HISTORY OF PUBLIC SPEAKING 1

MEN WHO HAVE MADE HISTORY IN PUBLIC SPEAKING--AND THEIR METHODS


The great orators of the world did not regard eloquence as simply an
endowment of nature, but applied themselves diligently to cultivating
their powers of expression. In many cases there was unusual natural
ability, but such men knew that regular study and practise were
essential to success in this coveted art.

The oration can be traced back to Hebrew literature. In the first
chapter of Deuteronomy we find Moses' speech in the end of the fortieth
year, briefly rehearsing the story of God's promise, and of God's anger
for their incredulity and disobedience.

The four orations in Deuteronomy, by Moses, are highly commended for
their tenderness, sublimity and passionate appeal. You can
advantageously read them aloud.

The oration of Pericles over the graves of those who fell in the
Peloponnesian War, is said to have been the first Athenian oration
designed for the public.

The agitated political times and the people's intense desire for
learning combined to favor the development of oratory in ancient Greece.
Questions of great moment had to be discust and serious problems solved.
As the orator gradually became the most powerful influence in the State,
the art of oratory was more and more recognized as the supreme
accomplishment of the educated man.


_Demosthenes_

Demosthenes stands preeminent among Greek orators. His well-known
oration "On the Crown," the preparation of which occupied a large part
of seven years, is regarded as the oratorical masterpiece of all
history.

It is encouraging to the student of public speaking to recall that this
distinguished orator at first had serious natural defects to overcome.
His voice was weak, he stammered in his speech, and was painfully
diffident. These faults were remedied, as is well-known, by earnest
daily practise in declaiming on the sea-shore, with pebbles in the
mouth, walking up and down hill while reciting, and deliberately seeking
occasions for conversing with groups of people.

The chief lesson for you to draw from Demosthenes is that he was
indefatigable in his study of the art of oratory. He left nothing to
chance. His speeches were characterized by deliberate forethought. He
excelled other men not because of great natural ability but because of
intelligent and continuous industry. He stands for all time as the most
inspiring example of oratorical achievement, despite almost insuperable
difficulties.


_Cicero_

The fame of Roman oratory rests upon Cicero, whose eloquence was second
only to that of Demosthenes. He was a close student of the art of
speaking. He was so intense and vehement by nature that he was obliged
in his early career to spend two years in Greece, exercising in the
gymnasium in order to restore his shattered constitution.

His nervous temperament clung to him, however, since he made this
significant confession after long years of practise in public speaking.
"I declare that when I think of the moment when I shall have to rise and
speak in defense of a client, I am not only disturbed in mind, but
tremble in every limb of my body."

It is well to note here that a nervous temperament may be a help rather
than a hindrance to a speaker. Indeed, it is the highly sensitive nature
that often produces the most persuasive orator, but only when he has
learned to conserve and properly use this valuable power.

Cicero was a living embodiment of the comprehensive requirements laid
down by the ancients as essential to the orator. He had a knowledge of
logic, ethics, astronomy, philosophy, geometry, music, and rhetoric.
Little wonder, therefore, that his amazing eloquence was described as a
resistless torrent.


_Luther_

Martin Luther was the dominating orator of the Reformation. He combined
a strong physique with great intellectual power. "If I wish to compose,
or write, or pray, or preach well," said he, "I must be angry. Then all
the blood in my veins is stirred, my understanding is sharpened, and all
dismal thoughts and temptations are dissipated." What the great Reformer
called "anger," we would call indignation or earnestness.


_John Knox_

John Knox, the Scotch reformer, was a preeminent preacher. His pulpit
style was characterized by a fiery eloquence which stirred his hearers
to great enthusiasm and sometimes to violence.


_Bossuet_

Bossuet, regarded as the greatest orator France has produced, was a
fearless and inspired speaker. His style was dignified and deliberate,
but as he warmed with his theme his thought took fire and he carried his
hearers along upon a swiftly moving tide of impassioned eloquence. When
he spoke from the text, "Be wise, therefore, O ye Kings! be instructed,
ye judges of the earth!" the King himself was thrilled as with a
religious terror.

To ripe scholarship Bossuet added a voice that was deep and sonorous, an
imposing personality, and an animated style of gesture. Lamartine
described his voice as "like that of the thunder in the clouds, or the
organ in the cathedral."

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The Art of Public Speaking