Modern Eloquence: Vol III, After-Dinner Speeches P-Z

About this book

Modern Eloquence, Volume III gathers a selection of after‑dinner speeches contributed by some of the most celebrated orators of the United States and Great Britain. The volume opens with a prefatory note explaining that figures such as Whitelaw Reid, William Jennings Bryan, Henry van Dyke, and Henry M. Stanley have chosen their own finest addresses for inclusion. A detailed contents list follows, presenting the titles and page numbers of each piece, ranging from Thomas Nelson Page’s “The Torch of Civilization” to Theodore Roosevelt’s “The Hollander as an American.” The first full speech reproduced is Page’s address to the New England Society in Brooklyn, delivered on December 21 1899, in which he reflects on national reconciliation, the fading of the Mason‑Dixon line, and the shared debt of the North and South. The introductory material sets a tone of reverent historical reflection, inviting readers into a compendium of public discourse from the turn of the century.

The language throughout is formal and rhetorical, echoing the oratorical style of late‑Victorian and Progressive‑Era public speaking. Speakers employ elaborate sentence structures, vivid analogies, and a measured cadence designed for a banquet audience, often interweaving personal anecdote with broader national themes. Readers who relish the cadence of historic speeches, students of political rhetoric, enthusiasts of American‑British cultural exchange, or anyone interested in the persuasive art that shaped public opinion at the close of the 19th century, will find this collection a rewarding immersion in the period’s eloquent discourse.