ORATORY
ORATORY, or the art of speaking well, is useful in
every situation of life, and absolutely necessary in most. A man cannot
distinguish himself without it, in parliament, in the pulpit, or at the bar;
and even in common conversation, he who has acquired an easy and habitual
eloquence, and who speaks with propriety and accuracy, will have a great
advantage over those who speak inelegantly and incorrectly. The business of
oratory is to persuade; and to please is the most effectual step towards
persuading. It is very advantageous for a man who speaks in public to please
his hearers so much as to gain their attention, which he cannot possibly do
without the assistance of oratory.
It is certain, that by study and
application every man may make himself a tolerable good orator,—eloquence
depending upon observation and care. Every man may, if he please, make choice
of good instead of bad words and phrases, may speak with propriety instead of
impropriety, and may be clear and perspicuous in his recitals instead of dark
and unintelligible; he may have grace instead of awkwardness in his gestures
and deportment; in short, it is in the power of every man, with pains and
application, to be a very agreeable, instead of a very disagreeable, speaker;
and it is well worth the labour to excel other men in that particular article
in which they excel beasts.
Demosthenes* thought it so essentially
necessary to speak well, that, though he naturally stuttered and had weak
lungs, he resolved, by application, to overcome those disadvantages. He cured
his stammering by putting small pebbles into his mouth; and gradually
strengthened his lungs by daily using himself to speak loudly and distinctly
for a considerable time. In stormy weather he often visited the seashore, where
he spoke as loud as he could, in order to prepare himself for the noise and
murmurs of the popular assemblies of the Athenians, before whom he was to
speak. By this extraordinary care and attention, and the constant study of the best
authors, he became the greatest orator that his own or any other age or country
has produced.
Whatever language a person uses, he should
speak it in its greatest purity, and according to the rules of grammar. Nor is
it sufficient that we do not speak a language ill: we must endeavour to speak
it well; for which purpose, we should read the best authors with attention, and
observe how people of fashion and education speak. Common people, in general,
speak ill: they make use of inelegant and vulgar expressions, which people of
rank never do. In numbers, they frequently join the singular and the plural
together; and seldom make choice of the proper tense. To avoid all these
faults, we should read with attention, and observe the turn and expressions of the
best authors: nor should we pass over a word we do not perfectly understand,
without searching and inquiring for the exact meaning of it.
It is said that a man must be born a poet,
but it is in his power to make himself an orator; for to be a poet requires a
certain degree of strength and vivacity of mind; but that attention, reading,
and labour, are sufficient to form an orator.
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