th? Is he thoroughly acquainted with the subject that he
discusses? Only as we answer questions like these can we enter into full
sympathy with an author and form a just and adequate conception of his
work.

+67. Oratory.+ Oratory is that form of discourse that is primarily
intended not to be read but to be spoken. Its object is mingled
instruction and persuasion, and it may be defined as instruction
suffused with feeling. In its lofty and impassioned forms oratory
attains to eloquence,--that quality which profoundly moves the hearts
and wills of the hearers.

But it is well to recognize the source of eloquence, which is to be
distinguished from bombast and fustian. Eloquence is not a trick of
rhetoric; it springs from the moral character of the speaker, from his
gifts and attainments, and from the subject and occasion. "Mere
eloquence," said Webster, "does not consist in speech. It cannot be
brought from far. Labor and learning may toil for it, but they will toil
in vain. Words and phrases may be marshaled in every way, but they
cannot compass it. It must exist in the man, in the subject, and in the
occasion. Affected passion, intense expression, the pomp of declamation,
all may aspire to it; they cannot reach it. It comes, if it come at all,
like the outbreaking of a fountain from the earth, or the bursting of
volcanic fires, with spontaneous, original, native force."

Oratory is variously divided, but perhaps no other division is better
than that of Aristotle. He distinguishes three species of oratory:

(1) Deliberative oratory, which has its place in deliberative bodies. In
Parliament or Congress it is concerned with questions of legal
enactment, finance, or administration; in religious bodies, with
ecclesiastical questions; in scientific bodies, with questions of
science. At the present day a large part of oratory is deliberative in
character.

(2) Judicial or forensic oratory, which is heard before courts of
justice. It is chiefly concerned with human conduct in relation to law,
and its aim is to determine what is legally right and just.

(3) Demonstrative oratory is chiefly occupied with the presentation of
abstract or practical truth. It is heard in lectures, sermons, and other
public addresses. It draws its themes from any department of human
knowledge, and aims at imparting instruction, uplifting character, or
influencing conduct.

A finished oration is a work of art. Ancient rhetoricians distinguished