New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-09-13

fails to bring to my lips. and 'o NY pm"
az well.
I do not know that it would be a good
thing for any public speaker ever TO APP
proach the crncrgent hour with entirc as
surancc and utterly callouSc1 nerves. ouch
n condition might well bcspeak an indiier-
cncc To the work in hand which would re-
s,,lt either in a purely mechanical delivery.
ar one so careless as to destroy the effect OF
the lecturers most valuable aSsct,-a sym
nathctic personality. recall Tar back IN
nv college DAYS, in the carly 'SVs OF the
last century, meeting at one OF my fraternity
conventions that inspiring publicist, the
late Senator Frye OF Maine. In the course
of a pleasant chat, having myself TO- appear
before the convention with committee re-
port the following morning. and fceling
trHc uncertain as to how | was gong 10
"come through | asked the senator II nc
was ever a victim to nervousness WHICH iiiak-
ING n public address, and his answer was
ALWAYS, my lad" said he. always! !
have been making public speeches OIL afld
on now for twenty-five or thirty years ana
even today when | rise up to speak IN inc
United States Senate, or on the stump my
knees shake little under me. Ana III
glad they do, Son, he went on significantly;
"for if they didn't, ! should begin to iccl
that the days of my usefulness were over,
for it would mean that | really didn care
whether | got through safely or not.
60 il was that up to certain point l
~ svmpathized with my friend the diStin-
puishcd aftcr-dinncr speaker when ne IN
timatcd that the lecture platform was no
bed of roses. For one Of his nervous organi-
cation and temperament 1T would be iinpoS..
siblc. 1t would make nervous wreck o,
him in a short while, and III the cnd wouid
shorten his life, even as 1t has Shortchcd the
span Of many another robust spirit; Such
as the late Alfred Tcnnyson Dickens, LOT
instance, who in very truth Succufnped u
the cxactionS Of travel and OF lovcly nos
pitalty that he knew not how to resist.
But for myself there IS SO much III the
work that is inspiring, so much that IS pleas
mo in the human relationships it makes pos
siblc. that but for the discomiortS OF traVei
I could really feed upon it spiritually, and
seek no bappicr diet. defy any man to
be a pcssimist on the subject OF American
character after a season or two on the
lecture platform; provided OF course ina,
he i, a reasonably sympathetic man, and
COflStltult'l III ilIft'tNi' ''N''.
is what the politicians call good mixer.
To the man who is not interested IN the
human animal, and insists upon Judging all
men by his own rigid and narrow standards,
measuring souls by a yardStck, as 1t were,
the work can never be JOY; but II ne IS
broad enough to take people as ne ilndS
them. looking for the good that lies inherent
in every human being, and judging them
by the measure Of their capacity to become
what they were designed to be, and are
honestly trying to be, then he will find it
full OF a living and a loving interest almost
equal to that Of the 10Y forever
Pasted in my spiritual hat is little rlmc
by one whose name modcsty iorbidS my
mentioning. running:
I can't be what Shakespeare was.
| cant do what great folks does;
But by Ginger. can be
MEL
And among the folks that lovc me
Nothn' morc's expected OF me.
The wandering platform speaker who will
heed the limitations Of that little rlmc, and
seize the friendships in kind that surely
await his coming in all parts Of this great,
genial country Of ours, will find wondrou5
store Of happiness ready to his hand. II IN
addition to this ne will cultivate the habit
If looking for good in unpromiring places,
and cf rcSolutcly refusing to admit the power