LORD DUFFERIN AT ST. ANDREW'S.

Auckland Star, Volume XXII, Issue 145, 20 June 1891, Page 2 (Supplement)

LORD DUFFERIN AT ST. ANDREW'S.

A Remaekable Addeess,

The Marquis of Dufferin, Lord Rector of St. Andrew's University, visited St. Andrew's lately to deliver his rectorial address to the students. He was accom" panicd from Raith, where he has been the guesb of his son-in-law, Mr Munro Ferguson, by Lord Aberdeen, Lord Elgin, Mr Munro Ferguson, and Lady Helen Ferguson. At St. Andrew's station he was received by Principal Donaldson and a body of the students, in caps and gowns, who gave him a hearty welcome, singing a snatch of a students' song. Afterwards they dragged his carriage to the United College hall, where he inspected the University corps of Artillery Volunteers, and presented prizes won in competition. The marquis, after being formally installed in his robes, delivered hie rectorial address in Artillery Hall. Principal Donaldson presided, and the students attended in large numbers.

Lord Dufferin's speech covered a great deal of ground. Starting with an expression of belief that our whole method of teaching the dead languages should be changed ; that we begin altogether ab the wrong end ; and that; this initial mistake is never retrieved, he proceeded to describe England as the Modern Athens. Discussing the learning of modern languages, he said:—The groat Duke of Wellington learnt Spanish oufc of a Spanish prayerbook once given him by the famous old ladiee of Llangollen. What I would recommend is this—to inquire for some work in the language which is both easy and entertaining, and then get a Frenchman or a German, as the case may be, to read ib out to you aloud, and to tell you viva voce every word that you do not know, while you mark the unknown word on your own copy as you go on. If this living dictionary is nob within your reach, then I would say—though I tremble as I utter the worde—provide yourself with a good crib. In a novel, say of two volumes or of 600 pages, there will probably be 3,000 words about which you have had to inquire, and which you will have marked. Of these yon should make a list either in writing or, what perhaps is better still, through the medium of a typewriter, after which you should learn them by heart. A person with a fair memory should be able, without sacrificing much time to the business, to master forty words a day, so that 3,000 wordi could be acquired in about three months. A Hint to Young Writers. There is one great danger, said the marquis, to which a young writer is exposed, and that is a love of ornament, metaphor and allusion. Some years ago I had to write areport on the best way of organising the Government of Egypt. It was a subject upon which I had spent a great deal of pains and labour, and my one thought in drawing up the paper was to make it a clear, practical, and business-like statement of the actual condition of the country, and of the measures ib would be desirable to introduceforits improvement. Unfortunately however, in one of the earlier paragraph I was tempted, in the fervour of composition aa there rose in my mind's eye a regenerated Egypb and the beneficial conseqnences of the reforms I was suggesting, and which have been so happily applied, expanded, and improved upon by fair Evelyn Baring, to make some allusion to Momnon and the rising sun. Ib was a perfectly spontaneous image, which sprang unbidden from the innocence of my heart; but, in spite of the general indulgence with which the report was received, those who for one reason or another were opposed to the Government I was representing at once seized upon this unfortunate simile and denounced what I had written, which in all its other parts were as bald as well could be, as a literary exceratation ; and no doubt they were perfectly justified in considering that neither Memnon nor the rising sun had any business in a Blue-book.

Should Speeches be Prepared ? I am inclined to believe that) no good speech is ever made, unlese by the most SreSV* our P? blic ™en, without a great deal of careful preparation. Bub of course both the kinds and the degree, of po.eiolo preparation are very various. Some i oi r iCrlS d thiS *! knOW was the P racWce of Demosthenes, of Cicero,' and of ? the

ancients—write oud every word of their speeches from beginning to end beforehand ; and this practice, I imagine, haa been followed by many eminent orators of our own time—by Macaulay, for instance, by the late Lord Elienborough, and by others. Some persons only compose and write out beforehand portions of what they intend to say, bub these portions generally include tho exordium and the peroration. Mr Bright, I believe, made no secre* of this being his practice, and we have Lord Brougham's own statement for the fact that he wrote out the last para* graphs of hie speech in defence of Queen Caroline nine times. But Ido not recom* mend anyone who would really desire ta. become a good speaker to accustom himself unless on exceptional occasions, evea though he should write out his speech beforehand, to learn it by heart. Such a practice is like swimming with corks. Bud, if you do learn your speech by heart, do not embellish it with unnecessary apostrophes, like a member of the French Chamber, who, in the midst of the most profound silence, eaid : ' In vain does yout clamour try to stifle my voice ; your rude howls do nob intimidate me. 1 Take Cake of Youe Notes. If, however, you write out your speech; beforehand, there are one or two precautions to which you had better attend. In tha first place, do not have it sent to the re« porters interlarded with cheers before iti has been delivered, as once was done by aq acquaintance of mine, who after all neveß got;an opporbunity.of speaking ; in the next, do nob repeat as a speech a couple of pages from some well-known author, as Lord Beaconstield most unaccountably did when passing a eulogium on the Duke of Welf Hngton, for only a very great man could afford to take such a liberty; and, lastly, do not let the manuscript fall out of your pocket, for there may be practised upon you a trick which was played once in the House of Commons by Sir Thomas Wyse upon an honourable member. Sitf Thomas Wyse told me the story himself. The gentleman in question had come down primed with a great oration, bub unfortunately he dropped his manuscript. A mischievous college picked it up and brought it to Sir Thomas, who had an extraordinary faculty of learning by heart. Some other business being on hand enabled Sir Thomas Wyse to retire to a commibtee-room and daily prepare himself. When the discussion came on he watched his opportunity, and contrived to catch the Speaker's eye at the opportune moment. A greati number of people had been let into tha secret, and were watching the effect produced by the stoleu thunder upon its rightful proprietor. At first he showed signs of beine pleased with support from so unexpected a quarter, but when gradually ha recognised his own well-polished periods flowing forth from alien lips the look of surprise, indignation, and confusion which passed over his countenance was extremely comical. Stage Fright in Public Speaking. You musb not suppose that even the mosft practised of our public men are free from these lapses and infirmities which naturally fill our own minds with terror at the thought of speaking in public. I have seen the late Earl Derby, one of tho most) eloquent, courageous, and successful speakers that ever charmed the two House*, of Parliament, tremble throughout his frame at the commencement of one of hie great epeches. There is no doubt; that a graceful, commanding, and dignified attitude in the orator greatly enhances the effect of fervid eloquence, and in this respect I am afraid it is rather on the Continent than in the House of Conn mona that your best models will be found* According bo our ideas, foreigners gesticujt late a great deal too much, but I have boert much struck, when attending the debates in the Italian Parliament, at the unstudied and easy manner in which its members em force their meaning by graceful and spontaneous gestures. They neither pub theif hands beneath their coat tails, nor do they scratch the tops of their heads, nor do they tosa about their pocket-handkerchiefs, oe wave one arm up and down like a pumpi handle, nor bend their bodies in two afi every word.