72 WORCESTER COUNTY HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. [1900. 



exercises that enlarge the chest should increase the lung capacity 

 and vigor of the speaker. It may be his fortune to address an 

 assembly in the open air or in halls, where the laws of acoustics, 

 if there be any such laws, are disregarded. He must use his 

 powers with economy. The collapse of the lungs is sure to be 

 followed by faltering speech and a feverish condition of the 

 muscles. The victim then resorts to the use of cold water, that 

 worst enemy of public speakers. It is proper to observe that 

 physical deficiencies lose their power as the intellectual faculties 

 advance, and on the other hand the tinest physical gifts and 

 attainments become contemptible in the lack of intellectual 

 equipment. 



As necessary training I mention early and frequent practice 

 in public speaking. The beginning of this must be laid in 

 school and continued through college and the professional 

 school. This requires that we devote more time to the subject 

 of public speaking in our schools. The ability to read and 

 write does not come by nature and in all but a very few cases 

 the ability to speak effectively in public is not a gift. In some 

 institutions the authorities forbid debating because it may detract 

 from the time spent in the attainment of knowledge. But if the 

 ability to speak well is of importance it should be given a place 

 in the system of education. 



Early and constant practice is the only method by which the 

 faculty to speak in public can be obtained or even preserved. 

 Whoever stands before an audience is always an object of criti- 

 cism even though he may not be hissed as sometimes on the 

 stage, and it is important to the speaker and to the cause he 

 espouses that he presents himself and the cause in (he best 

 way. Some of you can remember the appearance and manner 

 of Phillips and Everett and Choate. One may recognize the 

 grace of their delivery, but must not imitate them. A speaker's 

 manner, even his mannerisms, should be his own. The quali- 

 ties of Everett, the peculiarities of Choate had many imitators. 

 Everett's style was quiet, undemonstrative, dignified. Many of 

 his victims found refuge in the pulpit. The imitators of Choate 

 were not so fortunate. When he became earnest in the course 



