St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1890-10-19
TOPICAL TALK.

oratorlcal There is good deal
of public speaking at
Subteriuge. this time in Mime
sofa, and the delig llted
audiences wonder how 1t is that there
can be such flood of spontaneous elo-
quence and impromptu Uratory. Pretty
much every speaker starts out with the
statement that he hasn't had time to
collect his thoughts together, but will
trust to the inspiration of the hour for
something to say, and then launches
out Into a flow OF oratory and clear-eut
sentences that paralyZeS his audience.
L was told story the other 6lay OF
well-knOwn st. Paul lawyer, orator and;
politician who went out into politichl;
campaign several years ago and was
billed Tor speech at a town in the
southern part OF the state. He began
his address to the meeting by saying
that he was totally unpreparedt to speak.
but as the issues were OF nature to III
tereSt every man, woman and child. lie
would endeavor to say something. 81
sIaild before you to-day to advocate"
AT this point the speaker halted: then
he began to tumble in ali inside
pocket, and presently pulling out a
roll OF manuscript remarked, with adj
mirable cander, Fellow citizens, L nave
lied to you. Here is a speech have
prepared for the occasion, and with
your perHissiensI viii read it," where
upon he proceeded 10 read it amid the
heartleSt demonstrations of approval.
Daniel Webster was once asked from
whence he get his inspiration for those
beautifully rounded sentences which
adorned his perorations and which
seemed to bubble up spontaneously
from the great orators heart. Il got
THEM after many mouths of hard
study was the reply. He then ex-
.plalned that sometimes when alone all
ldea would come to him that seemed to
have an unusual force. He would
treasure it In his mind, and often i'm Ills
meditatlonS he would study Into it until
finally he got 1t into language that
pleased him, and then he would reserve
1t for future use when he should have
occasion to weave it into a speech that
he was to deliver in the senate. That
grand peroration which is quoted in all
the scheol readers, commencing, when
my eyes shall turn for the last time
to the flag of my country" was the
product of two years study. Few men
have enjoyed greater celebrity as an
aff-hand after dinner speaker than
Chauncy nj. Depew. 1t will be reve-
latiOn to thousands of admirers to learn
from Mr. DepeW himself that all OF his
pOst-prandial efforts are not the spon-
taneous offspring OF wine and wal
nuts" but that they are the result of
diligent study, and that he never makes
speech until he has carefully deliber-
ated upon the subject. This is right.
No public speaker has right te'im-
pose upon an audience by pretending
that he hasn't studied the subject of his
address. Unless it is a thoughtful
argument it isn't worth listening to, as
a rule. And yet there are exceptions.
The finest flow or eloquence l ever
listened to was from speaker who
spoke under the inspiration of the
hour, and who had no possible chance
to previously acquaint himself with the
subject. But such speakers are rare
What we want is an era of perfect can
dor in public speaking, when the fumes
of the midnight Oil snail freely mingIe
with the jasmine scent of Rhetoric's best
flowers.