, or by carefully selected opinions of authors who have written on the same topics. Care has been taken to avoid mak- ing the new edition a mere digest of the writings of others. Undoubtedly the whole work contains the essence only of the best authorities on the subjects discussed; transfused, as it were, with modifications and recommendations affecting modem conditions as nearly as the ability of the author was able to accomplish this object. But a few selected direct quotations from authors have been added when they were deemed especially pointed. The second edition has also been enriched with a more complete selection of examples of the va- rious parts of a speech all taken from ora- tions which by common consent have been approved as excellent models. In making this selection, however, care has been taken to avoid the selection of striking passages which merely illustrate a par- ticular orator's ''style." The extracts have been taken with a view of demon- strating the manner in which famous speakers have treated particular parts of their speeches, whether the introduction, the argument or the peroration. PEEFACE TO FIRST EDITION The short addresses in this smaU vol- ume originally were delivered by the au- thor as one of the members of a dass in public speaking at the West Side T. M. C. A., in New York City. Mr. Walter Robinson, who conducted the class, re- quested that the addresses be put in writ- ten form. This was done, with some am- plifications, and the addresses were then read before the same class. Some of the members were kind enough to suggest that the addresses should be preserved in printed form, as they believed they had de- rived valuable assistance from them. In deference to this suggestion the author has had them printed privately, without making any attempt to secure a publisher for the purpose of having the work dis- tributed generally. The addresses themselves are the result of many years of close observation of public speakers. To the knowledge thus gained has been added the fruits of a care- ful study of the works of those who have written on the subject of public speaking, from the time of Cicero to our own era. As for myself, the pleasure, and I be- lieve, profit, I have derived from the preparation and delivery of the addresses is sufficient reward. Therefore I dedicate this book to those friends who are respon- sible, in the way I have indicated, for the publication of the addresses. Haeby B. Bbadbuet. THE STRUCTUEE OF AN EFFECTIVE PUBLIC SPEECH PKELIMINABY If tHe marble, granite, steel, "wood and decorative materials out of which the Capitol, at Washington, was constructed should be thrown together in a more or less irregular pile, it would be junk, mere- ly. Many public speeches, although they may contain golden thoughts and brilliant verbal embellishments, must be classed as junk, because of the lack of proper ar- rangement of the materials. They might properly be termed "Mob Eloquence". They may, like a mob, some- times win an apparent victory by an ex- traordinary display of energy, which may be likened to mere brute force, or they may win simply because of lack of organ- ized resistance. A mob may contain many brave, strong and able men, who, if they 10 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. had time to organize their forces and for- mulate a plan of action, might give a good account of themselves, even when opposed by regular troops. But without such a plan or organization they will be helpless before a methodical attack. The steady pressure of a single company of trained soldiers, acting in unison and in accord- ance with well-laid plans, will disperse a mob composed of several hundred persons acting without an orderly plan of defence or attack. Not that it is desired to insist, or even to suggest, that form is everything, or that real eloquence is possible without imagination, inspiration, enthusiasm, ani- mation, voice, gesture and action, which are its very life and soul. An oration which is perfect in form may be "dry, sapless and frigid." Mob eloquence may even raise a laugh, produce a shout or win applause by reason of the very ear- nestness, enthusiasm and courage of the orator. But it does not win in the long- run. An orderly arrangement would often make mob eloquence more convincing and PRELIMINARY. U more persuasive. Both elements are necessary in effective pnblic speech, con- sidering it in its larger field. The soldiers who attacked the position on Lookout Mountain did so according to a well laid plan. But it is doubtful whether even the commanders who for- mulated the plan of attack believed be- forehand that the troops could scale the face of the cliff and capture the fort on top of the mountaia. Anyone examining the spot to-day will say that such a feat was impossible. But the plan of the at- tack had been well laid and carefuly car- ried out. The inspiration, enthusiasm and courage of those in the van of the attack carried them over what seemed impossible difi&culties to a brilliant victory. Both the orderly plan of the officers and the inspi- ration, enthusiasm and courage of the sol- diers were necessary to make the effort a success which electrified the nation. Out of the same thoughts, words and sentences which in their disarranged con- dition have been termed "junk" or "mob eloquence", might be constructed excel- 12 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. lent speeches by the exercise of intelligent attention to the plans upon which they were put together. This is a mere truism which is proved by the experience and practice of every great public speaker from Demosthenes to Lincoln, and by the teaching of many of them. Yet a very large majority of men who make public speeches, so far at least as my own obser- vation goes, seem to be unaware of this truism. At any rate they ignore it. They either think they may neglect with im- punity aU rules as to form, or they are un- familiar with them, or they do not know how to apply them. The result is too often a confusing conglomeration of ideas and sentences which resembles a cut-up picture- puzzle in its disarranged condition. Rear- range the ideas in a logical sequence and the result is a picture which is tmder- standable and attractive. This does not involve the invariable application of set rules or stiff formulas on all occasions. Quite the contrary. It requires merely the use of certain principles of psychology and logic, which are so general and broad PRELIMINARY. 1£ in their scope as to make their applica- tion a simple matter. Do not imagine an endeavor will be made to prove that a simpleton can either compose or deliver a good public speech by the adoption of any suggestions which may be made here. It requires a man of both character, in its best sense, plus abil- ity, to compose and deliver a public ad- dress which will have any lasting effect. Everything that may be said must be quali- fied by the last statement. So let there be no misunderstanding on that point. But men of character, ability and ex- perience make this mistake, not infre- quently. Younger men, of inexperience, make it almost invariably. That is, how- ever much thought they may give to the different parts of the purely literary em- bellishments of their addresses they give little attention, as the result seems to in- dicate, to the fitting together of the differ- ent parts of their discourses, so as to se- cure and keep the attention of their audi- tors, in the process of convincing them of the truth of the speaker's propositions and 14 STRtTCTUKE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. in persuading them to act as the si)eaker desires. The whole object of a public speaker is comprehended in the last sen- tence — ^to secure and hold the attention of his audience and then to convince and per- suade them after he has secured and held their attention. The general principles which must be practiced to accomplish this end appear in- dubitably to have been understood by every orator of extraordinary ability from Demosthenes to our own time. But if they have ever been clearly and concisely stated, as I understand them, in a modem work I have been unfortunate enough never to have discovered the book in which this was done. That the importance of the structure of an oration has not been unduly emphasized in this volume is proved by the opinions of all the great writers to whom we are in the habit of looking for inspiration. Among the classic authorities Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian stand out above the others. Among modem men none has treated the subject with the same thorough- PRELIMINARY. 15 ness that is to be found among the works of the andents. Indeed, the older works are largely used as text books at the pres- ent time. I have endeavored, therefore, to reduce to modem thought and language the prin- ciples which have been applied from time immemorial to a subject which is becoming of greater importance every day — ^that of conveying ideas clearly, forcibly, convinc- ingly and persuasively to a considerable number of persons at the same time. In doing this I have taken up briefly the consideration of the division of a speech generally. This will be found in the next succeeding chapter. In those which follow each division is discussed separately, and its relation to the others explained. In a still later chapter will be found a discussion of some topics relating to the subject which cannot be considered profitably in connection with any one par- ticular subdivision. n THE DIVISIONS OF AN OEATION According to a classical authority a speech shonld be divided as follows : 1. Introduction, or exordium, 2. Statement of facts, or narrative. 3. Proposition. 4. Argument and proof. 5. Refutation. 6. Conclusion, or peroration. Certainly there is nothing novel or startling about the foregoing division. It is one that has been familiar for upwards of two thousand years, at least. True, other divisions and sometimes more nu- merous subdivisions have been made. Great orators have sometimes made more or less extensive variations in this ar- rangement. But the great majority of ef- fective orations, made by speakers of more than ordinary ability, may be thus subdi- vided, without doing them great violence. 17 18 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. After a speaker has acquired the ability to model his address on this plan then he may take the liberty of departing from it, to a limited extent, to meet the exigencies of particular occasions. Naturally this plan is appUcable to what usually are termed set speeches. A running debate does not always permit of the use of this formality. Nor is it possible or perhaps advisable in very brief speeches. But even in such a debate, as well as in short speeches, many of the principles discussed here may be applied with profit. It seems almost unnecessary to say that in a completed speech, as delivered, most of the lines of demarcation between the different divisions should be entirely ob- literated, so far as the audience is con- cerned. One part should blend into the next, as one dissolving stereopticon view disappears and another comes in its place, but so smoothly and naturally that the spectators are unaware of the precise mo- ment when one entirely disappears and the other appears. Such a division, logically and skilfully THE DIVISION OF AN ORATION. 19 made, is not only of great assistance in retaining the attention of the audience, but it is also a wonderful aid to the mem- ory of the speaker. No doubt every speaker who occupies a public platform and gives utterance to addresses which are worthy of attention, finds difficulty in remembering to say all the things which he intended, or desired, to say, and in the order in which he intended to utter them. This difficulty can never by removed en- tirely from extempore speech. The word extempore, is used, of course, as indicating merely that the address is not read from a manuscript. By carefully subdividing the speech, however, each part is itself sug- gestive of the material which will be found therein. As the various parts follow in a logical and invariable sequence, the speaker takes up each one in its turn, without the necessity of spending an in- ordinate amount of time and effort in memorizing the arrangement of his ad- dress. Even though the speech is com- mitted to memory, word for word, this ar- rangement will be of great assistance. 20 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. But the advisability of learning a speech so as to be able to repeat it by rote, is very doubtful. It is possible that on rare occasions such a practice may be followed with advantage. But the weight of opin- ion is against making the practice invari- able. ni INTEODUCTION, OK EXOEDIUM The first few sentences which a speaker utters before an audience, receive more universal and closer attention than ahy- thing which he may thereafter say on that particular occasion, no matter how suc- cessful his oration may be. This is a psychological fact which is easy to explain. Curiosity is one of the predominant char- acteristics of practically everybody. Stop on lower Broadway, during the crowded noon hour, and gaze persistently toward the sky. See how soon a crowd will gather, gazing skyward, which, shortly, will gain such proportions that it will be necessary to call the police to disperse it. Each in- dividual is animated by curiosity to see what you see. So when a new speaker is introduced and begins to talk, the dullest and least attentive person in the audience listens, out of sheer curiosity, to hear what 21 22 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. this new speaker has to offer. This, tlfeien, is the very best opporttinity the man on the platform will have to chain the atten- tion of his andience to the subject which he has in mind. How idiotic to waste sncli a golden opportunity. "What unadulter- ated folly to throw away this wonderful chance by actually directing the attention of the audience to some topic away from the main one which the speaker wishes to press home and as to which he desires to have the audience accept and act upon his recommendation. How unwise; then, to start a serious subject with a funny story. Just to the extent that the story has suc- ceeded, exactly to that extent has the at- tention of the audience been distracted from the serious matter in hand, and it has been made that much harder to again focus their attention on this matter. They will wait for further funny stories and un- less they are forthcoming there is a mwital resentment, which requires Herculean ef- forts and marked ability to overcome, to the extent of again directing intelligent at- tention to the serious questions under die- INTRODUCTION, OR EXORDIUM. 23 cuesion. It is barely possible that the point of a funny story may contain the very essence of the serious argument and thus form a good introduction. But this rarely happens and the practice is danger- ous. Then if the fimny introductory effort fails! This is a calamity greater than most public speakers generally realize. The golden opportunity of taking advan- tage of that fresh bloom of keen attention is withered and dead. More than that, the speaker must now overcome a feeling of resentment and disgust, before he can secure attention for the serious portions of his subject. "Wit and humor have their places on the public platform, even in serious speeches, but they must be used sparingly, and never in the form of a digressive funny story as part of the introductory sentences. The sole use of such anecdotes is to illustrate and make more forceful a serious argu- ment. Lincoln was the real master of this use of humorous stories. As when he was opposed in the adoption of some measure, 24 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEBX^H. for the reason, as Ms opponents nrged, that it should not be adopted nntil they had had more experi jnce in the matter, Lin- coln retorted that the argument reminded him of Pat, who declared: "Snre, thim boots are so schmall I'll not be able to git thim on me feet 'til after I wear thim a while." But this was not part of Lin- coln's introductory remarks. Moreover, Lincoln never used humorous stories in his real masterpieces. How out of place such a story would have been in the Gettysburg Speech, or in the Second Inaugural Ad- dress. Yet these two speeches are not only Lincoln's masterpieces, but they are among the masterpieces of the English language. Webster never, on any occasion whatsoever, used humorous stories ; yet his orations are masterpieces for all time to come. Notwithstanding it is spoken first, the introduction should be written last, at the time the speech is prepared. This is so necessarily, because the exordium should contain the very soul of the subject. Cicero said that it should contain the very "bow- INTRODUCTION. OR EXORDIUM. 25 els" of the oration, and Quintilian agreed with him. No matter which figure is used, we know what is meant. We want some- thing that will make the greatest impres- sion on the minds of the audience at the time when they are most attentive and therefore most impressionable. These first sentences must be a table of contents, or an index, in oratorical form, to the sub- ject which is to be discussed. It shoul^S be made attractive, if possible, but it must be comprehensive, concise and understanda- ble. Long and involved sentences must be absolutely eliminated. Everything obscure must be clarified. The language must be simple and direct. This is no time to in- dulge in flourishes of rhetoric or figures of speech, however much it may be deemed advisable to introduce such features later in the speech. Cicero covers the whole subject so ad- mirably that his observations in Chapter 79 of the second book of "De Oratore" are quoted below: "Every introduction of a discourse ought either to give an intimation of the 26 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. whole subject, or to open and pave the way to the merits of the cause, or to serve for ornament and dignity. But as in the architecture of houses and temples, their porches and places of entrance have their proportions; so in pleading the introduc- tion ought to bear a proportion to the im- portance of its subject. Therefore, where the cause is trite and trifling, it is often most convenient to begin with the matter itself. But, as is generally the case, when the pleading requires an exordium, we are at liberty to borrow our sentiments from somewhat that regards either the party or his antagonist, or the matter in dispute, or the judges. From the party (I mean the client whose interests are at stake), whatever is expressive of a man of worth and generosity, but unfortunate, and merit- ing compassion; and, likewise, whatever can most effectually destroy an unjust ac- cusation. From the person of the adver- sary, we are to select, if we can, the very opposite qualities from the same sources of arguments. From the nature of the case ; if there be anything cruel, horrible, INTRODUCTION, OR EXORDIUM. 27 contrary to all probability, unjust, pitia- ble, ungrateful, un-worthy, unprecedented, irredeemable, and irretrievable. But, that our judges be prepossessed in our favor, that is a thing to be attained rather by pleading than by prayer. The conciliation of the judges must be transfused directly or indirectly through the whole of a dis- course, and must be particularly forcible in the peroration; yet the introduction, also, often consists of it. For the Greeks teach that we are first to render the judge attentive and tractable, though that is not more peculiar to the introduction, than to all the other parts of a discourse; but, then, they are most easily affected at the beginning, when attention is most awak- ened, when expectation is highest, and when the mind is most susceptible of im- pressions. Whatever, too, is said in set- ting out, whether by way of allegation or defense, appears with greater lustre than in the middle of a pleading. But, the greatest variety of exordiums for gaining over or moving a judge, are drawn from those topics, which, in the cause itself, are 28 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. most proper for moving the passions ; yet, you are not to display all these in the very beginning, but you are to give the judge a gentle impulse, so that the rest of your discourse may fall in with his bias. The introduction, therefore, ought to be so con- nected with the subsequent part of a speech, as not to appear like the flourish of a musician, a thing detached; but, as a member naturally uniting with the whole body of the discouse. For some people, after they have despatched this pre- meditated part, make such a transition to the rest of their discourse, that they seem to demand that the audience should suit themselves to their fancies. An orator, then, ought to treat an introduc- tion, not as the Samnites do their spears, which they brandish before they encoun- ter, though they do not use them in the fight; for he ought to fight armed with the very sentiments which he used in his intro- duction. The introduction ought always to have accuracy, acuteness, sentiment, propriety of expression, and a peculiar adaption to the cause in Kand; for, the INTRODUCTION, OR EXORDIUM. 29 first judgment, and, as it were, prejudice, which is formed in favor of a speech, arises from its introduction, which ought instantly to soothe and gain over the audi- ence. And there is no doubt but a plead- ing, in its setting out, requires often to be strong and spirited: but, if among men who fight for their lives, a great many flourishes pass before they actually en- gage, which appear to be more for parade than in earnest, how much more is this to be expected in speaking, where power and sweetness are required hand in hand. But the introduction is not to be sought from a foreign source, or from any other source, but from the very boivels of the coAi-se itself. Therefore, after you have weighed and examined the whole subject, after you have found out and prepared all its topics, you are to consider which of them you are to employ in the introduction. This is the easy way to find the proper in- troduction. For it must be taken from the richest vein that runs through the subject — whether from superior arguments which the subject supplies, or from the 'common 30 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. places,' those sources to which orators must often have recourse. Thus it can never fail of carrying with it importance when it is drawn from the main drift of the pleading; and it will thereby appear that it is not only not common, nor applica- ble to other causes, but shoots, like a flower from the bud, from the very heart of the cause itself." Aristotle divides orations into three classes as relating to the past, the present and the future. He designates them Judi- cial, Demonstrative and Deliberative, as relating to time, in the order named. Upon close analysis this classification, as Aris- totle explains it, is strictly logical. Judi- cial oratory has to do entirely with past events even though its object is to affect judgments to be rendered in the future, and such judgments may have an indirect effect on future legislation. Demonstrative oratory, within the lim- its applied by Aristotle, relates to present conditions, even though it may deal with past events, or the possibilities of the fu- ture. Most speeches dealing with the pres- INTRODUCTION, OR EXORDIUM. 31 ent state of a science or an art would come under this head. Aristotle includes fu- neral orations and panegyrics under Demonstrative orations. Deliberative orations deal with the fu- ture, as those of legislative assemblies and discussions in relation to governments generally. Aristotle concludes that these three classes of orations must be treated differ- ently in regard to their various parts. The remarks of Cicero quoted in preceding pages seem to sustain the same view. As to Judicial and Deliberative ora- tions, Aristotle insists that the introduc- tion or exordium shall contain a distinct statement of that which is to follow. He adverts to the fact that those in the audi- ence are much more alert in the beginning than they are at any other time and they become impatient if the essence of the dis- course is not then explained in the same way that an audience in a theatre becomes restless if the plot of the play is not dis- closed in the first act. As to the Demonstrative orations, how- 32 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. ever, he is not so insistent that the essence shall be contained in the exordium, but leaves the matter open to the judgment of the speaker, again agreeing with Cicero's later opinion. As both Judicial and Deliberative ora- tions come invariably in the class of argu- mentation, it is seen that Aristotle urges the necessity of a statement of the essence of the case in the introduction or exordium in all cases of an argumentative character. It is readily seen that this is not so essen- tial in Demonstrative orations. If the introduction is correctly worded and is used as herein suggested, the speaker has planted the germ of whatever success he may attain on that particular occasion, in the most favorable spot for its growth. The audience sees, in perspective, and in its most general features, the sub- ject which is to be expounded. They wait with interest for the developments which are to follow, no matter whether they are hostile or friendly. If the hostility is of such a violent character as to refuse a courteous hearing at all, even at this early INTRODUCTION, OR EXORDIUM. 33 stage of the speech, no rules can help the speaker. If he is a genius, Ee may finally prevail, as did Henry Ward Beecher, in his Liverpool address. But I make no pre- tense of being able to point to rules which will overcome the difficulty under such ex- traordinary circumstances. Sometimes it is advisable to propitiate a less violently hostile audience. Just how this can be done, on each occasion, must be left to the good sense of the speaker himself. Cicero, in the remarks quoted, is rather indefinite on this subject. The circumstances in each case are so varied, that special rules would be merely confusing. There is one thing to avoid, however. Fulsome flattery never accomplishes this object. There are two foolish practices which are so common as to be utterly tiresome. That is, first, the making of excuses, and second, the flippant remark that the speaker knows nothing about the subject of his address, which he supposes is the reason why he was called upon to speak on that topic. If a speaker really does not know anything about the subject under 34 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. discnssion, he shows his very great lack of good sense in permitting himself to be in- duced, under any circumstances whatso- ever, to discuss it before an audience. He is sure to make himself ridiculous sooner or later, if he attempts to do it Cicero refers to this subject at least twice in words which are very much to the point. He says in "De Oratore," Chapter 24: " It is by neglecting this close examination that we see most causes lost, expecially private ones, which are often of the most intricate nature. Therefore, some, who want that the world should think that they have great business, by fluttering all over the forum, and seeming to pass from cause to cause, speak in cases of whose nature they are very ignorant. But by this eon- duct they inqur great blame; for they are guilty either of gross neglect in undertak- ing to plead without proper information, or of treachery, if they profess to succeed. They incur another censure greater tham, they imagine, which is, that any mem who speaks to a subject that he does not under- stand, must speak very wretchedly. Thus, INTRODUCTION. OR EXORDIUM. 35 while they seem to despise the reproach of indolence, which is in reality the most inexcusable, they absolutely incur that which they want most to avoid, I mean that of incompetency." In anotliei- place, Cicero, in speaking of the folly of those who undertake to ad- dress public assemblies without proper in- formation, relates the following anecdote: "Phormio, the Peripatetic, was a cele- brated philosopher at Ephesus. Thither Hannibal, after being driven from Carth- age, fled in exile and lived with Antioehus at the time that Phormio used to deliver disoourses to the people. Hannibal was invited by the citizens to hear Phormio; and, having accepted the invitation, he re- mained in the assembly while the feUow spoke for some hours upon the duties of a general, and the whole system of military affairs. The rest of the audience, who seemed quite ravished, asked Hannibal what he thought of the philosopher. The Carthaginian, who did' not, perhaps, speak good Greek, though he spoke good sense, replied: 'that many old dotards he had 36 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. seen, but a greater dotard than the same Phormio he had never seen.' And, indeed (adds Cicero), he was right; for what could show more of a pendant, or more of a loquacious hahbler, than that a Greek, who had never faced an enemy, had never seen a camp, who had never risen to any public office, should give lectures on military affairs before Hannibal, who had for so many years disputed the empire of the world with Rome?" Another writer has said: "The Oratory of the Bar is two-fold; that of the Black- Letter Lawyer, and that of the Advocate. The end of the former is Conviction, of the latter Persuasion. The Black-Letter pleader must establish his character by close, logical eloquence in arguing a point of law before the judges. "The Advocate in addressing juries argues the law; but, in a more general and less formal manner, comments on evi- dence, calls up the aid of imagination, and appeals with all his power to the passions. To the Black-Letter Lawyer a profound knowledge of his profession is the great INTRODUCTION, OR EXOKDIUM. 37 essential requisite. Sucli a profound knowledge is not absolutely necessary for the Advocate, but a mere superficial acquaintance with law will retard or pre- vent his success, and tend to preclude him from acquiring character, promotion, or fortune. "Natural ability, and great industry to master thoroughly their cases, are neces- sary for both. But the pleader, who com- bines in himself the qualifications of the Black-Letter Lawyer and the Advocate, is the best Bar Orator." Orammar of Elo- quence, by M. Barry, Dublin, 1849, p. 505. It is entirely unnecessary for a speaker to advise the audience that he has no knowledge of the subject under discussion, because the audience will discover it soon enough. If he actually has knowledge of the subject, but thinks it is witty to make the remark which is heard so often, that he really does not know why he was called upon to speak unless it was because he had no knowledge of the subject, he makes a more serious error than he probably realizes. The very minute he tells his 38 STRTTCTUIIE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. audience that he does not know anything about the subject under discussion, a very large majority of them will take him at his word, and thereafter pay little or no at- tention to anything which he may have to say. They resent being talked to by a man who, by his own admission, does not know what he is talking about. They re- fuse to be persuaded by anything which he may say, because they feel that the speaker is not an authority. On the other hand, if the speaker is silent as to his own knowl- edge of the subject, the audience will take it for granted that he is familiar with it, otherwise he would not be requested to ad- dress them. In this frame of mind they will be ready to accept many of his state- ments as being authoritative, whereas, if he flippantly tells them he does not know anything about the matter, they will not foUow him at all, and his efforts are al- most always doomed to failure. The foolish practice of making excuses on one subject and another, at the begin- ning of an address, is very common, epecially among inexperienced speakers. INTRODUCTION, OR EXORDIUM. 39 The occasions are so very rare in which it is advisable, or necessary, to make any excuse whatsoever, that the only safe rule to follow is never to make excuses. They weaken the speaker in the minds of the audience, almost invariably. When a man rises before an audience and tells them that since the chairman of the meeting asked him to make the address he has been very busy, or has been on the road, or has been ill, or for any other of a thousand reasons he has been unable to give the at- tention to the subject which he would like to have given, and which it deserves, the impression is made on the mind of each auditor before him, that what he has to say is not well considered or authoritative. The speaker therefore handicaps himself. He may perhaps succeed in spite of his handicap, but the handicap is there never- theless, and it may be just sufficient to turn the scales and make the speech a fail- ure instead of a success. The best way is never to go on the platform unless you are reasonably well prepared, and thefn make no excuses, but do the best you can. 40 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. You are only making trouble for yourself by offering excuses and you do not smooth your own way by this practice, bowever much your inclination may lead you in that direction. Webster's introduction in his great ar- gument before the United States Supreme Court, in the Dartmouth College Case, was a model of conciseness and brevity. It also contained the very soul of his contention. In fact it was the whole point of the case around which all the arguments revolved. Moreover it contained the essential germ of one of the most important constitutional decisions in relation to corporations that has ever been made in this country. Web- ster's first words were: "The general question is, whether the acts of the 27th of June, and the 18th and 26th of December, 1816, are valid and binding on the rights of the plaintiffs, without their acceptance or assent." He proceeded then immediately to show that a corporate charter had been granted to Dartmouth College, giving it certain rights in relation to internal management, INTRODUCTION, OR EXORDIUM. 41 and that these rights had been taken away by the subsequent legislation, which was attacked as unconstitutional, because the College had not assented to have its char- ter thus changed. The Court followed Web- ster 's reasoning and addpted the im- portant principle that a corporate charter is a contract which is held inviolate under the clause in the Federal Constitution pro- hibiting a state from passing an act vio- lating the obligation of a contract. The very soul of Lincoln's Grettysburg address was certainly contained in the first two sentences: "Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this Continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedi- cated to the proposition that all men are created equal. Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that na- tion, or any nation, so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure." This surely was a fitting introduction to an address ending with that splendid per- oration: "that government of the people, by the people, and for the people, shall 42 STRTTCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. not perish from the earth." It may be said with truth, however, that the Gettys- burg address is so short that dividing it is not an easy matter. Nevertheless, there are all the elements of an exordium, a nar- ration and a peroration in even this brief masterpiece. Thomas B. Eeed, in closing the debate on the Wilson-Tariif Bill, admirably stated the point of his entire argument in the three sentences with which he opened his address. He said: "In this debate, which has extended over many weeks, one remarkable result has already been reached, a result of the deepest importance to this country. That result is, that the bill before us is odious to both sides of the House. It meets with favor nowhere, and commands the respect of neither party. On this side we believe that whUe it pretends to be for protection it does not afford it, and on the other side' they believe that while it looks toward free trade it does not accomplish it. ' ' The eloquent address of Henry W. Grady in New York, in 1886, on "The New INTRODUCTION, OR EXORDIUM. 43 Sonth," which, brought him into imme- diate fame, contained, in the first two sen- tences, the very soul of his address. Mr. Grady's opening remarks were as follows: "There was a South of slavery and se- cession — that South is dead. There is a South of union and freedom — that South, thank God, is living, breathing, growing every hour. ' ' St. Paul's address on Mars Hill con- tains a more ancient example of the same practice. Paul's opening words were: "Ye men of Athens, I percieve that in all things ye are too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription 'TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.' Whom there- fore ye ignorantly worship, Him I declare unto you."— Acts, XVII, 22-23. The bowels of Patrick Henry's speech before the House of Burgesses was con- .tained in the third or fourth sentence of his introduction: "The question before the House is one of awful moment to this country. For my 44 STRTTCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. own pdrt, I consider it as nothing less than a question of freedom or slavery." This was an apt introduction to that burning peroration : "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!" For a considerable time Henry Ward Beecher was not permitted to speak, so turbulent and hostile were the audience, at Liverpool. But when he could make himself heard his first words were : "For more than twenty-five years I have, been made perfectly familiar with popular assemblies in all parts of my country ex- cept the extreme south. There has not, for the whole of that time, been a single day in my life when it would have been safe for me to go south of Mason and Dixon's Line, in my own country, and all for one reason — ^my solemn, earnest, per- sistent testimony against that which I con- sider to be the most atrocious thing under the Sun ; the system of American slavery in a great free Eepublic." These sentences not only contained the INTRODUCTION, OR EXORDIUM. 45 bowels of Beecher's Address, but they were courageous words, in the face of so violently hostile an audience as the one which he faced, and they did much to win for him a hearing. After the Civil War Beecher was en- gaged on a lecturing tour and one of the places he was scheduled to visit was Rich- mond, which was "south of Mason's and Dixon's Line." Telegrams were sent to the managers of the lecture tour that if Beetaher appeared in Richmond his life would be in danger. Upon the telegram being shown to Beecher he said he would go nevertheless. The hall was packed with those who were determined to prevent Beecher from speaking, at all hazards. When he arose the disorder was so great that speaking was absolutely impossible. Beecher, with that splendid courage, which he says in his speech on oratory is abso- lutely essential to an orator, waited unper- turbed and with perfect good nature, for an opening. Finally, during a slight lull, he made a humorous reference to certain members of the Legislature who were 46 STRITCTTJRE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. present, which won a laugh from those in the front rows who eould hear. Almost immediately there was silence. The curi- osity of those farther back overcame their desire to prevent Beecher from speaking. They wondered what he had to offer. They were curious to know what he could pos- sibly say to bring a laugh from those in front, who, they knew, were hostile to the speaker to the extent that they proposed personal violence, if necessary, to prevent him from talking. Beecher proved his genius. There were no more hostile in- terruptions. The next morning a deputa- tion of citizens, headed by the Mayoi", waited upon him with the request that he speak again so their wives and daughters could hear him. Such a victory oomes rarely in the life of anyone and would turn the heads of most of us. IV STATEMENT OF FACTS OK NABBATION The narration, or statement of facts, should be an immediate expansion of the principal idea as expressed in the intro- duction. Its purpose is to give to the audi- ence a clear understanding of the basic facts on which the argument is to be con- structed. Here again great clarity should prevail. Unless the audience clearly lan- derstand the facts forming the basis of the speaker's contention they may miss the point of the argument entirely, a little la- ter on. Of course, this statement must be as concise as comprehensiveness and clear- ness wiU permit. If it is too long and an Tindue amount of time is given to a recital of details the attention of the audience will be lost. The result of this will be that they will not thoroughly understand the matter and when the speaker comes to the point of stating his proposition, imm'edi- 47 48 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. ately after the narration, the audience will not be in a mental condition to grasp the point thoroughly, and the address will be- come more or less obscure. The cumula- tive effort of losing the attention of an audience at a critical point in a speech, not infrequently spells complete failure. If a book containing language which is obscure and difficult to understand is tire- some and hard to read, how much more so is a speech couched in obscure and am- biguous sentences. A reader can turn back and read over again matter which he does not understand on the first perusal. But if the meaning of any portion of a speech is lost, the listener cannot go back and study over the words again. Not hav- ing understood the meaning of one sen- tence the next becomes still more blind. A little later, when another reference is made to the same subject on the mistaken assumption of the speaker that those in the audience have understood his prior re- mark, the auditors are still more per- plexed. As they cease to understand the drift of the speaker's remarks their minds STATEMENT OF FACTS. 49 wander and they stop attempting to fol- low the argument. They yawn and fre- quently go out. The cumulative effect of ambiguous or obscure sentences is enough to spoil any oratorical effort. The narration should be made as inter- esting as possible. Even a dry subject may be made interesting, almost invari- ably, by careful preparation. It should follow the introduction naturally and logically. Then if the introduction has been of such a character as to focus atten- tion on the subject in hand, and the narra- tion has made the principal facts clear and easily nnderstandable, the audience is in a proper mental condition to grasp the prin- cipal proposition, which should immedi- ately follow the statement. There is necessarily a somewhat clear line of demarcation at this point. But the proposition follows so logicaly and nat- urally after the narration that those in the average audience do not think of the di- vision of the speech at all. In fact the narration should be so ar- ranged that a climax is reached just be- 50 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. fore the proposition is propounded. If the facts narrated by the speaker are such that an ordinary audience of reason- able and fair-minded human beings would say that such a condition ought not to be permitted to exist, there arises in the minds of the audience, as they listen to the narration, individually, and it might almost be said collectively, the question : Well, what do you purpose? In fact the audience is keen for your remedy. This is the psychological mo- ment when the proposition should be pre- sented. This is precisely the manner in which Webster and Macaulay handled their sub- jects in the two examples which are given below. A careful reading of these ex- tracts shows indubitably that when the proposition came in each of these orations the listeners were waiting almost impati- ently to hear what the proposal was which the speaker had to make. Probably the audience, which consisted of the United States Supreme Court in one case and the House of Commons in the other, did not STATEMENT OF FACTS. 51 note the division of the speech at this point at all. Webster spoke three hours and Judge Story, a member of the Court, has left a record of the impression which the speech made. He said: "For the first hour we listened to him with perfect astonishment, for the second hour with perfect delight, and for the third hour with perfect conviction." la Webster's Dartmouth College speech the proposition is in the form of a divi- sion and in Macaulay's address on Educa- tion it is a syllogism. The division in Webster's great address is a good example of that kind of a propo- sition. The syllogism in Macaulay's speech is also an excellent specimen of a proposi- tion of that character. For the purpose of illustrating this point the introduction, narration and proposition from this great forensic of Webster's, before the United States Su- preme Court, and from Macaulay's Parlia- mentary Address on Education, are printed in full below. In Webster's speech the first paragraph in italics is the key to the intro- 62 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. duction and the last paragraph in the ex- tract given, also in italics, is the proposi- tion. "The general question is, whether the acts of the 27th of June, and of the 18th and 26th of December, 1816, are valid amd bind- ing on the rights of the plaintiffs, WITH- OUT THEIR ACCEPTANCE OE AS- SENT. "The charter of 1769 created and estab- lished a corporation, to consist of twelve persons, and no more; to be called the 'Trustees of Dartmouth College.' The preamble to the charter recites, that it is granted on the application and request of the Eev. Eleazer Wheeloek: That Doctor Wheelock, about the year 1754, established a charity school, at his own expense, and on his own estate and plantation : That for several years, through the assistance of well-disposed persons in America, granted at his solicitation, he had clothed, main- tained, and educated a number of native Indians, and employed them afterwards as missionaries and schoolmasters among the savage tribes: That, his design promis- STATEMENT OF FACTS. 63 ing to be useful, he had constituted the Rev. Mr. Whitaker to be his attorney, with power to solicit contributions, in England, for the further extension and carrying on of his undertaking; and that he had re- quested the Earl of Dartmouth, Baron Smith, Mr. Thornton, and other gentlemen, to receive such sums as might be con- tributed, in England, towards supporting his school, and to be trustees thereof, for his charity ; which these persons had agreed to: And thereupon Doctor Wheelock had executed to them a deed of trust, in pur- suance to such agreement between him and them, and, for divers good reasons, had re- ferred it to these persons to determine the place in which the school should be finally established: And, to enable them to form a proper decision on this subject, had laid before them the several offers which had been made to him by the several govern- ments in America, in order to induce him to settle and establish his school within the limits of such governments for their own emolument, and the increase of learn- ing in their respective places, as well as 54 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. for the furtherance of his general original design : And inasmuch as a number of the proprietors of lands in New Hampshire, animated by the example of the governor himself and others, and in consideration that, without any impediment to its origi- nal design, the school might be enlarged and improved, to promote learning among the English and to supply ministers to the people of that province, had promised large tracts of land, provided the school should be established in that province, the per- sons before mentioned, having weighed the reasons in favor of the several plaoes pro- posed, had given the preference to this province, and these offers: That Doctor Wheelock therefore represented the neces- sity of a legal incorporation, and proposed that certain gentlemen in America, whom he had already named and appointed in his will to be trustees of his charity after his decease, should compose the corporation. Upon this recital, and in consideration of the laudable original design of Doctor Wheelock, and willing that the beet means of education be established in New Hamp- STATEMENT OF FACTS. 55 sHre, for the benefit of the province, the king granted the charter, by the advice of his provincial council. "The snbstance of the facts thus recited is, that Doctor Wheelock had founded a charity, on funds owned and procured by himself; that he was at that time the sole dispenser and sole administrator, as well as the legal owner, of these funds ; that he had made his will, devising this property in trust, to continue the existence and uses of the school, and appointed trustees ; that, in this state of things, he had been invited to fix his school permanently in New Hampshire, and to extend the design of it to the education of the youth of that prov- ince ; that before he removed his school, or accepted this invitation, which his friends in England had advised him to accept, he applied for a charter, to be granted, not to whomsoever the king or government of the province should please, but to such persons as he named and appointed, namely, the persons whom he had already appointed to be the future trustees of his charity by his wiU. 56 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEBCH. "Thcj charter, or letters patent, then proceed to create such a corporation, and to appoint twelve persons to constitute it, by the name of the 'Trustees of Dartaiouth College;' to have perpetual existence, as such corporation, and with power to hold and dispose of lands and goods, for the use of the college, with all the ordinary powers of corporations. They are in their discre- tion to apply the funds and property of the college to the support of the president, tutors, ministers, and other officers of the college, and such missionaries and school- masters as they may see fit to employ among the Indians. There are to be twelve trustees forever, amd no more; and they are to have the right of filling vacan- cies occurring in their own body. The Rev. Mr. Wheelock is declared to be the founder of the college, and is, by the char- ter, appointed first president, with power to appoint a successor by his last will. All proper powers of government, superin- tendence, and visitation are vested in the trustees. They are to appoint and remove all officers at their discretion; to fix their STATEMENT OF FACTS. 57 salaries, and assign their duties; and to make all ordinances, orders, and laws for the government of the students. And to the end that the persons who had acted as depositaries of the contributions in Eng- land, and who had also been contributors themselves, might be satisfied of the good use of their contributions, the president was annually, or when required, to trans- mit to them an account of the progress of the institution and the disbursements of its funds, so long as they should continue to act in that trust. These letters patent are to be good and effectual, in law, against the Tcing, his heirs cmd successors forever, without further grant or confirmation; and the trustees are to hold all and singu- lar these privileges, advantages, liberties, and immunities to them and to their suc- cessors forever. "No funds are given to the college by this charter. A corporate existence and capacity are given to the trustees^ with the privileges and immunities which have been mentioned, to enable the founder and his associates the better to manage the funds 58 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. which they themselves had contributed, and such others as they might afterwards ob- tain. "After the institution thus created and constituted had existed, uninterruptedly and usefully, nearly fifty years, the legis- lature of New Hampshire passed the acts in question. "The first act makes the twelve trustees under the charter, and nine other individ- uals, to be appointed by the governor and council, a corporation, by a new name ; and to this new corporation transfers all the property, rights, powers, liberties, and privileges of the old corporation ; with fur- ther power to establish new colleges and an institute, and to apply all or any part of the funds to these purposes ; subject to the power and control of a board of twen- ty-five overseers, to be appointed by the governor and council. "The second act makes further provi- sions for executing the objects of the first, and the last act authorizes the defendant, the treasurer of the plaintiffs, to retain and hold their property, against their will. STATEMENT OF PACTS. S9 "If these acts are valid, the old corpo- ration is abolished, and a new one created. The first act does, in fact, if it can have any effect, create a new corporation, and transfer to it all the property and fran- chises of the old. The two corporations are not the same, in anything which essen- tially belongs to the existence of a corpo- ration. They have different names, and different powers, rights and duties. Their organization is wholly different. The pow- ers of the corporation are not vested in the same, or similar hands. In one, the trus- tees are twelve, and no more. In the other, they are twenty-one. In one, the power is in a single board. In the other, it is divided between two boards. Al- though the act professes to include the old trustees in the new corporation, yet that was without their assent, and against their remonstrance; and no person can be com- pelled to be a member of such a corpora- tion again his will. It was neither ex- pected nor intended that they should be members of the new corporation. The act itself treats the old corporation as at an 60 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. end, and going on the ground tkat all its functions have ceased, it provides for the first meeting and organization of the new corporation. It expressly provides, also, that the new corporation shall have and hold all the property of the old; a provis- ion which would be quite unnecessary upon any other ground, than that the old corpo- ration was dissolved. But if it could be con- tended that the effect of these acts was not entirely to abolish the old corporation, yet it is manifest that they impair and invade the rights, property, and powers of the trustees under the charter, as a corpora- tion, and the legal rights, privileges, and immunities which belong to them, as indi- vidual members of the corporation. "The twelve trustees were the sole legal owners of all the property acquired under the charter. But the acts, others are ad- mitted, against their will, to be Joint own- ers. The twelve individuals who are trus- tees were possessed of all the franchises and immunities conferred by iiie charter. By the acts, nine other trustees and twen- ty-five overseers are admitted, against STATEMENT OF PACTS. « their will, to divide these franchises and immwnities with them. "If, either as a corporation or as indi- viduals, they have any legal rights, this foreihle intrusion of others violates those rights, as manifestly as an entire and com- plete ouster and dispossession. These acts alter the whole constitution of the corpora- tion. They affect the rights of the whole body as a corporation, and the rights of the individuals who compose it. They re- voke •orporate powers and franchises. They alienate and transfer the property of the eoUege to others. By the charter, the trustees had a right to fill vacancies in their own number. This is now taken away. They were to consist of twelve, and, by express provision, of no more. This is altered. They and their successors, ap- pointed by themselves, were forever to hold the property. The legislature has fomad successors for them, before their seats were vacant. The powers and privi- leges which the twelve were to exercise ex- clusively, are now to be exercised by oth- ers. By one of the acts, they are subjected 62 STRtrCTURE OF PUBL.IG SPBBOH. to heavy penalties if they ex6reise their offices, or any of those powers and privi- leges granted them by charter, and which they had exercised for fifty years. They are to be punished for not accepting the new grant, and taking its benefits. This, it must be confessed, is rather a summary mode of settling a question of constitu- tional right. Not only are new trustees forced into the corporation, but new trusts and uses are created. The college is turned into a university. Power is given to create new colleges, and, to authorize any diversion of the funds which may be agreeable to the new boards, sufficient lati- tude is given by the undefined power of establishing an institute. To these new colleges, and this institute, the funds con- tributed by the founder, Doctor "Wheeloek, and by the original donors, the Earl of Dartmouth and others, are to be applied, in plain and manifest disregard of ttie uses to which they were given. "The president, one of the old trustees, had a right to his office, salary and emolu- ments, subject to the twelve trustees alone. STATEMENT OF FACTS. 63 His title to these is now changed, and he is made aceountable to new masters. So also all the professors and tntors. If the legislature can at pleasure make these al- terations and changes in the rights and privileges of the plaintiffs, it may, with equal propriety, abolish these rights and privileges altogether. The same power which can do any part of this work can accomplish the whole. And, indeed, the argument on which these acts have been hitherto defended goes altogether on the ground, that this is such a corporation as the legislature may abolish at pleasure; and that its members have no rights, liber- ties, franchises, property/, or privileges, which the legislature may not revoke, an- nul, alienate, or transfer to others, when- ever it sees fit. "It will he contended hy the plaintiffs, that these acts are not valid and binding on them, without their assent, — 1. Because they are against common right, and the constitution of New Hampshire. 2. Be- cause they are repugnant to the Constitu- tion of the United States." 64 BTRUCTURB OF PUBLIC 8PBBCM. Macaulay's Address on Education i« the House of Commons, in 1847, was made in the course of a debate and the opening sen- tences do not immediately point to the "bowels" of the address, as did Webster's in the Dartmouth College case. Webster, likewise, while in the Senate, made ad- dresses in the course of debate wbidi had introductions less concise than that found in his forensic masterpiece. Yet iook at his great "Eeply to Hayne" and see how he centered attention to his topic by show- ing, in the opening sentences, how far afield the previous speakers had gone from the subject actually presented for discus- sion. Macaulay's speech on Education, down to the proposition, is printed in full below. The real introduction is contained in the two sentences first italicised and the proposition is contained in the last para- graph of the extract reproduced, -vrhidk is also in italics : ''You will not wonder. Sir, that I am de- sirous to catch your eye this evening. The first duty which I performed, as a mem- eer of the Committee of Council wiiiok is STATEMENT OF FA0T9. 85^ charged with the superintendence of pnblio instruction, was to give my hearty assent to the plan which the honourable member for Finbury calls on the House to condemn. I am one of those who have been accused in every part of the Kingdom, and who are now accused in Parliament, of aiming, xm- der specious pretences, a blow at the civil and religious liberties of the people. It is natural therefore, that I should seize the earliest opportunity of vindicating myself from so grave a charge. "The honourable member for Finbury must excuse me if, in the remarks which I have to offer to the House, I should not follow very closely the order of his speech. The truth is that a mere answer to his speech would be no defence of myself or of my colleagues. I am surprised, I own, that a man of his acuteness and ability should, on such an occasion, have made such a speech. The country is excited from one end to the other by a great question of principle. On that question the govern- ment has taken one side. The honourable member stands forth as the chosen and 66 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. trusted champion of a great party, which takes the other side. We expected to hear from him a full exposition of the views of those in whose name he speaks. But, to our astonishment, he has scarcely even al- luded to the controversy which has divided the whole nation. He has entertained us with sarcasms and personal anecdotes : he has talked much ahout matters of mere de- tail: hut I must say that, after listening with close attention to all that he has said, I am quite unable to discover whether, on the only important point which is in issue, he agrees with us or with that large and active body of Non-conformists which is diametrically opposed to us. He has sate down without dropping one word from which it is possible to discover whether he thinks that education is or that it is not a matter with which the state ought to inter- fere. Yet that is the question about which the whole nation has, during several weeks, been writing, reading, speaking, hearing, thinking, petitioning, and on which it is now the duty of parliament to pronounce a decision. That question once settled, there STATEMENT OF FACTS. 67^ will be, I believe, very little room for dis- pute. If it he not competent to the state to interfere with the education of the peo- ple, the mode of interference recommended hy the Committee of Council must of course he condemned. If it he the right and the duty of the state to make provis- ion for the education of the people, the oh- jections made to our plan xvill, in a very few words, he shown to he frivolous. "I shall take a course very different from that which has been taken by the hon- ourable gentleman. I shall in the clearest manner profess my opinion on that great question of principle which he has studi- ously evaded; and for my opinion I shall give what seem to me to be unansiverahle reasons, I believe. Sir, that it is the right a/nd the duty of the state to provide means of education for the common people. This proposition seems to me to he implied in every definition that has ever yet been given of the functions of a government. About the extent of tbose functions there has been much difference of opinion among ingenious men. There are some who hold 68 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. that it is the business of a government to meddle with every part of the system of hnman life, to regulate trade by bounties and prohibitions, to regulated expenditure by sumptuary laws, to regulate literature by a censorship, to regulate religion by an inquisition. Others go to the opposite ex- treme, and assign to government a very narrow sphere of action. But the very narrowest sphere that ever was assigned to government by any school of political philosophy is quite wide enough for my purpose. On one point all the disputants are agreed. They unanimously acknowl- edge that it is the duty of every govern- ment to take order for giving security to persons and property of the members of the conomimity. This being admitted, can it be denied that the education of the common people is a most effectual means of securing our per- sons and our property! Let Adam Smith answer that question for me. His author- ity, always high, is, on this subject, en- titled to peculiar respect, because he ex- tremely disliked busy, prying interfering STATEMENT OP PACTS. governments. He was for leaving litera- ture, arts, sciences, to take care of them- selves. He was not friendly to ecclesiasti- cal establishments. He was of opinion that the state ought not to meddle with the eduoation of the rich. But he has express- ly told us that a distinction is to be made, particularly in a commercial and highly civilised society, between the education of the rich and the education of the poor. The education of the poor, he says, is a matter which deeply concerns the commonwealth. Just as the magistrate ought to interfere for the purpose of preventing the leprosy from spreading among the people, he ought to interfere for the purpose of stop- ping the progress of the moral distempers which are inseparable from ignorance. Nor can this duty be neglected without danger to the public peace. If you leave the multitude uninstructed, there is seri- ous risk that religious animosities may produce the most dreadful disorders. The most dreadful disorders ! Those are Adam Smith's own words; and prophetic words they were. Scarcely had he given this 70 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. warning to our rulers when his prediction was fulfilled in a manner never to be for- gotten. I speak of the No Poi)ery riots of 1780. I do not know that I could find in all history a stronger proof of the propo- sition, that the ignorance of the common people makes the property, the limbs, the liyes of all classes insecure. Without the shadow of a grievance, at the summons of a madman, a himdred thousand people rise in insurrection. During a whole week, there is anarchy in the greatest and wealth- iest of European cities. The Parliament is besieged. Your predecessor sits trem- bling in his chair, and expects every mo- ment to see the door beaten in by the ruffians whose roar he hears all around the house. The peers are pulled out of their coaches. The bishops in their lawn are forced to fly over the tile. The chapels of foreign ambassadors, buildings made sacred by the law of nations, are destroyed. The house of the Chief Justice is demol- ished. The little children of the Prime Minister are taken out of their beds and laid in their night clothes on the table of BTATEMENT OF FACTS. 71 the Horse Guards, the only safe asylum from the fury of the rabble. The prisons are opened. Highwaymen, housebreakers, murderers, come forth to swell the mob by which they have been set free. Thirty-six fires are blazing at once in London. Then comes the retribution. Count up all the wretches who were shot, who were hanged, who were crushed, who drank themselves to death at the rivers of gin which ran down Holbom Hill; and you wiU find that battles have been lost and won with a smaller sacrifice of life. And what was the cause of this calamity, a calamity which, in the history of London, ranks with the great plague, and the great fire! The cause was the ignorance of a population which had been suffered, in the neighbourhood of pal- aces, theatres, temples, to grow up as rude and stupid as any tribe of tattooed canni- bals in New Zealand, I might say as any drove of beasts in Smithfield Market. "The instance is striking: but it is not solitary. To the same cause are to be ascribed the riots of Nottingham, the sack of Bristol, aU the outrages of Ludd, and 72 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPBBCM. Swing, and Rebecca, beautiful and costly machinery broken to pieces in YorksMre, barns and haystacks blazing in Kent, fences and buildings pulled down in Wales. Could such things have been done in a country in which the miad of the labourer had been opened by education, in which he had been taught to find pleasure in the ex- ercise of his intellect, taught to revere his Maker taught to respect legitimate author- ity, and taught at the same time to seek the redress of real wrongs by peaceful and con- stitutional means? "This then is my argument. It is the duty of government to protect our persons and property from danger. The gross ignorance of the common people is a prin- cipal cause of danger to our persons and property. Therefore, it is the duty of the government to take care that the common people shall not he grossly ignorant." One of the reasons for selecting the two speeches from which the foregoing extracts have been taken for examples here is that they illustrate the two principal forms of propositions most often used. Webster STATEMENT OF FACTS. 73 employed the division of the subject and Maeatilay used the syllogism, as pointed out more at lengfth in the next chapter. PBOPOsrrioN "While the introduction proper indicates the side of tiie question the speaker favors, and the general features of the entire sub- ject, the proposition states more particu- larly the precise point which the speaker intends to prove. This may be done by a division of the subject, containing simple assertions, which was the method followed by "Webster in the Dartmouth College fo- rensic; or it may be in the form of a syllo- gism, which was the method employed by Macaulay, in the oration on Education. Sometimes these forms are combined. That is, one or more of the assertions in the di- vision, may be stated subsequently in the form of a syllogism or of syllogisms. The simple division needs no explana- tion. But as has been so well said : "The division should be brief, clear and easily intelligible; that is, it should consist 75 76 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. of the smallest possible number of words sufficient to express clearly and precisely the distinct ideas contained in it. Every word should be used in an obvious literal meaning, without any admixture of figura- tive language; and perspicuity should be particularly studied in division, as nothing could be more absurd than to leave in ob- scurity or ambiguity that part which is particularly designed to throw light upon ail the rest." Grammar of Eloquence, by M. Barry, Dublin, 1849. In "Webster's great speech before the United States Supreme Court in the Dart- mouth College case he followed strictly the classical division herein discussed. His introuction was brief and pointed. It is discussed in Chapter III. His narrative or statement of facts was clear, concise and interesting. Then before entering upon the argument proper he said: "It will be contended by the plaintiffs that these acts (of the Legislature) are not valid and binding on them without their assent, — "1. Because they are against common PROPOSITION. 77 right, and the Constitution of New Hamp- shire. "2. Because they are repugnant to the Constitution of the United States." The Justices of the Supreme Court thus had presented to them clearly and concise- ly the points which were to he argued by Mr. Webster. The syllogism, perhaps, may not be so well understood, especially by younger speakers. It is hardly necessary to say that this form of stating a proposition has been used since time immemorial and is still considered the most forcible way in which an argument can be made. John Quiacy Adams, in his "Lectures on Oratory," calls it "the most compen- dious and most irresistible process of rea- son that the human mind has ever discov- ered." It is simply a statement of two proposi- tions or "premises" from which the third or "conclusion" inevitably follows, if both the premises are accepted, or are conclu- sively proved. Thus take the following simple syllogism : 78 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. All roads in Italy lead to Eome; This is a road in Italy ; Therefore this road leads to Bome. Or take another: All planets revolve around the sun; The earth is a planet; Therefore the earth revolves around the sun. The important points in the skilful use of the syllogism are, first, that the conclu- sion must inevitably follow the premises; and second, one premise, at least should be such that the audience will accept its truth- fulness and accuracy, unquestionably. Thus the whole weight of the speaker's effort is employed to prove one premise. This clarifies the subject, holds the attention of the audience and if the speaker succeeds in establishing that one premise, to the satisfaction of his hearers, he has won his ease. Note how successfully Macaulay formu- lated his syllogism under the rules just suggested. His first premise was : "It is the duty of the government to pro- PROPOSITION. 79 tect oar persons and property from dan- ger." No one conld dispute that proposition. His second premise was : "The gross ignorance of the common people is a principal cause of danger to our persons and property." If this latter proposition is accepted, or conclusively proved, the conclusion inevi- tably follows that : "It is the duty of the government to take care that the common people shall not be grossly ignorant. ' ' Macaulay, therefore, quite properly pro- ceeded to prove his minor premise. In or- der that the student may observe how well this task was performed, the entire argu- ment following the proposition should be read.^ Moreover, the same speech is in- structive as an indication of the state of public education in Great Britain so short a time ago, comparatively, as 1847. Great care should be taken that the syl- logism is logically correct. If there is a 'It may be found in "Speeches on Politics and Lit- erature," Everyman's Library, p. 349, published by E. P. Dutton and Co. 80 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. defect in this respect the whole argnment may fall to the ground and failure will follow, even though the speaker has the side of the question which ought to be sus- tained. "While logic has nothing to do with the truth or falsity of the statements of facts, it has very much to do with the con- clusion which is drawn therefrom. For ex- ample, logic is not concerned about the truth of the statement that, "All planets revolve around the sun." This is a state- ment of fact which may or may not be true, but is assumed to be true for the pur- pose of applying the rules of logic to the syllogism. The same may be said of the minor premise that, "The earth is a planet." This may or may not be true, so far as logic is concerned. But, if both of these premises are true then the logical conclusion inevitably follows that: "The earth revolves around the sun." The same may be said of the other syl- logism. The statement that "All roads in Italy lead to Rome" cannot be tested by logic. Nor can the minor premise that "This is a road in Italy." But if both of PROPOSITION. 81 these premises are true, then, by the rtdes of logic, the conclusion is inevitably true that "This road leads to Eome." But in the case of a less simple syllo- gism it might be easy to fall into a logical error. The practice of great care in this respect, in regard to the speaker's own proposition, mil help him to discover fal- lacies in those of his opponent. This is not always an easy matter. Or, rather, it is sometimes easy to discover the fallacies, but it is not so easy to demonstrate to an audience that they are fallacies. Suppose, for example, we should take either of the two simple syllogisms stated above and con- vert it into a fallacy, as follows : All roads in Italy lead to Eome. This road leads to Eome. Therefore this is a road in Italy. The above syllogism is baldly fallacious. You understand it perfectly almost as soon as you read it. Suppose we treat the other example in like manner, as follows : All planets revolve around the sun. The earth revolves around the sun. Therefore the earth is a planet. 82 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. This is equally fallacious and the reader appreciates the fallacy as soon as he ex- amines it. But to appreciate the difficulty of clearly explaining to an audience the fallacy in an opponent's reasoning, let the student thus try to explain, to an imagi- nary audience, the fallacy in either one of the foregoing examples, on the spur of the moment. As a matter of fact the fallacy is often either ingeniously, or carelessly, or igno- rantly concealed in persuasive statements, which seem reasonable and plausible. The syllogisms is rarely stated as plain- ly and baldly as are the examples ^ven. It is more often stated in what may be called an oratorical form. Thus one element of the syllogism may be omitted entirely, in the actual speech, as made. The major pre- mise may be so weU understood as to re- quire no statement at all. In such a case it is merely necessary to state the minor premise and perhaps the conclusion. Thus, also, in many arguments, if the major pre- mise is clearly understood and assented to by the audience, it may be that the state- PROPOSITION. 8S ment and proof of the minor premise alone may show the conclusion so clearly and in- evitably that it is better to allow the audi- ence to draw the conclusion than to state it. Such a practice, however, is fraught with danger. The speaker having studied the subject thoroughly sometimes takes it for granted that the audience understand it better than they really do. Usually it is safer to state all three elements of the proposition, than to leave even one to the imagination of the audience, if there is any possible chance that a considerable num- ber of those in the audience will not under- stand it. VI AKGXIMEXT AXD PROOF This is the place where the really heavy guns of the orator are brought into play. He has shown to the audience the facts which call for action and he has proposed the action which he advocates. Now he must justify his proposition. He must prove any facts as to which there is a doubt or a dispute. He must appeal to reason and possibly to passion. He must allay the feeling of fear, perhaps, which has been aroused by his opponent. This is the place where he must pile up his proof and argu- ments, tier on tier. For the purpose of getting the matter clearly in mind and making the argument comprehensive a brief may be made of the principal and sub- ordinate points. This is a valuable aid to a classification of the material for the ar- gument and proof. It is also an aid to the memory in the delivery of the speech. A 85 86 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. number of minor points may be proved by what might be termed auxiliary syllo^sms. The opinions of others who are recognized authorities on the subject may be quoted. Eeference may be made to authentic his- torical incidents. In fact the whole field of argumentation may be searched and its principles applied in this subdivision of the speech. There has been much discussion as to whether a speaker should place his strong- est arguments first or last or in the mid- dle. Cicero urged the presenting of the strongest arguments first. He says in Chapter 77 of the Second Book of "De Oratore": "I must find fault with those who place their weakest arguments first ; and I think that they too are in fault, who, when they employ very many advocates (a custom I never approved), always desire the most inferior to" speak first. For the very nature of things requires that you come up, as soon as possible, to the expectations of the audience ; because, if they are disappointed in the beginning, the orator must labour a ARGUMENT AND PROOF. 87 great deal harder in the succeeding part of the pleading, and a cause is in a very bad way, when you do not prepossess the hear- ers with a favourable opinion of it at your very setting out; therefore, as in the case of the orators, one of the best should speak first (this regards the first important speech, as, the statement of the case; and not the mere opening of the pleadmgs). So, in pleading, your strongest points should be first urged, provided always, as regards orators and arguments, that the distinguishing excellence of advocate or an argument, be reserved for the final appeal. Middling arguments (for those that are faulty are to be rejected) , should be thrown into the middle, and enforced in a body." Quintilian, in his Fifth Book, chapter 12, says: "If the proofs be strong and cogent, they should be proposed and in- sisted on separately; if weak, it will be best to collect them into a body. For it is right not to obscure the strong ones by jumbling them together, that each may appear dis- tinct in its native vigour; but those that are intrinsically weak derive weight by 88 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. mutual support. If, therefore, they do not carry conviction by being individually strong, they will by being numerous, when they all tend to establish the same point. For example, an advocate may urge against a person aci^ased of killing another, in order to inherit his fortune: 'you ex- pected to come in for the property and the property was considerable; you were in pecuniary difficulties, and the people to whom you owed money were then pressing you harder than ever; you had also in- curred the displeasure of the man who had appointed you his heir, and you knew that he determined to change his will.' Those arguments, taken separately, are weak, and common, but collectively, their shock is felt, not as a peal of thunder, but as a shower of hail. It has been also a subject of inquiry whether the strongest proofs should occupy the foreground, to take im- mediate possession of the minds of the audience ; or should be reserved for the end to leave the strongest impression on their minds as they go away; or should be dis- tributed, some in the beginning, and some ARGUMENT AND PROOF. 89 in the end, the weaker being placed in the middle — an arrangement based on the or- der of battle, described in Homer;" {the Iliad tells us that Nestor placed strong men in front, the tveak in the middle, and the best soldiers in the rear) ; " or lastly, whether the orator should begin with the weakest, and rise by graduation to the strongest. In my judgment this will de- pend on the nature and exigencies of the cause, provided always, that the discourse should never fall away from vigour into debility." A novel thought or unexpected arrange- ment of words, so long as they are relevant, often reaches the hearers more forcibly than a plain statement would have ^one. Thus the figure known as the rhetorical paradox is sometimes extremely effective. Of this kind is the saying that "A man who never makes mistakes never makes any- thing else." Or the following: "His Honor rooted in dishonor stood and faith, unfaithful, kept him falsely true." 90 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. But be careful of too great refinement or of phrases the meaning of which is not reasonably clear. For example, logicians have argued that the maxim : "There is an exception to every rule," disproves itself. For if there is an excep- tion to every rule there is an exception to this rule; and therefore there is one rule without an exception. Such arguments carry little weight with the average audience in these matter-of- fact days. One extremely effective mode of argu- ment is to build up a pyramidal climax, or series of climaxes, of solid facts. If they are facts, are pertinent to the question under discussion and are properly ar- ranged and enumerated by the speaker in a forceful and animated manner, he can scarcely fail to win the approval of his audience. Such a plan greatly excels any wordy climax, however eloquent, from a purely rhetorical point of view, of irrele- vant words, sentences and ideas. Thus take the liquor question, which probably lends itself to this treatment as ARGUMENT AND PROOF. 91 well as any which, could be discussed. Start with a broad foundation, which will sup- port everything which follows : The use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage is the greatest scourge known to mankind. It is excessively expensive, extremely injurious to health, thus greatly shorten- ing the lives of even moderate drinkers ; it dulls the brain and thus decreases efficiency; it lowers the whole moral tone, causes untold poverty and misery and is responsible for most of the crime and insanity which are a reproach to a civi- lized community. I said it was excessively expensive. In the United States alone the enormous sum of $2,500,000,000 is spent annually for intoxicating liquors. The Panama Canal cost $400,000,000, but the pay- ments covered a period of more than ten years. With the sum spent for intoxi- cating liquors we could build six Panama Canals each year for ten years, or sixty in all, and then have a billion dollars left over as a nest egg with which they could 92 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. be operated. People complain of the $250,000,000 spent annually by the United States on the Army and Navy, including new battleships. With the amount spent for intoxicating liquors, we could have ten armies and navies of equal size. I said it was injurious to health. The life insurance statistics show that non- drinkers live on the average from twen- ty-five to thirty-three per cent longer than moderate drinkers. The mortality among heavy drinkers is enormous. Ee- cent figures compiled from the experi- ence of forty-two of the large life insur- ance companies covering the last twenty- five years show that should Eussia con- tinue to enforce the recent ordinance against the use of intoxicating liquors a loss of 500,000 men in the present (1914) war would be actually made up in ten years by the greater longevity of the re- mainder of the male population.^ It has been stated in the British Parliament re- cently, that the efficiency of the Eus- sians, as a nation, had been increased from thirty to fifty per cent, by the total ARGUMENT AND PROOF. 93 abstinence decree. In fact, alcohol burns the lining of the stomach, injures the liver, destroys the kidneys, irritates the intestines and blader, hardens the veins and arteries, weakens the heart and makes flabby the muscles generally. I said it dulls the brain. We have all ■witnessed or perhaps some of us have experienced this effect. Targets were re- cently distributed among the soldiers of some of the European armies showing what poor shots were invariably made by men after partaking of even small amounts of liquor although the same men were crack shots when free from intoxi- cants, and had previously been in the habit of drinking moderately. Elabo- rate tests have been made in other places with hundreds of men, setting type and typewriting. Men who were in the habit of taking a moderate amount of intoxi- cants were given the same amount and their work compared as to accuracy and quantity with their efforts when entirel}^ free from intoxicants. Non-drinkers and moderate drinkers werel tested in the 9* STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEEKJH. same way in a long series of experiments. In practically every instance tke men after drinking imagined they were doing better and more work and in every in- stance they did poorer and less work than when free from liquor entirely. We not infrequently hear it said that a man could not possibly have committed some atrocious crime with which he is charged unless he had been drunk. In fact, the lowering of the moral tone from drink is so well known as to need no citation of specific instances. All authorities who have made any study of the subject agree that crime and insanity are due very largely to the di- rect and indirect effects of drinking in- toxicating liquors. In Kansas where they have for a number of years actually had a prohibition law which really prohibits drink, crime and insanity have decreased to an enormous extent. No man, woman or child was ever in- jured to the slightest extent by total ab- stinence from intoxicating liquor, while for its use billions of wealth have been ARGUMENT AND PROOF. 95 wasted, and untold misery, suffering and deaths have been caused. Hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain are con- sumed in its manufacture which might otherwise be used for food. Billions have been paid for the manufacture of the liquor itself and the bottles, corks, casks and hundreds of other accessories used in the traffic, together with the establishments where it is dispensed, which is all wasted, because it does not tend to the final betterment of the race, nor to any general progress, but in the other direction. Nations progress in spite of intoxicating liquor, not because of any industrial or other benefits flow- ing from its use." But even such arguments as the fore- going, while they are convincing, do not appeal to the sentiments or the passions, and should be used in connection with appeals of a persuasive nature such as those employed by the gifted orator, John B. Gough, who confined him- self entirely to speeches on temper- ance. Almost every school boy has read 96 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. Gough 's speech in wMch he so vividly por- trayed the dangers of intemperance by giv- ing a mental picture of people in a boat drifting towards the Niagara Rapids, who laughed to scorn those who called from the shore to warn them of their danger, until they discovered, too late, that they were actually in the rapids and their frantic efforts to reach shore were in vain, and cursing and blaspheming they went over the Falls. Another picture which Gough drew to prove that even a drunkard in the ditch was worth saving is very effective. Again it puts to shame those who hope to win by cold statements of fact only. The passage in question is as follows : "It may be a little thing to save a man, but it is everything to the man saved. And that man is worth saving. Worth saving! To be sure he is. I saw a lady one day on Broadway pull off her glove, and as she pulled it off I heard something strike with a rich, jingling sound upon the pavement, and I saw some- thing roll in the distance — a gem, a bril- ARGUMENT AND PROOF. 97^ liant; it might have been worth twenty guineas, it might have been worth fifty, it might have been worth one hundred. It rolled to the edge of the curbstone and fell into the gutter — and our New York gutters are perfectly detestable ; they are general- ly deep and very thick. The jewel rolled into it and was out of sight. The lady took her delicate parasol and poked about in the gutter, then brought it up, but it was no use. Stripping the sleeve that covered her white arm, down went the white arm into the mud, and she poked about until she got the gem ; she held it daintily in her fingers, and I could not help but laugh to see her shake off the mud and go into a shop near by to get her arm cleansed. Tou do not blame her for seeking to rescue her gem. But a man is worth more than a diamond. ' ' VII BEFUTATION While refutation is an element in the great majority of serious speeches, it is not always present. In legal arguments, before either court or jury, refutation plays an important part. It is frequently more difiSeult to prove a negative than it is a positive. Thus when a witness has testified to a certain set of facts he has produced a picture in the minds of the jurors. Even though the testimony of this witb.ess is false in every essential particu- lar nevertheless he has created a mental picture, which must be obliterated by nega- tive testimony. It is difficult to wipe out every trace of this falsehood. Take an ordinary negligence action, for example. A witness for the plaintiff testi- fies that he saw the plaintiff getting off a trolley car and just as he had one foot on the ground the car was prematurely started 99 100 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. and the plaintiff was thrown to the ground. This testimony creates a picture in the minds of the jurors, because the story is easily understandable by them. Suppose it is not true and the defendant's counsel is certain it is not true. He refutes it in many ways by testimony of other witnesses who were present when the alleged injury occurred. He produces others who swear that the plaintiff's witness was in another place at the time of the accident. On cross examination, possibly, he catches the wit- ness in contradictory statements. But in the end the case stands that there is a di- rect conflict of testimony on the one im- portant point on which it probably will turn. This is the place where the skillful use of refutation, in summing up the evi- dence, will be of great assistance. In a desperate ease, such as suggested, it calls for the best there is in the speaker. All departments of oratory may be called into play, not infrequently without success. Sometimes the refutation is mingled with the general argument. Often it is placed earlier in the speech. There is no REPUTATION. 101 hard and fast rule which can be applied invariably on this subject. It is the one part of a speech, perhaps, with which more liberty can be taken than any other, so far as its chronological order is concerned. There may be no direct refutation at all. Instead of attempting to tear down his opponent's structure the speaker may think it more advantageous to build an argumentative structure which over-towers that of his opponent. Thus he may con- cede many of his opponent's assertions, but show that there are other considerations vastly more important. For example, in a discussion of the old, but always im- portant, question of the tariff on goods imported from foreign countries, suppose you are arguing in favor of a protective tariff and your opponent has declared for substantial free trade, or a greatly reduced tariff. Doubtless one of the arguments will be that a low tariff will decrease the cost of living, because many manufactured ar- ticles, which are used in large quantities, can be purchased in European markets cheaper than they can be secured in 102 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. America. You may readily concede this poiot. But the real question is the rela- tive cost of living. The very minute we begin to bring articles from other countries we must be able to produce the same article at home for a price as low as that for which it can be brought here from abroad. Other- wise our own manufacturers must go out of business. That is a mere truism. Eoughly speaking, the cost of producing a manufactured article is divided into two parts, namely, the cost of the raw material and the labor expense. If the market for the raw material is open to the buyers of the world, on approximately equal terms, the manufacturer who can secure the cheap- est labor controls the market, under ordi- nary circumstances. "We know perfectly well that the wage scale in most of the countries with which we compete in rela- tion to manufactures, is from thirty to fifty per centum only of that prevailing in the United States. In producing an article requiring the use of raw material which may be purchased on approximately equal terms by the manufacturers of the REFXJTATION. 103 world, therefore, American labor must be contented with, approximately the same wages that are paid in countries with which our manufacturers compete, otherwise our manufacturers must go out of business. This also is a mere truism. The cost of articles of competitive manufacture, imder the circimastances narrated, therefore, can- not be reduced without also decreasing the wages of labor employed in those indus- tries. The real question is, therefore, whether the readjustment, which is inevit- able with a low tariff, will leave the relative cost of living higher or lower than it was before the tariff reduction. Our indus- trial system has been built up on a pro- tective tariff basis. The lowered tariff will affect different industries in various de- grees. During the readjustment period labor in the industries which are affected the most will have a serious struggle. This is inevitable. Strikes and lookouts will probably result. The great European War has postponed the industrial struggle in this country, by making competition al- most impossible on the part of some at 104 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. least of our keenest competitors. The enor- mously increased imports before the war started foreshadow the conditions which will prevail when peace is established. Un- less the readjustment has already been ac- complished when peace is declared, an in- dustrial conflict is sure to follow in Amer- ica. Just what form that conflict will take no man can safely predict. Nor can any man say whether or not, in the end, the relative cost of living will be higher or lower in America when the protective basis on which our industrial system has been established is destroyed. The truth of it is we are making a tremendously important change without knowing how we shall come out eventually. While the change is being accomplished much suffering must inevit- ably result from the confusion and uncer- tainty with which it will be attended. The foregoing, of course, is only a small portion of the argument pro and con, on the tariff question. It is given merely as an example of refutation by overshadow- ing arguments. All persons would not be willing to concede that a lowered tariff REFUTATION. 105 would reduce the cost of living at all and they might possibly support that view by direct refutation. What has been said is merely an example of argumentation, not an expression of views, which would be entirely out of place in a book of this character. VIII CONCLUSION OB PEEOEATION The experienced general sends forward Ms best and bravest troops to make the final charge, so his army may be victori- ous, after the long preceding struggle.- The siege howitzers have boomed, shrap- nel has burst, machine guns have played with deadly effect on the enemy, but whether the result at last shall be a victory or a defeat depends on the final onslaught. Thus, also, it is with an orator. After he has introduced his subject, narrated his facts, stated and proved his proposition and refuted his opponent's arguments, he comes to the final appeal by which he seeks to inspire action. It is like the brilliant charge in which the soldiers seem to throw discretion to the winds and, in their ir- resistible onrush, to carry everything be- fore them. Quintilian says that when the oratot 107 108 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. comes to the peroration he must "open up all the fountains of eloquence and go in full sail," and he adds that there is noth- ing so important in the whole art of oratory as to excel in this kind of a peroration. Like the soldier, the speaker is engaged in no dress parade affair, nor does this portion of his speech admit of any excur- sive digressions. As the soldiers must usually charge directly in the face of the enemy, so must the speaker make a frontal attack on the question under discussion. Fine phrases and other verbal embellish- ments are all very well, but unless they are strictly relevant and material to the object of the address they are worse than useless. If they are of such a character as to take the mind of the audience away from the subject* under discussion the»y tend to turn into a defeat what otherwise might have been a successful endeavor. The speaker may use as many fine phrases as he pleases so long as they are clear, forceful and relevant. If they lack any one of these characteristics they should be discarded ruthlessly. CONCLUSION, OR PERORATION. 109 No matter how well your superior strength may enable you to handle a heavy sledge, you cause injury only if you do not hit the anvil. No matter how expert you may be with a rifle your score of hits will not be high if during a match you turn away from the target to try a shot at a bird in the air. Your performance may be spectacular, if you bring down the bird, but your score of hits on the target will suffer. Then you may miss the bird, in which event you become ridiculous, in addition to hav- ing wasted a shot which might have been scored in your favor on the target. When Patrick Henry, in his courageous and patriotic address before the House of Burgesses, in the speech which caused so much consternation, declared: "I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" every word had a weighty meaning. These phrases have become so well known, from constant repetition, that they are not in- frequently used with a meaning which is anything but serious. But they would not have lived at all if they had not had a seri- 110 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. ous meaning when they were uttered. In sober truth, liberty for the American Colonist, or death for the ringleaders of the Revolution, were the only alternatives. Of this fact those who heard Patrick Henry were perfectly well aware. That was why his words made such a deep impression. They were the very soul of his oration. That is why they have lived until to-day and have become so common and trite by constant repetition. Note the weight and pertinency of the closing words of Webster's peroration in the "Eeply to Hayne"— not liberty first and union afterwards, but, "Liberty and union, now and forever, one and insepar- able!" The whole of Webster's patriotic appeal was contained in these last words. They were weighty because they were per- tinent. Webster was endeavoring to pre- vent threatened secession on the part of some of the States, and his whole endeavor was to prevent a breaking up of the Union, and yet retain that liberty which the Union had secured for the people of the new Na- tion, CONCLUSION, OR PERORATION. Ill Think of Lincoln's wonderful appeals in the Gettysburg Speech and the Second In- augural Address. His words were ef- fective principally because they were pe- culiarly pertinent to the matter under dis- cussion. At Gettysburg he declared that this new Nation "conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal," was on trial. The world was waiting to see whether or not a nation "so conceived and so dedicated" could long endure. Then he made that wonderful final appeal, that from the hon- ored dead who had fallen on that terrible battlefield his countrymen should take in- creased devotion to the cause represented by the declaration that a "government of the people, by the people and for the peo- ple shall not perish from the earth," So the final words of the Second Inau- gural Address show not only a noble spirit but they also were keenly pertinent to the matter in hand: "With malice toward none; with charity for all; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right, — let us strive on 112 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. to finish the work we are in : to bind Tip the nation's wounds ; to care for him who shall have borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphan ; to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves, and with all nations." Webster's peroration in the Dartmouth College case was probably one of the most remarkable which the Federal Supreme Court has ever heard. Although the ques- tion which the Court was called upon to determine was purely one of law, the ap- peal which Webster made in the final sen- tences of his wonderful speech was almost purely sentimental. Eeference has already been made to Justice Story's remarks about the speech, which will stand repeti- tion. Judge Story said : "For the first hour we listened to him with perfect astonishment, for the second hour with perfect delight, and for the third hour with perfect conviction." Webster, in his final appeal, turned espe- cially to Chief Justice Marshall and said : "This, sir, is my case. It is the case not merely of that humble institution ; it is the CONCLUSION, OR PERORATION. 113 case of every college in our land. It is more ; it is the case of every eleemosynary institution throughout our country — of all those great charities founded by the piety of our ancestors to alleviate human misery and scatter blessings along the pathway of life. 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 coimtry. You may put it out. But if you do you must carry through your work; you must extinguish, one after another, all those great 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!" (Every auditor knew that it was Webster's own alma mater. Ee then turned to the opposing counsel, one of whom tvas also a graduate of Dartmouth, and continued:) "Sir, I know not how others may feel, but as for myself when I see my alma mater surrounded, like Caesar in the senate house, by those who are reiterating stab after stab, I would not for this right hand 114 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. have her turn to me and say, 'And thou, too, my son ! ' " The peroration of Demosthenes in the speech on The Crown has been justly ad- mired for ages. But the remainder of the speech should be read to get its true spirit : "Two qualities, men of Athens, every citizen of ordinary worth ought to possess (I shall be able in general terms to speak of myself in the least invidious manner) : He should both maintain in office the pur- pose of a firm mind and the course suited to his country's pre-eminence, and on aU occasions and in all his actions the spirit of patriotism. This belongs to our nature; victory and might are under the dominion of another power. These dispositions you will find to have been absolutely inherent in me. For observe ; neither when my head was demanded, nor when they dragged me before the Amphyctions, nor when they threatened, nor when they promised, nor when they let loose on me these wretches like wild beasts, did I abate in any par- ticular my affection for you. This straight- forward and honest path of policy, from CONCL.TJSION, OR PERORATION. 115 the very first, I chose ; the honor, the power, the glory of my country to promote — these to augment — ^in these to have my being. Never was I seen going about the streets elated and exulting when the enemy was victorious, stretching out my hand, and congratulating such as I thought would tell it elsewhere, but hearing with alarm any success of our own armies, moaning and bent to the earth, like these impious men, who rail at this country as if they could do so without stigmatizing themselves ; and, who, turning their eyes abroad, and seeing the prosperity of the enemy in the calami- ties of Greece, rejoice in them, and main- tain that we should labour to make them last forever. Let not, oh, gracious God ! let not such conduct receive any manner of sanction from thee ! Rather plant even in these men a better spirit and better feel- ings! But if they are wholly incurable, then pursue them, yea, themselves by them- selves, to utter and untimely perdition by land and by sea ; and to us who are spared, vouchsafe to grant the speediest rescue 116 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. from our impending alarms, and an un- shaken security!" All the authorities seem to agree that the peroration should ordinarily appeal to the passions, for the very reason that it is intended to stir the audience to action. An understanding of the passions becomes, therefore, very important. No one, so far as the author has ever discovered, has ex- celled Cicero's analysis of the passions in Chapters 51 and 52 of the Second Book of the "De Oratore." In these chapters Cic- ero said: "The first thing I generally consider is, whether the cause requires that the minds of the audience should be excited ; for such fiery oratory is not to be exerted on trivial subjects nor when the minds of men are so affected that we can do nothing by elo- quence to influence their opinions, lest we be thought to deserve ridicule or dislike, if we either act tragedies about trifles or endeavor to pluck up what cannot be moved. For as the feelings on which we have to work in the minds of the judges, or whoever they may be before whom we may CONCLUSION, OR PERORATION. 117 plead, are love, hatred, anger, envy, pity, hope, joy, fear, anxiety, we are sensible that love may be gained if you seem to ad- vocate what is advantageous to the persons before whom you are speaking; or if you appear to exert yourself in behalf of good men, or at least for such as are good and serviceable to them; for the latter case more engages favor, the former, the de- fence of virtue, esteem; and if a hope of future advantage is proposed, it has a greater effect then the mention of past benefits. You must endeavor to show that in the cause which you defend, either their dignity or advantage is concerned ; and you should signify that he for whom you solicit their love has referred nothing to his own private benefit, and done nothing at all for his own sake; for dislike is felt for the selfish gains of individuals, while favor is shown to their desire to serve others. But we must take care, while we are on this topic, not to appear to extol the merit and glory of those whom we would wish to be esteemed for their good deeds, too highly, as these qualities are usually the greatest 118 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. objects of envy. From tliese considera- tions, too, we shall learn how to draw ha- tred on our adversaries, and to avert it from ourselves and our friends. The same means are to be used, also, either to excite or allay anger; for if you exaggerate every fact that is hurtful or disadvantageous to the audience, their hatred is excited ; but if anything of the kind is thrown out against men of worth, or against characters on whom no one ought to cast any reflection, or against the public, there is then pro- duced, if not so violent a degree of hatred, at least an imfavorable feeling, or displeas- ure near akin to hatred. Fear is also incul- cated either from people's own dangers or those of the public. Personal fear affects men more deeply; but that which is com- mon to all is to be treated by the orator as having similar influence. LII. ' ' Similar, or rather the same, is the case with regard to hope, joy, and anxiety; but I know not whether the feeling of envy is not by far the most violent of all emo- tions ; nor does it require less power to sup- press than to excite it. Men envy chiefly CONCLUSION, OR PERORATION. 119 their equials or inferiors when they perceive themselves left behind, and are mortified that the others have outstripped them ; but there is often a strong unfavorable feeling toward superiors, which is the stronger if they are intolerably arrogant, and trans- gress the fair bounds of common justice through super-eminence in dignity or for- tune. If such advantages are to be made instruments to kindle dislike, the chief thing to be said is, 'that they are not the acquisitions of virtue, that they have even been gained perhaps by vice and crime ; and that, however honorable or imposing they may appear, no merit was ever carried so high as the insolence of mankind and their contumelious disdain.' To allay envy, it may be observed, 'that such advantages have been gained by extreme toil and immi- nent perils; that they have not been ap- plied to the individual's own private bene- fit, but that of others ; that he himself, if he appear to have gained any glory, although it might not be an undue reward for dan- ger, was not elated with it, but wholly set it aside and undervalued it;' and such an 120 STRUCTURE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. effect must by all means be produced (since most men are envious, and it is a most com- mon and prevalent vice, and envy is felt to- wards all super-eminent and flourishing fortune), that the opinion entertained of such characters be lowered, and that their fortunes, so excellent in people's imagina- tions, may appear mingled with labor and trouble. "Pity is excited, if he who hears can be induced to apply to his own circumstances those unhappy particulars which are la- mented in the case of others, particulars which they have either suffered or fear to suffer; and while he looks at another, to glance frequently at himself. Thus, as all the circumstances incident to human suffer- ing are heard with concern, if they are pa- thetically represented, so virtue in affliction and humiliation is the most sorrowful of all objects of contemplation ; and as that other department of eloquence which, by its rec- ommendation of goodness, ought to give the picture of a virtuous man, should be in a gentle and (as I have often observed) a submissive strain, so this, which is adopted CONCLUSION, OR PERORATION. 121 by the orator to effect a change in the minds of the audience, and to work upon them in every way, should be vehement and ener- getic." IX ADDEN-DTJM Stick to your subject. Do not tell a good story merely because it is a good story, but only when it illustrates, or in some way en- forces, a point which you desire to make. An audience will forgive the absence of hu- mor much more quickly than it will digres- sions which confuse the principal theme un- der discussion. If you happen to know hu- morous anecdotes, which vividly illustrate your points, use them by all means, to a limited extent, but do not drag them in by the heels. The delivery of a string of funny stories, which have no significance except that they are funny stories, will gain very little permanent or valuable reputation for anyone, except vaudeville actors, or other professional humorists, and it is scarcely necessary to say that this book is not for them. Such a practice, which is indulged in by some so-called after-dinner speakers, 123 124 STRUCTtTRE OF PUBLIC SPEECH. has not won for them much valuable glory or reputation. Mark Twain was an ideal after-dinner speaker, but he stuck to his text almost invariably and his wit and humor were incidental to a more or less serious theme. Besides, Mark Twain was a professional humorist. Never forgot that an address must be in- teresting at all times. Never overstate your own case, nor de- pend on the supposed weakness of your op- ponent or his case. Seek the truth always. Don't imagine you are clever because you can argue on either side of a specific ques- tion. There is one side on which you cannot argue effectively, because you do not be- lieve it. It is better not to argue at all than in favor of some proposition as to which, iu your private heart, you do not subscribe; the advice of several respectable authori- ties to the contrary notwithstanding. One thought more should be expressed before leaving a subject which, to the writer at least, has been intensely interesting. K by anytliing which has been said in. ADDENDUM. 125 this volume the reader has understood that he is advised to cast the speech in a mould, as it were, so it -will appear beforehand in precisely the form, in every detail, in which it appears at the time of delivery, it is earnestly desired that this impression be destroyed entirely. Such an arrangement would mean, necessarily, that the speech should be written out and then committed to memory and delivered in the very words in which it was written. The great major- ity of writers on this subject oppose such a method. But they are practically unani- mous in stating that the speaker should have clearly in mind the framework of the speech and also his principal arguments. They all insist that he must also be com- plete master of his subject. They advise that he should have mapped out the general trend of the introduction, have clearly in mind the facts which he must state to make the speech understood and the proposition which he is to advance. He must consider the order in which he is to present his prin- cipal and subsidiary arguments. These should all be worked out in his mind before- 126 STRUCTURE OF PUgLIC SPEECH. hand and it is very helpful to make a rough diagram. This process will be an immense aid to the memory and the speech will have the force which necessarily follows an or- derly presentation of a topic. Moreover, it will leave the speaker free to throw into his effort that abandon which is the very soul of true eloquence. As to the closing, the weight of authority is in favor of having in mind not only the thought, but, to a considerable extent, the very words in which it is to be couched. But it is quite as essential that the closing words should be so well in mind that there is no possibility for them to escape in the excitement of the moment. If the speaker has clearly in mind the closing thought the words will usually come. But if he has gone over the words also the closing will be easier and more graceful, provided the speaker has a perfect command over them. If he has not a perfect command the clos- ing wiU be declamatory and stilted. Many have written as to the best way for a speaker to become a thorough master of his speech. Practically aU of them ad- ADDENDUM. 127 vise long meditation and even delivering the speech or portions thereof in his own chamber. The best advice which appears to be given by a large number of competent authorities is that the speaker should intro- duce the subject in his conversation with his friends, taking up one division after an- other, in the order in which he intends to deliver the speech. This, of course, does not mean that he shall virtually deliver the speech, at his friends, as if he were speak- ing before an audience, but merely that he should carry the thought along as he has planned his address, in the form of ordi- nary conversation. This will be a wonder- ful aid to fluency and freedom of delivery when on the platform. THE END.