The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches

by Unknown

• ISBN13: 9780140176193
• ISBN10: 0140176195
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1997-02-01
• Publisher: Penguin Books

Summary

Great leaders of history have sought to take their followers to the promised land through the uplifting power of speech. Editor Brian MacArthur surveys the greatest oratory past and present. From Moses to Abraham Lincoln, he shows that great speeches can be placed alongside the work of artists, poets, and priests and read with the same pleasure and intellectual enlightenment.

Author Biography

Brian MacArthur is the Executive Editor (features) for the London Times. He is also the editor of The Penguin Book of Historical Speeches.

Table of Contents

Introduction	xv
Acknowledgements	xxii
ANCIENT TIMES	1	(32)
`Thou shalt not ...' (c. 1250 BC)	3	(2)
Moses
`Athens crowns her sons' (431 BC)	5	(3)
Pericles
`No evil can happen to a good man' (399 BC)	8	(3)
Socrates
`I have always made common cause with the people' (330 BC)	11	(4)
Demosthenes
`Among us you can dwell no longer' (63 BC)	15	(8)
Marcus Tullius Cicero
`Blessed are the poor in spirit' (c. 33)	23	(6)
Jesus of Nazareth
`Turn thy face towards the Sacred Mosque' (7th century)	29	(4)
Muhammad
OF COMMONERS AND KINGS	33	(30)
`We do not wish to molest you' (597)	35	(1)
Ethelbert
`Be ye the avengers of noble blood' (1066)	35	(2)
William the Conqueror
`Cast off the yoke of bondage' (1381)	37	(1)
John Ball
`I shall declare unto you my very faith' (1556)	38	(2)
Thomas Cranmer
`I have the heart and stomach of a king' (1588)	40	(1)
Queen Elizabeth I
`To be a king' (1601)	41	(3)
Queen Elizabeth I
`Kings are justly called Gods' (1609)	44	(1)
King James I
`The exchequer ... is empty ... the jewels pawned' (1628)	45	(2)
Sir John Eliot
`You, your estates, your posterity, lie at the stake!' (1641)	47	(2)
Thomas Wentworth
Earl of Strafford
`He should perish by the justice of that law which he would have subverted' (1641)	49	(3)
John Pym
`The cry of all England' (1642)	52	(2)
John Pym
`The poorest he' (1647)	54	(1)
Thomas Rainborowe
`I go from a corruptible to an incorruptible crown' (1649)	55	(3)
King Charles I
`In the name of God, go!' (1653)	58	(1)
Oliver Cromwell
`Let God be judge between me and you' (1658)	59	(4)
Oliver Cromwell
THE BIRTH OF THE UNITED STATES	63	(44)
`We shall be as a city upon a hill' (1630)	65	(2)
John Winthrop
`The cause of liberty' (1735)	67	(2)
Andrew Hamilton
`A man's house is his castle' (1761)	69	(2)
James Otis
`I rejoice that America has resisted' (1766)	71	(4)
William Pitt
`The tremendous bar of God!' (1774)	75	(2)
John Hancock
`The kingdom is undone' (1775)	77	(5)
William Pitt
`This spirit of American liberty' (1775)	82	(6)
Edmund Burke
`Give me liberty, or give me death!' (1775)	88	(3)
Patrick Henry
`Be yourselves, O Americans' (1776)	91	(2)
Samuel Adams
`You cannot conquer America' (1777)	93	(6)
William Pitt
`If we must fall, let us fall like men!' (1778)	99	(1)
William Pitt
`I agree to this Constitution with all its faults' (1787)	100	(2)
Benjamin Franklin
`The thing is a dream' (1788)	102	(5)
Alexander Hamilton
CLASHES AMONG THE GLADIATORS	107	(44)
`I am conscious of no crime' (1741)	109	(3)
Sir Robert Walpole
`Where law ends, there tyranny begins' (1770)	112	(2)
William Pitt
`He is not a member of Bristol, but he is a member of parliament' (1774)	114	(2)
Edmund Burke
`The wounds given to the Constitution ... are still bleeding' (1775)	116	(3)
John Wilkes
`The most odious species of tyranny' (1783)	119	(3)
Charles James Fox
`He is doing indeed a great good' (1783)	122	(1)
Edmund Burke
`What is the difference between an absolute and a limited monarchy?' (1783)	123	(3)
Charles James Fox
`I impeach Warren Hastings' (1788)	126	(6)
Edmund Burke
`Justice ... august and pure' (1788)	132	(2)
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
`Let us make reparation to Africa' (1789)	134	(4)
William Wilberforce
`A barbarous traffic in slaves' (1792)	138	(9)
William Pitt the Younger
`The spirit of freedom' (1795)	147	(4)
Charles James Fox
THE RIGHTS OF MAN	151	(52)
`Woe to the privileged orders!' (1789)	153	(1)
Mirabeau
`Hideous bankruptcy is here ... And yet you deliberate!' (1789)	154	(2)
Mirabeau
`Tremble all ye oppressors of the world!' (1789)	156	(3)
Richard Price
`Your blood shall redden the earth' (1792)	159	(3)
Pierre Vergniaud
To dare, to dare again, ever to dare!' (1792)	162	(1)
Georges Jacques Danton
`Louis must perish because our country must live!' (1792)	163	(2)
Maximilien Robespierre
`The rights of man' (1792)	165	(4)
Thomas Erskine
`The people have nothing but blood' (1793)	169	(2)
Georges Jacques Danton
`The Revolution, like Saturn, devouring successively all her children' (1793)	171	(4)
Pierre Vergniaud
`Our moderation has saved the country' (1793)	175	(2)
Pierre Vergniaud
`It is a crime to be a king' (1793)	177	(5)
Camille Desmoulins
`Terror is nothing else than justice' (1794)	182	(1)
Maximilien Robespierre
`The Supreme Being' (1794)	182	(5)
Maximilien Robespierre
`Death is the beginning of immortality' (1794)	187	(2)
Maximilien Robespierre
`Danger with indelible shame and disgrace' (1797)	189	(4)
William Pitt
`An implacable spirit of destruction' (1800)	193	(2)
William Pitt the Younger
`Must the bowels of Great Britain be torn out? (1800)	195	(7)
Charles James Fox
`Europe is not to be saved by any single man' (1805)	202	(1)
William Pitt the Younger
TOWARDS CIVIL WAR	203	(62)
`I retire from the great theatre of action' (1783)	205	(1)
George Washington
`Observe good faith and justice towards all nations' (1796)	206	(7)
George Washington
`I am an American' (1800)	213	(3)
Gouverneur Morris
`Equal and exact justice to all men' (1801)	216	(3)
Thomas Jefferson
`We also have a religion' (1805)	219	(3)
Red Jacket
`Once a happy race. Since made miserable' (1810)	222	(1)
Tecumseh
`The triple yoke of ignorance, tyranny and corruption' (1819)	223	(2)
Simon Bolivar
`The first scene of our history' (1820)	225	(3)
Daniel Webster
`Liberty and union, now and forever' (1830)	228	(9)
Daniel Webster
`We have borne these evils by far too long' (c. 1832)	237	(4)
Seth Luther
`The controversy is ... between power and liberty' (1833)	241	(5)
John C. Calhoun
`The priceless value of the freedom of the press' (1837)	246	(4)
Wendell Phillips
`The dove of peace' (1850)	250	(3)
Henry Clay
`This cry of union' (1850)	253	(2)
John C. Calhoun
`Liberty and union' (1850)	255	(5)
Daniel Webster
`I hear the mournful wail of millions' (1852)	260	(5)
Frederick Douglass
THE AGE OF IMPROVEMENT	265	(70)
`I stand up ... against the friends and followers of Mr Pitt' (1812)	267	(2)
Henry Brougham
`The interest of England' (1823)	269	(3)
George Canning
`A moral necessity' (1829)	272	(5)
Robert Peel
`Renew the youth of the state' (1831)	277	(2)
Thomas Macaulay
`The dangers which menace states' (1831)	279	(2)
Robert Peel
`Reject not this bill!' (1831)	281	(1)
Henry Brougham
`A matter of shame and remorse' (1833)	282	(4)
Thomas Macaulay
`You are the gentry of England' (1845)	286	(2)
Richard Cobden
`The cause of the people, the cause of England' (1846)	288	(3)
Benjamin Disraeli
`I cannot charge myself with having taken any course inconsistent with Conservative principles' (1846)	291	(3)
Sir Robert Peel
`I suffer, and I see no hope' (1849)	294	(1)
Benjamin Disraeli
`The strong arm of England' (1850)	295	(2)
Henry Palmerston
`England does not love coalitions' (1852)	297	(2)
Benjamin Disraeli
`A Budget ... which may peril our safety' (1852)	299	(3)
William Gladstone
`I am told indeed that the war is popular' (1854)	302	(2)
John Bright
`The Angel of Death has been abroad throughout the land' (1855)	304	(3)
John Bright
`If all other tongues are silent, mine shall speak' (1861)	307	(1)
John Bright
`A mighty fabric of human bondage' (1862)	308	(3)
John Bright
`You cannot fight against the future' (1866)	311	(2)
William Gladstone
`Sanitas sanitatum, omnia sanitas' (1872)	313	(4)
Benjamin Disraeli
`The issue is not a mean one' (1872)	317	(6)
Benjamin Disraeli
`God speed the right' (1879)	323	(2)
William Gladstone
`Remember the rights of the savage' (1879)	325	(1)
William Gladstone
`Liberty for ourselves, Empire over the rest of mankind' (1879)	326	(2)
William Gladstone
`The blessed ends of prosperity and justice, liberty and peace' (1879)	328	(2)
William Gladstone
`The most inexpressible calamity' (1883)	330	(5)
William Gladstone
THE AGE OF LINCOLN	335	(50)
`On the Red Man's trail' (1855)	337	(4)
Chief Seattle
`Man above all institutions!' (1854)	341	(3)
William Lloyd Garrison
`The monstrous injustice of slavery' (1854)	344	(3)
Abraham Lincoln
`A house divided against itself cannot stand' (1858)	347	(5)
Abraham Lincoln
`I have labored for and not against the Union' (1858)	352	(2)
Abraham Lincoln
`The blood of millions' (1859)	354	(2)
John Brown
`Let us have faith that right makes might' (1860)	356	(2)
Abraham Lincoln
`A final adieu' (1861)	358	(5)
Jefferson Davis
`My feeling of sadness at this parting' (1861)	363	(1)
Abraham Lincoln
`We are not enemies, but friends' (1861)	364	(2)
Abraham Lincoln
`A new bond of union' (1863)	366	(1)
Edward Everett
`Government of the people, by the people, for the people' (1863)	367	(2)
Abraham Lincoln
`With malice toward none' (1865)	369	(2)
Abraham Lincoln
`I will fight no more' (1877)	371	(1)
Chief Joseph
`Fields that ran red with human blood in April were green with the harvest in June' (1886)	371	(4)
Henry W. Grady
`A new heaven and a new earth' (1893)	375	(3)
Booker T. Washington
`The sacrifice was not in vain' (1896)	378	(1)
Booker T. Washington
`You shall not crucify mankind upon a cross of gold' (1896)	379	(6)
William Jennings Bryan
THE CRY OF IRELAND	385	(40)
`The breath of liberty' (1780)	387	(4)
Henry Grattan
`A free people' (1782)	391	(1)
Henry Grattan
`Universal emancipation' (1794)	392	(3)
John Philpot Curran
`Whatever be the sentence of the court, I am prepared for it' (1798)	395	(2)
Wolfe Tone
`Thou art not conquered' (1800)	397	(2)
Henry Grattan
`I am going to my cold and silent grave' (1803)	399	(5)
Robert Emmet
`The eternal right to freedom of conscience' (1814)	404	(5)
Daniel O'Connell
`Men with starvation in their faces' (1828)	409	(3)
Richard Lalor Sheil
`We are eight millions, and you treat us thus' (1833)	412	(1)
Daniel O'Connell
`Ireland shall be free' (1843)	413	(3)
Daniel O'Connell
`Ireland unfree shall never be at peace' (1915)	416	(2)
Patrick Pearse
`In Ireland alone, in this twentieth century, is loyalty held to be a crime' (1916)	418	(7)
Roger Casement
WOMEN'S LIBERATION	425	(34)
`Let us rejoice as human beings' (1828)	427	(2)
Frances Wright
`We now demand our right to vote' (1848)	429	(4)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
`A'n't I a woman?' (1851)	433	(1)
Sojourner Truth
`Disappointment is the lot of women' (1855)	434	(2)
Lucy Stone
`I have a right to have just as much as a man' (1867)	436	(2)
Sojourner Truth
`The male element is a destructive force' (1868)	438	(2)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
`Are women persons?' (1872)	440	(2)
Susan B. Anthony
`The true woman' (1888)	442	(3)
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
`The laws that men have made' (1908)	445	(3)
Emmeline Pankhurst
`The political criminal of today must needs be the saint of the new age' (1917)	448	(5)
Emma Goldman
`Fascism shall not pass' (1936)	453	(2)
Dolores Ibarruri Gomez
`A woman's civil right' (1969)	455	(4)
Betty Friedan
A CENTURY OF WAR AND REVOLUTION	459	(42)
`The great pinnacle of sacrifice' (1914)	461	(4)
David Lloyd George
`Long live the world socialist revolution' (1917)	465	(3)
V.I. Lenin
`Man will see the truth' (1919)	468	(2)
Woodrow Wilson
`Non-violence is the first article of my faith' (1922)	470	(3)
Mahatma Gandhi
`The only thing we have to fear is fear itself' (1933)	473	(4)
Franklin Delano Roosevelt
`My patience is now at an end' (1938)	477	(4)
Adolf Hitler
`I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat' (1940)	481	(1)
Winston Churchill
`This was their finest hour' (1940)	482	(1)
Winston Churchill
`A new generation of Americans' (1961)	483	(4)
John F. Kennedy
`I have a dream' (1963)	487	(4)
Martin Luther King
`An ideal for which I am prepared to die' (1964)	491	(4)
Nelson Mandela
`A contaminated moral environment' (1990)	495	(3)
Vaclav Havel
`Let freedom reign' (1994)	498	(3)
Nelson Mandela
Select Bibliography	501