Ebook Daniel Webster for Young Americans

It must be admitted, too, that the great orators of the past are for the most part names rather than facts, in the minds of the majority. They are praised but not read, save as Demosthenes and Cicero are read in the class-room. When the reader seeks to re-create for himself the impression made by past eloquence, he is likely to be at a loss to discover, in cold type, the secrets of the triumphs of the spoken word. If the pleaders of the present are too near, those of bygone centuries are super?uous. Like the actor, the orator pays the price of subsequent neglect, though he may win the triumph of immediate admiration. The written word remains, but the reported speech is less likely than the poem, the novel, or the history to rekindle the coals of enthusiasm.