German composition

Section 115. THE ART OF ORATORY.

Reading edition

I⁠[1] owe my success in life to one single fact⁠[2], namely:—At⁠[3] the age of twenty-seven⁠[4] I commenced, and continued for years, the process of daily speaking (S. 34, N. 10) upon the contents of some historical or scientific book. These efforts⁠[5] were made sometimes in a corn-field⁠[6], at others⁠[7] in the forest, and not unfrequently in some distant⁠[8] barn, with⁠[9] the horse and ox for my auditors. It⁠[10] is this early practice in the great art of all arts that I am indebted for the primary and leading impulses that stimulated me forward, and shaped and moulded my entire subsequent⁠[11] destiny. Improve⁠[12], then, the superior advantages (S. 16, N. 10) you here enjoy⁠[13]. Let not⁠[14] a day pass⁠[15] without exercising (S. 34, N. 10) your powers⁠[16] of speech. There is (S. 82, N. 7) no power like⁠[17] that of oratory. Cæsar controlled⁠[18] men by⁠[19] exciting their fears; Cicero⁠[20] by⁠[21] captivating their affection and swaying their passions. The influence of the one perished⁠[22] with its author; that of the other continues⁠[23] to this day.—Henry Clay⁠[24].

Notes in this chapter

Note 10 · Supply the relative pronoun ‘which’, for: The relative pronoun can never be omitted in German; to spill, vergießen.Note 10 · to stick fast, stecken bleiben. Use the Supine, for: When the English Gerund (i.e. the verbal in -ing) is governed by a noun, a verb, or an Note 7 · ‘There is’ and ‘there are’, used in a general sense, are generally rendered by the impers. v. ‘es giebt’.Note 1 · To avoid beginning with the pronoun ‘I’, which seldom looks well in German, and is considered bad style in letters, place the object first, Note 2 · fact = deed or action = That, f.; fact = event (as in this instance) = Thatsache, f.; the Latin Factum, pl. Facta or Facten is, however, use Note 3 · At the, Im.Note 4 · Supply ‘years’, and construe thus: I began the process (Verfahren, n.), which I continued for years (jahrelang) to speak daily about (über, Note 5 · efforts = exercises.Note 6 · Here place the verb.Note 7 · zuweilen.Note 8 · entlegen.Note 9 · whereby horse and ox formed my audience (Zuhörer).Note 10 · It — forward = To this early practice ... I owe the first and leading impulses (Triebfedern) which urged me forward (vor´wärtstreiben, sep. Note 11 · subsequent = later.Note 12 · Improve = Use, which use in the 2nd pers. pl.; then = therefore; superior = great.Note 13 · genießen.Note 14 · ‘Not’ in connection with the indef. art. must generally be rendered by ‘no’.Note 15 · vorü´bergehen.Note 16 · Redetalent, n.Note 17 · welche der der Beredsamkeit gleichkommt.Note 18 · beherrschen.Note 19 · durch Erregung; render ‘their’ by the Gen. of the def. art.Note 20 · Supply here ‘controlled them’ (beherrschte sie dadurch, daß er ...). Comp. and read carefully S. 87, N. 6, and also S. 1, N. 3. The verb beh Note 21 · by — passions = that he gained (sich gewinnen) their love and guided (lenken) their passions.Note 22 · erstarb; its author = the author of the same (to agree with ‘influence’).Note 23 · fort´dauern, sep. c. w. v.; to this day, bis auf den heutigen Tag.Note 24 · Henry Clay (geb. 1777 in Virginien, † 1852 in Washington) war ein amerikanischer Staatsmann, welcher sich als Sohn eines einfachen Landmanne