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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (May 1, 1876)
m Hesperian Student. or ho ur no VOL. , Unlvcrtiity of Nebraska. NO n. MAV, Qui noil IH'otlolt.Doflolt. 1870. BISBS. riiSlilciiniK kIiiiiI oil Mi'xUmi. Her tlnx" ortslmy I'll"! uiiMiiij,'. sin- hU'i-h In iivi-iiIiik'h lulling Blow, Willi baiHlr nliatlow o'rehcr Hung. - TlieHiiiibeiiirn Muni on Mexico. Aionuil her tower the, column hlllc Hit Inkc icnoslnn I'm- licilow . lleen -llcnee nil her hordem fllla. Tin Minlii'iiiiiH nlniil on Mexico The Iih.v tide- or Aztec life Ihivc ebbed, no morn to How: Tis.o'rit. tho fever of the Mrlle, Thc Hunbciini" uliinl on Mexico. Hit tlnrk inntcrlon worship iiut. Her teocnlll lyliiK low; ObliUonV nljjlil up-rlflnji fiist, Tho miiiIimiihi hlnnt on Mexico. Ni limner through her nooinlny MreetH. In irullv jioinji nml ro.jul show. Hut slimlow lengthening Mniclmv incoV. The miiiIhimiih uliuit on Mexico. No ilect rtiiioo mlorii her hike.". Nor jjnrden ltdund flnnthii: slow : Nor otir nor mhik their Mlonee brc:ike, The sunbeams lnnt on Mexico. Hit nlumy lohu nml crown of j;o1l Are tione to tilien mill to Toe. sate those of evening eky imroU'il. Tlie iiii1kiiiiii lnnt on Mexico. Her nervier iirni Imtli h'ht Mm cklll. The iixo to wield, the liince to throw: The wnrrlor inle forever Mill, The hiiiihennii. -hint on Mexico. She -II- beside hor Inliuul miji, A iiiuonly widow In her woe. l'oronly memories liatli eho, Tins Minimum f-lntit on Mexico. Sbi.kotkii. lliomos, and in groat crises; while in our own country the oratory oi'tlic revolution wus born ol the aspiration to create on litis continent a new nation consecrated to freedom. From the most trustworthy accounts handed down to us, we are compelled to conclude that the style and language of notable orations were but feeble factors to nroduco their results. "Had you heard De mosthenes," said his rival, "your wonder would be increased." The most finished oration of Pericles is only known to us through that senlon lions reporter, Thucydides. He claims only to give the substance of the thought, not its rhctoilcal finish or manner of de livery, whose subtle essence no language can convey. If we come down to the orators of mod. era times we meet with the same dlsap. polatment. The powerful statement, the splendid invective of the elder Pitt is known to us chiefly through the reports of Dr. Johnson, who in some cases wrote out speeches for him which ho never heard ; and to some, when Pitt was praised, the Doctor replied, "That speech I wrote in a garret." The wonderful eloquence of Sheridan in the trial of Warren Hastings has not been handed down to Us by any record of his woi iK because "he chose to leave to llie imagination which in most eases trans- Oratory. The opinion very genurally prevails that oratory in this age is so circumscribed in its scope, as to leave little incentive or profit In its cultivation. The Athenian youth were taught to regard this as the highe.it effort of the human mind; ours in seminary and college are so slightly indoc trinated in its value as to esteem it lightly, or totally to neglect it. In our foremost iiistilulioiis no special prominence is given lo this branch of cdl tare, and by this neglect it is held in small esteem by students In former ages orato ry was the culmination of all culture. It was the royal road to political influence, and fame. In our times it is regarded as the feoblesl weapon in the armory of polit ical strife. Tho intrigues or the caucus are omnipotent, and dwarf all other appli ances; while venality steps in to supple ineiit what party discipllncfnils to effect. It is an interesting inquiry, to trace the nature of that oratory which lias cast its iridoscc t Mdondoron the am? which it lias distinguished ; and to mark some of tho causes which have reduced it to its pres ent low estate. And first it may be observed, that great orators have arisen only in free stales, and in times of groat national emergencies. The fame of Pericles, as an orator, is asso dated with tho Peloponnesiaa war, De mosthenes drew his inspiration from the perils impending over his country, and Cicero front the plots that threatened to subvert the republic. Pitt, Burke, Slier! dan at.d Fox spoke on great national cends reality the task of justifying his eulogists and perpetuating the tradition of their praise." The stirring speech of Patrick Henry, which so captivates school boys in the declamatory period, owes its form and finish to the graceful rhetoric ,.f iiic iimnrnniH'r. William Wirt; and John Adams comes down to us from a former generation in the sonorous periods of Daniel Webster. The traditions respecting these famou--orators must be taken with much abate ment, if the style of the speeches alone be considered, but maybe taken at the high est estimate if measured by their elloct. With regard to the masterpieces of ora lory, the fact seems to be, that those which has comedown to us loaded wlt-i verbal and rhetorical felicities fell upon lniiiiiiiiiivu ears; while those of more dra- matie rendering, and adapted by the speaker's instinct to the various moods of tho hearers won tho highest encomiums The speeches of Burke abound in the most graceful and vigorous statement over conceived by genius, and which to day. captivates the reader, were listened to with impatience at Hirst, and finally not ai an . i :....,! In. n,ili1onilli AS uiianiuii'i iiuii "j v.".. Mlo to ikey for his Imnrow went on running. And ihonjjhl of convincing, while tlioy ihoinjht of dining." "Does it read well?" said Fox,"then it was a bad speech." What thou are some of the causes that have contributed to make oratory less ef fective than formerly? First, nearly ovory question that en gages tho orator is amply, if not exhaust ivcly discussed by the newspaper. In this way public opinion is formed, and the work of the orator forestalled. BesidcB, this method of nonular instruction has brought in the fashion of treating its top ics in a cold blooded cynical way Hie very antithesis of the method of the orator. He must burn with emotion and flame out with enthsiasim. Glowing thought must tlnd eloquent utterance In burning words. Now it cannot be denied that modem newspaper discussion of public themes seeks a terse, uuemotionalaud critical style to give ils thought to the worKl. It is un der restraint, curbed and bitted in, with tlte most exacting precision and coldness of statement. Again, tho field of oratory, especially political oratory, has been greatly oircum sbld because no great assemblies are to be convinced, and but little eclat can be reap- edas a reward. Formerly, public opinion was fashioned by the orator; today his work is only for the few assembled not so much or instruction as to be incited to action. De-ides, the prevailing taste in respect to literary style, and emotional exhibitions of soul-forces has greatly chilled the ardor of the ora'or. The most impassioned pe riods of Chas. Sumner, weie utterd in a comparatively frigid way, as if protesting against himself. For nurnoses of deliberation on all sub jects of public interest, tho newspaper has supplantcd the orator, and in abdicating this function, oratory has come near losing sight of the other function peculiarly Its own, to impress and inspire men with en thusiasms and emotions that will lead to the most noble and heroic deeds. A. li. B. fliicciitivcs to Human Labor. teonclmlud.) But there is another influence which contributes largely toward bringingout the best powers of a man in labor, the genius within him. or the beautiful ideas which originated and built up in his own' mind, i and which finds expression in tho works j of his own hands, it guides the pencil, of a Michael Angolo, and Haphael in un erring precision as they place upon can, v.mibe beautiful thoughts of their souls- thoughts so beautiful and so life like in representation, that the beholder is charm ed at the sight. Its seats aPhiJiasday after day with chisel in hand before the marble col umn, from which at longtli shall come forth a Jupiter Olympus, tho image of man, perfect in symmetry, noble in beau ty, the grandest conception of the human mind. It leads a Milton with a mind soaring "above the flight of Pegascan wing to give expression to his thought in epic lays. And although old and blind to per form the toilsome task of writing Paradise lost and regained, two works which stand unrivaled monuments in the literary world. The muse, Urania which he invoked to aid him in his "arduous song" was not the angelic being holding court "abrtve the top of old Olympus," but was the lica. ven born spirit of genius dwolling within secret chambers of his own mind. IColpor and Newton performed mathemafical work which was not onlv astonishing in th sir own day, but stands unrivaled in our own. Their works, bespeaking great thought and labor, were prompted by the wonderful genius with which they were endowed Other incentives to industry arc artificial. Wealth is but a gewgaw and fame a hollow sounding word, without a lauding and appreciating populace to give each a value. Bulgenius is not artifi cial. It is born with the man, mm is a part of him; and its promptings are natural in structive. True the possesion of wealh and lame is often a strong incentive to bring out the best productions of genius, as in the case of Sir Wallar Scott, who wrote more for money than anything else. But unless a man has a mind that can ap- ' preciatea certain occupation, or has sonic considerable talent for it, he will not be likely to persue it with any great degree of earnestness. Kljjht hero many make a j great mistake in choc s'ng an occupation. They have somehow received the idea that j a man is capacitated to perlorm almost ' auy labor h it any' o ly olse is able to do, like the Englishman who casta die to de 'cide between the professions of law and 1 j medicine, they are willing to take up with i any profession thai oilers a respectable be Igining with out regard to what their nat i ural predispositions for it may be. j Industry goes along way toward success I in any occupation, but it cannot, as many seem lo suppose, take the place of a nat ural qualification for it, Genius must be cultivated by exercise, but it cannot be made by it. He who is naturally lilted for a lawyer, would figure rather poorly as a doctor and vice versa. Tho lawyer might perhaps make a respectable physi cian, but tho occupation would be a con tinual task instead of a pleasure, and he would have few of those natural prompt ings to success that ho would have if ho were to follow the profession for which nature, .seemed to intend him. Tho man I fitted naturally to be a physician might 'stuck law with some degree of success, but he runs a great risk ol being a poor, pitiful, pettifoggu all tho days of his life. But a great many instead of thinking themselves lilted for any occupation, go as much to the other extreme, and think themselves titled for none. Now this o pinion is hardly less fallacious than the proceeding, and when entertained is no less dangerous to success. "No one" says Be theme, " Is to suppose himself destitute of genius because Its effects do not immediate ly appear." Genius in its higher forms, we admit, only belongs to a tow, yet all have genius lo some extent which fits us boiler for one sphere of action than anoth er. 1 his leeiing mat nauiro wis jiui uu stowed upon us any special gifts to often arises from our attempts to cope with oth. ers in certain directions contrary to the natural truth of our own mind. With the student this is os-, pecially the case. Some of his fellow students outstrip him in the ' i V
