The American Union SpeakerPhilbrick, John D. (John Dudley)
General
The American Union Speaker
Philbrick, John D. (John Dudley)
Recitations
Imagine to yourselves a Demosthenes, addressing the most illustrious
assembly in the world, upon a point whereon the fate of the most
illustrious of nations depended. How awful such a meeting! How vast the
subject! Is man possessed of talents adequate to the great occasion?
Adequate! Yes, superior. By the power of his eloquence, the augustness of
the assembly is lost in the dignity of the orator; and the importance of
the subject, for awhile, superseded by the admiration of his talents. With
what strength of argument, with what powers of the fancy, with what
emotions of the heart, does he assault and subjugate the whole man; and, at
once, captivate his reason, his imagination, and his passions! To effect
this must be the utmost effort of the most improved state of human
nature,--not a faculty that he possesses is here unemployed; not a faculty
that he possesses but is here exerted to its highest pitch. All his
internal powers are at work; all his external testify their energies.
Within the memory, the fancy, the judgment, the passions, are all busy;
without, every muscle, every nerve, is exerted; not a feature, not a limb
but speaks. The organs of the body attuned to the exertions of the mind
through the kindred organs of the hearers, instantaneously vibrate those
energies from soul to soul. Notwithstanding the diversity of minds in such
a multitude, by the lightning of eloquence, they are melted into one
mass,--the whole assembly, actuated in one and the same way, become, as it
were, but one man and have but one voice. The universal cry is,--LET US
MARCH AGAINST PHILIP; LET US FIGHT FOR OUR LIBERTIES;--LET US CONQUER OR
DIE!
XLIII.
NECESSITY OF A PURE NATIONAL MORALITY.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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