Modern Eloquence: Vol II, After-Dinner Speeches E-O

About this book

Modern Eloquence, Volume II gathers a curated selection of after‑dinner speeches that were deemed the finest of their kind by a committee of distinguished American and British speakers. The book opens with a vivid description of a series of eight allegorical panels, Fortitude, Justice, Patriotism, and the like, each rendered in lofty, floating drapery against a deep‑red wall, setting a tone of grand public ceremony. From that visual prelude the volume moves into the printed texts, beginning with George Cary Eggleston’s provocative address on “Southern Literature,” followed by Charles William Eliot’s tribute to Harvard and Yale. The contents list reads like a roll call of the era’s intellectual elite, featuring names such as William Jennings Bryan, Ralph Waldo Emerson, and Henry van Dyke, each offering speeches that blend rhetoric, politics, and cultural commentary.

The voice throughout is unmistakably turn‑of‑the‑century, marked by formal diction, elaborate sentence structures, and a confidence in public discourse that reflects the optimism of the Progressive Era. Readers who relish the cadence of historic oratory, enjoy the interplay of politics and literature, or simply wish to hear the polished arguments that once resonated in banquet halls and university auditoriums will find this collection rewarding. It appeals especially to scholars of American rhetoric, students of late‑19th‑ and early‑20th‑century cultural history, and anyone who appreciates the art of the well‑crafted speech.