Masterpieces of American eloquence : <Christian Herald selection>

Introduction

HE historians of antiquity attached so much importance to the utterances of the great men of whom they wrote, that they were fain to make such report as they could of the orations pronounced by these personages, on occasions of pubhc interest. Where full knowledge in this regard was unattainable, the historians themselves, it is supposed, composed such addresses as such men, under the given circumstances, would have been likely to make.

The orations of Demosthenes and Cicero have, indeed, been preserved for us in their entirety; and continue to this day to hold an important place in Greek and Latin classics. In addition to these, Thucydides, Livy, and Tacitus hand down to us many eloquent sentences; which may have been correctly, even if imperfectly, reported. Nothing, indeed, can bring the people of other times so much within the comprehension of later generations as can the record of what their eminent men were moved to say in the great crises of their public life. The Latin proverb tells us that: "Verba volant. Liter a seripta manet." But in the recorded orations, the flying word is made to remain, the fleeting impression reproduces itself; we live for the moment the life of days long vanished.

As Americans, we have especial occasion to feel an interest in the volume herewith presented. Eloquence does much to build up the life of free peoples. The words uttered by patriots in our early history were prophetic of the destiny of a Nation fated to play a new part in the great drama of the world's record. The indignant protest of James Otis against the Writs of Assistance, imposed upon the Colonies by the Mother Country; the burning words of Patrick Henry, from which fugitive slaves in our own time have taken to themselves the sentence: . "Give me liberty, or give me death!" the weighty utterances of Samuel Adams, Alexander Hamilton, and Thomas Jefiferson — do they not bring back to us the very walls within which the fateful pleadings were made? — the " Old Church " in Richmond where Patrick Henrv' stood, the State House of Boston, preserved from vandal destruction by the prayers of Massachusetts women; the beloved Hall given by Peter Faneuil, still standing, and still made to resound with the music of free speech; Independence Hall, in Philadelphia, where the charter of our new faith was signed and sealed; and many another locality, consecrated by heroic associations. And, far more precious than this dead architecture, is the living temple of our Statehood, the brave building of thought and of art which has been raised upon the foundation of our fathers, a fabric strong and beautiful. To the youth of our country we may well say of these old-time statements of Right and Duty:

" Grapple them to thy heart with hooks of steel."

But our volume passes from these legacies of the immortal past to the wonderful record of our own century, one in which the new theories were put upon trial. The maxims enunciated by the fathers, the rules laid down, were no doubt very high-sounding; but could a stable government be raised on such a plane, by such a system?

We soon see an old-world poison working into the wholesome veins of the new body-politic. Slavery, fastened upon us while we were yet in our cradle, /became a source of irreconcilable differences. On the one hand, it was seen /that no country could be called free in which man could buy and sell his brother man. On the other hand, it became evident that an irresponsible tyranny could not be permitted to overrun the domain pledged to the upholding of free institutions. And in time the inevitable contest came; and in the end was settled for the ultimate advantage of both parties.

The present volume preserves for our instruction the arguments which make evident the steps of this progress; at first, so painful, in the end, so triumphant. The voices which awoke the echoes of our own halls of Congress with fiery threats, with prophetic admonitions, the mistaken pleading which urged on the war, and the counter pleading which kept in sight the true issue, yes, and the simple, wise eloquence of the Martyr President's parting address — all this is given to the public in the work now offered to it.

Among the treasures of this collection, I must not omit to mention Wendell Phillips's speech on the murder of Lovejoy, the memorable burst of eloquence which won for him the spurs of his early knighthood. Here we have Daniel Webster's reply to Hayne, in which he gives his interpretation of the scope and character of our Government — and, later on, Theodore Parker's trenchant analysis of Webster's public life. We are glad also to find Henry Ward Beecher's remarkable address given in Liverpool during our war, when the Mother Country looked coldly upon us, and the great audience scarcely accorded to the eminent orator a decent hearing. Among the earlier of the

INTRODUCTION. 3

speeches here brought together, I am led to ponder the words of Samuel Adams, less familiar perhaps to some of us than others of his name: "Truth loves an appeal to the common sense of mankind." " Our fathers threw off the yoke of Popery in religion; for you is reserved the honor of leveling the Popery of politics." " This day (August i, 1776) I trust the reign of political protestanism will commence."

The study of these historic documents is much needed in our day, when American men and women, with fair opportunities of culture and educatio.n, often show a lamentable ignorance of the history and original spirit of our Government. When I undertook to write an introduction to the present volume, and to review the matter therein contained, I had a very imperfect notion of its value. Since then, I have found in the perusal of these pages, much food for thought. As I read, the mighty issues of the century just passed rise up before me, the terrible problem whose solution could not be deferred, and cannot now be changed.

In the orations here presented I find that the walls of our National Capitol had resounded with many angry debates before the question of slavery so widely divided the North from the South. Civil liberty, philosophers agree, is not an original attribute of man's nature, but a result of wise and high dispositions. Such a result cannot be attained without the exhibition of many differences of opinion. The freedom of speech and of the press to which we were pledged from the start allowed these differences to encounter each other in broad daylight and upon a field of unusual extent. Fortunately they have proved themselves to be discords leading to solution, and as the processes of question, discussion, and final settlement have gone on, the general harmony has risen to a higher and fuller diapason.

From this fact of the past we .may hopefully draw the happy inference that our dififerences, individual and national, will more and more tend to settle themselves by the scale of reason and that the better acquaintance with the principles essential' to social and civil well-being will insure a growing interest in the prevalence and final establishment of those principles.

The America of to-day rushes panting in the pursuit, not of wealth only, but of the imperial power which wealth confers. The multi-millionaire has become the most popular ideal among us, the man who can most enrich himself at the expense of the community. Next to him ,in the popular idolatry, comes the man who can delude the multitude with specious arguments and phrases of high promise. In some parts of our country, evil passions raging in undisciplined minds arouse opposition to every just law. The victim of popular fury is led to the stake and burned there ; while Judgment, in her calm temple, waits with sword and balance to condemn and to execute, but waits in vain. How can these things be? Is the finger of our fate receding on the dial? Are we insensibly creeping back, here to the reign of savage violence, there to that of barbaric splendor? We may well exclaim: " Forbid it, Heaven!"

The true glory of our country is not seen in our wealthy men and women who patrol the capitals of Europe, craving the notice and applause of a society very different from our own. Their way may be traced by the gold that they spill, but these traces will vanish like the crumbs scattered by one in a fa-'rytale, to mark his path, and at once devoured by the birds of the forest. Even the monumental splendor of their edifices shall pass away:

" And, like the baseless fabric of a vision, Leave not a rack behind."

Our true glory is in the brave words which in our midst have been spoken for human right and freedom, and in the brave deeds which have responded to them. The Mother of the Gracchi when asked to show her jewels, pointed to her sons and said: "These are my jewels." So may America point to her true children who have done her work, and borne, with her burdens, a great part of the obligations of civilized humanity.

^schylus represents the children of Agam.emnon as standing beside his tomb, and invoking his aid in the vindication of his memory. Even thus, beside the records of these fathers of our Commonwealth, we may appeal for present help to their immortal spirits, the essence of which still lives and glows in their undying words.

What a creature is man that he can so project his living thought into ages which have never seen his face nor heard his voice! Not vainly is this power granted him. Roman Horace could say: " Non omnis moriar." " I shall not wholly perish." And you, noble guardians of the people's conscience, you who so often lifted up your voice in the face of danger and rude defiance, you are not dead. Your spirits abide with us in the words which God gave you when and as they were needed. Emerson has said:

" One accent of the Holy Ghost The heedless world has never lost."

And we, your children, heedless and unthinking as we may be, will not suffer your great promise to remain unfulfilled. We will vindicate your honor with our own.

JULIA WARD HOWE.

Index To Addresses

^Hy

Amendment, The Fifteenth ....

American Independence

American Indians

American System

An Author's Soldiering

Annexation of Texas

A Plea for Compromise

Apple Tree Speech

Army Bill

Assault upon Sumner

Assistance, Writs of

Author, Discounts of an . . . . .

Ben Hill, Death of

Bill, The Army

Bill, The Militia .

Black Man

Black Man, The Problem of the . .

British Treaty

Chinese Mission

Chinese Question

Compromise, A Plea for

Compromise, Necessity of ... .

Conflict, The Irrepressible ....

Constitution, The Federal ....

Contested Election Case of Patterson

vs. Carmack

Crime Against Kansas

Page

Frederick Douglass .... 256

Francis P. Blair 251

Samuel Adams 24

Joseph Story 369

Samuel L. Clemens .... 438

Thomas H. Benton 123

Roscoe Conkling 365

Roscoe Conkling 276

Preston S. Brooks 174

James Otis 17

Samuel L. Clemens 428

John J. Ingalls 377

Roscoe Conkling 276

John Randolph 44

Frederick Douglass .... 473

H. W. Grady 332

Fisher Ames 36

Edward Livingston 493

Thomas H. Benton .... 120

Rufus Choate iii

William H. Seward .... 182

Alexander Hamilton Page . . 30

John M. Allen 322

Charles Sumner 165

MASTERPIECES OF AMERICAN ELOQUENCE.

Cross of Gold . . '

Cuba, Slavery and the Annexation of.

Death of Ben. Hill

Death of Douglas

Discounts of an Author ....

Douglas, Death of

Drinker, The Moderate ....

Duty of Scholarship ....

East, Rural Life in the

Education of the People

Election Case of Patterson vs. Carmack, The Contested

Experiment, The Republican . . .

Farewell Address

Fathers, The Pilgrim

Federal Constitution

Fifteenth Amendment

Finger of God

Force Bill, Nullification and the . .

Foreign Intervention

freedom of the Press, The Murder of Lovejoy and the

Freedcem, Religious ,

General Jackson's Fine

Gettysburg Address

God, The Finger of

Gold, The Cross of

Greatness, The Power of ....

Hayne, Reply to

Henry of Navarre Speech ....

Higher Law

Impeachment of President Johnson .

Inaugural Address, Lincoln's Second .

Independence, American

Indians, The American

Page

William Jennings Bryan . . . 465

Joshua R. Giddings . . . . 141

John J. Ingalls 377

Lyman Trumbull 235

Samuel L. Clemens .... 428

Lyman Trumbull 205

John B. Gough 423

Wendell Phillips 383

Irving Bacheller 441

Edward Everett 102

John M. Allen 322

James Madison 437

Jefferson Davis 210

Robert Charles Winthrop . . 151

Alexander Hamilton .... 30

Francis P. Blair 251

T DeWitt Talmage, D.D. . . 410

Robert Y. Hayne 55

John C. Calhoun 80

John A. Dix 132

Wendell Phillips 86

Lewis Cass 145

Silas Wright 116

T. DeWitt Talmage, D.D. . . 410

William Jennings Bryan . . . 465

Theodore Parker 391

Daniel Webster 62

Judge West 37^

\\'illiam H. Seward .... 138

Benjamin F. Butler .... 248

Jefferson Davis 213

Thomas Jefferson 40

Samuel Adams , 24

Joseph Story 369

INDEX TO ADDRESSES.

Intervention, Foreign

Irrepressible Conflict

Jackson's Fine, General

Johnson, Impeachment of President .

Judge, The Upright

Kansas-Nebraska Bill

Kansas, The Crime Against .

Law, The Higher

Lincoln, Abraham

Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address .

Literature, Sioience and

Lovejoy and ' the Freedom of the Press, The Murder of

Maine Dead

Man, The Black

M-assachusetts and the Sumner Assault

Memorial Address .

Mexican War ....'....

Militia Bill

Mission, Chinese

Mission of the Rep»ublic

Moderate Drinker

Mother's Wonder

Murder of Lovejoy and the Freedom of the Press

Nebraska-Kansas Bill

Necessity of Compromise

Necessity of War .

New South

Nullification and the Force Bill . .

P^^ting of the Ways

Party Spirit

People. The Education of the . . .

Philippines

Philippines, The

Pilgrim Fathers

Polygamy

John A. Dix . .

William H. Seward Silas Wright .

Benjamin F. Butler Rufus Choate . .

Stephen Arnold Douglas Charles Sumner .

William H. Seward Frederick Douglass Abraham Lincoln James Kent

Wendell Phillips .

Ro1>ert G. Cousins Frederick Douglass

Anson Burlingame James G. Blaine .

Thomas Corwin .

John Randolph .

Thomas H. Benton William H. Seward John B. Gough .

Phillips Brooks, D.D

Wendell Phillips . .

Stephen Arnold Douglas Rufus Choate .

Patrick Henry Henry W. Grady .

Joftm C. Calhoun Richard P. Bland .

George Washington Edward Everett .

George F. Hoar . .

Henry Cabot Lodge Robert Charles Winthrop George F. Edmunds . .

MASTERPIECES OF AMERICAN ELOQUENCE.

Power of Greatness

Powers of War and Peace . . . .

President Johnson, Impeachment of .

Problem of the Black Man . . . .

Problsm, The Race

Prophecy, The Voice of

Providence, The Soul's

Punishment, Capital

Question, The Chinese

Race Problem

Railroads and Recreation . . . .

Reaping, Sowing and

Reconstruction

Recreations, Railroads and . . . .

Religious Freedom

Remonetization of Silver . . . .

Republican Experiment . . . . ..

Republic, Mission of the . . . .

Resolution, Foot's

Rural Life in the East . . . . .

Science and Literature

Secession

Secession and the States of the Union.

Self-Government, Strength of . . .

Self, The Solitude of

Shield, The Stainless

Silver, Remonetization of ... .

Slavery and the Annexation of Cuba.

Slavery, The System of

Soldiering, An Author's . . . .

Solitude of Self

Soul's Providence

South, The New

Sowing and Reaping

Spoils System

Page

Theodore Parker 391

John Quincy Adams .

• 75

Benjamin F. Butler

. 248

Henry W. Grady . .

• 332

Henry Watterson . .

. 328

Abraham Lincoln . .

. 187

Ralph Waldo Emerson

• 478

Edward Livingston

• 490

James G. Blaine . . .

• 273

Henrv Watterson . .

• 328

Chauncey M. Depew .

John B. Gough . . .

Henrv Winter Davis .

Chauncey M. Depew .

Lewis Cass

James G. Blaine .

2.59

Daniel Webster .

James Madison .

William H. Seward

Robert Y. Havne

Irving Bacheller

James Kent

Alfred Iverson

Benjamin Wade .

Henrv Ward Beecher .

Elizabeth Cadv Stanton

James A. Garfield . .

Thomas B. Reed . .

William Bourke Cockran

James G. Blaine ....

Joshua R. Giddings . .

Henry Ward Beecher . .

Samuel L. Clemens . .

Elizabeth Cadv Stanton .

Ralph Waldo Emerson .

Henry W. Grady . . .

John B. Gough ....

George William Cu rtis .

INDEX TO ADDRESSES.

Stainless Shield, The

Strength of Self-Government . . .

Sumner Assault, Massachusetts and

the

Sumner, The Assault upon ....

System of Slavery

System, The American

Texas, Annexation of • .

Treaty, The British .... . .

Union, Secession of the States of the .

Upright Judge

Valedictory

Voice of Prophecy

War and its Conduct

War and Peace, The Powers of . .

War of 1812

War, The Mexican

War, The Necessity of

Ways, The Parting of the ....

White Life for Two

Wonder, The Mother's

Writs of Assistance

Page

James A. Garfield 361

Henry Ward Beecher .... 385

Anson Burlingame 178

Preston Brooks 174

Henry Ward Beecher .... 216

Thomas H. Benton 123

Fisher Ames 36

Benjamin Wade 191

Rufus Choate 388

Clement L. Vallandigham . . 227

John Quincy Adams .... 75

Thomas Corwin 127

Patrick Henry 20

Richard P. Bland 317

Frances E. Willard .... 445

Phillips Brooks, D.D 403

James Otis 17

So on the tip of his subduing tongue All kinds of arguments and questions deep, All replication prompt and reason strong, For his advantage still did wake and sleep To make the weeper laugh, the laugher weep, He had the dialect and different skill, Catching all passion in his craft of will.

Speak the speech, I pray you, as I pronounced it to you, trippingly on the tongue . . . . Nor do not saw the air too much with your hand, thus, but use all gently; for in the very torrent, tempest, and, as I may say, the whirlwind of passion, you must acquire and beget a temperance that may give it smoothness .... Be not too tame neither, but let your own discretion be your tutor: suit the action to the word, the word to the action; witli this special observance, that you o'erstep not the modesty of nature; for anything so overdone is from the purpose.

— Shakespeare.

Index To Orators

Adams, John Quincy ..... The Powers of War and Peace .

Adams, Samuel American Independence . . . .

Allen, John M The Contested Election Case of

Patterson vs. Carmack.

Ames, Fisher The British Treaty ....

Bacheller, Irving- Rural Life in the East . .

Beecher, Henry Ward . . . . The System of Slavery . .

Strength of Self-Government Benton, Thomas H Chinese Mission ....

Annexation of Texas .

Blaine, James G. ...... . The Remonetization of Silver

The Chinese Question.

Memorial Address . . .

Blair, Francis P. . The Fifteenth Amendment

Bland, Richard P The Parting of the Ways.

Brooks, D.D., Phillips The Mother's Wonder .

Brooks, Preston S. . . . . . . The Assault upon Sumner

Bryan, William Jennings .... The Cross of Gold . . .

Burlingame, Anson Massachusetts and the Sumner Assault . .

Butler, Benjamin F Impeachment of President Johnson

Calhoun, John C Nullification and the Force Bill .

Cass, Lewis , Religious Freedom

Page

75 24

441 216

385 120 124 259 273 280

251 317 403 174 465

Page

Choate, Rufus Necessity of Compromise in Politics Ill

The Upright Judge. . . . . . 388

Clay, Henry The War of 1812 49

A'aledictory 114

A Plea for Compromise .... 163

Clemens, Samuel L. (Mark Twain) The Discounts of an Author . . . 428

An z\uthor's Soldiering 438

Cockran, William Bourke . . . Silver 307

Conkling, Roscoe The Army Bill 276

The Apple Tree Speech .... 365

Corwin, Thomas The Mexican War 127

Cousins, Robert G The Maine Dead 347

Curtis, George William .... The Spoils System 292

Davis, Henry Winter Reconstruction 240

Davis, Jefferson Farewell Address 209

Depew, Chauncey M Railroads and Recreation . . . 395

Dix, John A Foreign Intervention 132

Douglas, Stephen Arnold .... The Kansas-Nebraska Bill ... 154

Douglass, Frederick Abraham Lincoln 256

Edmunds, George F Polygamy 303

Emerson, Ralph Waldo .... The Soul's Providence .... 478

Everett, Edward The Education of the People . . 102

Garfield, James A Peace 234

The Stainless Shield 361

Giddings, Joshua R Slavery and the Annexation of

Cuba 141

Gough, John B Sowing and Reaping 418

Grady, Henry W The Problem of the Black Man . 332

Hamilton, Alexander The Federal Constitution. ... 30

Hayne, Robert Y Foot's Resolution 55

Henry, Patrick The Necessity of War 20

Hoar, George F The Philippines 35<^

Index To Orators. 13

Page

Ingalls, John J Death of Ben. Hill 377

Iverson, Alfred Secession 199

Jefferson, Thomas Inaugural Address ...... 40

Kent, James ........ Science and Literature 380

Lincoln, Abraham The Voice of Prophecy 187

The Gettysburg Address .... 233

Second Inaugural Address . . . 238

Livingston, Edward Capital Punishment 490

Lodge, Henry Cabot The Philippines 355

Madison, James The Republican Experiment . . 437

Morrill, Justin S The Remonetization of Silver . . 266

Otis, James The Writs of Assistance .... 17

Parker, Theodore The Power of Greatness .... 391

Phillips, Wendell The Murder of Lovejoy and the

Freedom of the Press .... 86

The Duty of Scholarship . . . 383

Randolph, John The Militia Bill 44

Reed, Thomas B Silver 312

Seward, William H The Higher Law 138

The Irrepressible Conflict . . . 182

The Mission of the Republic . . 246

Stanton, Elizabeth Cady .... The Solitude of Self 455

Story, Joseph The American Indians .... 369

Sumner, Charles The Crime Against Kansas . . 165

Talmage, D.D., T. DeWitt . . . The Finger of God 410

Trumbull, Lyman The Death of Douglas .... 205

Twain, Mark (Samuel L. Clemens) The Discounts of an Author . . . 428

An Author's Soldiering .... 438

Vallandigham, Clement L. . . . War and its Conduct 2.2^

Wade, Benjamin F. ..... Secession, and the States of the

Union 191

Washington, George Party Spirit 435

Watterson, Henry The Race Problem 328

Webster, Daniel Reply to Hayne 62

West, Judge W. H The Henry of Navarre Speech . 372

Willard, Frances E A White Life for Two .... 445

Winthrop, Robert Charles . . . The Pilgrim Fathers 151

Wright, Silas General Jackson's Fine .... 116

— 1>^

Index To Portraits

Mi^-

Adams, John Ouincy Adams, Samuel Allen, John M. .

Ames, Fisher Bacheller, Irving Beecher, Henry Ward Benton, Thomas H.

Blaine, James G. .

Blair, Francis P. .

Bland, Richard P.

Brooks, D.D.. Phillips Bryan, William Jennings Burlingame, Anson Butler, Benjamin F.

Calhoun, John C.

Cass, Lewis .

Choate, Rufus Clay, Henry Clemens, Samuel L.

Cockran, William Bourke Conkling, Roscoe , Corwin, Thomas .

Cousins, Robert G.

Curtis, George William Davis, Henry Winter .

Davis, Jefferson .

Depew, Chauncey M.

Dix, John A.

Douglass, Frederick Douglas, Stephen Arnold Edmunds, George F. .

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

Page

249 81

147 112

51 429

293 241 210

397 133

257 155 303 479