were going to applaud, but forgot it. He
called us his dear friends.

I have heard thousands of speeches since that winter night in Illinois.
Very few indeed can I recall, and beyond the general theme, that speech
by Wendell Phillips has gone from my memory. But I remember the presence
and attitude and voice of the man as though it were but yesterday. The
calm courage, deliberation, beauty and strength of the speaker--his
knowledge, his gentleness, his friendliness! I had heard many sermons,
and some had terrified me. This time I had expected to be thrilled, too,
and so I sat very close to my father and felt for his hand. And here it
was all just quiet joy--I understood it all. I was pleased with myself;
and being pleased with myself, I was pleased with the speaker. He was
the biggest and best man I had ever seen--the first real man.

It is no small thing: to be a man!

* * * * *

In Eighteen Hundred Fifty-three, Emerson said the reason Phillips was
the best public speaker in America was because he had spoken every day
for fourteen years.

This observation didn't apply to Phillips at all, but Emerson used
Phillips to hammer home a great general truth, which was that practise
makes perfect.

Emerson, like all the rest of us, had certain pet theories, which he was
constantly bolstering by analogy and example. He had Phillips in mind
when he said that the best drill for an orator was a course of mobs.

But the cold fact remains that Phillips never made a better speech, even
after fourteen years' daily practise, than that reply to
Attorney-General Austin, at Faneuil Hall.

He gave himself, and it was himself full-armed and at his best. All the
conditions were exactly right--there was hot opposition; and there also
was love and encouragement.

His opponent, with brag, bluster, pomposity, cheap wit, and insincerity,
served him as a magnificent foil. Never again were wind and tide so in
his favor.

It is opportunity that brings out the great man, but he only is great
who prepares for the opportunity--who knows it will come--and who seizes
upon it when it arrives.

In this speech, Wendell Phillips reveals himself at his best--it has the
same ring of combined courage, culture and sincerity that he showed to
the last. Clear thinking and clear speaking marked the man. Taine says
the style is the man--the Phillips style was all in that first speech,
and here is a sample:

To draw