Show LINCOLN AS AN ORATOR Power With a Jury or an lIili Trent Audience Courage genius and original thought expressed ° in terse form with intense ear enforced with plain rugged tness ges Ss and never lacking in apt words tures the chief points of interest ill Mr i wore and advocate Lincoln i as an orator to contend with the brilliant and J Vveii eloquent Little Giant in the Douglas oiim um of 57 was evidence of supreme ir VnTin his native State but to con tend COllrIC for a seat in the Senate and almost win it Oer such a master of language was woof f of genius in a high degree Tint he was original no one ever claimed to deny His whole record nrovcs it His Gettysburg speech that provCS Iorace I Greeley called one of the three mater speeches by the foremost Americans Ameri-cans since the settlement of this country is proof conclusive In that famous speech only ninety separate words were Ired vet a volume of meaning was con cvcttto the hearers and readers hut there were other points of interest iU oratory that only his nearest neigh hoi best knew He was known and be liccUiy l the whole of Springfield to be l netBO honest in fact that 110 retainer re-tainer would be large enough to command ills services on the wrong side of litigation litiga-tion This gave him great power with a juiv or an audience His words had manhood behind them How long it took him to acquire this sterling reputation and character no one remembers It seemed a part of his very being He was wise in choosing the right Bide of questions and consistent in adher ins to his convictions No matter whether the client was a car driver a princely merchant or a prairie farmer the right side was his governing fee and a settlement general came at the end of the lawsuit His fame as a speaker was far reach jug Let it be known that Aoe Lincoln Lin-coln would address a public meeting and the audienca could be measured in advance ad-vance by the capacity of the building Let it be known that he would address a jury and the courtroom was sure to be crowded He was quaint deep graphic sincere Such is the verdict of his friends and neighbors who knew him most intimately before he became President Presi-dent dentI HI heard him at his bestH said Jay Gould of Kansas when few men could speak as he felt without faltering It was an evening meeting on the public street north of the Planters house in leavenworth The crowd was large and noisy It was directly on the heels of a terrible raid in Missouri The long fonr horse omnibus came over the Big Muddy on a flat boat from the Missouri side and was driven rapidly to the hotel where after a few moments of rest the bonfires were lighted and thousands congregated It was a crowd of desperate desper-ate armed and disguised men mingled with many courageous citizens and very ready listeners Only a few days previous pre-vious the cornfields of Kansas were the skulking places of Prices raiders and many of his followers were believed to be in the audience Revolvers bowie knives cloth faces slouch hats and cavalry outfits out-fits set the men off to advantage as they t formed around the speakers stand on horseback forty or fifty deep on the up hill side of the Planters house platform The band played and a tall man came onwith a soft felt hat dressed in plain black plain and animated who was instantly in-stantly recognized as old Abe and hearty cheers with a few groans greeted the speaker The spectacle was inspiring to a few and momentous to many It might mean a fight or it might mean renewed re-newed courage It certainly meant that a man stood on the edge of a giant undertaking under-taking He began by reminding his hearers of that bravest of bravery that kind of fair play and a chance for a fair hearing that western men had never denied de-nied and always respected He referred to that Southern hatred of cowardice that strikes one when unarmed or under his adversary and that chivalry known even up among the rude mountains of his early home in Kentucky where he hoped many of his hearers had hunted in the days of their boyhoodthat home of brave men and fair womenthe home of fair play and generous manhood Over to the western border had come the sons of Kentuckys best blood and most daring dar-ing young men in search of homesand so lie went on earnestly graphically eloquently gaining his hearerasympathy good will and applause until men swung their broad hats in the air crowded up near the platform or broke out in strong sentences like Hes right Weve been thar Tell us some more of old Kentuck What about Brown who wants to free the blacks Id fight for that man Go on Give us more 1 and the like till Lincoln had no more fear or reason to fear than any of the armed party before him His speech was an inspiration in Leavenworth It braced up the settlers quieted the raiders encouraged en-couraged free thought and endeared him to the people as his speeches did to all audiences It proved that he was a master mas-ter of men and a niaster of oratory the art that comes by surprise captures the will and convinces the judgment America Am-erica had but one LincolnT IV Dono hue in the Current |