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represented by 1; 4, by r; 7, by k; hence we have here l, r, k; among these letters insert the vowel a, and there will be LaRK, a word easily to be remembered; and as the vowel a denotes no figure, no mistake can arise from it to confuse the memory; so that the word lark on all occasions will be the sign for 547. The year in which King William IV. was born is 1765; here we have t, k (or g), d, l; by inserting vowels, and the letter h (which signifies no figure), these form The GOODLy; and in that shape will hardly escape the memory. His Queen was born in the year 1794; we have here t, k, p (or ƒ), r; and by inserting vowels at pleasure, we make the words They yokе Fair; a combination ludicrous enough, which will, however, greatly assist the memory as to the date, and that is all that is wanted.

Suppose we wish to recollect the dates of some principal geographical discoveries:

The Cape of Good Hope was discovered in 1486; here we have the letters t, r, w, d; these become TаR-WOOD: there is a fable that the wreck of a Carthaginian ship was found here on its first discovery, which will make the word tar-wood memorable.

America was discovered in 1492: these figures are represented by t, r, p, n; which by inserting vowels become To Rapine, because that discovery led to rapine by the first Spaniards.

The great South Sea was first discovered by Nunez de Balboa in 1513: this is t, l, t, m; by inserting h, and vowels, these letters form Tell Theм; an expression denoting the importance of that discovery.

The Straits of Magellan were discovered in 1519; these figures become t, l, t, p; and may read, iT LeT up; because this strait let up the navigators into the land, and through to the Pacific Ocean.

New Holland was first discovered in 1525: The LONELY, because it is a lonely or insulated continent.

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Baffin's Bay, discovered in 1616: Thy Dury DO, because Baffin's accuracy in this discovery, after being a long time doubted, was at last verified.

By these examples the method will now be sufficiently understood; and the reader may go on applying it to other cases as he finds occasion.

When it is required to recollect a long list of numbers in regular succession, the object may be effected by forming words out of each of them, and attaching the ideas belonging to these to any series of familiar objects. If we wish to recollect, for example, the numbers 748, 954, 7430, 241: take a road where we know four or five objects in succession-say, a house, a tree, a hay-stack, a mill; then we have for 748, CRIB, and we call the house a crib: next for 954, we have FLOWER; there is a flower on the tree: for 7430, we have GRey Mouse in the hay-stack: and for 241, there is one RaT in the mill. When we recall the principal objects according to their order, the numbers will also be remembered.

PUBLIC SPEAKING.

A

S you advance in life, you will have occasion to remark that many men, with no distinguished abilities, rise to high public consideration by their skill in addressing audiences on questions of local or general importance. And you will likewise observe, that many persons possessed of no small literary qualifications-in fact, good writers and good reasoners-make a poor appearance when they attempt to speak in public. Now, without being an orator of a high class, it may be of some importance to yourself, at least, that you should be able to speak with a degree of fluency and good taste in public assemblages.

Assuming that you possess a sufficient knowledge of grammar, with a proper command of words, the next requisite, indispensable in a public speaker, is perfect self-possession. Inexperienced speakers are usually bashful and easily discomposed. They may have arranged beforehand the nature of their speech, and be master of all they have to say, yet on rising before their audience, they feel abashed, and becoming confused, they perhaps break down in their wellconsidered harangue, much to their own distress and that of their hearers. On this account, it is customary for young men intended for the legislature, the bar, and pulpit, to form themselves into societies for the purpose of mutual exercise in the art of public speaking. Those who do not enjoy this kind of training, find it advantageous to take every opportunity of accustoming themselves to speak at meetings on matters of

public concern; and so gradually acquire the proper degree of confidence for addressing large assemblages.

To speak, however, with effect, one needs to possess that power of persuasive eloquence which arises from a happy combination of knowledge and good taste, along with a due amount of vehemence. 'The business of oratory,' says Lord Chesterfield to his son, 'is to persuade people; and you easily feel, that to please people is a great step towards persuading them. You must, then, consequently, be sensible how advantageous it is for a man who speaks in public, whether it be in parliament, in the pulpit, or at the bar, to please his hearers so much as to gain their attention; which he can never do without the help of oratory. It is not enough to speak the language in its utmost purity, and according to the rules of grammar; but he must speak it elegantly-that is, he must choose the best and most expressive words, and put them in the best order. He should likewise adorn what he says by proper metaphors, similes, and other figures of rhetoric; and he should enliven it, if he can, by quick and sprightly turns of wit.'

When a subject is assigned to you on which to speak, you will proceed to consider how it is to be treated-whether gravely or jocularly. If gravely, it would be most incongruous to introduce jocularities; and, on the other hand, if the speech is to be of a light nature, it would be out of place to be serious or sententious. Cicero summed up the rules for public speaking in a single sentence. He says the speaker should well consider what he has to say, in what order, and how.' In other words, he must arrange his ideas, and have a pretty good notion of the manner in which he has to deliver them. A common fault with unpractised and ambitious speakers is to attempt to say too much. Suppose they are to make a neat little speech on the drama, they begin as far back in history as the Greeks and Romans, and weary out every one before they

come to matters of interest in our own times; the result probably being that they are 'coughed down' by their impatient auditory. Another too common error is that of assuming too lofty a strain, which, if not having the effect of bombast, may degenerate into useless abstractions, valueless either for amusing or convincing a large assembly. It may be observed, that though some men have a reputation of being tolerable speakers, they really possess no eloquence. Their harangues sound well, as regards the collocation of words, but their sentiments are mere platitudes, and exert no influence over the understanding or feelings.

The matter as well as the manner of a public address will depend in some measure on the dimensions of the apartment in which the speech is delivered. A person can say in a small room to a moderate number of auditors, what he could not do to a vast assembly in a large hall. For example, you cannot properly utter a jocular remark, or a pathetic sentiment, at the pitch of the voice. For want of attention to this point, speakers often make signal failures. What they design to say would answer admirably for a small party, but is lost on a crowd.

Until you have become a practised speaker, I should recommend you to refrain from addressing large audiences. Acquire, in the first place, the habit of speaking at committee meetings of from twenty to thirty persons, when you may advantageously pitch both voice and sentiment in what may be called a moderate key. Some men, by offering plain commonsense views of a subject, and raising their voice but a little above an unaffected conversational tone, command greater attention and respect than speakers of a more brilliant quality. In fact, good sense, clothed in the simple oratory of nature, rarely fails in effect even in the highest assemblies. In oratory, as in reading, nature is a safe guide, and by a person of good taste may be followed without descending to vulgarity or coarseness. On the various methods of handling a subject, the best advice

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