14 William D. Fenton. under circumstances calculated to have immediate influence upon those who heard them. They were the inspiration of the times, and while here and there in each and in all of them are burning passages of eloquence of transcendent power and beauty, they do not survive as permanent con- tributions to the world's greatest and best orations. It is difficult, of course, to place a just and proper estimate upon the productions of men in this great field of human endeavor, Thomas Jefferson, in 1814, said: "I consider the speeches of Aram and Carnot, and that of Logan, as worthily standing in a line with those of Scipio and Hannibal in Livy, and of Cato and Caesar in Sallust." It depends, however, upon the model which the critic ad- mires. Jefferson, speaking of this subject in his letter to Mr. Eppes, says: "The models for that oratory which is to produce the greatest effect by securing the attention of hearers and read- ers, are to be found in Livy, Tacitus, Sallust, and most as- suredly not in Cicero. I doubt if there is a man in the world who can now read one of his orations through, but as a piece of task work." Scholarly as the sage of Monticello was, he criticized the great Cicero, and speaking of a man now forgotten, said: "The finest thing, in my opinion, which the English lan- guage has produced, is the defense of Eugene Aram, spoken by himself at the bar of the York Assizes in 1759." But who would at this date remember Eugene Aram as an orator? Doubtless Mr. Jefferson was influenced by the remarkable defense made by the prisoner to his indictment for murder. It is said that on his trial for the murder of Daniel Clark in 1745, Eugene Aram defended himself with unusual ability. But no man now remembers what he said, and it is difficult to find a record of the address which Jef- ferson so much admired. Victor Cousin, the great French orator, speaking upon this subject, says:
