The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1875-10-03
ExtemporaneouS Speaking.

In offering some remarks on Extern
poraneous Speaking" we would not have it
understood that readiness and fiuency in
conversation, as a general thing, are COM
pretended in the above caption. On the
contrary, we are inclined to admit the pos
sibility that the individual possessing the
faculty of extemporaneous harangue, may
may frequently does) present sorry figure
in the 'cut and thrust" exercise incident
to the conversations nalist. One of the most
essential qualifications (perhaps the most
essentially appertaiuing to the extemporan-
cons speaker proper is self possessi on.
Without this quality, we care not what the
calibre of the OF hand speaker may be, he
will be very apt to make sad work OF his
undertaking ariM it, no matter how devoid
of sylloglstic tact or logical qualification
the eXtemporaneous orator may De, ne ls
the man (his organic structure being fav-
orable) rot only to "split the ears of the
groundlings," but to make them believe
that off hand oratory, at least on this oc-
casion, "could no further CO." Far be it
from us to imply, in this remark (Perhaps too
satirical in Its appicatiou), that extern
poraneous speaking when resorteo TO by
people thoroughly practiced in such line,
and capabl-, therefore, OF giving tuii enecC
to their thoughts or arguments, should nee
essarily be the result of superficial prepar-
alton.
On the contrary, in the speeches (strictly
ertempOri=Cd, be il understood) OF the most
illustrious men, both in ancient ana MOD
ern times, we find nothing less than evil
dence the most irrefragable that their
minds were full to overhOwing on the mat
ters of which they spoke; and that their
"resistless eloQuence" which, in the case
of Demosthenes las Milton expresses iD,
"fulmined DER Greece to Macedon, ana
thence to ArtaxerXes' thTone," tnough
"extemporaneous' in its character, lost
bat
need we remind the reader, in this counec-
ton, of that galaxy of oratorical genius
which astonished the world in the days OF
Pitt and Fox. More than one, 1t ID true
of that illustrious batch of orators on MS
first attempt at "extemporaneous" display
in the House of Commons, partially sue
cumbed to the feeling of distruSt we have
hinted at above, as being a too common
preventive in keeping even "men OF PaFts'
from anything iu the shape of extempo'
raneous display, except In conversation
Yes! Richard BriDsley himself, with Che
talents of an angel" and the courage OF a
Caesar, found himeelf unable (utterly una
ble). on his first entering Parliament, to
eztempori=e a speech, and had to sit down
in q state of mind we can more easily i'm
aSine than describe. Ready, Witty ana
fluent in conversation, Sheridan, ike scores
and hundreds of distinguished literary men
to be met with, had a horror in the first
instance, of venturing an extempcraneous
speech. He declared, however, to an init
mate friend who tried to dissusde him from
all further attempts at parliamentary dis
play, that he chad it in him" and thaC IL
should "come out" which 1t did, and that
to the astonishment land possibly to the
chdgrin) Of William Pitt, the most able
aud accomplished extempOraneous orator,
probably, that ever lived. Need we add
that our own Patrick Henry, whose hrst
effort at extemporaneOus speaking was
made in the presence of his father, sitting
in the case of The People rs. The Clergy,
electrified his audience by the majesty OF
his demeauor and the eloquence of his argn-
meut, who could on other occasions hardly
write a grammatical sentence or inter
word not commonplace.