The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His AchievementsBrown, William Wells
History
The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements
Brown, William Wells
African Americans -- Biography
What! trembling yet, and shy? Nay, do not fear;
Sure, sure I'll harm thee not;
My gentlest, thine's a better lot;
So raise those azure eyes with radiant cheer.
Cheer up, then; there, now thou canst go. Retain,
I pray, within thy heart,
Not the unpleasant part
That's past. The other let remain.
To possess genius, the offspring of which ennobles the sentiments,
enlarges the affections, kindles the imagination, and gives to us
a view of the past, the present, and the future, is one of the
highest gifts that the Creator bestows upon man. With acute powers
of conception, a sparkling and lively fancy, and a quaintly curious
felicity of diction, Mr. Wilson wakes us from our torpidity and
coldness to a sense of our capabilities. In personal appearance he is
under the middle size; his profile is more striking than his front
face; he has a rather pleasing countenance, and is unmixed in race;
has fine conversational powers, is genteel in his manners, and is a
pleasant speaker upon the platform.
JOHN MERCER LANGSTON.
One of the most promising young men of the west is John M. Langston,
a native of Chillicothe, Ohio, and a graduate of Oberlin College. He
studied theology and law, and, preferring the latter, was admitted to
the bar, and is now successfully practising his profession.
The end of all eloquence is to sway men. It is, therefore, bound by
no arbitrary rules of diction or style, formed on no specific models,
and governed by no edicts of self-elected judges. It is true, there
are degrees of eloquence, and equal success does not imply equal
excellence. That which is adapted to sway the strongest minds of an
enlightened age ought to be esteemed the most perfect, and, doubtless,
should be the criterion by which to test the abstract excellence of
all oratory. Mr. Langston represents the highest idea of the orator,
as exemplified in the power and discourses of Sheridan in the English
House of Commons, and Vergniaud in the Assembly of the Girondists.
He is not fragmentary in his speeches; but, a deep, majestic stream,
he moves steadily onward, pouring forth his rich and harmonious
sentences in strains of impassioned eloquence. His style is bold and
energetic--full of spirit. He is profound without being hollow, and
ingenious without being subtile.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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