Year: 1860

LORD BRouGHAM ON PUBLIC SPEAKING.-Lord
Brougham, on being installed as Chancellor of
the Ednburg University, made the following
remarks in relation to preparation for public
speaking:


But dwell upon the subject at present in
order to illustrate the necessity of full prepa-
ration and of written composition to those who
would attain real excellence in the rhetorical
art. In truth, certain proficiency in public
speaking may be acquired by any one who
chooses often to try it, and can harden him
self against the pain of frequent failures. If
he is a person of no capacity, his speeches
will be very bad; but even though be be a
man of genius they will not be eloquent A
sensible remark or fine image may occur !;
but the loose, and slovenly, and poor dic.ion
the want of art in combining and dsposing of
his ideas, the inability to bring out MANY OF
his thoughts, and the incompetency to present
any OF them in the best and most efficient
form, will reduce the speaker to the level of
an ordinary talker. His diction is sure to be
clumsy incorrect, unlimited in quantity, and
of no value. Such q speaker is never in want
of word, and hardly ever has one that is
worth hearing. "Sine hoec quidem conscientia, /"
(says Quintilian, speaking of written compost
tion) "ipsa ala e1tempore dicendi facu1ias man
EN- nsodo loquacitatem dabet ct ver6a in labris
nascentia" (xliii.)


1t is a common error to call this natural ell
oquence; it is the reverse; it is neither natu-
raj nor eloquent. A person under the influ-
ence of strong feelings or passions, pouring
forth all that fills his mind, produces pow
erful effect on his hearers, and often attains
without any art the highest beauties of rhet-
nri0 hQ lann of h. a


silly, but is concise and simple, and the yery
opposite of the wordiness just described The
unframed speaker who is also unpract,ced.
and utters according to the dictates of his
feelings, now and then succeeds perfectly; but
in these rare instances be would not be the
less successful for having studied the art,
while that study would enable him to succeed
equally in all he delivers, and would give him
the same control over the feelings of others
whatever might be the state of his own
Herein indeed consists the value of the study:
1t enables him to do at all times what nature
only teaches on rare occasions. Nor is there
better corrective of the faults complained Of
In the eloquence OF modern times than the
habtual contemplation of ancient models
more especially the chaste beauties of the
Greek compositions, and the diligent practice
of severe written preparation.


1t is the greatest of all mistakes 10 fancy
that even carefully prepared passage cannot
be delivered before modern assembly.
once contended on this point with an accom-
plshed classical scholar, and no nconsidera-
bic orator, Lord Melbourne, who at once un-
der,ook to point out the passages which had
been prepared, and those which were given
oh-hand and at the inspiration of the moment
lie was wrong in almost every guess he made
Lord Denman on more remarkable OCCASION
at the bar of the House of Lords, in the
Queens case, made the same mistake upon the
passage delivered before the adjournment in
the middle of the first day of the defense, The
objection made that prepared passages are
artificial and disclose the preparation, is who'll
ly groundless. In the first place, nothing can
be more artificial than a speech must neces-
sarily be, that is anything beyond mere con-
versation. Next, it is the manner, not the
substance, which is prepared; and, finally, if
the art used is shown and not concealed, the
artist alone is in fault