The World's Best Orations, Volume 1


Read by LibriVox Volunteers

Who does not delight in oratory? How we gather to hear even an ordinary speaker! How often is a jury swayed and controlled by the appeals of counsel! Do we not all feel the magic of the power, and when occasionally we are permitted to listen to a great orator how completely we lose ourselves and yield in willing submission to the imperious and impetuous flow of his speech!

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. - Summary by David J. Brewer

This is volume 1 of 10.

Chapters

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The Resurrection of Lazarus - Pierre Abelard 6:24 Read by InTheDesert
The Last Entry into Jerusalem - Pierre Abelard 3:24 Read by InTheDesert
The Divine Tragedy - Pierre Abelard 3:15 Read by InTheDesert
The States and the Union - Charles Francis Adams 17:15 Read by tonette2695
The Battle of Gettysburg - Charles Francis Adams, Junior 17:37 Read by tonette2695
Inaugural Address - John Adams 20:28 Read by Michael Fassio
The Boston Massacre, Part 1 - John Adams 29:01 Read by Kari Burns
The Boston Massacre, Part 2 - John Adams 33:01 Read by Kari Burns
Oration at Plymouth - John Quincy Adams 47:46 Read by Gloria Loughry
Lafayette - John Quincy Adams 16:03 Read by Gloria Loughry
The Jubilee of the Constitution - John Quincy Adams 19:05 Read by Cbteddy
American Independence - Samuel Adams 53:55 Read by Kari Burns
A Farewell - Aelred 3:47 Read by tonette2695
A Sermon after Absence - Aelred 5:57 Read by tonette2695
On Manliness - Aelred 3:16 Read by tonette2695
Against Crowning Demosthenes - Aeschines 13:32 Read by TriciaG
Defense of Mrs. Mary E. Surratt, Part 1 - Frederick A. Aiken 28:13 Read by Gloria Loughry
Defense of Mrs. Mary E. Surratt, Part 2 - Frederick A. Aiken 28:21 Read by Gloria Loughry
Defense of Mrs. Mary E. Surratt, Part 3 - Frederick A. Aiken 28:06 Read by Gloria Loughry
The Meaning of the Crucifixion - Albert the Great 6:50 Read by kevalam
The Blessed Dead - Albert the Great 3:02 Read by kevalam
A Call to Arms - Ethan Allen 14:22 Read by Kari Burns
On the British Treaty - Fisher Ames 36:42 Read by Ted Lienhart
The Sea of Life - Saint Anselm 12:26 Read by mleigh
The Realities of Life and Death - Thomas Arnold 22:40 Read by Kari Burns
Inaugural Address - Chester Alan Arthur 6:12 Read by Michael Fassio
The Divinity of Christ - Athanasius 18:10 Read by Bill Mosley
The Lord's Prayer - Saint Augustine 31:08 Read by Paula Messina
Speech against Dueling - Francis Bacon 36:12 Read by Gloria Loughry
Treaties as Supreme Laws - James Barbour 23:46 Read by Michael Natale
Representative Democracy against Majority Absolutism - Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave 9:00 Read by PeripateticTJ
Commercial Politics - Antoine Pierre Joseph Marie Barnave 3:45 Read by PeripateticTJ
Slander - Isaac Barrow 33:31 Read by Gloria Loughry
On a Recreant Nun - Basil the Great 26:33 Read by Gloria Loughry
Unwillingness to Improve - Richard Baxter 20:39 Read by Suzanne Carol
The Federal Judiciary - James A. Bayard 41:15 Read by Gloria Loughry
Commerce and Naval Power - James A. Bayard 6:37 Read by Aaron Zimmerman
A Plea for Conciliation in 1876, Part 1 - Thomas F. Bayard 36:43 Read by Kari Burns
A Plea for Conciliation in 1876, Part 2 - Thomas F. Bayard 30:10 Read by Kari Burns
A Plea for Conciliation in 1876, Part 3 - Thomas F. Bayard 27:59 Read by Kari Burns
The Assassination of Lincoln - Lord Beaconsfield 8:21 Read by Beeswaxcandle
Against Democracy for England - Lord Beaconsfield 35:40 Read by Beeswaxcandle
The Meaning of "Conservatism", Part 1 - Lord Beaconsfield 26:03 Read by Beeswaxcandle
The Meaning of "Conservatism", Part 2 - Lord Beaconsfield 35:33 Read by Beeswaxcandle
The Meaning of "Conservatism", Part 3 - Lord Beaconsfield 20:42 Read by Beeswaxcandle
The Meeting of Mercy and Justice - The Venerable Bede 11:22 Read by Ernst Schnell
A Sermon for Any Day - The Venerable Bede 3:56 Read by David Koberling
The Torments of Hell - The Venerable Bede 5:52 Read by Aaron Zimmerman
Raising the Flag over Fort Sumter, Part 1 - Henry Ward Beecher 25:56 Read by Amie Willingham
Raising the Flag over Fort Sumter, Part 2 - Henry Ward Beecher 31:33 Read by Carol Galbraith
Effect of the Death of Lincoln - Henry Ward Beecher 16:22 Read by Sam Cantrell
A Plea for the National Life of Scotland - Lord Belhaven 33:52 Read by Ernst Schnell
Against Extremists, North and South - John Bell 22:59 Read by Gloria Loughry
Transcontinental Railroads - John Bell 26:38 Read by Gloria Loughry
Farewell to the Union - Judah P. Benjamin 24:07 Read by tonette2695
Slavery as Established by Law - Judah P. Benjamin 5:18 Read by tonette2695