nostra?  So if on the printed page we may not see the living orator, we may look upon his picture—­the photograph of his power.  And it is this which it is the thought and purpose of this work to present.  We mean to photograph the orators of the world, reproducing the words which they spake, and trusting to the vivid imagination of the thoughtful reader to put behind the recorded words the living force and power.  In this we shall fill a vacant place in literature.  There are countless books of poetry in which the gems of the great poets of the world have been preserved, but oratory has not been thus favored.  We have many volumes which record the speeches of different orators, sometimes connected with a biography of their lives and sometimes as independent gatherings of speeches.  We have also single books, like Goodrich’s ‘British Eloquence,’ which give us partial selections of the great orations.  But this is intended to be universal in its reach, a complete encyclopedia of oratory.  The purpose is to present the best efforts of the world’s greatest orators in all ages; and with this purpose kept in view as the matter of primary importance, to supplement the great orations with others that are representative and historically important—­especially with those having a fundamental connection with the most important events in the development of Anglo-Saxon civilization.  The greatest attention has been given to the representative orators of England and America, so that the work includes all that is most famous or most necessary to be known in the oratory of the Anglo-Saxon race.  Wherever possible, addresses have been published in extenso.  This has been the rule followed in giving the great orations.  In dealing with minor orators, the selections made are considerable enough to show the style, method, and spirit.  Where it has been necessary to choose between two orations of equal merit, the one having the greater historical significance has been selected.  Of course it would not be possible, keeping within reasonable limits, to give every speech of every one worthy to be called an orator.  Indeed, the greatest of orators sometimes failed.  So we have carefully selected only those speeches which manifest the power of eloquence; and this selection, we take pleasure in assuring our readers, has been made by the most competent critics of the country.

We have not confined ourselves to any one profession or field of eloquence.  The pulpit, the bar, the halls of legislation, and the popular assembly have each and all been called upon for their best contributions.  The single test has been, is it oratory? the single question, is there eloquence?  The reader and student of every class will therefore find within these pages that which will satisfy his particular taste and desire in the matter of oratory.