The record-union., 1892-12-23
TIMOROUS SPEAKERS.
Great Men Who Quaked Before Their
Successes.

odSCSSSCSs
1t has been recently stated by those who
knew him well that Mr.. Sturgeon was
still another example of the fact that pub
lie men often quake on the eve of their
! great successes. Though few guessed it
| he was nervous in speaking, and one re-
| suit OF the disastrous panic at the Surrey
| Gardens in 1896 was that he ever after
! ward dreaded excitement in great audi
ences. At the Free Trade Hail in Man
chester, 1872, the orator was in buoyant
and brilliant form. Yet before deliver
ing his address he had been attacked by
nervous sickness in the ante-room. AS
We have suggested, this preliminary re-
coil seems to be a frequent characteristic
OF the efforts that establish or increase
fame. Inquiry shows that some form Of
nervousness dogs distinction like its
shadow. 1t may have peculiar and even
eccentric features. Edmund Yates has
mentioned the case OF distinguished
living politician, noted for mis- dash and
aplOmb while i'll the House of Commons,
to whom on one occasion Sir Henry Hal
ford, the eminent physician, gave an ac-
| count OF a railway accident. The mar
rator was elaborate in his description,
and it was too much for his listeners
nerves. In the midst of the story the doc
tor had to break off. His friend was on
the point Of tainting.
Condition OF mind bordering on panic
has often prevailed up to the test mo-
ment with men who have had to face
critical audiences. The late Lord Derby
earned the title of the Rupert OF debate"
from his dashiug alacrity, but he de-
clared: Nv hen am going to speak my
throat and lips are rs dry as those OF
man who is going to be hanged" He
never rose to speak without experiencing
peculiar and very unpleasant nervous
tremOr." The same was said of Lord
I,X~n haf ami .,s,N
statesman was totally unable to free HIM
self, from beginning to end of his career,
OF trepldatlon and nervous emotion when
he got upon his legs to address either
court or Parliament. Canning, too. told
his friends that he knew beforehand, by
a dlSagreeable set Of symptoms, when he
should win and hold the ear Of the House
and eXtort the admiration even OF his ad-
Versaries. He was always conscious of
an ominous chill OF fear. 1t meant not
failure, as was his dread, but a fine ora
ton. Emilio CASTELAR,, the silver-tongued
spanish tribune, is simply miserable on
the eve OF great speech. His unrest and
anxiety on such occasions are a charac-
teristic feature of the man. He wanders
distraught about the building in which
the Cortes is in session. He rushes into
the cafe to get a glass of water; seems to
be seized with fever; fancies he will not
know how to put the words together;
that he will be laughed at or Kissed; not
single lucid idea of his speech remains
in his head; he has confused and forgot
ten everything" until the moment when
he looks round upon the expectant faces
and delivers the first sentence of his adj
dress. Then words do not fail; they come to
his help in stately, Sonorous order. Then
courage does not tag. He is d statesman
with mission, inspired and earnest.
Every atom of timOrousness has evapor-
ated.-Cassell's Saturday journal.