" This, as may well be believed,
gave Mr. Greene great satisfaction.
CHAPTER XXXV
ORATORY AND SOME ORATORS I HAVE HEARD
The longer I live, the more highly I have come to value the
gift of eloquence. Indeed, I am not sure that it is not
the single gift most to be coveted by man. It is hard, perhaps
impossible, to define, as poetry is impossible to define.
To be a perfect and consummate orator is to possess the highest
faculty given to man. He must be a great artist, and more.
He must be a great actor, and more. He must be a master of
the great things that interest mankind. What he says ought
to have as permanent a place in literature as the highest
poetry. He must be able to play at will on the mighty organ,
his audience, of which human souls are the keys. He must
have knowledge, wit, wisdom, fancy, imagination, courage,
nobleness, sincerity, grace, a heart of fire. He must himself
respond to every emotion as an AEolian harp to the breeze.
He must have
An eye that tears can on a sudden fill
And lips that smile before the tears are gone.
He must have a noble personal presence.
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