Polly Rivers's Trip Te Stowslay Cattle Show, An' What Com On't. *

mudher , steead fer him when he wer kessund ; an' they all vow'd , an' . Bill an ' me sed t' seeam thing , that we nivver clapt e ' en on a strangher ner a bonnier babby neeawhere ner he wer that day . Bill axt ma afooarhand what Ah thowt about

kesseuin' him William Dove . But Ah sed , Ah thowt we waddeut ; fer fooaks wad ax seea wheea we call'd him efter ; an' we knew wersels ' at he war wer awn clear little pidjin . Bill sed ' at Ah cud pleease mesel' about it ; " bud" sez he"thou

, , knaws , Polly , we might mebby nivver hev had him—fer Ah cleeaut knaw when ivver Ah sud ha' muster'd t' corridge te speeak —if t' haddent been fer them tweea canny , bonny , luvvin' duvs ' at wa saw at Stowslay Cattle Show . "

An Original Dissertation On Public Speaking.

AN ORIGINAL DISSERTATION ON PUBLIC SPEAKING .

BY EEO . EMKA HOLMES . Delivered before the members of the AVorking Men ' s College , Ipswich , afterwards given at Hadleigh , Dovercourt and Woodbridge .

Delivered under the auspices of the Young Men ' s Christian Association , at the Town Hall , Colchester , on the 10 th November , 1874 . Ladies and Gentlemen , It was Talleyrand , I think , who once

cynically said that speech was given to us to conceal our thoughts . Perhaps it was in his time , and may now be in France , but here in England , whore we boast of our freedom of speech , the day has long gone by when we need mince matters in saying what we think of peer or peasant , of king

or people , of the governors or the governed . Sometimes this liberty has lapsed into licence , and the language of sedition has been used by tap-room orators out on the stump , or would-be Presidents of an English Republic ; yet as a rule , I think ,

it will be owned , that the Englishman ' s love of law and order , aud his innate loyalty to the throne and reverence for the powers that be , have rendered nugatory the effects of the jeremiads of blatant demagogues on the one hand , whilst on

the other , the press of this country ( with the exception of one or two newspapers , which , pandering to the lowest passions

of the lowest classes , deserve to besupressecl ) has denounced the wrong , and supported the right , has echoed and applauded the sentiments of this great patriot , or ridiculed the pretensions of that unprincipled adventurer , and so kept in check as it were

our noblest heritage from the dead pastfreedom of speech . After the devoted expression of loyalty shown on Thanksgiving Day 7 , when our beloved Prince recovered almost miraculously from a disease which had nearly proved fatalSir Charles

, Dilke and his followers have had a lesson taught them they will not soon forget , and men like Odger were better if they retired into the wretched obscurity from whence they spring . Freedom , of speech is one thing ,

unbridled licence another . The press , perhaps , has been to blame in noticing the miserable attempts of the contemptible tailors of Tooley Stieet , and ventilating their wretched schemes and pernicious efforts to turn England against its present rulers .

But the illness of the Prince coming as it did , and when it did , roused the people of this mighty Empire , proved to the world that the great heart of England is still sound , and that we , the loyal subjects of a good aud gracious lady , love and venerate our Queen and Constitution .

Yet , having this great gift , this palladium of liberty in our favour , is it not wonderful that , as a rule , Englishmen are the worst public speakers in the world ? I appeal to any of my hearers if I am not right in saying that we are very

poordesperately-, poor public speakers . Of course , I do not allude to the public men of Ipswich or Colchester . There is no question but that they are all gifted beyond the general race of men , and therefore my remarks do not apply to them ; but take any

neighbouring town or village , and call a public meeting , and supposing you have time , stop and listen to all the speeches , and if you do not come away amazed at the nonsense , amused with the eccentricity and , perchance , disgusted with the incapacity

therein displayed , you are not the people I take you for . Yes , one must say it—for appropriateness of diction , for grace of expression , for the utter absence of , or the too great vehemence of action and gesture , and for simple stolidity , commend me to the