his skill. The
result is that in the essay are to be found the best examples of prose
style. While the essay frequently appeals to our humorous sense and
sometimes arouses our sympathy by its pathetic touches, yet no such
opportunity is offered for emotional effect as that given by the novel
or the drama.

The essay is written to be read, the _oration_ to be heard; the essay is
to please, to entertain, perhaps to instruct, sometimes to convince; the
oration is to arouse the feelings, to carry conviction, to stir the
public to action. It is a formal production, addressed directly to its
hearers; it is in form or meaning in the second person. Even when
descriptive or eulogistic, it is a direct address. The orator says,
"These are my opinions and my reasons for so thinking. Will you not
accept my view and act accordingly?"

The oration naturally divides itself into three sections. There is an
_introduction_, in which the speaker clears the way, opens the question
and lays down the principles he proposes to advocate, or indicates the
course of his argument. The _body_ follows. Here the principles are
elucidated, the arguments advanced and properly established or the
descriptions elaborated and finished. The last section is the
_conclusion_, which may consist of a brief review or summary of the
inferences drawn, or of a plea for belief and for action in accordance
with the principles of the speaker.

Before the art of printing was invented, public opinion was molded
almost entirely by public speaking, and for a great many years afterward
the orator was the greatest of leaders. By the magic of his eloquence he
changed the views of men and inspired them to deeds of valor. The fiery
orations of a Demosthenes, of a Cicero; the thrilling words of a Peter
the Hermit or a Savonarola; the unanswerable arguments of a Burke or a
Webster, have more than once turned the course of history.

But when the newspaper first found its way into the hands of thinking
men the power of the orator felt the influence of its silent opponent
and began to wane. Today, it is not often that multitudes are swayed by
a single voice. The debates and stump-speeches of a political campaign
change but few votes. The preacher no longer depends wholly upon the
convincing power of his rhetoric to make his converts. The
representatives of a people in a parliament or a congress speak that
their words may be heard through the newspapers by their constituents
m