The Secret of Efficient Expression.

Maoriland Worker, Volume 2, Issue 32, 13 October 1911, Page 16

The Secret of Efficient Expression.

Tlie following • for !the Department of Education of the University of -Wisconsin', .under whose, direction there is being, conducted an investigation of the subject of: ''Distinguished ; Contemporary Oratbrs Or Lecturers, with special'" fef&retioe Mx> fertility and efficiency of expression. What is the key to their ability as masters of language? What- school subjects, or what kinds of training have entered into their lives that';ha!ve given thempower to express t'herrV^el^es' effectively?" ■ ■ . • i", : - ,: '\

' The secret of efficieiit: expression iii oratory—if secret it ;earl properly- be called—is in. having something efficient to' express aud'being' so filled with it .that it expresses'- itself.'"'■ Tlie choice of words is nOt important; since efficient expression, the • result of efficient thinking, chooses ! its own 'words, moulds and fashions it& Own* Sentences, and creates a diction suited to its own purposes. . '• .<"

'In my own case tWe" power'of : expression is not -due" ! ',W, education or training. I had novfcinVe . for I ' either, and have often felt tliij lack Of 1 both,. Tlie schools I attended'''were" prirhitive, and when I left them Vat fouTteeh to go to work I' could' ''hardly writfeya grammatical sentence j 'and' ; trj be frank I am not quite sure that'; I.'can-do so how. 'But I had a ! retetttiy'e memory, and was fond of committing "and declaiming such orations aw' : poems' as appealed' to mc. Patrick Henry's j revolutionary speech had first" place. Robert Emmet's immortal oration 'was a great favourite and moved mc deeply. Drake's "American -FliSg" stirred my blood, as did also Schiller's "Burgschaft." Often I felt myself thrilled under the spell of these, recited to .myself, inaudibly at times, and at others declaimed boldly and dramatically, when no one else- was listening.

Everything that was -revolutionary appealed to mc, and it was this that made Patrick Henry one of "my first lie roe 3; and my passion; for his eloquent and burning defiance of King George inspired the'-first speech I ever attempted in public, with Patrick himself as the theme.. •. This was before the Occidental Literary- Club of Terre Haute, Ind., of which 1 was then a member, and I still shudder as I recall the crowded little elubroom which greeted mc, and. feel'•■-again- the big drops of cold sweat standing out all over mc as I realised the plight I was •in and the utter hopelessness..of escape. The spectacle I'made, of myself that evening will never-be effaced from my memory, and the sympathetic assurances of "my friends at the close of the exhibition did not relieve, the keeu sense of humiliation and shame I felt for the disgrace I had. brought upon myself and my patron saint. file speech could not -possibly have been worse, and my mortification was" complete. In my heart 1 hoped most earnestly that my hero.'s spiritual ears were not attuned to the affairs.of this earth, at least that evening. It was then I realised and sorely felt tho need of the education and training I had missed, and then and there I resolved to make up for it as Oest J could. I set to work. .■in_.<*a"fnest to learn what I sc nrucii needed to know. .Wk'iie" tiring a switch engine at night I attended a private school half a day each day, sleeping in the morning and attending school in the afternoon. I bought an encyclopaedia on the instalment plan, one volume each month, and began to read and study history and literature and to devote myself to grammar and composition.

The revolutionary . history of the United States and France stirred mc deeply, and its heroes and martyrs became my idols. Thomas Paine towered above them all. A thousand times since then I have found inspiration and strength in the thrilling.words, "These are the times that try men's souls!"

Here I should say, for the purpose of this writing, that from tho time I began to read with a serious mind, feeling keenly as 1 did my lack of knowledge, especially the power of proper expression, both oral and written, I observed the structure and studied the composition of every paragraph and every sentence, and when one appeared striking to mc, owing to its perfection of style or phrasing, I road it a second time or perhaps committed it to memory, and this became a fixed habit which I retain to this day, and if I have any unusual command of language, it is because I have made it a lifelong practice to cultivate the art of expression in a* sub-conscious study of the structure and phrasing of every paragraph in my readings.

It was while serving an apprenticeship in a railroad shop and in later years as a locomotive fireman and as a wage worker in other capacities that I came to realise the oppressions and sufferings of the working-class and to understand something of the labor question. The wrongs existing here I know from having experienced them, and the irresistible appeal of these wrongs to be righted determined my destiny. I joined a labor union and

By in "Coming Nation."

from that time to this the high ambition, the controlling purpose of my life,-, has been the education, organisation and emancipation of the workingclass. It was/this passionate sympathy with my class that gave mc all the power I have to .serve it. I felt their suffering because I was of them, and I began to speak and write for them for the same reason. Ib this there was no altruism, no self-sacrifice, only duty. I could not have done otherwise. Had I attempted it I should have failed. Such as I have been and am, I had to be. ' '..'. : -' ...-•..-.

I abhorred slavery in every form. I yearned to see all men and all wtameu free; I detested the idea of some men being ruled by others, and of women being'ruled by men. I. believed that lvometi should have all the rights men have,, and I looked upon child labor as a crime. And so I became an agitator, and this ruling passion of my life foiind larger expression. '■' ■

In the clash of conflict which followed and the" trials incident to it I grew stronger. The notoriety which came:in consequence enlarged my hearing with the people and this in turn demanded more efficient means of expression. The cause that was sacfed to mc was assailed.'.-' My very 'life and honour were on trial. Falsehood and calumny played their parti I w-as denounced and vilified. Everything was at stake. I simply had to speak and make the people understand, and that is how I got my training in oratory, and all the "secret there is ill whatever power of expression I may have.

In reading the history of slavery, I studied the character of John Brown, and he became my hero. I read the speeches of Wendell Phillips, and was profoundly stirred . by his marvellous powers. Once I heard him, and was enthralled by his indescribable', eloquence. • He was far advanced' in years, but I could see in his commanding presence and mellow and subdued tones how he must have blazed and flashed in the meridian of his powers.

At about the same time I first heard Robert G. Ingersoll. "de was in my

opinion the perfect master of the art of human speech.- He combined all the graces, gifts, and powers of expression and stood-upon the highest pinnacle of oratorical: achievement. Robert G. Ingersoll and Wendell Phillips were the two greatest orators of their time, and probably of all time. Their power sprang from th.eir passion for freedom, for truth, for justice, for a world filled with light and with happy human beings. But for this divine passion neither would have scaled the sublime heights of immortal achievement. The sacred fire burned within them, and when they were aroused it flashed from their eyes and rolled-from their inspired lip's in torrents of eloquence. No man ever made a great speech on a mean subject! Slavery never inspired an immortal thought or'utterance. Selfishness is dead to every art. The love of truth aud the passion so serve it light every torch of real eloquence. ' : Had Ingersoll and' Phillips de_voytecL their lives to. tbe.-practico "of "law for pay. the-divine fire within them would --have burned to ashes, and they would have died in mediocrity. The highest there is in oratory is the highest there is in truth, in honesty, in morality.- All the virtues combined in expressing themselves in beautiful words, poetic phrases, g!ow : ing periods, and moving eloquence. The loftiest peaks rise from the lowest depths and their shining summits glorify their.hidden foundations. The highest eloquence springe from the lowest sources and pleads trum-pet-tongued for the children of the abyss. Wendell Phillips was inspired by the scarred back, the pleading eyes,' and the mute lips of chattel slavery, and his tongue, eloquent with the lightning of Jehovah's wrath, became an avenging flame to scourge the horror of slavery from the earth. Denial of one's better self seals the lips or pollutes them. Fidelity to conviction opens them, and truth blossoms in eloquence. The tongue is tipped with the fire that leaps from the altar-fires of the soul. Ingersoll and Phillips were absolutely, true to their convictions. They attacked monstrous evils, and were hated and denounced. Had they yielded to the furies which assailed them they would have perished. But the fiercer the attacks upon them the stauncher they stood, and the more eloquent and powerful they became. The truth fired their souls, flashed from their eyes, and inspired their lips. There is no inspiration in evil and no power except 'for its own destruction . He who aspires to master the art of expression must first of all consecrate himself completely to some great cause, and the greatest cause of all is the cause of humanity. He must learn to feel deeply and think clearly to ex press himself eloquently. He must be absolutely true to the best there is in him, if he has to stand alone;