or of Saint Mark's did what the
Prior of Saint Dominico's had done at Bologna--he sent the man out on
preaching tours among the churches and monasteries. The austerity and
purity of his character, the sublimity of his faith, and his relentless
war upon the extravagance of the times, made his presence valuable to
the Church. Then in all personal relationships the man was most
lovable--gentle, sympathetic, kind. Wherever he went his influence was
for the best.

Power plus came to him for the first time at Brescia in Fourteen Hundred
Eighty-six. The sermon he gave was one he had given many times; in fact,
he never had but one theme: flee from the wrath to come, and accept the
pardon of the gentle Christ ere it is too late--ere it is too late.

Much of what passes for oratory is merely talk, lecture, harangue and
argument. These things may all be very useful, and surely they have
their place in the world of work and business, but oratory is another
thing. Oratory is the impassioned outpouring of a heart--a heart full to
bursting: it is the absolute giving of soul to soul.

Every great speech is an evolution--it must be given many times before
it becomes a part of the man himself. Oratory is the ability to weld a
mass of people into absolutely one mood. To do this the orator must lose
himself in his subject--he must cast expediency to the winds. And more
than this, his theme must always be an appeal for humanity. Invective,
threat, challenge, all play their parts, but love is the great recurring
theme that winds in and out through every great sermon or oration.
Pathos is only possible where there is great love, and pathos is always
present in the oration that subdues, that convinces, that wins, and
sends men to their knees in abandonment of their own wills. The audience
is the female element--the orator the male, and love is the theme. The
orator comes in the name of God to give protection--freedom.

Usually the great orator is on the losing side. And this excites on the
part of the audience the feminine attribute of pity, and pity fused with
admiration gives us love--thus does love act and react on love.

Oratory supplies the most sublime gratification which the gods have to
give. To subdue the audience and blend mind with mind affords an
intoxication beyond the ambrosia of Elysium. When Sophocles pictured the
god Mercury seizing upon the fairest daughter of Earth and carrying her
away through the realms of space, he ha