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his fluency of speech , and so to neglect to store jus mind by previous study ( uot only general study , but ) of the particular subject on which he is called upon to speak , it may be productive of ill consequences which may fully counterbalance its benefits . '
" 1 am happy that herein I am supported by the authority of unquestionably the most distinguished extempore speaker of the present day , who , in his Jate ' Inaugural Discourse ou being installed Lord Rector of Glasgow / has thus expressed himself : ( the excellent orator has been
laying down rules , which it is the interest of every student to consult and follow for the attainment of a pure English diction ; and then proceeds thus : ) ' But it must not be imagined that all the labour of the orator is ended , or that he may then dauntless and $ uent enter upon
his office in the public assembly . Much preparation is still required ibefore each exertion , if rhetorical excellence is aimed at . I should lay it down as a rule , adjnifcting of no exception , that a man will speak well in proportion as he has writteu much ; and that , with equal . talents , he
will be thfc finest extempore speaker , when ro time for preparing is allowed , who has prepared himself the most sedulously when he had an opportunity of delivering a premeditated speech . All the exceptions 1 have ever heard cited to this principle , are apparent ones only ;
proving nothing more than that some few men , of rare genius , have become great speakers without preparation ; in nowise shewing , that , with preparation , they would not have reached a much higher pitch of excellence . The admitted superiority of the ancients , in all oratorical accomplishments , is the best proof of mv
position , for their careful preparation is undeniable ; nay , in Demosthenes ( of whom Quinctilian says that Jiis style- indicates *!*! ore ' premeditation , — plus cur a — than Ciceros ) we can trace by the recurrence of the same passage with progressive improvements in different speeches , how nicely he polished the more exquisite parts of his composition .
" * 1 am now requiring , not merely great preparation while the speaker is learning his art , but after he hap accomplished his education- The most splendid effort of the most mature orator will be always finer for being previously elaborated with much care . There is , no doubt , a charm
in extemporaneous elocution , derived from the appearance of artless unpremeditated effusion , called forth by the occasion , and so adapting itself to its exjgeneies , which may compensate the , manifold defects incident to this , kinrf of composition : that , wfrich is inspired -by the unforeseen circumstances . of the moment .
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will be of necessity suited to those circuiajstaoces in the choice o € the topics ancl pitched in the tone of the execution to the feelings npxm which it is to operate . These are great virtues ; it \ & another to avoid the besetting vice of modern oratory—the over doing eveiv t
hing-r-pthe exhaustive method , which an off-band speaker has no time to fall into , and he accordingly will tafce only the grand and effective view ; nevertheless , in oratorical merit , such effusions must needs be very inferior ; much of the pleasure they produce depends upon the hearer ' s surprise , that in such circumstances any
thing cau he delivered at all , rather than upon his deliberate judgment , that he has he ard any thing very excellent in itse-if We may rest assured that the highest reaches of the art , and without any saciifice of natural effect , ca # only l > e attained by him who welLconsMers , and maturely prepares , and oftentimes sedulously corrects and refines his oration /—Pp .
38—41 " . It j ) ow becomes my pleasing task io distribute the prizes , wbiqh either the College or the public spirit of individuals lias offered for the encouragement of merit .
" It is . with the highest pleasure that can this year personally deliver the Ant prize for diligence , regularity , and proficiency to Mr . James Martineau , the B € - cond to Mr . Francis Darbishire , and the tb . irtf to Mr . Edward Higginson . That these three young friends have fully
maintained the rank assigned to them on a Conner occasion , will he readily allowed by the most regular of their fellow-students . The prizes given by Robert Philips , Esq ., to students in their first and second yeans , for impwverueut during the session in classical literature , are
adjudged to Mr . ThoinanDavies , in the first year , and Mr . Fmncis Batik in , in the second . Those for .-proficiency in ijmiIm ' - matical studies , by a Friend to the College , arc awarded to Mr . H . W . Busk , of the third class , and MivDarbishire , of the second . The prize for -the best
translation from English into , < ji ? eeJc , given by Euelpis , is adjudged to Mr . Higgiuson . The [> rhti for the best Oration delivered at this examination , to Mr . JVIartiueaw , ami ihat for the best-delivered oration , to -Mr . R . Brook Aspland . Mr . Bell crffors a piiice for the best Latin Essay , to be .. delivered-in , with mo ^ l os Qii d a sealed
letter , on or before the 1 st of December this year - The subject is the . maxim of Cicero , VQpifex dicendi stylus ; ' in . which I am Jiappy to observe an uudfi * ig « ea coincidence with what has been already observed . ABcLquotcd , that , the asfudnoua practice ... of * iompositioii is t $ e heat wae ^ us of acquiring the habit erf correct speaking-
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422 Intelligence .- —Manchester ^ College , Yark .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), July 2, 1825, page 422, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2538/page/38/
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