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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 I 74-17,779 HAMPLE, Judy Jones, 1947- WILLIAM WIRT: A STUDY OF RHETORICAL STANCE. The Ohio State U niversity, P h.D ., 1974 Speech University Microfilms, A XEROX Company, Ann Arbor, Michigan © 1974 JUDY JONES HAMPLE ALL RIGHTS RESERVED WILLIAM WIRT: A STUDY OF RHETORICAL STANCE DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Judy Jones Hample, B.A., M.A. i'< * j< * & The Ohio State University 1974 Reading Committee: Approved By Professor Goodwin F. Berquist Professor Paul C. Bowers Professor James L. Golden w m . Adviser yhrtment of Communication ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study might never have been completed without the valuable guidance of several understanding persons. My deepest gratitude is extended to my adviser, Professor Berquist. His extensive knowledge of history and public address aided me in maintaining a perspective or the historical and rhetorical emphases of this work; his continu ing interest, patience, enthusiasm and encouragement kept me working on the project. I am deeply indebted to Professors Golden and Bowers for reading the draft and making valuable suggestions for improvement. Additionally I would like to acknowledge my appreciation to Professor Golden for introducing me to the methods of rhetorical criticism uti lized in this study and to Professor Bowers for introducing me to the methods, joys and rewards of historical research. I am also grateful for the courtesies of librarians and archivists. Especially, I wish to thank the staff of the Archives of the Virginia State Library for continually aiding me in resolving conflicting accounts of aspects of William Wirt's life. VITA October 16, 1947. Born - Henderson, Tennessee 196 9 .............. B.A., David Lipscomb College Nashville, Tennessee 1969-1971 . University Fellow, Department of Communication The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 197 0 .............. M.A., The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 1972-1973 . Lecturer and Director of Forensics, Department of Speech Comimmication, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 1973-1974 . Assistant Professor and Associate Director of Debate, Department of Communication Arts and Sciences, Western Illinois University, Macomb, Illinois FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Rhetoric Studies in Rhetorical Theory: Professors James L. Golden and Goodwin F. Berquist Studies in Rhetorical Criticism: Professors James L. Golden and Goodwin F. Berquist Studies in History and American Public Address: Professors Paul C. Bowers and Goodwin F. Berquist TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................... iii VITA ......................................................... iv Chapter I. INTRODUCTION .................................................... 1 A Rhetorician in the Making Methodology Available Arguments About the Subject Interests and Peculiarities of the Audience The Uncontested Term The Rhetorical Syllogism or Enthymeme Aesthetic Distance Implied Character of the Speaker Speaker's Purpose Speaker's Argument Speaker's Language Wirt's Achievement of Rhetorical Stance Survey of Literature II. THE CULTURAL STANCE OF POST-REVOLUTIONARY VIRGINIA. 25 Political Environment Social Ideas and Mores Books, Reading and the Belles Lettres Tradition Educational Development Elementary Education Secondary Education Higher Education Harvard William and Mary/King's/Yale Pennsylvania Summary III. RHETORICAL ESSAYIST ........................................... 54 Essays: A Communication Medium Rhetorical Strategies Instruction in the Achievement of Eloquence Definition of Eloquence v Chapter Page The Orator's Education Nature versus Nurture Rhetorical Theory The Speaker Ethical Manifestations of Character Delivery Message Argument Language Occasion Rhetorical Stance IV. RHETORICAL BIOGRAPHER 137 Biography of Henry Contradictory Accounts of Henry's Life Audience Expectations Anticipation of Publication Summary of the Henry Biography Patrick Henry: Moral Example Patrick Henry: Patriotic Ideal Patrick Henry: Rhetorical Model Henry's Liberty or Death Speech: A Case Study Rhetorical Stance Available Arguments About the Subject Interests and Peculiarities of the Audience Implied Character of the Speaker V. PUBLIC ADVOCATE 191 Talents and Abilities as an Orator Reputation as a Lawyer-Politician Occasional Addresses "Discourse on Jefferson and Adams" "Address to Students of Rutgers College" "Address on the French Revolution" Rhetorical Stance VI. CONCLUSIONS 225 Summary Conclusions BIBLIOGRAPHY 239 vi CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION A word is a vehicle, a boat floating down from the past, laden with the thought of men we never saw; and in coming to understand it we enter not only into the minds of our contemporaries, hut into the general mind of humanity continuous through time.-'- This is the study of a word specialist: William Wirt, an orator, lawyer, essayist and biographer. Wirt's special genius was his ability to breathe life into Patrick Henrv as the "Voice of the Revolution," to captivate the heart of an audience with the suspenseful drama of Aaron Burr's trial for treason and to conjure up eloquent classical and contemporary models exemplifying moral virtue for the emulation of Virginia youths. Communication was his medium and for this he merits our attention. Early nineteenth century Americans recognized particular talents in Wirt's literary, oratorical and forensic skills. In the words of a contemporary literary historian, "Although no one reads his speeches now, O Wirt was one of the great American orators of his time."" The series of familiar essays (narrative descriptions of people and problems) "The Letters of the British Spy," "The Old Bachelor," "The Slyph,” "One of the People," "The Sentinel" penned by Wirt have survived only in dust- -^Charles Horton Cooley, .Social Organization: A Study of the Larger Wind (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1922), p. 69. ^Jay B. Hubbell, The South in American Literature 1607-1900 (Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1954), p. 241. 1 covered anthologies because they too have lost their timeliness. As a lawyer, Wirt vied with the presently acclaimed statesmen of the era: Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, Henry Clay, Emmet Martin and William Pinkney. Not only was Wirt a private legal counsel but he served the office of the United States Attorney General longer than any other man in history. Yet with the possible exception of the trial of Aaron Burr, Wirt's name is seldom associated with any tenet of constitutional law or any popular issue of his era. For twentieth century Americans, the sole merit of William Wirt appears to be his biography of Patrick Henry. Though severely criticized as panegyric in his own day, Wirt's work affords the first glimpse of Henry the orator. While Wirt's biography v>as been somewhat displaced by the subsequent interpretations of Willison, Meade, Arnold, Tyler and William Wirt Henry, this study will demonstrate the overwhelming influences which Wirt's biography had on these writers. The Henry biography embodies the epitome of Wirt's ideas, goals and values. Wirt, like his ideal, Patrick Henry, was responsive to the social and cultural influences of eighteenth and nineteenth century America. Through Henry, Wirt saw an opportunity to assimilate his views on eloquence and inspire the youth of Virginia to resurrect their "degenerating" culture. As a biographer, essayist and orator, Wirt assumed the role of a cultural critic. All of his spoken and written words