•i, A discriminative reading of these books, with the taking of notes relative to the subject.
5. A careful rearrangement of these notes in logical order.
6. The expansion of these notes for presentation to the class (not to the teacher) from the front of the class, und with as few notes as possible.
Tne student should take the greatest care in con- sidering these steps in order, one at a time. The law of doing all great tasks is, the subdivision of a task down to a working point, and the accomplishment of each step in succession. Failures generally result from a juvenile desire to hurry on to the next process before the present one is thoroughly accomplished; or " to build in the air." Let it be remembered that it is sometimes a year before the foundation of a great building is made to ap- pear above the surface of the ground.
THE TRAINING VALUE OF RECITATIONS PREPARED UPON SEPARATE ASSIGNMENTS The student should understand the training value of his work. He should know, when old enough to study this speech, what relation his work bears to his mental progress. The reasons for the value of such plans so as to advise the ministry how " to make the colonies useful to the mother country." -In other words, this board was organized for the purpose of planning:i systematic " bleeding " of the colonists to a point just short of inanition 16 BURKE'S SPEECH ON CONCILIATION recitations may be best presented for consideration in tabulated form. To discuss them were useless, as they are practically self-evident: 1. A student is interested in the search for facts upon his subject because the facts are related — they have a continuity. He takes a Saxon delight in the chase. No student likes to study isolated facts, nor does he remember them. It is in related facts that human interest is found.
2. The student is interested in reciting because he is telling his classmates what they do not know. To re- cite to a class what they know as well as he only makes- the reciter feel silly and disgusted. To test this, let one imagine himself to be telling a story that he knows is familiar to every one in his audience.
3. The members of the class are interested because they are hearing what is new to them. They are not interested in hearing what they know as well as does the reciter.
4. Attention and interest are unconsciously devel- oped.
5. A much greater amount of material is brought before the class.
6. The class serves the reciter as an audience before which he learns to lose his embarrassment and to speak easily and connectedly while upon his feet.
7. An altruistic spirit is developed, for each learns to realize that he is working for the other.
8. Experience has shown that recitations thus con- ducted are a constant delight; and the student, mean- while, is daily going through those processes through which he must go if he ever becomes a speaker, or if he ever accomplishes the purpose for which +he study of the oration is intended.
INTRODUCTION 17 PBELIMINARY DEBATES FOB PRACTICE As the purpose of the study of Burke's Speech on Conciliation is the development of the student's argu- mentative power, and as this development can be had only by practice, every opportunity for the student's practice should be seized upon. No better opportunity can be found for increasing the student's interest in the history study preparatory to the study of the speech itself, and for giving him practice in speaking, than by debating upon questions chosen from the history lead- ing up to the study of the Speech on Conciliation. A student will master the history leading up to the Speech on Conciliation in no other way with such interest and rapidity as he will while he is studying that history in order to prepare for a debate upon some question drawn from that history. The debate furnishes a motive for the study of the history with zeal. For two reasons, therefore — practice in speaking, and the finding of a motive for the deeper interest in the history leading up to the study of the Speech — the questions for debate should be chosen from the history that is being studied.
The following questions will serve as specimens: 1. Was the British Government justified in closing the port of Boston?
2. Was the conduct of the British soldiery in the Boston massacre justifiable?
3. Was the Stamp Act a justifiable governmental measure?
4. Was England justifiable in her policy of " making the colonies useful to the mother country "?
5. Was the British Government justifiable in abro- gating the charter of Massachusetts in 1774?
6. Were the Bostonians justifiable in throwing the tea overboard in the " Boston Tea Party "?
18 BUEKE'S SPEECH ON CONCILIATION It will be seen that the study of a question like one of these for the purpose of debating upon it is sure to incite a deeper interest in the history itself than can be found in any other way.
DEBATING BY SECTIONS The organization of the class into sections for the study of the history will also serve for the organization of the class into debating sections. Each section should choose a question from the history of the colony with which the section is to deal.
The Choosing of a Question and the Limitation of its Terms. — Each section should hold a meeting to choose a question, and to consider the statement of it. Every word of the question should be carefully considered in order that each side may knoAV exactly what it must prove or disprove. Great care should be taken to de- termine exactly what is meant by such words as " justi- fiable."
Making the Outline. — The terms of the question having been decided upon, each half of the section, as affirmative or negative, should hold a meeting to counsel upon the line of argument to be followed. This outline of the argument, or exactly what line the debaters in- tend to pursue, should be clearly and carefully made, as it constitutes the purpose which that side of the debate intends to accomplish. After the outline has been de- cided upon, it is well to divide it into as many parts as there are speakers on that side, in order that the speeches of leader and followers may tend toward the accomplish- ment of the same purpose.
Preparation of the Briefs. — Each debater, taking within the general outline that share of it which he is to present, should then begin the preparation of his brief. He should go carefully through, one by one, the INTRODUCTION 19 six steps given on page 15. The value of the debate to a student's training will depend upon the patient man- ner in which he pursues the six processes, one by one, to the completion of his argument. By this patient step-by-step work, and by the making of his speech to his class as an audience, and by these things only, can he hope to become a successful debater. The student who neglects the step-by-step process, and who gathers his arguments in a disconnected manner, no matter how good the individual arguments may be, is wasting his time and opportunities — he is working purposelessly. (The student will find much better advice than can be given in this work in Baker's Principles of Argumenta- tion^ Ginn & Co., or in Brookings and Kingwalt's Briefs for Debates, Longmans.)
Division of Time. — Each section, the two sides agree- ing, should be allowed to divide among the speakers the time allotted for the debate.
Chairman of the Debate. — As presiding over an assem- bly is an important part of a speaker's training, a stu- dent should be allowed to preside over the debate, each section choosing its own chairman from the remainder of the class, and no student acting as chairman for more than one debate, in order that as many students as pos- sible may have this practice.
Programme. — Upon the day of a debate the section debating should present to its chairman a complete and carefully made out programme containing the question, the names of the debaters in the order in which they are to speak, and the time allotted to each, as a memo- randum for the use of the chairman. It is best that the question for debate be neatly written on the blackboard in front of the class, prior to the debate itself, in order that those listening to the debate may know the exact statement of the question.
20 BURKE'S SPEECH ON CONCILIATION Briefs to be given to the Teacher for Examination..- Of course, each debater has carefully prepared a brief ol his argument, in which the authorities he gives in sup- port of the statements he makes are cited — volume, chapter, and page. This brief he should hand to the teacher for examination after his debate.
Taking Notes. — One of the most important parts of a high-school student's training is the ability to take notes of a speech or lecture. This power is absolutely indis- pensable in university life. A beginner will find it very difficult to make an outline or a brief of a long and elab- orate speech or argument simply from hearing it. He should begin the acquiring of this power by taking notes of short speeches. No better opportunity for such a be- ginning can be found than in making out a brief of each student's speech in debate while it is being delivered, in order to acquire the important power of listening and of taking notes at the same time. These briefs should be carefully copied on uniform paper, and used in the preparation of a decision upon the debate, and then handed in to the teacher for examination and criti- cism as to the student's ability to make out the brief of a speech as he hears it.
DECISIONS UPON DEBATES Purpose. — The purpose of decisions upon debates should not be so much to see who wins as to learn to divest one's self of prejudice, and to learn to weigh evi- dence, thus developing fair-mindedness.
Weighing of Evidence from the Briefs taken. — Each student should aim, in preparing a decision upon a de- bate, to arrive at a just decision based upon the argu- ment presented, and without prejudice as to speaker or to previous opinions. The student should sit down, having before him the briefs that he has taken of the INTRODUCTION 21 speeches made by the debaters, and without prejudice or preconceived opinions he should proceed (1) to a careful examination of the statement of the question; (2) then to a careful examination of the briefs in the order in which the speeches were delivered, carefully weighing the arguments presented, until he has arrived at a decision for which he can give good reasons when called upon.
Time of the Decision. — As the purpose of deciding is to learn to weigh evidence, the debate should not be decided at once, as such action is likely to be hasty and to prevent the weighing of the evidence. The decision, therefore, should be postponed for at least one day, in order to give each student time to go through the pro- cess mentioned under the caption "Weighing of Evi- dence from the Briefs taken."
Appointment of Judges. — As it is desirable that each student should have training in the weighing of evi- dence, for no one can prepare an argument who can not weigh evidence, it is not best to appoint judges to decide a debate until the day set for the decision and its dis- cussion, in order that each student may expect to be chosen as a judge, and that he will, therefore, prepare himself by the study of the question and the briefs that he has taken. Upon the day of the decision, all the students being prepared to decide, three judges may be chosen who are to render, upon slips of paper as usual, a decision upon the debate. After having rendered their decision, each one of the judges should be called upon to justify his decision from the briefs that he has taken. Thereafter the decision should be open for dis- cussion by the remaining members of the class, from the briefs that they have taken- ]No student should be allowed to assign a reason for his decision by saying, " 1 have decided for the affirmative (or negative) because I 22 BUEKE'S SPEECH ON CONCILIATION thought they presented stronger arguments." He should be required to show from his briefs why the arguments were stronger. If desirable, the decision of the judges may be followed by a second decision by the class as a body. This plan will insure the greatest, possible amount of practice in the methodical weighing of evidence.
SOME CAUTIONS IN DECIDING 1. A student, in sitting down to his briefs, should first try to forget that he has any friends upon the debate.
2. He should try to forget his preconceived opinions upon the question. He is not deciding upon the ques- tion, but upon the arguments presented.
3. He should make an effort to ascertain the tru^h of the evidence cited in support of statements.
4. He should beware of the effect of a " last speech," being careful not to overestimate its value on account of its having come last.
5. It is not fair, in debate, to use the influence of the name of some sacred book by quoting from it, as final proof, some statement unsupported by further evi- dence. Such statements have no weight as evidence.
6. Mere assertions, ordinarily, have no value as argu- ments.
Criticism. — A student who is earnestly seeking the development of his argumentative power, and of his power of speaking while upon his feet, is also seeking criticism; for it is, first, by improving his good quali- ties, and, secondly, by getting rid of his bad qualities, that he must attain the powers he seeks. It is best, after a decision has been rendered and discussed, that each debater should have an opportunity " to see him- self as others see him ", therefore, his speech and his presentation of it, for his own good, should be open to INTRODUCTION 23 discussion. The first point that should be discussed should always be on the positive side, or what was well done. After this has been discussed, those faults of position, want of earnestness, want of clearness, want of force, want of close adherence to the subject, etc., should be freely discussed. Each student must overcome his own faults, and must, by a rigid self-examination, rid himself of these faults and replace them by excellences.
The study of the audience to which a speech or argu- ment is to be delivered is necessary to the preparation of the speech or argument; and as every great speech or argument must be suited to the audience, it will be necessary in the study of Burke's Speech to know some- thing of his audience — the House of Commons before which he spoke; therefore some pupil from the class should be detailed to present a report upon Burke's audience, the House of Commons of 1775. He should take care to present information upon the following par- ticulars: 1. What is the House of Commons?
2. Its organization and customs.
3. A blackboard drawing of the House of Commons, or a picture of the same passed around the class.
4. The political parties of the time, and the one in power; their principles.
5. Some of the prominent statesmen who listened te Burke.
6. The circumstances under which the speech was made.
7. The probable location from which Burke made hi? speech.
$, The conduct of the House during the speech.
24 BURKE'S SPEECH ON CONCILIATION THE ORATOR HIMSELF The entire class should participate in the study of Burke's life and his public services, a sketch of which is given on page 25. It would be better, however, if a deeper study of this subject could be made. An out- line is herewith given. The following of this outline in study and recitation will prevent the usual wander- ing of the students. If the attention of the students be called in advance to the necessity of this study and the method of carrying it out, most of it can be prepared from the other preliminary reading done by the students. A familiarity with the outline given will enable the student to take notes upon it to some extent while doing his preparatory historical reading.
Morley's Life of Burlce, in the English Men of Let- ters Series, is the best life for the high-school student. The article by Morley in the Encyclopaedia Britannica is excellent.
OUTLINE FOR THE STUDY OF BUEKE'S LIFE (Note to the student: Take notes on the outline as you read.)
I. BIRTH.
A. Time.
B. Place.
C. Parents.
D. Ancestors.
1. On the father's side.
2. On the mother's side.
II. CHILDHOOD, BOYHOOD, AND EARLY MANHOOD.
A. Incidents of.
B. Tendencies.
C. Formative influences.
D. Education.
1. In boyhood.
2. In early manhood.
INTRODUCTION 2i III. MANHOOD.
A. Seeking a profession.
B. Final choice.
C. Location.
D. Political circumstances.
E. Political contemporaries.
F. Conduct in public life.
G. Conduct in private life. H. Success.
I. Financial affairs.
J. His rank as an orator. K. Great works. L. Greatest work. M. Death.
1. Time.
2. Place.
3. Incidents ot.
4. Condition of finances.
5. Place of burial. N. Four phases of his life. 0. Descendants. (?)
P. Best books about him.
Q. Characteristics.
R. Miscellaneous incidents.
S. Memory gems.
T. Works best worth reading.
IV. His INFLUENCE UPON MANKIND.
SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF EDMUND BURKE EDMUND BUEKE, " one of the greatest names in the history of political literature," was born, according to the most probable account, at Dublin, January 12, 1729, new style. Little is known of Burke's family. It is known that his father was a well-to-do Protestant attorney of Dublin, and that his mother, who was a Roman Catholic, was a member of a reputable family of the name of Xa- gle. It is known that Edmund had one sister and two brothers; one brother, Garret Burke, being older, and the other, Richard Burke, being younger than Edmund.
26 BURKE'S SPEECH ON CONCILIATION At the age of twelve Edmund was sent to Ballitore, a short distance from Dublin, to a school kept by an English Quaker named Abraham Shackleton. The two succeeding years, which Burke spent at this school, proved to be of great value in forming the character of the future statesman and orator, for Shackleton was a most excellent teacher and a noble man. Later in life Burke attributed the foundation of his character and ability to the teaching and influence of Shackleton.
In 1743, at the age of about fourteen, Burke was sent to Trinity College, Dublin, where he remained until he received his bachelor's degree in 1748. Burke's student life was not marked by careful and serious following of the course of study. He preferred to read in accordance with his own pleasure in the library of the university, or to take long rambles in the country about Dublin. It must not be thought that he did not improve his mind while at the university; he simply preferred to follow the bent of his own intellect, a safe method for those only, perhaps, who in later life evince the possession of genius. So we find him making deep excursions of his own, in the library of the university, first into the realm of natural philosophy, then delving into mathematics, then into logic and metaphysics, then into history, and turning at length to read widely and deeply in the realm of poetry. He left the university with but a fair degree of scholarship, but with his mind saturated with a deep and broad information which was to be of inestimable value to him in his future career.
Of his companionships while at the university little is known. Oliver Goldsmith was a student at the Uni» versity of Dublin at the same time, but it is not known that they were acquainted there. Their sincere friend- ship in after life as fellow-members of the famous " Lit- erary Club " in London can not be told in detail here.
INTRODUCTION 27 In 1750 he went to London to study law at the Temple. Of the next nine years of his life but little is known. It is known that he turned from the law to become a writer, thus deeply displeasing his father, who was a stern and severe man, and who was so incensed at his son's disre- gard of the father's wishes that he cut off Edmund's allowance and left him to shift for himself. He became one of the many young writers who frequented London at this time, doing " hack " work and practicing debate and oratory in the debating societies which were main- tained by the young lawyers and writers of the time. In 1756 he published A Vindication of Natural Society and A Philosophical Inquiry into the Origin of our Ideas on the Sublime and Beautiful. The first of these, which was a satire upon the writings of Bolingbroke, a noted writer of works of a skeptical nature, brought him some reputation in England, while the second attracted some attention in Germany. He attempted several other works during these nine years, but they are of little value. It may be said that his most important work, as far as his future was concerned, was in connection with Dods- ley's Annual Register, a publication which gave annu- ally a summary of all important events, especially those of a political nature. It will be seen that the acquisi- tion of information necessary to a writer upon a work of this character must have helped to make Burke that en- cyclopaedia of political information which astounded the hearers of his speeches in Parliament at a later date.
In 1756 Burke married Mary Jane, daughter of Dr. Xugent, a physician of Bath. The marriage proved to be a very happy one.
In 1761 he accompanied William Gerard Hamilton, secretary to Lord Halifax, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, to that country as Hamilton's assistant. In 1763 Hamil- ton procured for Burke a pension of three hundred 28 BURKE'S SPEECH ON CONCILIATION pounds a year; but the independent Burke, upon find, ing out that Hamilton had expected to purchase out- right, not only Burke's services, but also his political in- dependence, by means of the pension, quarreled with Hamilton, and, to regain his political freedom, threw up his pension after having enjoyed it but a year.
In 1765 Burke became private secretary to the Mar- quis of Eockingham, Prime Minister of Great Britain. Kockingham's ministry remained in power but a year, but there sprang up between the marquis and Burke a friendship which was interrupted only by the death of Eockingham in 1782. In 1766 Burke took his seat in Parliament for the borough of Wendover, and on Jan- uary 27th of the same year, he made his first speech in Parliament, an effort of such splendid eloquence and logical argument as to bring him at once prominently before the public. His history from this time on is a part of the history of Great Britain.
BUEKE'S POLITICAL LIFE AND PKINCIPLES The keynote of Burke's political life and principles and of all his future political action may be summed up as follows: He was an earnest and intense believer in hu- man liberty, but that human liberty must be based upon the principles of the English Constitution. He was an enemy to innovations. He strove earnestly for human liberty and happiness, but he strenuously resisted any radical change in the English Constitution. He held that it was not a change of form in government that was needed to bring about liberty and happiness, but only a fair and just administration of government under the principles of the existing constitution. It has often been said that Burke made an absolute change in hi? principles in his fierce resistance to the French Eevolu- tion. This is not true. He stood for the existing Driiv INTRODUCTION 29 INTRODUCTION 29 ciples of the constitution fairly and justly administered. He was not so much opposed to the struggles of the French for liberty as to their reckless overturning of all established religion and of the monarchical form of gov- ernment. His conduct in this matter was entirely con- sistent with his earlier career, only his opposition to radical constitutional changes grew fiercer and fiercer as he advanced in years. Under this interpretation only can a fair and just estimate be placed upon Burke's po- litical career.
Burke's political life may be properly divided into three periods — his life with respect to the affairs of Eng- land and her American colonies, his life with respect to England and her government of India, and his life with respect to the French Eevolution.
Burke and American Affairs. — It may be said, despite the fact that during this period Burke was simply a member of Parliament, that nevertheless he was the principal factor in the Whig opposition to the policy and the party of the king. This period is marked by- three great speeches, which, for breadth of informa* tion, clearness and force of argument, and splendor of presentation, have possibly never been equaled. These speeches were the Speech on American Taxation (in 1774), the Speech on Conciliation with the American Colonies (in 1775), and the Letter to the Sheriffs of Bristol (in 1777). The last, although not delivered orally, may also be classed as a speech. " It is no ex- aggeration to say that they ('the three pieces') com- pose the most perfect manual in our literature, or in any literature, for one who approaches the study of pub- lic affairs, whether for knowledge or for practice. They are an example without fault of all the qualities which the critic, whether a theorist or an actor, of great politi- cal situations should strive by night and by day to pos- 30 BURKE'S SPEECH ON CONCILIATION sess. If the subject with which they deal were less near than it is to our interests and affections as free citizens, these three performances would still abound in the les- sons of an incomparable political method." The truth of this statement can not be discussed here, but the stu- dent who follows the study of these three speeches far enough will find out that Morley does not exaggerate.
The further discussion of Burke's "American Pe- riod " is left to the student in his study of the Speech on Conciliation and the history leading up to it, for which study provision is made elsewhere in this book.
Burke and the Affairs of India. — After the close of the American War Burke turned his attention to an equally great question — the question of the maladminis- tration of the affairs of India by the East India Com- pany. This period is marked by two tremendous efforts — the Speech, in 1785, On the Nabob of Ar cot's Debts, and Burke's speeches, in 1786, at the prosecution of Warren Hastings, the chief administrative officer of the East India Company. The student should consult for a study of this period some extended life of Burke, or Macaulay's Essay on Warren Hastings.
Burke and the French Revolution. — The closing years of the " Indian Period " ushered in the French Eevolu- tion. Earlier in life Burke had visited Paris, where he was well received and entertained by the ablest men and women of that city. While in Paris he had seen the beautiful but ill-fated Marie Antoinette. The treatment which the fierce republican patriots of the Erench Eevo- lution accorded to this woman, whose qualities and whose beauty had touched the sensitive Irishman most deeply, aroused his generous nature to a fiercer heat than it had ever before known; and in 1790 the world, which had always considered Burke an enemy of kings, was electrified by his publication of Reflections on the INTRODUCTION 31