Evening journal., 1914-12-19
New News Of Yesterday
The Wonderful Memories
of Some Famous Men
~ Hsn@L

81 think the reason which explains the
deterioration in public speaking which
mas been so remarkable a characteristic
of the United States in the past fifteen
OF twenty years is TO be found in the
nse of manuscripts" said Chauncey NJ
Depew TO me at a time when he was
speaking reminiseently OF some OF tho
oreat orators of the United States whom
he had heard ana many Of whom he
knew personally.
81 have heard It said that the best
address which Ralph Waldo Emerson
ever made was an extemporaneous eu-
logv which was delivered at banquet
held in commemoration of Robert Burns.
Emerson really had his manuscripts or
notes before him. but they were con-
cealed and he took furtive glances5 az
them so skillfully that almost all oil
those who heard him thought he was
speaking eXtemporancously.
NO man should undertake 20 make
an extemporaneous address unless he
has carefully prepared it beforehand
Some men can in such preparation fix
the general outline Of the address thor
oughlv in their mind so that il is not nee
essary to hold up manuscript between
the speakers lips and the hearers eyes.
While / have a good memory for events,
havr not Il good verbal memory. l
always prepare my addresses and read
them over carefully before delivering
| them, but do not pretend to follow my
prepared manuscript exactly as 1t was
written.
"There is no mental endeavor like ora
| tory TO illustrate the various phases OF
memory. As l said, my verbal memory
IS not good, but my memory of facts
and events and for incidents with which
have been associated is always fresh
and at my Immediate command.
'Now take, on the other hand, some
Of the great speakers whose verbal
memory was wonderful I have heard
| William II. Seward speak without a line
of manuscript before him and have
! known that he bad written bis speech
end SO facile was his memory that be
was able to imprint it upon his mind
after single reading. | have been told
/ that Grover Cleveland had the same
faculty, and that explains why he was
able 20 deliver his first inaugural with
out any reference to the manuscript
which wqs in his coat pocket
"Roscoe Conkling always wrote out
sometimes with infinite care--his ad.
dresset. At the Rochester convention OF
1877. he delivered. apparently cXtempo-
raneously, a speech which has become
traditional. He had the perfect art II
an actor at his command that he simu.
lated the manner and the hesitation
which are Characteristic OF an cxtempo.
raneous speaker. Yet, the evening be
fore he had recited that speech to a few
friends in his room at the Rochester
Hotel. Conkling, however. did not pos.
sess Stewards facility Of committing "a
memory at one reading. He sometimes
spent many days in committing his pr,
% address to memory.
"There is another phase of memory
which, / have been told, Macaulay pos.
scssed in an extraordinary degree. He
could read a book through and then re.
peat what he had read word for word
| Furthermore, he read with eXtraordi.
nary swiftness. His eyes seemed tC
rest only for a moment on page, but
in that instant he took in everything
that was there.
II have been told that Charles \
Dana possessed this gift and that hs
could read a long editorial with a singl,
sweep Of the eye. Theodore Roose
welt also has this gift, and that explains
how it has happened that Roosevelt has
been able TO read so many books even in
the busiest days of his life, and TO re
tain in his memory everything that n'
has read"
: copyright. 1914. by 4. J. Edwards. Al