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LORD BOLINGBROKE

(HENRY ST. JOHN, VISCOUNT BOLINGBROKE)

(1678-1751)

ORD BOLINGBROKE was in his generation one of the most celebrated orators of England, but, unfortunately, not a single speech of his was reported, except in brief and summary references in the third person. He was born at Battersea, England, October 1st, 1678. Entering Parliament in 1701, he soon advanced to the highest dignities of the state. From 1710 to 1714 he was Secretary of State under Queen Anne, who created him Viscount Bolingbroke. On the accession of George I., he was suspected of intriguing with the Stuarts. Obliged to go into exile, he was attainted in his absence, but being allowed to return to England in 1723, he devoted himself largely to literature and left a number of works which rank as English classics. The best of these are probably his "Letters on the Study of History."

I

HISTORY AS A PREPARATION FOR SPEAKING AT THE BAR

MIGHT instance, in other professions, the obligations men lie under of applying themselves to certain parts of history, and I can hardly forbear doing it in that of the law; in its nature the noblest and most beneficial to mankind, in its abuse and debasement the most sordid and the most pernicious. A lawyer now is nothing more, I speak of ninety-nine in a hundred at least, to use some of Tully's words, "nisi 'leguleius quidam, cautus et acutus, præco actionum, cantor formularum, anceps syllabarum." But there have been lawyers that were orators, philosophers, historians; there have been Bacons and Clarendons, my lord. There will be none such any more, till in some better age true ambition or the love of fame prevail over avarice; and till men find leisure and encouragement to prepare themselves for the exercise of this profession, by climbing up to the vantage ground, so my Lord Bacon calls it, of science; instead of groveling all their lives below in a mean but gainful application to all the little arts of chicane. Till this happen, the profession of the law will scarce deserve to be ranked among the learned professions; and whenever it happens, one of the vantage grounds to which men must climb is metaphysical, and the other historical knowledge. They must pry into the secret recesses of the human heart, and become well acquainted with the whole moral world, that they may discover the abstract reason of all laws; and they must trace the laws of particular states, especially of their own, from the first rough sketches to the more perfect draughts; from the first causes or occasions that produced them, through all the effects good and bad that they produced. But I am running insensibly into a subject which would detain me too long from one that

relates more immediately to your lordship, and with which I intend to conclude this long letter.

The sum of what I have been saying is, that in free governments the public service is not confined to those whom the prince appoints to different posts in the administration under him; that there the care of the state is the care of multitudes; that many are called to it in a particular manner by their rank, and by other circumstances of their situation; and that even those whom the prince appoints are not only answerable to him, but like him, and before him to the nation, for their behavior in their several posts. It can never be impertinent nor ridiculous therefore in such a country, whatever it might be in the Abbot of St. Real's, which was Savoy, I think; or in Peru, under the Incas, where Garcilasso de la Vega says it was lawful for none but the nobility to study-for men of all degrees to instruct themselves in those affairs wherein they may be actors, or judges of those that act, or controllers of those that judge. On the contrary, it is incumbent on every man to instruct himself, as well as the means and opportunities he has permit, concerning the nature and interests of the government, and those rights and duties that belong to him, or to his superiors, or to his inferiors. This in general; but in particular, it is certain that the obligations under which we lie to serve our country increase in proportion to the ranks we hold, and the other circumstances of birth, fortune, and situation, that call us to this service; and, above all, to the talents which God has given us to perform it.

Letter V. From his essays on the

"Study of History."

LORD CHESTERFIELD

(PHILIP DORMER STANHOPE, EARL OF CHESTERFIELD)

(1694-1773)

HERE is no convincing evidence that Lord Chesterfield was by nature more fitted for success in oratory than in medicine or the fine arts, but he determined to be an orator and educated himself up to a high degree of efficiency. Some of his speeches in the House of Lords are models of clear, connected, and forcible expression. The one thing they generally lack is reality of feeling; but sometimes, as in opposing Walpole's excise policy, Chesterfield becomes deeply interested, if not actually moved, and shows it in the increased naturalness and strength of his speeches. He was born in London, September 22d, 1694, and died March 24th, 1773. He is chiefly celebrated for his "Letters to His Son," whom he strove to educate in the courtliness and refinements of aristocratic good breeding. Lord Chesterfield himself was the most courtly man in England, but his son though most persistently advised, found the attempt to imitate him irksome, and abandoned it. The "Letters" remain, however, and they are likely always to be read because of the learning and acute knowledge of human nature they display. They are often coldblooded, but they do not cease to be interesting even when they are least commendable.

A

POETS AND ORATORS

MAN who is not born with a poetical genius can never be a poet, or, at best, an extremely bad one; but every man who can speak at all can speak elegantly and correctly, if he pleases, by attending to the best authors and orators; and, indeed, I would advise those who do not speak elegantly not to speak at all, for I am sure they will get more by their silence than by their speech. As for politeness, whoever keeps good company and is not polite must have formed a resolution, and take some pains not to be so; otherwise he would naturally and insensibly acquire the air, the address, and the turn of those he converses with.

You

METHOD OF STUDY-THE WORLD AND BOOKS

OUR first morning hours I would have you devote to your graver studies with Mr. Harte; the middle part of the day I would have employed in seeing things; and the evenings, in seeing people. You are not, I hope, of a lazy, inactive turn, in either body or mind; and, in that case, the day is full long enough for everything, especially at Rome, where it is not the fashion as it is here, and at Paris, to embezzle at least half of it at table. But if, by accident, two or three hours are sometimes wanting for some useful purpose, borrow them from your sleep. Six, or at most seven hours sleep is, for a constancy, as much as you or anybody can want; more is only laziness and dozing; and is, I am persuaded, both unwholesome and stupefying. If, by chance, your business or your pleasures should keep you up till four or five o'clock in the morning, I would advise you, however, to rise exactly at your usual time, that you may not lose the precious morning hours; and that the want of sleep may force you to go to bed earlier the next night. This is what I was advised to do when very young, by a very wise man; and what, I assure you, I always did in the most dissipated part of my life. I have very often gone to bed at six in the morning, and rose, notwithstanding, at eight; by which means I got many hours in the morning that my companions lost; and the want of sleep obliged me to keep good hours the next, or at least the third night. To this method I owe the greatest part of my reading; for, from twenty to forty, I should certainly have read very little, if I had not been up while my acquaintances were in bed. Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no laziness, no procrastination; never put off till to-morrow what you can do to-day. That was the rule of the famous and unfortunate pensionary De Witt, who, by strictly following it, found time, not only to do the whole business of the republic, but to pass his evenings at assemblies and suppers, as if he had had nothing else to do or think of.

A

MISPRONUNCIATION AND MISUSE OF WORDS

PERSON of the House of Commons, speaking two years ago upon naval affairs, asserted that we had then "the finest navy upon the face of the yearth." This happy mixture of blunder and vulgarism, you may easily imagine, was matter of immediate ridicule; but I can assure you that it continues so still, and will be remembered as long as he lives and speaks. Another, speaking in defense of a gentleman, upon whom a censure was moved, happily said that he thought that gentleman was more liable to be thanked and rewarded, than censured. You know, I presume, that "liable » can never be used in a good sense.

You

BOOKS FOR ORATORY

ou have read Quintilian, the best book in the world to form an orator; pray read Cicero's "De Oratore," the best book in the world to finish one. Translate and retranslate, from and to Latin, Greek, and English; make yourself a pure and elegant English style; it requires nothing but application. I do not find that God has made you a poet, and I am very glad that he has not; therefore, for God's

sake, make yourself an orator, which you may do. Though I still call you a boy, I consider you no longer as such; and when I reflect upon the prodigious quantity of manure that has been laid upon you, I expect you should produce more at eighteen than uncultivated soils do at eight and twenty.

T

CHARM OF MANNER

HE late Lord Townshend always spoke materially, with argument and knowledge, but never pleased. Why? His diction was not only inelegant, but frequently ungrammatical, always vulgar; his cadences false, his voice unharmonious, and his action ungraceful. Nobody heard him with patience; and the young fellows used to joke upon him, and repeat his inaccuracies. The late Duke of Argyle, though the weakest reasoner, was the most pleasing speaker I ever knew in my life. He charmed, he warmed, he forcibly ravished the audience; not by his matter certainly, but by his manner of delivering it. A most genteel figure, a graceful noble air, an harmonious voice, an elegancy of style, and a strength of emphasis, conspired to make him the most affecting, persuasive, and applauded speaker, I ever saw. I was captivated like others; but when I came home, and coolly considered what he had said, stripped off all those ornaments in which he had dressed it, I often found the matter flimsy, the arguments weak, and I was convinced of the power of those adventitious concurring circumstances, which ignorance of mankind only, calls trifling ones.

W

TRUE ELOCUTION

HAT, then, does all this mighty art and mystery of speaking in Parliament amount to? Why, no more than this, that the man who speaks in the House of Commons, speaks in that house, and to four hundred people, that opinion, upon a given subject, which he would make no difficulty of speaking in any house in England, round the fire, or at table, to any fourteen people whatsoever; better judges, perhaps, and severer critics of what he says, than any fourteen gentlemen of the House of Commons.

I have spoken frequently in Parliament, and not always without some applause; and therefore I can assure you, from my experience, that there is very little in it. The elegancy of the style, and the turn of the periods make the chief impression upon the hearers. Give them but one or two round and harmonious periods in a speech, which they will retain and repeat, and they will go home as well satisfied as people do from an opera, humming all the way one or two favorite tunes that have struck their ears and were easily caught. Most people have ears, but few have judgment; tickle those ears, and, depend upon it, you will catch their judgments, such as they are.

L

HAMPDEN AS A MODEL

ORD CLARENDON in his "History" says of Mr. John Hampden, "that he had a head to contrive, a tongue to persuade, and a hand to execute any mischief." I shall not now enter into the justness of this character of Mr. Hampden, to whose brave stand against the illegal demand of ship-money we owe our present liberties; but I mention it to you as the character which, with the alteration of one single

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