The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1860-08-10
FOR PUBLIC SPEAKING.


ldwell upon the subject at present in or.
der to illustrate the necessity of full prepar-
alton and of written composition to those
who would attain real excellence in the
rhetorical art. In truth, certain prof.
cheney in public speaking may be acquired
by any one who chooses often to try it, and
can harden himself against the pain of fire.
quent failures. If he is a person of no ca.
pacity his speeches will be very bad but
even though he be man Of genius they
will pot be eloqucntss A sensible remark
or fine image may occur; but the loose,
and slovenly, and poor diction, the want Of
art in combining and disposing Of his ideas,
tie inability TO bring out many Of his
thoughts, aid the incompetency to present
any Of them in the best and most efficient
form, will reduce the speaker to the level
Of an ordinary talker. Lis dic,ion is sure
to be clumsy, incorrect, unlimited in guam
'ity, and of no value. Such speaker is
never in want Of a word, and hardly, ever
has one that is worth hearing, 'Sine hoc
G"idem conscientia, (says Qnintilian, speak
ing OF written composition } 'ipsa lila ca.
tempore diccndi .tacultas inanem modo
loquacitatem dabit ct ver5a IN tuJris mas
cenfia. (xliii.) 1t is common error 10
call this natural eloquence; it is the reverse
it is neither natural or eloquent. A person
under the influence Of strong feelings or
passions, pouring forth all that fills lis
mind, produces a powerful effect on his
hearers, and often attains without any art
the highest beauties of rhetoric. The lam
guage Of the passions flows easily, but is
concise and simple, and the very opposite
Of the wordiness just described. the un-
trained speaker who is also unpracticed
and utters according TO the dictates of his
feelings, now and then succeeds perfectly
but in these rare instances he would not be
the less successful for having studied. the
art, while that study would enable him to
havethe same control over the feelings of.oth
ers, whatever might tc tie .tato Of his own
Herein, indeed, consists the value of,tl,e
study; it enaBtsslim to do at all time:
what nature oily Teaches on rare occasions
Nor istthere e better corrective Of the fault:
complained ofin the eloquence Of moderr
times than the habitual contemplation o
ancient models, mere especially the chastt
beauties'of the Greek composition, and ,lt
Etbe diligent practice Of severe written pre-
sparations. 1t is the greatest of all mis-
ftakes to fancy that even a carefully prcpar
ed passage cannot. be delivered before .
modern assembly. once contcnded OF
this point with an accomplished classica
scholar,sana no inconsiderable speaker him
self, Lord Melbourne, who at once under
took to point outstbe passages which hat
been prepared, and Those which were giver
of'hand and at the inspiration Of the mo
ment. He was wrong in almost every
guess he made. Lord Brennan on more
remarkable occasion at the bar Of the
House of Lords, in the Queens case made
the same mistake upon the passage deliver.
ed before the adjournment in The middle o
the day of the defence. the objectio,
made that, prepared passages are artiicia
and disclose the preparation is who'll,
groundess. In the first place, nothing ca,
be more arti6cialthan> a speech must in al
most alkeases necessarily be that is any
thing beyond mere conversation. Next, i
is the manner, not the substance which il
prepared; and finally, if the art used i
shown and not concealed, the artist alone j
in fault Lord Brou2hum.