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The Green Bag,
most cases, we will find that if we call the roll of the great men of the country, we will be but mentioning the names of its college alumni. To put it on the lowest ground, a liberal education, both collegiate and pro fessional, pays; and in most cases the more liberal it is the better. Ought young men of the present day to emulate Mr. Preston in his oratorical attain ments? Is it well to be, like him, a great or ator? Is it not sufficient to be able simply to speak well? Will it not do only to study elocution so far as to be able to present your views clearly and forcibly? Is this not too practical an age for orators like Mr. Preston? Have we the time to waste on rhetorical sen tences and well rounded periods? I have at times been disposed to answer in the nega tive. And yet were I to do so I am satis fied I would be wrong. The time will never come when the orator will not be in de mand, — when eloquence will have lost its charm. God endows a man with the gift of eloquence and he endows the appreciative spirit as well. We soon tire of poor speak ing; we soon get enough of much that is palmed off on us as eloquence; we find that the unnatural, artificial substitute quick ly palls upon the taste : but true eloquence will always delight and charm us. To what does Mr. Bryan owe his wide-spread fame and wonderful popularity? To his speeches more than to anything else. Mr. McKinley 's visit to Atlanta last winter would have lost much of its effectiveness, had he not been the speaker that he was. When he uttered those soul-stirring and ringing words: "Who shall be the first to pull down the flag from where it has once been planted? Shall it be done by you of the South, away down here in Dixie?" I was present and with the vast audience felt the power of his eloquence. In every popular gathering oratory is a power. The man who can speak, necessarily excels, and to that extent outranks the one who is lacking in that power. It has always
been the case and always will be. " Many are the friends of the golden tongue," is a prov erb as true now as ever. We want the wis dom of Moses, but we soon tire of his slow tongue and long for the eloquent utterances of Aaron. It was his splendid oratory that gave to Ben Hill of Georgia his magnetic power and wonderful influence. It was the eloquence of Grady that won for him death less fame, charmed a nation, and placed the name of the young Georgian alongside of those who rank among the world's great orators. Kloquence is power. The mention of Preston's name almost in variably suggests that of Legare. Both of them were fine scholars. Of the two, in point of classical attainment and high literary culture, I am disposed to think Mr. Legare excelled. As a writer I am sure he was Mr. Preston's superior. He was no doubt also better read in the law. In native intellectual endowments and in the acquisitions which come from hard study, he possibly ranked above Mr. Preston. But, on the other hand, while both of them were in a high degree eloquent, I think it is pretty generally con ceded that Mr. Preston stood ahead in the department of oratory. As a conversation alist and post-prandial speaker, there is no question that Mr. Preston won and deserved the palm. How did Mr. Preston and Dr. James H. Thornwell compare? Intellectually, I would say that Dr. Thornwell was the abler of the two. He was the greater logician and the more profound scholar. He was more deeply read and more exact in his scholar ship. In the department of belles-lettres and in literature generally 1 take it for granted Mr. Preston was his superior. As a conversationalist I have no doubt Mr. Pres ton was decidedly more generally popular. In administrative ability and in the manage ment of boys at college Dr. Thornwell was evidently Mr. Preston's superior. The South Carolina College reached its high-water mark under the administration of Thorn
