_Lord Brougham_
Lord Brougham excelled in cogent, effective argument. His impa.s.sioned reasoning often made ordinary things interesting. He ingratiated himself by his wise and generous sentiments, and his uncompromising solicitude for his country.
He always succeeded in getting through his protracted and parenthetical sentences without confusion to his hearers or to himself. He could see from the beginning of a sentence precisely what the end would be.
_John Quincy Adams_
John Quincy Adams won a high place as a debater and orator in his speech in Congress upon the right of pet.i.tion, delivered in 1837. A formidable antagonist, pugnacious by temperament, uniformly dignified, a profound scholar,--his is "a name recorded on the brightest page of American history, as statesman, diplomatist, philosopher, orator, author, and, above all a Christian."
_Patrick Henry_
Patrick Henry was a man of extraordinary eloquence. In his day he was regarded as the greatest orator in America. In his early efforts as a speaker he hesitated much and throughout his career often gave an impression of natural timidity. He has been favorably compared with Lord Chatham for fire, force, and personal energy. His power was largely due to a rare gift of lucid and concise statement.
_Henry Clay_
The eloquence of Henry Clay was magisterial, persuasive, and irresistible. So great was his personal magnetism that mult.i.tudes came great distances to hear him. He was a man of brilliant intellect, fertile fancy, chivalrous nature, and patriotic fervor. He had a clear, rotund, melodious voice, under complete command. He held, it is said, the keys to the hearts of his countrymen.
_Calhoun_
The eloquence of John Caldwell Calhoun has been described by Daniel Webster as "plain, strong, terse, condensed, concise; sometimes impa.s.sioned, still always severe. Rejecting ornament, not often seeking far for ill.u.s.trations, his power consisted in the plainness of his propositions, in the closeness of his logic, and in the earnestness and energy of his manner."
He exerted unusual influence over the opinions of great ma.s.ses of men.
He had remarkable power of a.n.a.lysis and logical skill. Originality, self-reliance, impatience, aggressiveness, persistence, sincerity, honesty, ardor,--these were some of the personal qualities which gave him dominating influence over his generation.
_Daniel Webster_
Daniel Webster was a ma.s.sive orator. He combined logical and argumentative skill with a personality of extraordinary power and attractiveness. He had a supreme scorn for tricks of oratory, and a horror of epithets and personalities. His best known speeches are those delivered on the anniversary at Plymouth, the laying of the corner-stone of Bunker Hill monument, and the deaths of Jefferson and Adams.
_Edward Everett_
Edward Everett was a man of scholastic tastes and habits. His speaking style was remarkable for its literary finish and polished precision. His sense of fitness saved him from serious faults of speech or manner. He blended many graces in one, and his speeches are worthy of study as models of oratorical style.
_Rufus Choate_
Rufus Choate was a brilliant and persuasive extempore speaker. He possest in high degree faculties essential to great oratory--a capacious mind, retentive memory, logical ac.u.men, vivid imagination, deep concentration, and wealth of language. He had an extraordinary personal fascination, largely due to his broad sympathy and geniality.
_Charles Sumner_
Charles Sumner was a gifted orator. His delivery was highly impressive, due fundamentally to his innate integrity and elevated personal character. He was a wide reader and profound student. His style was energetic, logical, and versatile. His intense patriotism and argumentative power, won large favor with his hearers.
_William E. Channing_
William Ellery Channing was a preacher of unusual eloquence and intellectual power. He was small in stature, but of surpa.s.sing grace.
His voice was soft and musical, and wonderfully responsive to every change of emotion that arose in his mind. His eloquence was not forceful nor forensic, but gentle and persuasive.
His monument bears this high tribute: "In memory of William Ellery Channing, honored throughout Christendom for his eloquence and courage in maintaining and advancing the great cause of truth, religion, and human freedom."
_Wendell Phillips_
Wendell Phillips was one of the most graceful and polished orators. To his conversational style he added an exceptional vocabulary, a clear and flexible voice, and a most fascinating personality.
He produced his greatest effects by the simplest means. He combined humor, pathos, sarcasm and invective with rare skill, yet his style was so simple that a child could have understood him.
_George William Curtis_
George William Curtis has been described in his private capacity as natural, gentle, manly, refined, simple, and unpretending. He was the last of the great school of Everett, Sumner, and Phillips.
His art of speaking had an enduring charm, and he completely satisfied the taste for pure and dignified speech. His voice was of silvery clearness, which carried to the furthermost part of the largest hall.
_Gladstone_
Gladstone was an orator of preeminent power. In fertility of thought, spontaneity of expression, modulation of voice, and grace of gesture, he has had few equals. He always spoke from a deep sense of duty. When he began a sentence you could not always foresee how he would end it, but he always succeeded. He had an extraordinary wealth of words and command of the English language.
Gladstone has been described as having eagerness, self-control, mastery of words, gentle persuasiveness, prodigious activity, capacity for work, extreme seriousness, range of experience, constructive power, mastery of detail, and deep concentration. "So vast and so well ordered was the a.r.s.enal of his mind, that he could both instruct and persuade, stimulate his friends and demolish his opponents, and do all these things at an hour"s notice."
He was essentially a devout man, and unquestionably his spiritual character was the fundamental secret of his transcendent power. A keen observer thus describes him:
"While this great and famous figure was in the House of Commons, the House had eyes for no other person. His movements on the bench, restless and eager, his demeanor when on his legs, whether engaged in answering a simple question, expounding an intricate Bill, or thundering in vehement declamation, his dramatic gestures, his deep and rolling voice with its wide compa.s.s and marked northern accent, his flashing eye, his almost incredible command of ideas and words, made a combination of irresistible fascination and power."
_John Bright_
John Bright won a foremost place among British orators largely because of his power of clear statement and vivid description. His manner was at once ingratiating and commanding.
His way of putting things was so lucid and convincing that it was difficult to express the same ideas in any other words with equal force.
One of the secrets of his success, it is said, was his command of colloquial simile, apposite stories, and ready wit.
Mr. Bright always had himself well in hand, yet his style at times was volcanic in its force and impetuosity. He would shut himself up for days preparatory to delivering a great speech, and tho he committed many pa.s.sages to memory, his manner in speaking was entirely free from artifice.
_Lincoln_
Lincoln"s power as a speaker was due to a combination of rugged gifts.
Self-reliance, sympathy, honesty, penetration, broad-mindedness, modesty, and independence,--these were keynotes to his great character.