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fore you. The most useful thing that a civilian can do in these busy days is to speak as little as possible, and, if he feels moved to write, to confine his efforts to his check-book. But this is an exception to that very good rule.

"We do not know the present strength of our new armies. Even if we did it would not be necessary to make it public. We may assume there are now several battalions in Great Britain which did not exist at the end of last July, and some of these battalions are in London. Nor is it any part of our national scheme of things to explain how far they are prepared for the work ahead of them. They were quite rightly born in silence for the rest of their lives. At present, unfortunately, most of them are obliged to walk in silence, or to no better accompaniment than whistles, concertinas, and other meritorious but inadequate instruments of music which they provide for themselves.

"In the beginning this did not matter so much. There were more urgent needs to be met; but now that the new armies are what they are, we, who cannot assist them by joining their ranks, owe it to them to provide them with more worthy music for their help and comfort and honor. I am not a musician, so if I speak as a barbarian, forgive

me.

"From the lowest point of view, a few drums and fifes in a battalion are worth five extra miles on a route march quite apart from the fact that they swing the battalion back to quarters composed and happy in its mind; where there is no route-marching, the mere come-and-go, the roll and flourish of the drums and fifes round barracks is as warming and cheering as the sight of a fire in a room. "A band - not necessarily a full band, but a band of a few brasses and wood winds is immensely valuable in districts where troops are billeted. It revives memories; it quickens associations; it opens and unites the hearts of men more surely than any other appeal. In that respect it assists recruiting perhaps more than any other agency. The tunes that it employs and the words that go with them may seem very far removed from heroism or devotion; but the magic and the compelling power are there to make men's souls realize certain truths which their minds might doubt.

"More than that. No one not even the adjutant can say for certain where the soul of a battalion lives; but the expression of that soul is most often found in the band. It stands to reason that

a body of 1200 men whose lives are pledged to each other's keeping must have some common means of expressing their thoughts and moods to themselves and to their world. The band can feel the mood and interpret it to their world.

"A wise and sympathetic bandmaster — and most that I have known have been that can lift a battalion out of depression, cheer it in sickness, and steady and recall it to itself in times of almost unendurable strain. You will remember a beautiful poem by Sir Henry Newbolt describing how a squadron of 'weary big dragoons' were led on to renewed effort by the strains of a penny whistle and a child's drum taken from a toyshop in a wrecked French town.

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"And I remember in a cholera camp in India, where the men were suffering very badly, the band of the 10th Lincolns started a regimental sing-song one night with that queer defiant tune, 'The Lincolnshire Poacher.' It was merely their regimental march which the men had heard a thousand times. There was nothing in it except except all England all the East Coast - all the fun and daring and horseplay of young men bucketing about the big pastures by moonlight. But, as it was given, very softly, at that bad time in that terrible camp of death, it was the one thing in the world which could have restored- as it did shaken men to pride, honor, and self-control. This is, perhaps, an extreme case, but by no means an exceptional one. A man who has had any experience of the service can testify that a battalion is better for music at every turn - happier, easier to handle, and with greater zest for its daily routine if that routine is sweetened by melody and rhythm— melody for the mind and rhythm for the body.

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"Our new armies have not been well served in this essential. Of all the admirable qualities they have shown, none is more wonderful than the spirit which has carried them through the laborious and distasteful groundwork of their calling without a note of music except what that same indomitable spirit supplied - out of its own head. We have all seen them marching through the country or through London streets in absolute silence, and the crowd through which they pass as silent as themselves for lack of the one medium that could convey and glorify the thoughts which are in all men's minds to-day.

"We are a tongue-tied breed at the best. The band can declare on our behalf, without shame or shyness, something of what we feel,

and so help us to reach a hand towards the men who have risen up to save us.

"We have had many proofs in the last six months that people only want to be told what the new armies require and it will be freely and gladly given. The army needs music — its own music-for, more than any other calling, soldiers do not live by bread alone. From time immemorial the man who offers his life for his land has been compassed at every turn of his service by elaborate ceremonial and observance of which music is no small part carefully designed to prepare and uphold him. It is not expedient nor seemly that any portion of that ritual should be slurred or omitted now."

CHAPTER XXII

THE PERSUASIVE SPEECH

Introduction. The persuasive speech, as we have learned in an earlier chapter, aims to secure action on the part of the listeners. It does this by an appeal both to the feelings and to the understanding. We found, however, that if the speaker appeals to the feelings only, and does not support his appeal by sound reasoning, the impulse to act is likely to be of short duration. We have, therefore, spent much time in studying the process of argument. But again we find that conviction alone, which is the aim of the debater, is not always sufficient to secure action. The reasoning processes of men are apt to be modified by their education and personal interests and, as a result, it becomes necessary for the persuasive speaker to remove old prejudices and arouse new motives. The really effective persuasive speech produces convictions and creates a willingness to act upon those convictions.

According to Archbishop Magee, there are three kinds of speakers: (1) the kind you can't listen to; (2) the kind you can listen to; and (3) the kind you can't help listening to. This last class has learned the art of persuasive speech.

Persuasiveness is much more than the gift of making emotional appeals. In this chapter we shall learn: (1) that it involves the right attitude on the part of the speaker toward himself, his subject, and his audience; (2) that it includes the ability of the speaker to adapt his

message to his audience; (3) that it lies in the power of the speaker to create a sense of unity in his audience.

I. RIGHT ATTITUDE

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Toward Himself. The persuasive speaker should be modest and, at the same time, self-respecting and selfreliant. Lincoln's introduction to his speech in Ohio furnishes an excellent example of sincere modesty. It scarcely need be said that affectation of modesty would be repellent. The extract from Beecher's speech at Liverpool reveals to us the persuasive power of an attitude which is outspoken and self-reliant, yet not discourteous. Toward his Subject. A persuasive speaker must have absolute faith in the dignity and righteousness of the cause for which he stands. Mr. Holyoake says, "The true use of the art of public speaking is the protection of the unfriended truth and the vindication of the imperiled right." If, then, we are putting our art to its highest use, we need not lack this one element of persuasiveness— confidence in the worthiness of our cause. This attitude is well illustrated by Bryan's speech on the Chicago Platform.

The truly persuasive speaker is in earnest about his subject. He talks, not to display his ability but to accomplish results. As some one has said, "He does not present a beautiful picture and then stand in front of it." His emotional appeals are successful because he first feels the emotion himself. This absolute sincerity has been a characteristic of all great persuasive speakers. Pericles, the great orator of the Golden Age, who swayed Athens as he would, is said to have always prayed to the gods before speaking that he might utter no words unsuited to his auditors and to the occasion.

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