Lectures on Rhetoric and Oratory: Delivered to the Classes of Senior and Junior Sophisters in Harvard University, Volume 1Before becoming President of the United States, John Quincy Adams was a Harvard professor of language, rhetoric and oratory, with this book comprising his lectures. Published in 1810 when Quincy Adams was in his forties, this work is a collection which demonstrates the breadth of knowledge which he passed to students eager to learn about the arts of speaking. The early lectures cover the basic principles of oratory and eloquence in the context of public speaking, and the origins of rhetoric as a celebrated art form in ancient Greece and Rome. It is clear that the author possesses an intense knowledge of the subject and its professional application. Later on in the text are more specific lectures, such as the importance of perfecting oratory for the courtroom, and the personal qualities a good speaker should cultivate. Keeping tight control of one's emotions when speaking or debating with others, and delivering compelling lectures from the church pulpit, are also discussed at length. Although this material is well over 200 years old with much of the language archaic by modern standards, the ideas and principles espoused by Quincy Adams remain both relevant and important to students and those working in fields where speech is vital. |
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... means of education . Among men of this description the benevolent founder of the professorship , under which the following lectures were delivered , is highly distinguished . NICHOLAS BOYLSTON esq . was an eminent merchant of Boston ...
... means of rational intercourse with his fellow - creature , and of humble communion with his God . It is by the means of reason , clothed with speech , that the most precious blessings of social life are communicated from man to man ...
... means of promoting our own fe- licity , and gives us power to stand , though leaving us free to fall . " Here then is an unbounded and inexhaustible field for eloquence , never explored by the ancient orators ; and here alone have the ...
... citizen has a deep interest in the affairs of the nation , and , in some form of public assembly or other , has the means and opportunity of deliver- ing his opinions , and of communicating his senti- ments 30 INAUGURAL ORATION .
... means of oratorical persuasion may be used , as seasonably and as usefully in private , as in public ; between two individuals , as before a numerous audience . Talk logic with acquaintance , that you have , And practise rhetoric in ...