THE BRITISH AS ORATORS.

Hokitika Guardian, 12 May 1928, Page 4

THE BRITISH AS ORATORS.

“ Individually we had produced some of the greatest speakers the world had ever known, hut in average quality we wore very poor compared with others —with America, France, and Ireland, for instance. The average speaker in those countries had a readier tongue and a better manner. The reasons for our comparative poorness in the art'of public speaking were obvious. We were somewhat reticent, shy, and sellcontained. There had never been a great speaker who had not had some gift of self-revelation. Another reason was that we valued very highly plain common sense and direct speech. Wo disliked appeals to the heart, and wanted reason and hard logic. Except for the Celtic strain in us, we lacked imagination. The most important reason for our deficiency was that wc were terribly self-conscious. Yet, we had the stuff in us. IV e had the brains and the quality'that would make first-rate speakers, if only we could forget ourselves and let ourselves go.— The llev. Dr James Black, in a speech, reported in the “ Scotsman.”