Page:Famous Living Americans, with Portraits.djvu/27

 8 FAMOUS LIVING AMERICANS guided Brutus, even when he became a conspirator against Caesar. Although the address may have denunciation as an object, that is, when the aim is to hold before an audience a character not for emulation, but for condemnation, the great principle should be stated clearly and followed closely with a view to enforcement as above suggested. In his address on Aaron Burfy the Honorable Champ Clark almost immedi- ately sets forth his theme by stating that while Burr was the most brilliant and fascinating of the Vice-Presidents except Jefferson, **the one thing he [Burr] needed'* was ** moral sense." He points out at once that ^^for this fatal deficiency nothing can compensated^; and the entire address enforces this universal idea.* He has taken facts, explained them with one thought, made that one idea the unifier of the entire speech, shown that it is vital, and has so enforced it. True, it is an old idea, generally assented to, but it deserves repeated enforcement and personal appUcation, probably, to many. This commonly accepted but enforced idea, we call the THEME. Yet another illustration of the use of the theme in the bio- graphical address is found in the production by Mr. Flynn,. referred to later on. The Redemption of Jean Valjean. He- opens the way inmiediately for his translation of the facts, gathering about the story of Valjean, through the statement of the commonly conceded truth, perhaps worthy the name principle, ' ' Men fall and rise again and the world may remem- ber them forever as her heroes.** He shows, too, the three subjective processes in every genuine redemption. The speech should begin with a statement of the theme, as in the illustrations given above. But it is fair to state in this connection that very many famous speeches do not inmiediate- ly set forth the theme. In some instances the principle to be enforced is at first withheld because public speech ofttimes involves a peculiar quality we may call * * personal accommoda- tion** on the part of the speaker. He may, for illustration, be utterly unacquainted with the audience and he finds that: s Modem Eloquence, vol. vii, Qeorge L. Shuman St Company, Chicago, 1903.