1900.] ESSAYS. 79 



oratory. Public speaking always has been and always will be 

 the last hope of liberty among the nations. It was oratory thai 

 uttered through the lips of a Cieero the warning in Koine againsl 

 that imperialism that has been the practice of Europe for nine- 

 teen centuries, and which this free republic is attempting to take 

 up. The voice of the despot has ever been the terror of despots. 

 We are witnesses daily of the value placed on the art of public 

 speaking for the protection of property, liberty and life. 



President Hadwen called upon Burton W. Potter, who said 

 he was not prepared to speak, but had listened with great pleas- 

 ure, and if he had heard the address early in life he might be 

 able to profit by it. I think the speaker is right in his idea that 

 the lawyers of this time do not average up to the lawyers of the 

 times of Choate and Webster. In those days lawyers spoke 

 from two to four hours, and sometimes four or five days were 

 allowed for their arguments. Now the attorney is often limited 

 to an hour, and is urged to confine himself strictly to the points 

 at issue. Even the court-house is cut up into small rooms. 

 The Boston court-house has hardly a room for holding court 

 which will seat as many people, outside of those connected with 

 the ease, as there are in this room. They seem to go on the 

 theory that they want no persons present but lawyers and court 

 officers and the witnesses. The methods for doing business 

 allow no chance for oratory. 



When I came to the bar in Worcester it was usual for a 

 lawyer to attempt something of a literary nature, and if he got 

 up his brief with a little Latin or other classical allusion, it was 

 thought to adorn his effort. But now not only the court but 

 every one present would smile at him. I heard the Chief Justice 

 say he didn't care for the language, but if the lawyer presented 

 the points of his case it was all he asked. So it is not to be 

 wondered at that there arc no orators among the lawyers. Com- 

 mercialism and the materialistic spirit seem to rule. Everything 

 is brought down to science and materialism, and there is no room 

 for the emotional. All is an appeal to the facts. The circum- 

 stances that meet lawyers are different now, and there is no 



