Oratory is now gone and is virtually an anachronism. And by the same token, declamation has lost its place in the prevailing pedagogy. To memorize a speech and deliver it expressively is a throwback, a relic of an earlier century. In an era when individuals, and pluralism reign, memorizing and reciting a speech is often dismissed as mechanical, rote behavior. As this practice has faded away, so too has the notion, widely accepted in 19th-century America, that rhetorical training is essential in acquiring civic competence and emotional literacy. This study reconsiders the value of traditional rhetorical training in the 19th century and then, much more briefly, looks for analogues today. Quoting from Camic, the author asks "...contemporary practitioners (must) strive to understand the ideas of the past in their own terms, since these are the only terms in which lapsed alternatives to entrenched present-day perspectives actually disclose themselves to us." Practices whose value has become eroded over time may become revivified and challenge out sense of possibility in the present. (Contains 14 endnotes.)