Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1874-01-31

o11o q OL99ol1.
Mr.. Bright hes Just written letter 70 sysane
theological student, In which he gives hii opin-
ion OF tse art OF pubic spdsting. He y for en-
tempcre speaking when 9 man Knows his sub
Who has to deliver . sermon a week on the
mon lie, he says, almest indispensable; "only
81 o. ns ar.as ana s
wonders that any man can do IL NJ AL The
best preparation for speaking Is, he suggests,
to think over what is to be said, and to form an
outline in few brief notes. He says he has
never been in the habit of writing out his
speeches, certainly not for more than thirty
years past, the labor Of writing being bad
DRY intolerable. The statement must, however,
be taken with certain qualification. Mr..
Bright, 1 believe, does not write out all his
tsnt and highly wor ked passages, and gets them
by heart. The rest he fills in IS he goes along
and any one who examines his speeches care
of he jsnsusss inc IN sesr precision and point
written and what spoken Off hand All his
speeches. are very carefully prepared, but chiefly
IN ms nead. he goes over the points he wishes
months, and broods over the subject till il takes
form and substance in his mind. He has a
small ship Of letter paper with notes on it of
the points in their order, and in the House of
Commons have often noticed him for hours
before he rose coming over his notes, and re-
hearsing passages with his eyes on the ceiling.
MT. Gladstone uses notes, but only for facts
and the order Of bis points, and trusts eNcla-
sively to the moment for his words. Lord Pal
merston always spoke extempOre, and scarcely
ever condescended to refer to q paper. His
great speech, five hours long, in the Don Paciti-
co debate, was delivered in this manner; be had
only set of the dispatches before him in order
40 maze exact quotations. Long parctice in
mastery OF precise and easy language, but he
was not flowing speaker. He thought
than how II sounded at the moment and was
deter mined not to use any but the words he
really wanted. This made him hesitate occa-
ionally. Mr.. Lowe acquired similar precision
rom debating leader articles for the Times
MI Dlsraeli despises notes, except notes of
dates and other figures; he prepares his speech
es with great care, planning them out, group
ing his points artisticaly, and polishing up his
epigrams, but his speeches, though partly
drafted beforehand, are not repeated from
memory. The late Lord Derby was an impul.
slve extempore speaker; but his son writes his
speeches from beginning to end, and learns
them laboriously. Lord Granville speaks Off
hand, and is very unequal in his style, which is,
ell also trusts to the words of the moment; and
THIS, imagine, was the rule with all the speak
ers OF the last generation. Mr.. Horsman. / have
each time destroying the manuscript, and then
writing another with as many improvements as
he can think Of. The object is, Of course, to
procure trm hold on the subject generally, as
well as on his premeditated language, 50 that
he may crop the latter if he chooses. and insert
anything that occurs to him.
An OrnfthOlOgfcal Opera Troupe.
An extraordinary public Entertainment has
been produced in Lima, Peru, by An Italian
named Contarini, who proposes to carry his ex-
hibition to Europe. He has taught and trained
by dibt of great patience and perseverance, an
opera company, made up OF thirty parrots and
parroquets, who perform two OF Bellini's
operas, Norma" and "Somnambuls,v on a
miniature stage, with full chorus and recita-
tive. The director and manager accompanies
the artists on piano harmonfum, and the per-
lection with which each bird sings his part and
the excellence of the chorus are prodigious
The debut Of this lyrice- ornithological COM
pany in Norma was attended BY the wealth
and fashion of Lima. When the par.
roquet that sang the contrslto finished
the allegro in the "Salutation to the
Moon" such was the enthusiasm the
shouting and the applause at hearing a bird
sing the Casta Diva, that the bird company
atfrighted took fight and sought refuge among
the side scenes. This interrupted the perform
ance for fully quarter OF an hour, and Signor
Contarini had to traDquillize the i'artists' by
forth the expressions of appreciation were mod
Grated, in order not to spoil the play. 1t appears
that the bird artists had now become accustomed
to the applause. The correctness and propriety
with which they give certain parts of the opera
are wonderful. The primo tenor possesses an
the airs and graces of the school of Mario and
the ladies of Lima have named the prims donna
Patti. A least, that is the story as told by one
OF the Lima papers-people who have anv i'm
aginaton to spare will please accept this draft
upon 1t.