title: The Franklin speaker; consisting of declamations and recitations,
text: V " \ %^^ :mk^ \..^ /Jte\ ^^..** .-i^ o°,.^s^'>o ^/.c^^/^^-e, /.'.^;^'.% • ■^o-^ °*, .*. ''*'^o< ; '^ »L:nL% V'*e;o' ^^> ^^. tr. *^ -. •«. .*' /^W/^% -v.^*' /.Si^'v ^^..♦^ •' 'JvC,- v*^^ •^0 ^. *^ K-?- •1°,* THE Franklin Speaker; CONSISTING OF DECLAMATIONS AND RECITATIONS. EDITED BY OREN ROOT, Jr., AND JOSIAH H. GILBER T WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY ANSON J. UPSON, D.D. NOV 24 188 PI NEW YORK: TAINTOR BROTHERS, MERRILL & CO. o\ ^ ^''\^ Copyright, 1884, by Taintor Brothers, Merrill & Co. PREFACE. rriHE selections following have most of them been approved -^ by actual trial. They have been made brief, as effective oral expression can be better attained without overtax upon the memory of the speaker or the patience of the auditors. It has been the purpose of the compilers to make only such selections as will awaken interest and afford good opportunity for developing speaking power. The Appendix contains a list of words often mispronounced, also a pronouncing vocabulary of many of the proper nouns and adjectives used in this book. For permission to make extracts from their copyright works the compilers acknowledge, with thanks, their especial indebt- edness to Houghton, Mifflin & Co., Harper & Brothers, J. B. Lippincott & Co., S. C. Griggs & Co., and Lee, Shepard & Co. Hamilton College, September, 1884. CONTENTS. PAGE Aaeon Burr and John Q. Adams Hall 45 Abraham Lincoln. No. 1 Fowler 159 Abraham Lincoln. No. 2 Beming 161 Address at Gettysburg Lincoln 259 Address to the Romans Mazzini 122 Agrtppina, the Great Empress De Vere 130 Alex. Hamilton and Benj. Disraeli Parsons 229 America's Relief to Starving Ireland Terry 165 Appeal to Ireland Meagher 137 Appeal to the Georgia Convention Stephens 218 Appeal to the Romans Lytton 98 Attack on Versailles, The Carlyle 153 Avengers op Hypatia, The Kingsley 88 Await the Issue Carlyle 141 Babies, The. No. 1 Glemmens 146 Babies, The. No. 2 Glemmens .. 147 Battle of Lutzen, The Harper's Mag. 206 Battle op Mission Ridge, The Taylor 36 Battles Root 235 Bay Billy Gassaway 99 Bivouac op the Dead, The O'Hara 255 Brag McMaster 71 Brooklyn Bridge, The. No. 1 Hewitt 252 Brooklyn Bridge, The. No. 2 Low 254 Brougham's attack upon Canning 117 Buddha's Victory Arnold 157 Burial of Macaulay, The Punshon 28 Character op Washington, The Vance 197 Church and State Macaulay 112 Civilization and Labor Roberts 265 Close of the Battle op Waterloo Hugo 128 Concord Curtis 43 Conservatism Curtis 150 Courtship of Larry O'Dee FinJc 237 CuRRAN Oiles 10 Curse of the Welsh King on the Saxons Lytton 107 Dangers to American Institutions Root 209 Dangers to our Republic Mann 116 VI CONTENTS. PAGE Death Terry 248 Death of Garfield, The , Blaine 187 Death Traps N. T. Herald.. 76 Defense of Fitz-John Porter Porter 214 Defense of the Union Armies Deming 50 Deliverance of Leyden, The RicMrdson 260 Destruction of the Orient, The 68 Doom of Sal athiel Croly 133 Douglas Monument, The Dix. 29 Dream of One Condemned, The 162 Edward Earl's Murder of His Wife 164 Electoral Reform in England Curtis 207 Empire of the West, The Burlingame. 151 Execution of Montrose, The Aytoun 175 Extreme Unction Lowell. 189 Fanaticism Curtis 138 Fat Man, The GUes 41 Franco-Prussian War, The Curtis 240 Genius and Labor Baker 38 Genius of Washington Whipple 241 Glass of Cold Water, A GougTi 31 God in History Lanahan 140 Great Britain and her American Colonies Bancroft 258 Hamilton and Webster Root 39 Heroism Depew 257 Holland Wylic 96 How TO Ask and Haye Lover 113 How WE Kept the Day Carleton 125 Human Littleness Be STwn 92 Human Progress Punshon 132 Humanity not Self-sufficient Be Shon 247 Infidelity not Friendly to Freedom. Phillips 47 Influence of the Roman Pr^tor, The Pomeroy 168 lo ViCTis Story 135 Ireland Unconquered 114 Is IT Worth While ? — Miller 63 Jeanie Dean's Interview with Queen Caroline.. -Sco^^ 86 Joan of Arc and the Bishop of Beauvais Be Quincy 119 John Brown's Body Sherman 72 Katie's Answer , 234 Keenan's Charge Lathrop 169 La Marseillaise Lamartine 231 Lanty Leary Lover 49 Last Appearance of Henry VI., The Kirk 228 CONTENTS. Vll PAGE Last Day of Pompeii, The Lytton 225 Lesson of the Hour, The Eobinson 54 Liberty George 267 Losses Brovm 91 Loss of the Birkenhead. The Doyle 194 Love of Knowledge Smith 58 Macdonald's Charge at Wagram Headley 144 March of Attila, The Harper's Mag. 59 Massacre of Cherry Valley, The Seymour 23 Millennium Not Yet, The Friswell. PAGE Rescue, The 199 Revolutions Macaulay 193 Revolution of 1688, The Macaulay 154 Rlde for Rescue, A Winthrop 226 Ride op Collins Graves, The O'Beilly 201 Russia's Problem Bewey 35 San Bartholomew Davis 103 Saratoga. No. 1 Seymour 242 Saratoga. No. 2 Curtis 244 School op the Gallows, The J^. Y, Tribune. 51 Sea, The Swain 203 Sense and Sentiment. 232 Ship on Fire, The Bateman 184 Speech for Decoration -Day IngersoU 167 Spinning Jackson 32 Spirit op Inquiry, The Beltzlioover 142 Study op Astronomy, The Mitchel 174 Studies op Life, The Alger 74 Success Longfellow. ... 95 Suicide, The. No. 1 Harding 64 Suicide, The. No. 2 Dickens 65 Sunrise Ecerett 181 Tidings op the Atlantic GougJi 222 Time and Passion Raraee 196 ToussAiNT L'Ouverture PhiUips 56 True Glory Be Shan 27 Twins, The Leigh 80 Two Banners of America, The Johnson - 111 Unconscious Influence Bushnell 156 Victor op Marengo, The 182 Vision of War, A Bdbell 81 War LyUon 217 What Philanthropy Owes to Christianity Bautel 246 Webster in the Dartmouth College Case Goodrich 53 Wendell Phillips. No. 1 Curtis 211 Wendell Phillips. No. 2 Curtis 212 What is a Minority ? Gough 124 When the Cows come Home 24 Where Should the Scholar Live ? '.Longfellow 221 Who is the Richest Man ? Palfrey. 69 Winter Jerrold 83 World's Indebtedness to Athens, The Macaulay. 172 World's Stories, The 33 Wreck of River:m:outH) The Whitiier 250 AUTHORS PAGE Alger, Wm. Rounseville... 74 Ames, Mary Clemmer 103 Arnold, Edwln 157 Aytoun, Wllliam E 175 Baker, B. W 38 Bancroft, George 258 ;^ATEMAN, Henry 184 Beecher, H. W 268 Beltzhoover, F. E 142 Blaine, James G 187 Branch, Mrs. Mary B 223 Brown, Frances 91, 121 burdette, robt. j 108 Bdrlingame, Anson 151 BusHNELL, Horace 156, 205 Carleton, Will 125 Carlyle, Thomas 153 Churchill, J. Wesley 7 Clemmens, Samuel L 146, 147 Cleveland, Grover 264 Coleridge, John D 262 Croly, George 133 Curtis, Geo. W.. .9, 43, 138, 150, 207, 211, 212, 240, 244 Dautell, Edward W 246 Davis, Mrs. T. T 102 Deming, Henry C 50, 161 Depew, Chauncey M 22, 257 De Quincy, Thomas 119 De Shon, W. H 27, 92, 247 I PAGE Dewey, Fred. L 35 Dewey, Orville 67 Dickens, Charles 65 Dix, John A 29 DoBELL, Sydney 81 Doyle, Sir Francis H 194 Everett, Edward 181 Fink, W. PAGE KiNGSLEY, ChaHLES 88 KiEK, J. F 228 Lamartene, Alphoxse de... 231 Lanahan, John 140, 179 Lathrop, Geo. P 169 Leigh, Henry S 80 Lincoln, Abraham 259 Longfellow, H. W.. .95, 178, 221 Lover, Samuel 49, 113 Low, Seth 254 Lowell, James Russell 189 Lytton, Edward Bulwer... 98, 107, 225 Lytton, Robert Bulwer 217 Macaulay, T. B..112, 154, 172, 193 McMaster, Humphrey 71 Mann, Horace IIG Mazzini, G 122 Meagher, Thomas F 137 MnjLER, Joaquin 63 MiTCHEL, 0. M 174 New York Herald 76 New York Tribune 51 Ogden, Eya L 19 O'Hara, Theodore 255 O'Reilly, John Boyle 201 ostrander, luther a 14 Palfrey, S. H 69 Parkman, Francis 191 Parsons, H. H 229 Phillips, Wendell. 56 PAGE Phillips, Charles 47 PoMEROY, John N 68 Porter, Fitz-John 214 PoNSHON, Wm. Morley.. .28, 132 R-AMEE, Louise de la 196 Richardson, Charles F 260 Roberts, Ellis H 16, 265 Robinson, Oscar D 54 Root, Edwin B 89 Root, Elihu 209 Root, Oren, Jr 42, 235 Scott, Sir Walter 86 Seymour, Horatio 23, 242 Sherman, J. D 72 Smith, Goldwin 148 Smith, Sydney 58 Stephens, Alex. H. , . . . .79, 218 Stone, Charles L 89 Story. W. W 135 Storrs, Richard S 94 Sumner, Charles 78 Swain, Charles 203 Taylor, Benj. F 36 Terry, Edward A... .85, 165, 248 Trench, Richard C 110 Vance, Zebulon B 197 Vere, Schele de 130 WiNTHROP, Theodore 226 ^Vhipple, Edwin P 241 Whittier, John G 250 Wylie, J. A 96 1 INTRODUOTION. THE practice of declamation in our schools has been regarded by many as harmful, and some teachers may still doubt its utility. But this practice, in my judgment, has many incidental, as well as elocutionary, advantages. Such recitations give self-control. They give self-possession to the speaker. He is thus familiarized, early in his life, with the presence of an audience. Before he is yet able to invent thought for himself, in the presence of others, he can at least exercise his memory in public ; and this gradually gives him freedom to think upon his feet, and to express his own thoughts in words. In this country, it is almost indispensable for most of those who desire to influence the public, that they should be able thus pub- licly to express themselves. By- this practice, a verbal memory is strengthened. And it is no small advantage to store the memory with passages from the best writers, or from those who, having not yet gained a wide reputation, have written what deserves to be remembered. Such passages, made familiar, have often influenced life and character most beneficially. John Quincy Adams said of himself, that his committal to memory of the verses of Collins — "How sleep the brave who sink to rest, By all their country's wishes blessed ! " excited in him patriotic feelings which perpetually influenced his I life. If, as has been said, the reading of Robinson Crusoe by Z INTR OD UCTION, the boys of England has made the English a nation of sailors, who can doubt that the frequent repetition in our schools of " Webster's reply to Hayne " has done much to perpetuate the American Union ? The style of many writers has been influenced, unconsciously, by the passages they have memorized in their school days. With- out conscious imitation, the grace and rhythm and vigor of the best writers have thus been imparted. The best characteristics of style have been acquired, without the exaggeration and some- times caricature that are produced by avowedly imitating a model. Graceful manners and address have been promoted also by this exercise. But as a means of elocutionary training, the practice of decla- mation is, in my judgment, beneficial. To read well is imdoubt- edly a most desirable accomplishment ; it is more : it is almost a necessity ; but to speak well is none the less desirable. And the young may well form habits of public speech before they are able to write their own speeches. Just as translation is useful in the early formation of style in writing, before the writer is able for himself to invent consecutive thought, so the public recitation of addresses written by others is useful in the formation of elocu- tionary habits. Declamation holds the same relation to elocution that translation does to style. And in reciting the productions of others, the art of vocal expression and action can be practiced independently. A good manner may thus be acquired by itself, for its own sake. And the practice of declaiming different styles of writing will greatly promote variety in delivery, if it will not altogether pre- vent monotony. The compilers of the following work have here collected so INTR OD UCTION. 3 many varied exercises that any speaker who will use this book in his elocutionary practice, can hardly become monotonous. In this collection there is much variety, not only in the sul^jects, but in the style of expression and in the sentential structure ; which last, in my opinion, controls delivery. But, it may be asked, " Why add this new ' speaker ' to the great number already in use?" The old pieces have become threadbare. They no longer interest speakers or hearers. And, worse than this, the old pieces have been repeated so often, that in their delivery there can be little or no independent interpreta- tion. Every speaker will be likely to give simply a mechanical imitation of an established rendering. This collection has been made by gentlemen who know the Avants of our schools. They are familiar with the speakers already in use. They have spent much time and labor in making this new and excellent compilation. The collection has the fresh- ness and interest of modern topics and modern life. The articles are not only interesting to the reader, but remarkably well adapted to speaking. The book is evidently the work, not only of labo- rious care, but of discriminating taste, and is worthy of the high- est praise. Anson J. Upson. Auburn Theological Seminary, September 30, 1884, p INTRODUCTION. EXTRACTS. OWER above powers ! heavenly eloquence ! That with the strong rein of commanding words, Dost manage, guide, and master th' eminence Of men's affections, more than all their swords ! Shall we not offer to thy excellence The richest treasure that our Avit affords ? Samuel Danid. His words seemed oracles That pierced their bosoms ; and each man would turn And gaze in wonder on his neighbor's face, Tliat with the like dumb wonder answered him. You could have heard The beating of your pulses while he spoka. George Croly. The grand debate. The popular harangue, the tart reply, The logic, and the wisdom, and the wit, And the loud laugh — I long to know them all. WiUiam Coitper. INTR OD UCTION. 5 Extemporaneous speaking is greatly assisted by a good habit of elocution, and it is at the same time strongly conducive to the formation of such a habit. The deliberate utterance which weighs every phrase, gives the mind time to revolve its ideas, and choose the most effective words for their expression ; and the evolution of a continuous train of thinking in coherent sentences compels deliberation and guarded delivery. Speaking from memory admits of the application of every possible element of effectiveness, rhetorical and elocutionary ; and in the delivery of a few great actors, the highest excellence in this art has been exemplified. But speaking from memory re- quires the most minute and careful study, as well as high elocu- tionary ability, to guard the speaker against a merely mechanical fluency and thoughtlessly rhythmical utterance. That this art should be so neglected in our systems of educa- tion is a reproach to the enlightenment of our age ; and it is especially a scandal to our universities, in Avhich the examples of the famous orators of antiquity, and the lessons of their experi- ence, are so fully known, yet practically dishonored. CJiambers' EncyclopcBdia. FRANKLIN SPEAKER. ORATOEICAL POWER. John W. Churchill. Assuming the possession of thought and feeling as original, inspiring power, and adding the power over voice and action as the instruments and media of thought and feeling, it is evident that the chief business of the speaker when actually confronting an audience is an affair of the soul. Training having done its best, the character of the speaker — his sincerity, sympathy, and uprightness — comes to the front. Fire must kindle fire. The truly effective speaker is the good man excited, with the power of communicating his excitement. As Emerson puts it, " The essential thing in speaking is heat, and heat comes of sincerity." A speaker who is in downright earnest cannot be a dull speaker. His mode of speaking is business-like. People see that he has an enthusiasm for truth ; that he speaks from his heart. Many speakers often repress earnest and honest feeling for fear of being accused of overdoing their speaking. They forget that it is the speaker's duty to express, not to repress. It is his business to communicate with power. Some speakers con- sciously cultivate a repressed style of delivery, and fondly think that it is "classical." As disciples of "culture" they aim to be 8 FRANKLIN SPEAKER. calm and correct, and often succeed in realizing the description of the face of Tennyson's Maud : "Her cold and clear-cut face Faultily faultless, icily regular, sj^lendidly nuU." It must not be forgotten that there is an energy that is bom out of the mastery of strong feeling. A concentrated delivery is often the expression of a soul full of intensest feeling, but held under restraint. There is always an inward fire in such speak- ing, but the speaker retains his self-possession while allowing himself to be carried away. Sympathy, as well as sincerity, must be present in the char- acter of the speaker. His speaking must be permeated with the genial warmth and glow of a generous, unselfish heart, bent upon seeking the broad and common interests of philanthro'py. That was a true saying of a wise French preacher — "To address men well they must be loved much." Sincerity and sympathy are the conditions of influence over the audience. Men will not sur- render themselves to a speaker whom they believe to be deceiv- ing and misleading them. The orator's character gives character to his words. His words must throb with his sincere, honest, benevolent life. His rhetorical life then becomes identified with his daily life and is natural to him. We want power, life, and naturalness in delivery, and the aim of elocutionary culture is to give polished and well directed power. Power must have guidance, and art gives that guidance. I do not claim for my art that high rank which has been ascribed to it by some of its enthusiastic professors, as one of the Fine Arts, but I do claim that it is a fine art ; and it is all the finer because of its humble, but important function of helping us to use all other gifts and graces of mind and of character. THE POWER OF FREE IDEAS. THE POWER OF FREE IDEAS. George W. Curtis. The American Revolution was not the struggle of a class, but of a people. A two-penny tax on tea or paper was not the cause, it was only the occasion of the Revolution. The spirit which fought the desperate and disastrous battle on Long Island, was not a spirit which could be guided by the promise of sugar gratis. The chance of success was slight ; the penalty of failure was sure; but they believed in God ; they kissed wife and child, left them in His hand, and kept their powder dry. Then to Valley Forge, the valley of the shadow of death, with feet bleeding upon the sharp ground, with hunger, thirst, and cold dogging their steps ; Avith ghastly death waiting for them in the snow, they bore that faith in ideas which brought their fathers over a pitiless sea to a pitiless shore. Ideas were their food ; ideas were their coats and camp fires. They knew that their ranks were thin and raw, and the enemy trained and many ; but they knew also, that the only difficulty with the proverb that " God fights upon the side of the strongest," is, that it is not true. If you load your muskets with buUets only, the result is simply a question of numbers ; but one gun loaded with an idea is more fatal than the muskets of a whole regiment. A buUet kills a tyrant ; but an idea kills tyranny. What chance have a thousand men fighting for a sixpence a day, against a hundred fighting for hfe and liberty, for home and native land? In such hands the weapons themselves feel and think. And so the family firelocks and rusty swords, the horse- pistols and old scythes of our fathers thought terribly at Lexing- ton and Monmouth, at Saratoga and Eutaw Springs. The old Continental muskets thought out the whole Revolution. The English and Hessian arms were better and brighter than ours, but they were charged with saltpeter ; ours were loaded and rammed home with ideas. 10 FRANKLIN SPEAKER. Why is it that of late j'ears there is a disposition to smile at the great faith of our fathers, to excuse it, to explain it away, or even to sneer at it as an abstraction or a ghttering generahty ? Have modem rhetoricians found something surer than moral prin- ciples? Have they discovered a force in politics subtler and more powerful than the Divine law? or a loftier object of human government than universal justice ? You may pluck the lightning harmless from the clouds, but there is no conductor for the divine rage of a people demanding its national rights. What are your spears, Xerxes ? what are your slings, proud Persian, with your two million soldiers sheeting the plains of Greece Math splendor and roaring, like the jubilant sea, along the Pass of Thermopylae? There stands Leonidas with his tliree hun- dred, rock-Kke ; and they beat you back with an idea. Bourbon of Xaples ! You may extinguish ^-Etna ; but the fire that bums in the Sicilian heart is immortal, inextinguishable. Yes ! it is an idea, invisible, abstract, but it has molded all human liistory, to this hour. Liberty is justified of her children. AMiom does the world at this moment fold to its heart ? AYho are held up before our eyes by Providence, like bullets plainly displayed before they are dropped into the barrel and shot home to the mark of God's purpose ? "VMio now Avalk through the world, each step giving life and liberty and hope to the people ? By the blessing of God, the contest has changed from the sword to the ballot ; and the hope of liberty secured by law, was never in the history of man so bright as it is to-day. CXJRRAN. Hexrt Giles. Among the mighty spirits wliich have been lights to Ireland, stands Curran, the glory of the Irish bar. Most exalted in his oratory, and most generous in his use of it, he was ever what the true man woidd wish to be — if his power enabled him — the de- fender of Hberty. CURB AN, 11 How various is the eloquence in which that opulent spirit found expression ! It is wit, ready and exhaustless ; piercing as the pointed steel, or lambent as a ray of light ; now playful as a glee- ful child, and then mischievous as a merry friend. It is humor, in all queer analogies, in aU shapes of oddity, in all lights and hues of fantasy. It is sarcasm, which lashes its victim to despair. It is pathos, which wrings the heart ; which touches it in every nerve where agony is borne ; wliich searches it in every fold where the smallest drop of grief can lie concealed. It is denun- ciation. And here he is greatest of all. No matter who the wrong-doer is, let him tremble if Curran is to paint his deeds. Proud he may be in titles, boundless in wealth, hardened in the bronze of fashion ; if he is human, the orator's words shall transfix him ; wherever feeling has a sense, a barb shall rankle ; and for the time, at least, he shall stand before the world, naked, bleeding, shivering, and despised ; to his species a thing of scorn, and to himself a thing of shame. Office shall no more protect him than rank. Is he a judge, who sidlies the purity of the bench with the malice of a partisan ? His ermine shall not guard him from the advocate's indignation ; and the tribunal which he disgraces, shall, in its very loftiness, but make his ignominy the more conspicuous. Neither shall a villain find a shield in the baseness of his work or the obscurity of his condition. Curran lived in times wliich tried men's souls, and many souls there were which did not stand the trial. Some, with coward fear, sank before the storm of power; and others, with selfish pliancy, dissolved in the sunshine of patronage. But Curran was brave as he was incorruptible. He was upright, when honor was rebellion; he was true, when integrity was treason; he stood by the accused and the doomed, when to pity was to participate ; and he was loyal to liberty, when even to name her, was almost to die. 12 FRANKLIN SPEAKER. BAIION. Bret Hakte. Drunk and senseless in his place, Prone and sprawling on Ms face, More like brute than any man Alive or dead, — By his great pump out of gear, Lay the Peon engineer, "Waking only just to hear, Overhead, Angry tones that called his name, Oaths and cries of bitter blame — Woke to hear all this, and waking, turned and fled ! " To the man who'll bring to me," Cried Intendant Harry Lee, — Harry Lee, the Enghsh foreman of the mine, — " Bring the sot, alive or dead, I will give to liim," he said, " Fifteen hundred pesos do^vn. Just to set the rascal's crown Underneath this heel of mine : Since but death Deserves the man whose deed. Be it vice or want of heed, Stops the pumps that give us breath, — Stops the pumps that suck the death From the poisoned lower levels of the mine ! " - No one. answered, for a cry From the shaft rose up on high ; And shuffling, scrambling, tumbling from below, Came the miners each, the bolder RAMON. 13 j Mounting on the weaker's shoulcler, \ Grappling, clinging to their hold, or i Letting go. As the weaker gasped and fell From the ladder to the well, — To the prisoned pit of hell Down below ! " To the man who sets them free," Cried the foreman, Harry Lee, — Harry Lee, the English foreman of the mine,— " Brings them out and sets them free, I will give that man," said he, " Twice that sum, who with a rope Face to face with Death shall cope. Let him come who dares to hope !" " Hold your peace ! " some one replied, Standing by the foreman's side ; " There has one already gone, whoe'er he be ! " Then they held their breath with awe. Pulling on the rope, and saw Fainting figures reappear. On the black rope swinging clear, Fastened by some skillful hand from below ; Till a score the level gained, And but one alone remained, — He the hero and the last. He whose skillful hand made fast The long line that brought them back to hope and cheer. Haggard, gasping, down dropped he At the feet of Harry Lee, — Harry Lee, the Enghsh foreman of the mine ; 14 FRANKLIN SPEAKER. "I have come," he gasped, "to claim Both rewards. Senor, my name Is Ramon ! I'm the drunken engineer, — I'm the coward, Senor." — Here He fell over, by that sign Dead as stone ! OPINIONS STRONGER THAN ARMIES. L. A. OSTRANDER. Nations have armies in the plenitude of power, only when all their elements of strength have been boimd together by the force of a great idea. With the Israelites it was a theocracy ; with the Greeks, democ- racy ; with the Romans, liberty ; with America, freedom. Such an opinion, working silently among the masses for ages, at length bursts forth in storms of revolution, in whose tempestuous fury liberty is born ; in whose wild surges republics are cradled. A fiery despotism withers and burns and desolates Fmnce. Silently the people think. A little cloud appears in the horizon ; and anon, the wild tempest of '89 tears France as a tornado does the forest. Opinions are stronger than armies. AVhen force clashes with principle where is the victory ? The patriots of the Netherlands, fired by a love of liberty, throw off the yoke of Spanish tyranny ; they rush to the field of battle ; the iron Duke of Alva cuts them down by thousands ; again they unfold freedom's banners, and are scourged and scourged and scourged again. Years pass; the patriots raise another army; Spanish veterans annihilate it at a blow ! Surely armies are stronger than opinions. But wait — the patriots conquered ? No. God fights this battle. For three years they struggle on ; they tear down their dykes ; they rush with the fury of madness upon OPINIONS STRONGER THAN ARMIES. 15 their besiegers ; beardless boys become heroes, timid girls become heroines ; daring, suffering all things, at length they triumph. Enlightened opinions are stronger than armies. Armies are red swords and brute force ; opinions are scepters of peace and intellectual power. Armies are war chariots ; opin- ions are locomotives. Armies are despotism, barbarism, darkness ; opinions are republics, civilization, light. Armies conquer by crushing ; opinions conquer by convincing. The power of armies is the power of the whirlwind, fearful, all-destructive ; the power of opinions is the power of the sunbeam, gentle, all-preserving. Armies are weaker than the laws which control them — weaker than the despots who use them ; opinions are stronger than all laws, creating or abolishing them at pleasure ; stronger than all despots, hurling them from their throne. Armies are the towers of. strength which men have built; opinions are the surging waves of the ocean which God has made, beating against those towers and crumbling them to dust. The dim light of the past reveals to us the forms of gigantic empires whose mighty armies seem omnipotent. A halo of mar- tial glory surrounds them ; then fades away ; their marble thrones crumble ; their iron limbs are broken ; their proud navies are sunk. To-day history, dipping its pencd in sunlight, records the sublime triumphs of opinions. The sword rounds the periods of the pen; the ballot wings the bullet; school-houses accompany cannon-balls ; and principles bombard forts and thunder from iron-clads. Glorious is the morning dawn! Science fringes the lands of darkness with a border of light ; and the sun of Cliris- tianity, glowing along the Eastern waters, arches the bow of promise above the golden Western hills. God grant that it may be no delusive dream ; that the rays of light, gleaming along the horizon, may be but the morning glory of an effulgent millennial day; that America shall conquer the world with ideas ; that senates shall become earth's battle fields ; that neSv constellations composed of brightest stars shall emblazon 16 FRANKLIN SPEAKER, the victories of liberty ; that science and religion, powerful as the laws of gravitation, shall bind together the nations in one brother- hood ; that our banner shall float for evermore the proud standard of enlightened and Christian opinions. ORISKANY. Ellis H. Roberts. Persistent neglect of events which have molded history is not creditable to those who inherit the golden fruits. We do not blush to grow warm over the courage which at Platsea saved Greece forever from Persian invasion. Calm men praise the deter- mination which at Lepanto set limits to Turkish conquests in Europe. Waterloo is the favorite of rhetoric among English- speaking people. But history no less exalts the Spartan three hundred who died at Thermopylae, and poetry immortalizes the six hundred whose leader blundered at Balaklava. Signally negligent have the people of Central ]N'ew York been to the men and the deeds that on the soil we daily tread have con- trolled the tide of nations, and fashioned the channels of civiliza- tion. After a hundred years we begin to know what the invasion of St. Leger meant. A century lifts up Nicholas Herkimer, if not into a consummate general, to the plane of sturdy manliness and of unselfish, devoted patriotism, of a hero who knew how to fight and how to die. Oriskany the Indians interpret as the Place of Kettles. Out of that nettle danger Herkimer plucked for the Mohawk Valley, and through it for the Republic, the flower safety. In that Place of Nettles, Central New York may find much to stir it to deeper knowledge of its history and its relations, to greater anxiety to be just to those who have served it Avorthily, to keener appreciation of the continental elevation which nature has reared for us, and upon which we may build a structure more symmetrical and more beneficent than the Parthenon, a free State based on equal justice. THE MODEL AMERICAN FARMER. 17 Names and deeds that live a hundred years, change hills and valleys into classic ground. The century which runs backward is only the dawn of those which look into the future. Central New York must have a worthy career before it to justify the traditions of the Long House of the Iroquois ; of the real states- manship of the League of the Six Nations and of the eloquence of their chief men; of the Jesuit missionaries and the Samuel Kirklands and the Lutheran clergymen who consecrated its waters and its soil and its trees; of those who saved it from French occupation; of those who kept out the Stuarts and drove out King George. THE MODEL AMERICAN FARMER. John T. Hoffman. The modern American farmer loves his calling and appreciates the good and beautiful things by which he is surrounded. The snow-clad fields of winter, the soft verdure of spring, the ripe wealth of summer, and the glory of the autumn, are as dear to him as they are familiar. The noise of running brooks and the dripping of the fertilizing rain are music to his ears ; the whisper- ings of the great trees of the forest are sweet to him ; his eye is trained to note the changeful phases of the sky, and his mind quick to interpret them. The hum of busy trade does not bewilder him, nor the glare of the distant city dazzle him. His heart is full of a comprehensive love of nature, and he is content to work on with her in her own calm and deliberate method of working. He is honest, patient, industrious, thrifty. Nature does not cheat him of just reward, nor does he shirk his share of duty in the universe. Every day imposes on him its daily labor ; but he knows that every season will vary his work, and so refresh and relieve him. 18 FRANKLIN SPEAKER. The gifts which he receives from ^N'ature he is ready to mete out again with no niggard hand. He is cheerful, hospitable, kind-hearted. Friendly intercourse with his neighbors lightens liis toil, takes from the sharpness of temporary adversity, and adds to the pleasures of his prosperity. He has entire respect for his calling and for himself, and feels that he has full play in his occupation for brain and muscle, and need overwork neither, — although the mouths to be fed are too many, and the processes of Nature too slow to admit of indolence or waste. The buildings which shelter his family and those wliich protect the cattle that contribute to his support are in good repair and cleanly, without regard to ostentation. He is kind in his treat- ment of the dumb beasts that are his submissive servants, nor does he gTudge a little fruit or grain to the birds of the air that help him in his warfare with insects, and many of whom cheer^his life with their songs. He opens his eyes to the sunny side of life, and seeks not out its dark spots as an incentive to grumbling. If sickness or other misfortune befall a neighbor, he is ready with sympathy, with active aid, to the extent of his ability, and, in turn, he counts on his neighbor's help, should he need it. He is patriotic ; a firm friend of liberty, of order, of law. He glories in the grandeur and honor of his country, and is content to con- tribute, in his quiet life, to the general good, by making of liimself and of those about him good, honest, faithful men and women. He is religious. Living always in sight of the Creators beautiful works, his heart expands daily in thankfulness for the many pleasures which God has given to him free of cost, and he shows his gratitude in his daily life. Contented, yet desirous of improving his condition ; too proud of his independent lot to envy others who may be clothed in gaudier trappings, yet kindly to every man and submissive before God ; saving from a sense of duty and not from avarice; faithful and loving to his family; honest and frank in all his dealings ; thankful that so few temp- tations surround him, yet watchful against evil ; truckling to no THE MILLER OF DEE. 19 man, yet scorning none ; not given to grumbling at the weather, but greeting cheerfully alike the sunshine and the rain ; earnest in his political duties ; a lover of nature, a lover of mankind, and a lover of God ; — there, my friends, you have my model of an American farmer. THE MILLER OF DEE. Eva L. Ogden. The moon was afloat. Like a golden boat On the sea-blue depths of the sky. When the miller of Dee, With his children three. On his fat, red horse, rode by. " Wliither away, miller of Dee 1 Whither away so late ?" Asked the tollman old, with cough and sneeze, As he passed the big toll-gate. But the miller answered him never a word. Never a word spake he. He paid his toll, and he spurred his horse. And rode on with his children three. " He's afraid to tell ! " quoth the old tollman, " He's ashamed to tell ! " quoth he. " But I'll follow you up and find out where You are going, miller of Dee ! " The moon Avas afloat, Like a golden boat Nearing the shore of the sky. 20 FRANKLIN SPEAKER. When, with cough and wheeze, And hands on his knees, The old tollman passed by. " Whither away, tollman old ? Whither away so fast ?" Cried the milkmaid who stood at the farm-yard bars When the tollman old crept past. The tollman answered her never a word ; Never a word spake he. Scant breath had he at the best to chase After the miller of Dee. " He won't tell where ! " Said the milkmaid fair, " But ril find out !" cried she. And away from the farm, With her pail on her arm. She followed the miller of Dee. The parson stood in his cap and gown, Under the old oak tree. " And whither away with your pail of milk. My pretty milkmaid ?" said he ; But she hurried on with her brimming pail, And never a word spake she. " She won't tell where ! " the parson cried " It's my duty to know," said he. And he followed the maid who followed the man Who followed the miller of Dee. After the parson, came his wife, The sexton he came next. After the sexton the constable came. Troubled and sore perplext. THE MILLER OF DEE. 21 After the constable, two ragged boys, To see what the fun would be ; And a little black dog, with only one eye, "Was the last of the nine who, with groan and sigh, Followed the miller of Dee. Night had anchored the moon, Not a moment too soon, Under the lee of the sky ; For the wind it blew, And the rain fell, too, And the river of Dee ran high. He forded the river, he climbed the hill, He and his children three ; But wherever he went they followed him still, That wicked miller of Dee ! Just as the clock struck the hour of twelve. The miller reached home again ; And when he dismounted and turned — behold! Those who had followed him over the wold Came up in the pouring rain. Splashed and spattered from head to foot, Muddy and wet and draggled, Over the hill and up to the mill, That wet company straggled. They all stopped short ; and then out spake The parson, and thus spake he : " What do you mean by your conduct to-night. You wretched miller of Dee V 22 FRANKLIN SPEAKER. " I went for a ride, a nice cool ride, I and my children three ; For I took them along, as I always do," Answered the miller of Dee. " But you, my friends, I would like to know Why you followed me all the way? They looked at each other — " We were out for a walk, A nice cool walk ! " said they. OUR FALLEN HEROES. Chauncet M. Depew. The distinction of our volunteer army over all other armies of all times was its intelligence. Behind every musket was a think- ing man. On the march, around the camp fire, in the hospital and the prison, and in letters to friends at home, these men dis- cussed the issues at stake and the results that would follow defeat or victory, with as much statesmanship and prophetic foresight as their representatives in Congress. Of the million volunteer sol- diers, thousands were fitted by culture, ability, and character to be Presidents of the United States. Latour d'Auvergne was a grenadier of Xapoleon's Old Guard. Bravest of the brave on every battle field, he was tendered for distinguished services a sword bearing this inscription, " To the first grenadier of France;" but he refused it saying, "Among us soldiers there is neither first nor last." Constantly declining pro- motion, and ever winning fresh laurels, he fell fighting gloriously for his country, and an imperial decree gave him a distinction never enjoyed by the proudest marshal of the Empire. His name continued on the roll of his company, and when it was called, the oldest sergeant answered, "Died on the field of honor." And this year and the next, and for the next decade, and centuries after on OUR FALLEN HEROES. 23 the anniversary of this Decoration Day, when the roll-call in every churchyard and village cemetery of the men who died in the con- flict is read, the answer of a grateful people will be, " Died upon the field of honor." There is an old epitaph in an English churchyard which quaintly says that " he who saves, loses ; he who spends, saves ; and he who gives away, takes it with him." These men gave away their lives, and took with them immortal glory and the grati- tude of endless generations. They may repose in unknown graves south of the Potomac, or sleep beneath the sea, and yet theirs is a deathless fame. Poetry and eloquence Mdll embalm their memo- ries, and keep ever bright the recollection of their heroic deeds. " They never fail who die In a great cause. The block may soak their gore ; Their heads may sodden in the sun, their limbs Be strung to city gates and castle walls ; But still their spirit walks abroad. Though years Elapse, and others share as dark a doom, They but augment the deep and sweeping thoughts Wliich overpower all others, and conduct The world at last to freedom." MASSACRE OF CHERRY VALLEY. IIOEATIO SETMOUB. A CENTURY has rolled away since men and women were mur- dered here because they held for their country's rights and free- dom, l^^ien another century shall have passed, and many changes have been made in all around us, and many questions which now excite us shall have faded out of men's memories, the story of this spot, of the Indians' yells of triumph, of women's shrieks of agony, and of brave men's silent struggles in death will live as clear in history as at this hour — so lasting are good men's brave I deeds, so fleeting are their lives. 24 FRANKLIN SPEAKER. The teachings of the grave have lifted men and nations lofty acts of duty and self-sacrifice. AVe meet here not so much to speak of the dead, as to let the dead speak to us, and thus toil I keep alive that love of country which made them suffer for its cause. We meet to get lessons of courage and patriotism which the tide of the world's concerns is apt to efface. And these lessons will sink deep into our minds when they are softened by the scenes and memories which cluster about this spot. It is right, then, that we honor the dead, and lift ourselves into higher and nobler frames of mind than those which grow out of the usual duties of life. I stand here to-day not only to show my reverence for the dead, but my gratitude to the living who have put up this memorial stone. A^^len tliis monument is unveiled, let us reverently uncover our heads and show that there is a response in our hearts to the sturdy patriotism of those who sleep beneath it ; that we are made strong by their grand faith amid trials and sufferings ; that the blood of innocent children, of wives and mothers and of brave men, was not shed in vain, and that a hundred years have added to the value of the costly sacrifice. WHEN THE COWS COME HOME. With klingle, klangle, klingle, Tar down the dusky dingle. The cows are coming home ; Kow sweet and clear, and faint and low, The airy tinklings come and go. Like chimings from a far-off tower Or patterings of an April shower That make the daisies grow ; Ko-ling, ko-lang, ko-lingle-lingle. 