Stammering and stuttering are more deeply rooted defects, and require the treatment of a specialist. They result from a partial paralysis of some part of the vocal apparatus, which it should be borne in mind extends from the diaphragm to the lips. There is an absence of control over the voluntary muscles somewhere in the complex organ, and this results in confused or spasmodic action. Stammering seems to be lack of power over the vowel sounds, stuttering over the consonant sounds.

SPEECH-MAKING.

THE power and importance of oratory have been felt and acknowledged in all ages and in all countries, but more especially is its value and influence appreciated where constitutional government has been attained, and freedom of speech is the birthright of every citizen. In modern times the pen has become mightier than the sword, and the tongue of the orator has superseded the daring and courage of the warrior in directing the policy and swaying the destiny of nations. In the senate, the bar, the pulpit, and on the platform, the practised speaker, in these days, moulds the views, forms the judgment, and influences the votes of his audience, as no other human agency can do. The orator has thus become the modern chief of his fellows, the leader of his class, the king amongst men; and no one who has listened to a master-wielder of this godlike gift can wonder that its possession raises a man to such an eminence. We observe this distinction in all assemblies of men from the highest to the lowest, from the gathering together of the picked ones of the realm in the national Parliament, down to the meeting of the village club the man who cannot speak is a nonentity; the best speaker is the leader of his party, the master of the situation. The champion of popular rights, even

though in early life he may have worked as a miner, a stonemason, or a mechanic, now finds welcome admission, upon equal terms, amongst the great ones of the land, if he but has the power of golden-mouthed speech.

This being unquestionably the case, the wonder is that so little attention is given in early life to the acquisition of the art, which can be learned like singing and dancing. There are, no doubt, a few isolated cases in which natural temperament or organic defect disqualifies an individual from any approach to effective speech-making; and, on the other hand, to become really eloquent is within the power of a gifted few only; but the vast majority of mankind have it undoubtedly in their own hands to make themselves capable of giving public utterance to what they really know, feel, or believe, with clearness, fluency, and selfpossession. In our own country at least little or no attempt is made to develop the art of public speaking in our educational system, and no facilities for doing so are provided for the youth of our country when school life is over. In most cases nothing whatever is attempted in this direction until a man is compelled by circumstances to take part in public life, when somewhat advanced in years, and the result is generally as painful to the speaker as to the listener. This is like postponing the learning of swimming till a man is in a drowning condition. How few Englishmen, even amongst those who are well educated, can stand before an audience for a quarter of an hour, and state their views upon a subject they are supposed to be acquainted with, without humming and hawing every few seconds. And

yet it is an accomplishment entailing no more study and practice than many other intellectual habits they have acquired. That determination and patience will most surely achieve marked success in oratory, in spite of preliminary failure, we have many notable examples. The brilliant Sheridan and the late Lord Beaconsfield were both laughed down in their maiden efforts in the House of Commons; but their determination that the time would come when they should be heard was justified by their indomitable perseverance. The eloquent divine, Robert Hall, when a student, preaching extempore, once suddenly stopped, and covering his face with his hands, exclaimed, "I have lost all my ideas," and was obliged to sit down and close the service; yet he eventually became the most powerful preacher of the day.

Oratory of a high order is an art which embraces many natural and acquired gifts and accomplishments -voice, presence, knowledge of men and things, command of words, tact, humour, and self-possession. Demosthenes, perhaps the greatest master the world has heard, when asked what are the first, the second, and the third points in eloquence, answered, "Delivery, delivery, delivery," the quality, cogency, and variety of the matter delivered being, of course, presupposed. The mere capacity for continuous talk, aided by all the tricks of art, cannot produce real oratorical effect the audience see through the flimsy, pantomimic display, and discern the bare machinery behind. An effective speaker must have a thorough mastery of the subject he wishes to impress upon his audience, there should be no haziness in his own mind as to the views he is pro

pounding; the dominant idea should never be lost sight of, and all illustrations and details duly subordinated to it. Digressions, however effective in themselves, weaken the main argument, and break the thread of continuous thought. The main body of a speech, in which the central idea is elaborated, argued, and illustrated, should have an exordium, or beginning, in which it is stated with the utmost clearness, and a peroration, or ending, in which it is driven home with every oratorical appliance. These remarks, of course, apply to set speeches only; the art of impromptu speech, summing up, and final reply in debate requires so many natural and acquired accomplishments, that it should not be attempted without long-continued practice.

The preparation of a set specch is accomplished by experts in a variety of different ways, according to the importance of the occasion, the degree of skill acquired by previous practice, and the temperament and accomplishments of the speaker. All speeches that are worth delivering should be carefully studied out, but they should be given with the ease and naturalness of extempore utterance. Many orators, including all the great masters of ancient times, wrote out fully, and re-wrote their speeches as elaborate studied compositions, and then delivered them from memory. And here Demosthenes' chief point of excellence-viz., delivery, comes in as the one essential, in order that the prepared oration should produce the effect of extemporaneous utterance. When lacking this sovereign excellence

One of Cicero's most elegant orations was written but never delivered, although it has been read and studied as a model of excellence for upwards of eighteen centuries.

H