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Show O'Connell As An Orator. Every Irishman is familiar with Wendell Phillips' grand speech on Daniel O'Connell. He had listened to the great English and American ora-; ora-; ' tors of his day and placed O'Connell above them all. saying he was Webster. Clay. Calhoun. Choate, Everett and ' Corwin rolled Into one. Canon O'Rourke. in h;s "Life of , , O'Connell," refers to his oratory as fol lows: "O'Connell as an orator aimed at be-1 be-1 jng what he was called for many years, ': : 'The Man. of the People. In some of ; his eailier speeches there are marks of ' , s tare and preparation, but during three- fourths of his career his only preparation prepara-tion was to master his subject: words ' of the best and most effective kind never failed him. There is little doubt that elaborate preparations would have , : marred the effects of O'Connell's ora tory. He, like all great men, had a j quick, intuitive mind one. In fact, thai ! . could scarcely bear the tedium of care- ful preparation, and the true character of which came out in cross-examining ' ; und in reply: for, although great and lucid in statement, he was still more i powerful In reply. Woe to the man who provoked the lion to argue he pawed I , him to death. His gesture was not very i rmunstrative, but It would sometimes 5 ' ' . , o ' be energetic, and when he wanted a cheer for a man or a principle he called for it by a bold flourish of his hand above his head. But O'Connell stood In little need of the aids which gesture commonly gives to the public speaker, his fine presence and unrivaled voice did everything for him. It is said he had no ear for music, but his voice, when speaking in public, was the most musical that could be heard; great in power and compass, rich in tone, ever fresh in the variety of its cadence, it was as unique and striking as the great man to whom it belonged; nor was the charming brogue which accompanied it the least of its attractions. Another advantage ad-vantage possessed by him had not been so much remarked upon the rapidlj changeful expression of his features. By observing O'Connell's face as he spoke, one could be sure of the tone and temper of what was coming. Was he about to make an adversary ridiculous ridicu-lous by an anecdote or a witticism? His eyes, his lips, his whole face suddenly sud-denly became expressive of humor. Did he intend to turn from pleasantries, solemn sol-emn warning or fierce denunciation (a usual habit of his) a dark cloud was sure to cast his shadow across his manly man-ly features before the thunder came forth." Irish Standard. |