SECTION II.

WHAT IS A GOOD DEBATER?

TO estimate the importance of being a good debater, or ascertain the qualifications essential to that character, it is necessary briefly to consider the aim and scope of deliberative eloquence.

All public speaking, except that of the pulpit,* considered in reference to its aim, falls under one or other of these three ancient divisions,-Demonstrative,+Judicial, or Deliberative.

The demonstrative has its place where great events or great persons are to be celebrated. It employs, upon occasion, the language of invective, but its particular province is elaborate eulogy. Its appropriate times are the memorable anniversaries, the days of great public solemnity, the extraordinary occasions,

* Pulpit eloquence is here excepted, because it does not properly fall under any one of these three heads, but, in reality, embraces the leading features of them all.

The term demonstrative (from the Latin demonstro, to show or point out clearly), is here used, as among the Latin rhetoricians, to signify what is showy, or abounding in show on ornament, i. e. laudatory, glorifying.

whatever their name or their nature, whereon men meet to mingle and express their common sympathies. It is expected to display the riches of rhetoric, and to exert every force and every fascination of oratory. Its strong appeal is to the heart. Its purpose is the praise of virtue or the reprobation of vice.

The judicial is that which is engaged in the litigation of causes, in the adjustment of disputed rights, in the determination of guilt or innocence. Its scene is the court-house. It is, in style, clear, direct, and logical. It deals in law and evidence, sifts and weighs testimony, and labors every way to convince the understanding. In short, its appeal is to the head, its aim the administration of justice.

The deliberative is that which is employed where propositions, after being duly discussed, are finally to be adopted or rejected, according to the pleasure of the assembly. It differs from the demonstrative and the judicial, both in the end which it seeks, and the means which it employs for the attainment of that end.

The demonstrative, as before intimated, begins and ends in display. It abounds in ornament; it awakens emotion; it delights the imagination; it exhibits the virtues of its subject, but no less exhibits the resources of rhetoric and the talents of the orator. But here its mission closes. It looks to no definite resulting action in the body addressed.

The judicial, unlike the demonstrative, avoids every appearance of show, or endeavor. It relies upon facts, evidence, positive statute; counts little upon appeals to the emotional nature; but demands a verdict, not

as a favor, but as a right, not as being expedient, but as being nothing more than what is just.

The deliberative differs from the demonstrative, in laboring to sway the opinions of the audience, and to secure a vote in favor of what it claims to be best. It differs from the judicial, in recognizing in the body addressed a perfect freedom of choice. The demonstrative deals with our affections; the judicial appeals to our judgment of right and wrong; the deliberative calls for the exercise of wisdom in relation to what is useful, what is expedient, what is best to be done.

The occasions for the use of deliberative eloquence are now more numerous and important than they ever have been in any previous age of the world. Wherever the will of the people is the law of the land, wherever republican principles prevail to any considerable extent, there deliberative assemblies must often be convened.

In our own country, accordingly, they abound in every quarter, and consider every topic of common interest. The Congress of the United States is a deliberative assembly. The Legislatures of the several States are deliberative assemblies. Every town meeting, every county gathering, every State or National Convention, every association of persons, whatever the purposes of the association, constitutes a deliberative assembly. In all these, propositions are submitted for consideration, discussed with freedom, and received, or rejected, according to the will of the body.

The variety of interests involved in the transactions of bodies of this nature, and the necessity of preventing party sway and hasty action, render it important for every one to be ready to exert a wholesome influence in

their deliberations. Few men, comparatively, ever have opportunity or inclination to exercise their talents in the composition and delivery of set orations or lectures adapted to particular times and occasions. But to speak in a deliberative assembly, to enlighten and sway the minds of men engaged in the consideration of momentous affairs, may be the lot of every one. Hence, every man owes it to the community in which he lives, no less than to his own honor and interest, to fit himself, as far as may be, to discharge this most important duty.

From this brief survey of the nature and extent of deliberative eloquence, may easily be inferred the qualifications proper to be sought by him who aspires to the character of a good debater.

In certain general qualities he must, of course, share with the orator in every other field of oratory. He must, for example, be accounted an upright man; for otherwise his arguments, however forcible, his illustrations however clear, his delivery however graceful, will all suffer under the withering influence of a want of confidence. Integrity of character is, indeed, the capital quality-the "wisdom better than rubies; and all things that may be desired are not to be compared with it."

He must have the requisite natural gifts, and these must be cultivated with care and assiduity; for no fertility of genius, no powers of voice, no volubility of tongue, no grace of gesture, can ever atone for the absence of culture and discipline. Labor is the price of eminence in the fields of eloquence, as in every other honorable vocation.

He must have full control of himself, and a becom. ing respect for the feelings of others; for whatever may be the honesty of his intentions, the discipline of his intellectual powers, the treasures of his mind, or the fascinations of his oratory, if his temper be bad, his manner assuming, or his tone dictatorial, his success, in any and every line of speaking, must be seriously hindered. There is a mysterious charm in good na ture, a certain irresistible attraction in every evidence of modesty, benevolence, and forbearance, which, in a public assembly, is often found more effective far than the most commanding talents.

But, in addition to those general qualifications which the good debater has in common with genuine orators of every description, there are others that be long peculiarly to his position and circumstances. Several of these, being the most important, we shall here specify and commend to the reader's attention.

1. He must, then, first and last, always endeavor to gain the good will of his audience: remembering, that persuasion is the only power at his command, and that the will of the assembly is the ultimate tribunal. In orations of the demonstrative kind, the orator may, with no little confidence, put his trust in wit, in humor, in mere novelty, in beauty and sublimity of thought, in felicities of diction and in graceful postures and attitudes; for his hearers are, for the most part, in a mood to be pleased, and are not to be called upon by a decisive vote to determine the merits of his performance. In speeches of the judicial kind, the speaker is fully justified in relying solely upon the making out of his If that which is alleged, is fully proved, he is

case.