The Art of Public Speaking
civilization there were a law which gives conquerors by the intellect as
successors to conquerors by the sword.
Balzac was one of the first among the greatest, one of the highest among
the best. This is not the place to tell all that constituted this
splendid and sovereign intelligence. All his books form but one book,--a
book living, luminous, profound, where one sees coming and going and
marching and moving, with I know not what of the formidable and
terrible, mixed with the real, all our contemporary civilization;--a
marvelous book which the poet entitled "a comedy" and which he could
have called history; which takes all forms and all style, which
surpasses Tacitus and Suetonius; which traverses Beaumarchais and
reaches Rabelais;--a book which realizes observation and imagination,
which lavishes the true, the esoteric, the commonplace, the trivial, the
material, and which at times through all realities, swiftly and grandly
rent away, allows us all at once a glimpse of a most sombre and tragic
ideal. Unknown to himself, whether he wished it or not, whether he
consented or not, the author of this immense and strange work is one of
the strong race of Revolutionist writers. Balzac goes straight to the
goal.
Body to body he seizes modern society; from all he wrests something,
from these an illusion, from those a hope; from one a catch-word, from
another a mask. He ransacked vice, he dissected passion. He searched out
and sounded man, soul, heart, entrails, brain,--the abyss that each one
has within himself. And by grace of his free and vigorous nature; by a
privilege of the intellect of our time, which, having seen revolutions
face to face, can see more clearly the destiny of humanity and
comprehend Providence better,--Balzac redeemed himself smiling and
severe from those formidable studies which produced melancholy in
Moliere and misanthropy in Rousseau.
This is what he has accomplished among us, this is the work which he has
left us,--a work lofty and solid,--a monument robustly piled in layers
of granite, from the height of which hereafter his renown shall shine in
splendor. Great men make their own pedestal, the future will be
answerable for the statue.
His death stupefied Paris! Only a few months ago he had come back to
France. Feeling that he was dying, he wished to see his country again,
as one who would embrace his mother on the eve of a distant voyage. His
life was short, but full, more filled with deeds than days.
Alas! this powerful worker, never fatigued, this philosopher, this
thinker, this poet, this genius, has lived among us that life of storm,
of strife, of quarrels and combats, common in all times to all great
men. To-day he is at peace. He escapes contention and hatred. On the
same day he enters into glory and the tomb. Thereafter beyond the
clouds, which are above our heads, he will shine among the stars of his
country. All you who are here, are you not tempted to envy him?
Whatever may be our grief in presence of such a loss, let us accept
these catastrophes with resignation! Let us accept in it whatever is
distressing and severe; it is good perhaps, it is necessary perhaps, in
an epoch like ours, that from time to time the great dead shall
communicate to spirits devoured with skepticism and doubt, a religious
fervor. Providence knows what it does when it puts the people face to
face with the supreme mystery and when it gives them death to reflect
on,--death which is supreme equality, as it is also supreme liberty.
Providence knows what it does, since it is the greatest of all
instructors.
There can be but austere and serious thoughts in all hearts when a
sublime spirit makes its majestic entrance into another life, when one
of those beings who have long soared above the crowd on the visible
wings of genius, spreading all at once other wings which we did not see,
plunges swiftly into the unknown.
No, it is not the unknown; no, I have said it on another sad occasion
and I shall repeat it to-day, it is not night, it is light. It is not
the end, it is the beginning! It is not extinction, it is eternity! Is
it not true, my hearers, such tombs as this demonstrate immortality? In
presence of the illustrious dead, we feel more distinctly the divine
destiny of that intelligence which traverses the earth to suffer and to
purify itself,--which we call man.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 37: Saguntum was a city of Iberia (Spain) in alliance with
Rome. Hannibal, in spite of Rome's warnings in 219 B.C., laid siege to
and captured it. This became the immediate cause of the war which Rome
declared against Carthage.]
[Footnote 38: From his speech in Washington on March 13, 1905, before
the National Congress of Mothers. Printed from a copy furnished by the
president for this collection, in response to a request.]
[Footnote 39: Used by permission.]
[Footnote 40: Reported by A. Russell Smith and Harry E. Greager. Used by
permission.
On May 21, 1914, when Dr. Conwell delivered this lecture for the five
thousandth time, Mr. John Wanamaker said that if the proceeds had been
put out at compound interest the sum would aggregate eight millions of
dollars. Dr. Conwell has uniformly devoted his lecturing income to works
of benevolence.]
GENERAL INDEX
Names of speakers and writers referred to are set in CAPITALS. Other
references are printed in "lower case," or "small," type. Because of the
large number of fragmentary quotations made from speeches and books, no
titles are indexed, but all such material will be found indexed under
the name of its author.
A
Accentuation, 150.
ADDISON, JOSEPH, 134.
ADE, GEORGE, 252.
After-Dinner Speaking, 362-370.
Analogy, 223.
Analysis, 225.
Anecdote, 251-255; 364.
Anglo-Saxon words, 338.
Antithesis, 222.
Applause, 317.
Argument, 280-294.
ARISTOTLE, 344.
Articulation, 148-149.
Association of ideas, 347, 348.
Attention, 346, 347.
Auditory images, 324, 348, 349.
B
BACON, FRANCIS, 225, 226, 362.
BAGEHOT, WALTER, 249.
BAKER, GEORGE P., 281.
BALDWIN, C.S., 16, 92.
BARRIE, JAMES M., 339-341.
BATES, ARLO, 222-223.
BEECHER, HENRY WARD, 3, 6, 31, 76-78;
113, 139, 186, 188, 223, 265, 275, 343, 346, 351-352.
BERNHARDT, SARA, 105.
BEROL, FELIX, 344.
BEVERIDGE, ALBERT, J., 22, 35, 46, 67, 107, 470-483.
BIRRELL, AUGUSTINE, 97.
BLAINE, JAMES G., 368.
BONCI, SIGNOR, 124.
Books, 191-197; 207-210.
Breathing, 129-131.
Briefs, 177, 210-214, 290-294.
BRISBANE, ARTHUR, 19.
BROOKS, PHILLIPS, 356.
BROUGHAM, LORD, 338.
BRYAN, WILLIAM JENNINGS, 32, 60, 116, 157, 269, 273-277, 302, 448-464.
BRYANT, WILLIAM CULLEN, 366-367.
BURNS, ROBERT, 39.
BURROUGHS, JOHN, 116.
BYRON, LORD, 64, 87, 145, 188, 189, 199.
C
CAESAR, JULIUS, 175.
CAMPBELL, THOMAS, 121.
CARLETON, WILL, 334.
CARLYLE, THOMAS, 42, 57, 105, 109, 194, 218, 249, 277-278.
CATO, 356, 372.
CHAMBERS, ROBERT, 19.
Change of pace, 39-49.
Character, 357-358.
CHANNING, WILLIAM ELLERY, 177.
Charm, 134-144.
CHILD, RICHARD WASHBURN, 376.
CHOATE, RUFUS, 464-469.
CHURCHILL, WINSTON SPENCER, 89.
CICERO, 115.
Classification, 224.
CLEVELAND, GROVER, 367-368.
COHAN, GEORGE, 376.
COLERIDGE, S.T., 373.
COLLINS, WILKIE, 60.
COMFORT, W.L., 235.
Comparison, 19.
Conceit, 4.
Concentration, 3, 57, 80-84; 346-347; 374.
Confidence, 1-8; 184, 263-275; 350, 358-360.
Contrast, 19, 222.
Conversation, 372-377.
CONWELL, RUSSELL, 200, 483-503.
CORNWALL, BARRY, 138, 184.
COWPER, WILLIAM, 69, 121.
CRANCH, CHRISTOPHER P., 72.
CROMWELL, OLIVER, 95, 105.
Crowd, Influencing the, 262-278; 308-320.
Ctesiphon, 116.
CURTIS, GEORGE WILLIAM, 258-260.
D
DANA, CHARLES, 18, 200.
DANIEL, JOHN WARWICK, 369-370.
DANTE, 106.
DE AMICIS, EDMONDO, 238.
Debate, Questions for, 290, 379-382.
Definition, 222, 224.
Delivery, methods of, 171-181.
DE MAUPASSANT, GUY, 187, 339.
DEMOSTHENES, 67, 363.
DEPEW, CHAUNCEY M., 365.
DE QUINCEY, THOMAS, 255-256; 338
Description, 231-247.
DICKENS, CHARLES, 5, 234, 246, 247.
Discarding, 224.
DISRAELI, ISAAC, 101, 321.
Distinctness, 146-152.
Division, 224, 225.
E
Egotism, 376.
EMERSON, RALPH WALDO, 10, 97, 103, 104, 105, 122, 144, 168, 188, 201,
231, 295, 321, 357, 362, 372.
Emphasis, 16-24; 31-32; 47, 73.
Enthusiasm, 101-109; 267, 304, 311.
Enunciation, 150-152.
EVERETT, EDWARD, 78-79.
Example, 223.
Exposition, 218-228.
Extemporaneous Speech, 179.
F
Facial Expression, 163.
Feeling, 101-109; 240, 264-265; 295-305; 312, 317, 320.
Figures of speech, 235, 277, 331.
FLAUBERT, GUSTAVE, 339.
Fluency, 115-123; 179, 184-197, 354, 373.
Force, 87-97.
G
GALTON, FRANCIS, 323.
GASKELL, MRS., 186.
Generalization, 226.
GENUNG, JOHN FRANKLIN, 55, 92, 220, 226, 281.
GEORGE, HENRY, 344.
Gesture, 150-168.
GIBBON, EDWARD, 175.
GLADSTONE, WILLIAM E., 2, 8, 124, 157, 372.
GOETHE, J.W. VON, 117, 372.
GOLDSMITH, OLIVER, 121.
GORDON, G.B., 365-366.
GOUGH, JOHN B., 188.
GRADY, HENRY W., 38, 240-242; 252-253; 268, 365, 425-438.
GRAHAM, HARRY, 255.
Gustatory images, 325, 348.
H
Habit, 190, 349.
HALLECK, FITZ-GREENE, 302.
HAMLET, 88-89; 152-153.
HANCOCK, PROF. ALBERT E., 335.
HART, J.M., 338.
HAY, JOHN, 443-448.
HEARN, LAFCADIO, 238.
HENLEY, WILLIAM ERNEST, 122, 271-272.
HENRY, O., 247, 328-329.
HENRY, PATRICK, 22, 102, 103, 107, 110-112; 201, 271, 276.
HESIOD, 146.
HILL, A.S., 92, 281.
HILLIS, NEWELL DWIGHT, 24, 32, 191-193; 273-274; 394-402.
HOAR, GEORGE, 296-297.
HOBSON, RICHMOND PEARSON, 285-286; 287-289.
HOGG, JAMES, 139.
HOLMES, G.C.V., 226.
HOLMES, OLIVER WENDELL, 148, 373.
HOLYOAKE, GEORGE JACOB, 280, 281.
HOMER, 146, 235.
HOUDIN, ROBERT, 350.
HUBBARD, ELBERT, 3.
HUGO, VICTOR, 107, 503-505.
Humor, 251-255; 363-365.
HUXLEY, T.H., 227.
I
Imagination, 321-333.
Imitation, 335-336.
Inflection, 69-74.
INGERSOLL, ROBERT J., 68, 175.
IRVING, WASHINGTON, 5, 235, 236, 246.
IRVING, SIR HENRY, 158.
J
JAMES, WILLIAM, 349.
JAMESON, MRS. ANNA, 69.
JONES-FOSTER, ARDENNES, 243-245.
JONSON, BEN, 343.
K
KAUFMAN, HERBERT, 42-44.
KIPLING, RUDYARD, 4, 299-300.
KIRKHAM, STANTON DAVIS, 360.
L
LANDOR, WALTER SAVAGE, 339.
LEE, GERALD STANLEY, 308.
Library, Use of a, 207-210.
LINCOLN, ABRAHAM, 50, 107, 166.
LINDSAY, HOWARD, 40.
LOCKE, JOHN, 188, 343.
LONGFELLOW, H.W., 117, 124, 136.
LOOMIS, CHARLES BATTELL, 365.
LOTI, PIERRE, 238.
LOWELL, JAMES RUSSELL, 235.
M
MACAULAY, T.B., 76.
MACLAREN, ALEXANDER, 254.
MCKINLEY, WILLIAM, Last Speech, 438-442;
Tribute to, by John Hay, 443.
MASSILLON, 188.
Memory, 343-354.
MERWIN, SAMUEL, 72.
MESSAROS, WALDO, 147.
MILL, JOHN STUART, 355.
MILTON, JOHN, 137.
Monotony, Evils of, 10-12;
How to conquer, 12-14; 44.
MORLEY, JOHN, 403-410.
MOSES, 115.
Motor images, 324, 348.
MOTTE, ANTOINE, 10.
MOZLEY, JAMES, 235.
N
NAPOLEON, 13, 104, 141, 184, 321.
Narration, 249-260.
Naturalness, 14, 29, 58, 70.
Notes, see Briefs.
O
Observation, 167-168; 186-188; 206-207; 223, 227, 350.
Occasional speaking, 362-370.
Olfactory images, 325, 348.
Outline of speech, 212-214.
P
Pace, Change of, 30-49.
PAINE, THOMAS, 122.
PARKER, ALTON B., 423.
PARKER, THEODORE, 257-258.
PATCH, DAN, 2.
PAUL, 2, 107.
Pause, 55-64.
Personality, 355-360.
Persuasion, 295-307.
PHILLIPS, ARTHUR EDWARD, 227, 229.
PHILLIPS, CHARLES, 302-305.
PHILLIPS, WENDELL, 25-26; 34-35; 38, 72, 97, 99-100.
Pitch, change of, 27-35;
low, 32, 69.
PITTENGER, WILLIAM, I, 66.
Platitudes, 376, 377.