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diff --git a/30565-h/30565-h.htm b/30565-h/30565-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7d2e032 --- /dev/null +++ b/30565-h/30565-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,3564 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Art of Lecturing, by Arthur M. (Arthur Morrow) Lewis</title> + <style type="text/css" media="screen"> + + /* Reset styles to avoid cross-browser problems */ + html, body, div, span, h1, h2, h3, h4, h5, h6, p, blockquote, pre, a, abbr, acronym, cite, del, em, img, ins, strong, sub, sup, /*ol, ul, li,*/ + table, caption, tbody, tfoot, thead, tr, th, td { margin: 0; padding: 0; border: 0; outline: 0; font-size: 100%; vertical-align: baseline; background: transparent; } + body { line-height: 1; } +/* ol, ul { list-style: none; }*/ + ins { text-decoration: none; } + del { text-decoration: line-through; } + abbr, img { text-decoration: none; } + table { border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0; } + + + /* Overall document styles start here */ + html { margin:1em; font-family: Palatino, "Palatino Linotype", "Times New Roman", Times, serif; } + body { margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; } + p { text-align: justify; line-height: 1.3; text-indent: 1em; } + h1,h2,h3 { text-align: center; font-weight: normal; clear: both; text-indent:0em;} + blockquote {margin:1em 2em; font-size:.95em;} + + + /* Page number styling */ + .pagenum { position: absolute; left: 2%; font-size: 10px; font-weight:normal; font-variant:normal; font-style: normal; letter-spacing: normal; text-indent: 0em; text-align: right; color: gray; } + .pagenum:after { content: attr(title); } /* Comment/uncomment this instruction to hide/show page numbers*/ + .disguise { color:window; } /* Used to make some page numbers invisible but still anchors. Used on pages that do not have page numbers printed on them but are included in the numbering scheme. */ + .cheater {left:-39%;} /* Used in Contents list to make page numbers go to approximately the right place */ + + + /* Frontmatter */ + #frontmatter {border-top:2px gray solid;margin:3em 0; } + + #title_page {margin:3em 4em; padding-top:3em; line-height:4em;} + #title_page p {text-align:center;text-indent:0em;} + #title_page h1 {font-size:2em;} + #title_page .author {font-size:1.25em;line-height:2em;margin:5em 0;} + #title_page .revision {} + #title_page .pub_data {margin:3em 0;} + + #contents {width:70%;margin:6em auto;position:relative;} + #contents h2 {margin:2em 0; font-size:1.5em;} + #contents ol {list-style-type:upper-roman;} + #contents li>ol {list-style-type:none;} + #contents p {text-indent:0em;font-size:.9em;} + .toc_page { position: absolute; right: 0; top: auto;text-align:right; } + + + /* Chapters */ + .chapter { margin: 6em 0; } + .chapter h2 { margin:2em 0; font-size:1.5em; } + .chapter h3 {margin:2em 0;} + .chapter_number {font-size:80%;line-height:3;} + + hr.thoughtbreak {display:none;} + p.post_thoughtbreak {margin-top:2em;} + p.continued_paragraph {text-indent:0;} + + + /* Poetry */ + .poem {margin:1em 2em;font-size:.95em;} + .poem p {margin: 0;padding-left: 3em;text-indent: -3em;text-align: left;line-height:1;} + + + /* Endmatter */ + #endmatter {border-bottom:2px gray solid;margin:3em 0;padding:3em 0;} + #endmatter p {text-align:center;text-indent:0em;} + + + /* miscellaneous styles */ + .smaller {font-size:.8em;} + .internal_title {text-indent:0em;text-align:center;font-size:2em;margin:3em 0;} + .headline {text-indent:0em;text-align:center;} + #notelist ol {list-style-type:decimal;} + .omitted_text {letter-spacing:.2em;} + + + /* Anchors */ + a:link {color: #3A3E9D; background-color: inherit; text-decoration: none;} + a:visited {color: #000066; background-color: inherit; text-decoration: none;} + a:hover {color: #A8480E; background-color: #CC9;} + + div.pg { font-family: Times-Roman, serif; } + h1.pg { text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; + clear: both; + text-indent:0em; + font-size: 190%; } + h3.pg { text-align: center; + font-weight: bold; + clear: both; + text-indent:0em; + font-size: 110%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; + margin-top: 3em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + height: 4px; + border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ + border-style: solid; + border-color: #000000; + clear: both; } + pre {font-size: 85%;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<div class="pg"> +<h1 class="pg">The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Art of Lecturing, by Arthur M. (Arthur +Morrow) Lewis<br /> </h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p> </p> +<p>Title: The Art of Lecturing</p> +<p> Revised Edition<br /> </p> +<p>Author: Arthur M. (Arthur Morrow) Lewis<br /> </p> +<p>Release Date: November 29, 2009 [eBook #30565]<br /> </p> +<p>Language: English<br /> </p> +<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8<br /> </p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF LECTURING***</p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<h3 class="pg">E-text prepared by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +</div> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + + <div id="title_page"><a class="pagenum disguise" id="page1" title="1"> </a> + <h1><span class="smaller">The</span> Art <i>of</i> Lecturing</h1> + <p class="author"><span class="smaller">BY</span><br /> + ARTHUR M. LEWIS</p> + <p class="revision">REVISED EDITION</p> + <p class="pub_data">CHICAGO <br /> + CHARLES H. KERR & COMPANY <br /> + CO-OPERATIVE</p> + </div> + <!-- <a class="pagenum disguise" id="page2" title="2"> </a>[Blank Page] --> + <div id="contents"><a class="pagenum disguise cheater" id="page3" title="3"> </a> + <h2>CONTENTS</h2> + <p>CHAPTER <span class="toc_page">PAGE</span></p> + <ol> + <li><a href="#chapter_1">Introductory</a> <a href="#page5" class="toc_page">5</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_2">Exordium</a> <a href="#page8" class="toc_page">8</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_3">Begin Well</a> <a href="#page11" class="toc_page">11</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_4">Speak Deliberately</a> <a href="#page14" class="toc_page">14</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_5">Peroration</a> <a href="#page17" class="toc_page">17</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_6">Read Widely</a> <a href="#page20" class="toc_page">20</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_7">Read the Best</a> <a href="#page23" class="toc_page">23</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_8">Subject</a> <a href="#page26" class="toc_page">26</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_9">Learn to Stop</a> <a href="#page29" class="toc_page">29</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_10">Chairman</a> <a href="#page33" class="toc_page">33</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_11">Mannerisms</a> <a href="#page36" class="toc_page">36</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_12">Course Lecturing—No Chairman</a> <a href="#page39" class="toc_page">39</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_13">Course Lecturing—Learn to Classify</a> <a href="#page43" class="toc_page">43</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_14">Preparation</a> <a href="#page47" class="toc_page">47</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_15">Debating</a> <a href="#page52" class="toc_page">52</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_16">Tricks of Debate</a> <a href="#page64" class="toc_page">64</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_17">Rhetoric</a> <a href="#page68" class="toc_page">68</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_18">The Audience</a> <a href="#page73" class="toc_page">73</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_19">Street Speaking:</a> + <ol> + <li><a href="#chapter_19a">The Place</a> <a href="#page77" class="toc_page">77</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_19b">The Style</a> <a href="#page78" class="toc_page">78</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_19c">Disturbers</a> <a href="#page80" class="toc_page">80</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_19d">Police Interference</a> <a href="#page81" class="toc_page">81</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_19e">Book-Selling and Professionalism</a> <a href="#page83" class="toc_page">83</a></li> + </ol> + </li> + <li><a href="#chapter_20">Book-Selling at Meetings</a> <a href="#page86" class="toc_page">86</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_21">Example Book Talks</a> <a href="#page92" class="toc_page">92</a></li> + <li><a href="#chapter_22">Conclusion</a> <a href="#page104" class="toc_page">104</a></li> + </ol> + </div> + <!-- <a class="pagenum disguise" id="page4" title="4"> </a>[Blank Page] --> + +<p class="internal_title"><a class="pagenum" id="page5" title="5"> </a>THE ART OF LECTURING</p> +<div id="chapter_1" class="chapter"> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER I</span><br /> + INTRODUCTORY</h2> + + <p>For some time I have been besieged with requests + to open a “Speakers’ Class” or “A School + of Oratory,” or, as one ingenious correspondent + puts it, a “Forensic Club.” With these requests + it is impossible to comply for sheer lack of time.</p> + + <p>I have decided, however, to embody in these + pages the results of my own experience, and + the best I have learned from the experience of + others.</p> + + <p>There are some things required in a good lecturer + which cannot be imparted to a pupil by + any teacher, and we may as well dispose of these.</p> + + <p>One is a good voice. Modern methods, however, + have done much to make the improvement + of the voice possible. While it is probably impossible + in the great majority of cases to make a + very fine voice out of a very poor one, no one, + with an average voice, need be afraid of the platform, + for time and training will greatly increase + its range and resonance. It is said that the great + Greek orator, Demosthenes, developed his magnificent + <a class="pagenum" id="page6" title="6"> </a>voice by shouting above the roar of the sea + near which he lived, but it is probable that he had + a better voice to begin with than the tradition represents. + In the absence of sea waves, one’s + voice may be tested and strengthened by trying to + drown the noise of the electric cars at a street + meeting. Most poor voices are produced in the + upper part of the throat or, still worse, in the roof + of the mouth, while deep and thrilling tones can + only be obtained from further down. The transition + from the upper throat or palate to the + deeper tones is not nearly so difficult as might be + supposed. Placing the hand across the chest during + practice will help to locate the origin of the + sounds produced.</p> + + <p>The one thing, however, which no training + seems to create, but which is wholly indispensable + in a good speaker, is that elusive, but potential + something which has been named personal + magnetism. This is probably only another way + of saying that the great orator must also be a + great man. His imagination and sympathy must + be great enough to take possession of him and + make him the mere instrument of their outpouring.</p> + + <p>If nature has omitted these great qualities, no + amount of training will create them. This is + <a class="pagenum" id="page7" title="7"> </a>why, among the great number who wish to be + speakers, only a few scale the heights.</p> + + <p>But men with small personal magnetism and + good training have done quite well, while others + with large personal magnetism and no methods, + have made a complete failure, and herein lies + the justification for this volume.</p> +</div> +<div id="chapter_2" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page8" title="8"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER II</span><br /> + EXORDIUM</h2> + <p>The part of a lecture which consumes the first + ten or fifteen minutes is called the exordium, + from the Latin word exordiri—to begin a web.</p> + + <p>The invariable rule as to the manner of this + part of a lecture is—begin easy. Any speaker + who breaks this rule invites almost certain disaster. + This rule has the universal endorsement + of experienced speakers. Sometimes a green + speaker, bent on making a hit at once, will begin + with a burst, and in a high voice. Once begun, + he feels that the pace must be maintained or increased.</p> + + <p>Listeners who have the misfortune to be present + at such a commencement and who do not + wish to have their pity excited, had better retire + at once, for when such a speaker has been at + work fifteen minutes and should be gradually + gathering strength like a broadening river, he is + really beginning to decline. From then on the + lecture dies a lingering death and the audience + welcomes its demise with a sigh of relief. Such + performances are not common, as no one can + make that blunder twice before the same audience. + <a class="pagenum" id="page9" title="9"> </a>He may try it, but if the people who + heard him before see his name on the program + they will be absent.</p> + + <p>At the beginning, the voice should be pitched + barely high enough for everybody to hear. This + will bring that “hush” which should mark the + commencement of every speech. When all are + quiet and settled, raise the voice so as to be + clearly heard by everybody, but no higher. Hold + your energies in reserve; if you really have a lecture, + you will need them later.</p> + + <p>As to the matter of the exordium, it should be + preparatory to the lecture. Here the lecturer + “clears the ground” or “paves the way” for the + main question.</p> + + <p>If the lecture is biographical and deals with + the life and work of some great man, the exordium + naturally tells about his parents, birthplace + and early surroundings, etc. If some theory in + science or philosophy is the subject, the lecturer + naturally uses the exordium to explain the theory + which previously occupied that ground and + how it came to be overthrown by the theory now + to be discussed.</p> + + <p>Here the way is cleared of popular misunderstandings + of the question and, if the theory is + to be defended, all those criticisms that do not + <a class="pagenum" id="page10" title="10"> </a>really touch the question are easily and gracefully + annihilated.</p> + + <p>Here, if Darwin is to be defended, it may be + shown that those witticisms, aimed at him, about + the giraffe getting its long neck by continually + stretching it, or the whale getting its tail by holding + its hind legs too close in swimming, do not + apply to Darwinism, but to the exploded theory + of his great predecessor, Lamarck.</p> + + <p>If Scientific Socialism is the question, it may + be appropriately shown in the exordium that + nearly all the objections which are still urged + against it apply only to the Utopian Socialism + which Socialist literature abandoned half a century + ago.</p> + + <p>In short, the lecturer usually does in the exordium + what a family party does when, having + decided to waltz a little in the parlor, they push + the table into a corner and set back the chairs—he + clears a space.</p> +</div> +<div id="chapter_3" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page11" title="11"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER III</span><br /> + BEGIN WELL</h2> + + <p>The Shakespearian saying that “all’s well that + ends well” is only a half truth. A good lecture + must not only end well; it must begin well.</p> + + <p>The value of first impressions is universally + recognized, and an audience will be much more + lenient with flaws that may come later if its appreciation + and confidence have been aroused at + the commencement.</p> + + <p>It is almost impossible to drive a nail properly + if it was started wrong, and the skillful workman + will draw it out and start it over again. But + such a blunder in lecturing cannot be remedied—at + least for that occasion. A stale or confused + beginning haunts and depresses the mind of the + speaker and makes his best work impossible. It + also destroys the confidence of the audience, so + that what comes later is likely to be underestimated.</p> + + <p>This necessity is recognized not only by lecturers, + but by all the great masters of poetry, + fiction and music. Wilhelm Tell is best known + by its overture and what could be more solemn + <a class="pagenum" id="page12" title="12"> </a>and impressive than the opening bars of “El + Miserere” in Verdi’s “Il Trovatore.”</p> + + <p>The genius of Dickens shines most clearly in + his opening pages, and his right to be ranked + with Juvenal as a satirist could be easily established + by the first chapter of “Martin Chuzzlewit.” + Sir Walter Scott would rank as one of + the world’s greatest wits if he had never written + anything but the exploits of “Dick Pinto,” which + serve as an introduction to “The Bride of Lammermoor.”</p> + + <p>The opening lines of Keats’ first long poem, + “Endymion,” are immortal, and the first line of + that passage has become an integral part of the + English language:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <p>“A thing of beauty is a joy forever;</p> + <p>Its loveliness increases; it will never</p> + <p>Pass into nothingness, but still will keep</p> + <p>A bower quiet for us, and a sleep</p> + <p>Full of deep peace and health and quiet breathing.”</p> + </div> + + <p>The first stanza of the first canto of Scott’s + “Marmion” gives a picture of Norham castle + that never leaves the memory. Milton’s greatest + poem, “Paradise Lost,” a poem which fascinated + the imagination of the great utopian, Robert + Owen, at the age of seven, has nothing in all its + sonorous music that lingers in the mind like its + <a class="pagenum" id="page13" title="13"> </a>magnificent opening lines, and one searches in + vain through the interminable length of Wordsworth’s + “Excursion” for a passage equal to the + first.</p> + + <p>No lecturer who aims high should go upon a + platform and confront an audience, except in + cases of great emergency, without having worked + out his opening sentences.</p> + + <p>Floundering is fatal, but many an otherwise + capable speaker “flounders around” and “hems” + and “haws” for the first ten or fifteen minutes, as + a matter of course.</p> + + <p>If his auditors are strange, they get restless + and disgusted, and some of them go out. If they + know him, they smile at one another and the + ceiling and wait with more or less patience until + he “gets started.” If it is a meeting where others + are to speak, by the time he “gets started” + the chairman is anxiously looking at his watch + and wondering if he will have as much trouble + to “get done.”</p> + + <p>A lecturer should remember that an audience + resents having its time wasted by a long, floundering, + meaningless preamble, and it is sure to + get even. Next time it will come late to avoid + that preliminary “catch as catch can” performance + or—it will stay away.</p> +</div> +<div id="chapter_4" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page14" title="14"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER IV</span><br /> + SPEAK DELIBERATELY</h2> + + <p>William Ewart Gladstone, one of the most + generally admired orators the English house of + commons ever listened to, spoke at an average + of 100 words a minute. Phillips Brooks, the + brilliant American preacher, maintained a rate of + 215 words a minute and was a terror to the + stenographers engaged to report him.</p> + + <p>He succeeded as a speaker, not because of his + speed, but in spite of it; because his enunciation + was perfect and every word was cut off clear + and distinct. But very few men succeed with + such a handicap, and Brooks would have done + much better if he could have reduced his speed + 40 per cent.</p> + + <p>The average person in an audience thinks + slowly, and the lecturer should aim to meet the + requirements of at least a large majority of those + present, and not merely those in the assembly + who happen to be as well informed as the lecturer, + and could therefore keep pace with him, + no matter how rapidly he proceeds. New ideas + need to be weighed as well as heard, and the + <a class="pagenum" id="page15" title="15"> </a>power of weighing is less rapid than the sense + of hearing. This is why a pause at the proper + place is so helpful.</p> + + <p>A young lecturer had in his audience on one + occasion a veteran of the platform, and was on + that account anxious to do his best. This situation, + as all new speakers know, is very disconcerting, + and after the young aspirant had rushed + through his opening argument pretty well, as he + thought, lo, his memory slipped a cog and he + waited in silence, what seemed to him an age, + until it caught again. Then he continued to the + end without a stop. After the meeting the veteran + came forward to shake hands. “Have you + any advice for me?” said the young man, that + awful breakdown looming large in his mind.</p> + + <p>“Yes,” said the senior, “cultivate the pause.”</p> + + <p>One of the lecturer’s most valuable assets is + variety of pace, and this is almost entirely lost + by the speaker whose speed is always high. Observe + two men arguing in conversation where + there is no thought of art or oratory. Where the + remarks are of an explanatory nature the words + come slowly and carefully. When persuasion becomes + the object, deliberation is thrown aside + and words begin to flow like a mountain freshet, + and if the speaker has natural capacity he concludes + <a class="pagenum" id="page16" title="16"> </a>his point with a grand rush that carries + everything before it.</p> + + <p>When a speaker carefully selects his words + and it is clear to the audience that he is deliberately + weighing and measuring his sentences, his + listeners are unconsciously impressed with a sense + of their importance.</p> + + <p>Of course, deliberation may be overdone, and + if the audience once gets the impression that + the speaker is slow and does not move along + more quickly because he cannot, the effect is disastrous.</p> + + <p>Deliberation is closely akin to seriousness and + the lecturer who has no great and serious question + to present should retire from the platform + and try vaudeville.</p> + + <p>It is just here that the Socialist has a great + advantage, for his theme is the most serious and + tremendous that ever occupied the mind of man.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_5" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page17" title="17"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER V</span><br /> + PERORATION</h2> + + <p>The close of a lecture is called the peroration—the + word oration prefixed by the Latin preposition + “per.” “Per” has several meanings, one + of them being “to the utmost extent” as in + peroxide—a substance oxidized to the utmost + degree.</p> + + <p>This is probably the sense in which it is used + in peroration, for the close of a lecture should + be oratory at its utmost.</p> + + <p>The speaker who has failed to observe the + previous rules about “beginning easy,” and + “speaking deliberately” will pay the penalty + here. If he has spoken rapidly, he will be unable + to increase the pace—at least, sufficiently + to get the best results.</p> + + <p>If he has spoken too loudly and kept nothing + in reserve, his voice will refuse to “rise to the + occasion.”</p> + + <p>The manner of the peroration has two essentials, + an increase of speed, and a raising of the + voice. These two things go naturally together; + as the words come more quickly the voice tends + <a class="pagenum" id="page18" title="18"> </a>to rise apparently automatically, and this is as + it should be.</p> + + <p>The peroration has the nature of a triumph. + The question has been fought out in the main + body of the lecture, the opposing positions have + been overthrown, and now the main conclusion + is victoriously proclaimed and driven home.</p> + + <p>Even if an element of pathos enters into the + peroration, it is a mistake to allow the voice to + weaken. If it takes a lower note, it must make + up in strength and intensity what it loses in + height. Anything else is sure to prove an anticlimax.</p> + + <p>The matter of the peroration should consist of + the main conclusion of the lecture, and should + begin by gathering together the principal threads + of the discourse which should lead to that conclusion.</p> + + <p>The necessity for a peroration, or strong finish, + is recognized in music, the drama, and everything + presented before an audience. Most band selections + end in a crash, the majority of instruments + working at full capacity. Every musical comedy + concludes with its full cast on the stage singing + the most effective air. Every vaudeville performer + strives to reach a climax and, where talent + breaks down, refuge is sought in some such + <a class="pagenum" id="page19" title="19"> </a>miserable subterfuge as waving the flag or presenting + a picture of the bulldog countenance of + Theodore Roosevelt.</p> + + <p>The entertainer, however, appeals to prevailing + opinions and prejudices; he gives the audience + what they want. The lecturer should be an instructor + and his theme may be a new and, as yet, + unpopular truth, and it is his duty to give the + audience what they should have.</p> + + <p>Therefore the peroration should be full of + that persuasive eloquence which will lead the + audience to a favorable consideration of the positions + which have been carefully and judiciously + presented in the body of the lecture.</p> +</div> +<div id="chapter_6" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page20" title="20"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER VI</span><br /> + READ WIDELY</h2> + + <p>I had just concluded a lecture in Grand Junction, + Colo., over a year ago, when a burly railroad + man stepped forward and introduced himself. + I forget his name, but remember well what + he said. Here it is, about word for word:</p> + + <p>“I was an engineer years ago, as I am today, + but in those days Debs was my fireman. Having + a little better job than he, I naturally thought I + was the smarter man. We used to sleep in the + same room. We would both turn in all tired + from a long trip and I would be asleep before you + could count ten. After I had slept three or four + hours I would wake up about two in the morning + and there would be Debs with a candle, + shaded so as not to disturb me, reading away at + a book as if everything depended on his understanding + all there was in it. Many a time he only + got one or two hours’ rest before going to work + again.</p> + + <p>“I told him he was a d—d fool, and I thought + he was. I still believe there was a d—d fool in + that room, but I know now that it wasn’t Debs.”</p> + + <p>Every man who ever did anything really worth + while on the lecture platform has something like + <a class="pagenum" id="page21" title="21"> </a>that in his life story, and it is usually connected + with his earlier years.</p> + + <p>The biography of every great speaker or writer + has usually this passage or one equal to it in the + early pages: “He was an omnivorous reader.” + Professor Huxley in his brief, but charming autobiography + in the first essay of the first volume + of his “collected essays,” speaking of his early + youth, says, “I read everything I could lay my + hands upon.”</p> + + <p>The speaker who has learned to sneer at + “book learning” is foredoomed to failure and + will spare himself many humiliations by retiring + at once.</p> + + <p>A conversation between four or five men came + to my notice in which the subject was the translation + into English of the second volume of + Marx’s “Capital.” One man said: “I don’t care + if it is never translated.” Then a Socialist + speaker, who was present, stepped forward and + said: “Shake hands on that.” This same speaker + was at that time engaged for nearly a year’s + work. The trip proved a failure and he went + back into the shops and probably blamed everything + and everybody except the real cause—his + own attitude on the question of knowledge.</p> + + <p>Neglecting to read, in a lecturer, is something + <a class="pagenum" id="page22" title="22"> </a>more than a mistake—it is a vice. Its real name + is laziness. As well expect good bricklaying + from a man too lazy to lift a brick.</p> + + <p>The idea of a man teaching something he himself + does not know is grotesque, and yet, I have + known at least three-score who felt divinely appointed + to perform that very task.</p> + + <p>These remarks have no application in the case + of those who, wishing to become lecturers, are + determined to do everything in their power to + acquire the proper qualifications, but only to + those who think that because they have once + persuaded an audience to listen to them, they + now know everything necessary to be known.</p> + + <p>A self-satisfied, ignorant man on a lecture + platform is an anomaly that, fortunately, is never + long continued, for the process of “natural selection” + weeds him out.</p> + + <p>I met a boy of eighteen the other day with a + thumb-worn copy of Dietzgen’s “Positive Outcome + of Philosophy” under his arm. This is the + material from which lecturers are made.</p> +</div> +<div id="chapter_7" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page23" title="23"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER VII</span><br /> + READ THE BEST</h2> + + <p>I met him at Napa, Cal., after the meeting. + His name was Mueller; a tall, fine old German. + He had been through the Bismarck “exception + law” persecution and was well informed in all + that related to that period. I asked him how it + came about that the German movement was so + well posted and unified.</p> + + <p>He answered, “Well, Bismarck did that for + us. You see, before Bismarck interfered, we + were all split up into little inside factions, as it + is here, to some extent, now. That was because + we had scores of papers, each teaching + its own particular brand of Socialism. Every + little business man who became a Socialist and + had a little money in the bank started a paper + and gave the world his notion of Socialism. + Bismarck changed all that; he put them all out + of business in a single day. Then the Socialists + had only one paper, published outside Germany, + on very thin paper, and mailed in sealed envelopes. + This paper was edited by Bernstein, + one of the ablest Marxian scholars, and this uniform + reading of sound literature was a very + <a class="pagenum" id="page24" title="24"> </a>powerful factor in clarifying the German Socialist + movement.”</p> + + <p>A lecturer must get his data from the very + best authorities. He must get his knowledge of + “natural selection,” not from the pages of some + ill-informed pamphleteer, but from “The Origin + of Species.” His statements as to what constitutes + the Socialist philosophy should be based + on a careful study of Marx, Engels and the + other writers who have produced Socialism’s + classic literature, and not on some ten-cent + pamphlet by a new convert, published, not on + its merits, but because the author had money + enough to get it printed.</p> + + <p>The Japanese in this country show their superiority + in this respect. I had a friend in San + Francisco who was a bookseller, who told me it + was quite impossible to sell a Jap a book on any + subject unless it was by the greatest authority + on that particular question. I had charge of + the Socialist literature of Local San Francisco + nearly a year, and during that period the only + books bought by the Japs were works by Marx, + Engels and Labriola.</p> + + <p>This is why the Jews play so tremendous a + part in the Socialist movement of the world. + The Jew is almost always a student and often + <a class="pagenum" id="page25" title="25"> </a>a fine scholar. The wide experience of the + Jewish people has taught them (and they have + always been quick to learn) the value of that + something called “scholarship,” which many of + their duller Gentile brethren affect to despise. + “Sound scholarship” should be one of the watchwords + of the lecturer, and as he will never find + time to read everything of the best that has + been written, it is safe to conclude that, except + for special reasons, he cannot spare time or + energy for books of second or third rate.</p> + + <p>Of course, in the beginning it is usually better + to approach the great masters through some well + informed, popularizing disciple. A beginner in + biological evolution would do well to approach + Darwin through Huxley’s essays and John Spargo + has been kind enough to say that Marx should be + approached through the various volumes of my + published lectures.</p> + + <p>The lecturer must be familiar with the very + best; he must plunge to the greatest depths and + rise to the topmost heights.</p> +</div> +<div id="chapter_8" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page26" title="26"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER VIII</span><br /> + SUBJECT</h2> + + <p>A great lecture must have a great theme. One + of the supreme tests of a lecturer’s judgment + presents itself when he is called upon to choose + his subject. Look over the list of subjects on + the syllabus of any speaker and the man stands + revealed. His previous intellectual training, or + lack of it, what he considers important, his general + mental attitude, the extent of his information + and many other things can be predicated + from his selection of topics.</p> + + <p>Early in his career the lecturer is obliged to + face this question, and his future success hinges + very largely on his decision. Not only is the + selection determined by his past reading, but it + in turn largely determines his future study.</p> + + <p>Not long ago a promising young speaker + loomed up, but he made a fatal mistake at the + very outset. He selected as his special subject + a question in which few are interested, except + corporation lawyers—the American constitution.</p> + + <p>The greatest intellectual achievements of the + last fifty years center around the progress of + the natural sciences. Those greatest of all + <a class="pagenum" id="page27" title="27"> </a>problems for the human race, “whence, whither, + wherefore,” have found all that we really know + of their solution in the discoveries of physics + and biology during recent times. What Charles + Darwin said about “The Origin of Species” is + ten thousand times more important than what + some pettifogging lawyer said about “States’ + Rights.” The revelations of the cellular composition + of animals by Schwan and plants by Schleiden + mark greater steps in human progress than + any or all of the decisions of the supreme court. + Lavoisier, the discoverer of the permanence of + matter and the founder of modern chemistry, + will be remembered when everybody has forgotten + that Judge Marshall and Daniel Webster + ever lived. From these and other epoch-making + discoveries in the domain of science, modern Socialism + gets its point of departure from Utopianism, + and without those advances would have + been impossible.</p> + + <p>Here is a new and glorious world from which + the working class has been carefully shut out. + Here we find armor that cannot be dented and + weapons whose points cannot be turned aside + in the struggle of the Proletariat for its own + emancipation.</p> + + <p>Any lecturer who will acquaint himself with + <a class="pagenum" id="page28" title="28"> </a>the names of Lamarck, Darwin, Lyell, Lavoisier, + Huxley, Haeckel, Virchow, Tyndall, Fiske, Wallace, + Romanes, Helmholtz, Leibnitz, Humboldt, + Weismann, etc., in science, and Marx, Engels, + Lafargue, Labriola, Ferri, Vandervelde, Kautsky, + Morgan, Ward, Dietzgen, etc., in sociology, + and learn what those names stand for, such a + lecturer, other things being equal, has a great + and useful field before him.</p> + + <p>It was well enough in the middle ages for + great conclaves of clericals to discuss sagely + what language will be spoken in heaven, and + how many angels could dance a saraband on the + point of a needle, but the twentieth century is + face to face with tremendous problems and the + public mind clamors for a solution. It will listen + eagerly to the man who knows and has something + to say. But it insists that the man who + knows no more than it knows itself, shall hold + his peace.</p> + + <p>This is why the Socialist and the Scientist + are the only men who command real audiences—they + are the only men with great and vital + truths to proclaim.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_9" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page29" title="29"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER IX</span><br /> + LEARN TO STOP</h2> + + <p>The platform has no greater nuisance than + that interminable bore—the speaker who cannot + stop. Of all platform vices this is about the + worst. The speaker who acquires a reputation + for it becomes a terror instead of an attraction + to an audience.</p> + + <p>As a rule there is no audience when his name + is the only item on the card; he gets his chance + speaking with some one else whom the listeners + have really come to hear. And this is just when + his performance is least desirable. Either he + gets in before the real attraction and taxes + everybody’s patience, or he follows and addresses + his remarks to retreating shoulders.</p> + + <p>I met a man recently who had made quite a + name in his own town as a speaker, and his + townsmen visiting other cities proudly declared + him a coming Bebel. I took the first opportunity + to hear him. He had a good voice and was a + ready speaker, but I soon found he carried a + burden that more than balanced all his merits—he + simply could not stop.</p> + + <p>I heard him again when the committee managing + <a class="pagenum" id="page30" title="30"> </a>the program had especially warned him + not to speak more than thirty minutes. At the + end of forty he was sailing along as though + eternity was at his disposal. Three different + times, at intervals of about ten minutes, they + passed him notes asking him to stop. He read + them in plain view of an audience which knew + what they meant, and then tried to close, and + finally did so, not by finishing his speech, but by + shutting his mouth and walking off the platform. + The next item was something which the audience + had paid money to enjoy, but many had + to leave to catch a last car home. As they + passed me near the door, the men swore and the + women came as near to it as they dared. And + yet the speaker complained afterward of his + treatment by the committee. When he began + he received a fine ovation; had he finished at the + end of thirty minutes he would have covered + himself with glory; he spoke an hour and a quarter + and most of those present hoped they would + never be obliged to listen to him again.</p> + + <p>I thought somebody ought to play the part of + candid friend, and I told him next day how it + looked to me.</p> + + <p>He said: “I guess you are right; I believe I’ll + get a watch.”</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page31" title="31"> </a>But this malady is usually much deeper than + the question of having a watch. This speaker + acquired it while addressing street meetings. A + street audience is always changing in some degree. + A hall lecture is not required and would be + out of place. The auditors decide when they have + had enough and leave the meeting unnoticed and + the speaker launches out again on another question + with fifty per cent of his audience new and + his hopping from question to question, and ending + with good-night for a peroration is quite + proper on a street corner. Not only is it proper, + but it is very successful, and good street speakers + cultivate that method. This is why men + who are excellent street speakers and who get + their training out doors are usually such flat failures + in a hall.</p> + + <p>Even when all is going well, an audience or + some part of it will grow uneasy toward the + close, not because they cannot stay ten or fifteen + minutes longer, but because they do not know + whether the lecturer is going to close in ten + minutes or thirty.</p> + + <p>An experienced lecturer will always detect + that uneasiness in moving feet or rustling + clothes, and at the first appropriate period will + look at his watch and say, in a quiet but decided + <a class="pagenum" id="page32" title="32"> </a>tone, “I shall conclude in ten minutes,” + or whatever time he requires. Then those who + cannot wait so long will at once withdraw, the + rest will settle down to listen and harmony will + be restored.</p> + + <p>But woe to the speaker who forgets his + pledge and thinks he may take advantage of that + restored quiet to go beyond the time he stated. + Next time he speaks before that audience and + they become restless he will have no remedy.</p> + + <p>It is better to have your hearers say, “I could + have listened another hour,” than “It would + have been better if he had finished by ten + o’clock.”</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_10" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page33" title="33"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER X</span><br /> + CHAIRMAN</h2> + + <p>Lecturers learn by experience that the chairman + question may become at times a very trying + problem.</p> + + <p>Many a meeting has been spoiled by an impossible + chairman, and the lecturer who wishes + to have his work produce the best result will + always keep a keen eye on the chair, though, of + course, he should not appear to do so.</p> + + <p>The functions of the chairman are mainly + two: To introduce the speaker, and to decide + points of procedure. The latter function is only + necessary in delegate gatherings where all present + have the right to participate. The former + applies where a speaker is visiting a town and + is a stranger to many in his audience.</p> + + <p>In this case, when the chairman has told the + audience who the speaker is, where he comes + from, what his subject will be, the occasion and + auspices of the meeting, his work is done, and + the chairman who at this point leaves the platform + and takes a seat in the front row, should + be presented with a medal of unalloyed gold + and his name should be recorded in the municipal + <a class="pagenum" id="page34" title="34"> </a>archives as an example to the lecture chairmen + of future generations.</p> + + <p>How often has one seen a chairman during + the lecture, conscious that he is in full view of + the audience, crossing his legs, first one way, + then the other, trying a dozen different ways of + disposing of his hands with becoming grace, + fumbling with his watch chain, looking at his + watch as if the speaker had already overstepped + his time, looking nervously at his program as if + something of enormous importance had been forgotten, + and doing a dozen similar things, most of + them unconsciously, but none the less continuously + diverting the attention of the audience + from the speaker and his speech.</p> + + <p>How pleasantly do I recall the chairman who + came to my hotel and asked me to write him a + two-minute speech, which he committed to memory, + but promptly forgot before a crowded opera + house and substituted for it, “Mr. Lewis of San + Francisco will now address you,” and disappeared + in the wings. The fates be kind to him! + He was the prince of chairmen.</p> + + <p>I spoke on one occasion in a large city to a + good audience at a well advertised meeting on + the Moyer-Haywood-Pettibone question. I had + for chairman a local speaker, who, fascinated by + <a class="pagenum" id="page35" title="35"> </a>so fine an audience, spoke over thirty minutes in + this style: “Mr. Lewis will tell you how these + men were kidnapped in Denver; he will tell you + how the railroads provided a special train free of + charge; he will tell you,” etc., until he had mentioned + about all that was known of the case at + that time. The fact that we had a good meeting + and took up a big collection for the defense fund + was no fault of his.</p> + + <p>Another chairman I shall ever remember is + the one who closed a rambling speech with the + following terse remarks: “You have all heard + of the speaker, you have seen his name in our + papers; he has a national reputation. I will now + call upon him to make good.”</p> + + <p>Fortunately, most inexperienced chairmen + seek the speaker’s advice and follow it.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_11" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page36" title="36"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XI</span><br /> + MANNERISMS</h2> + + <p>Speaking mannerisms are of two kinds, those + of manner, of course, and those which by a + metaphorical use of the term may be called + mannerisms of matter.</p> + + <p>“The memory,” said the quaint old Fuller, + “must be located in the back of the head, because + there men dig for it.” Some speakers + appear to imagine it can be found in the links + of a watch chain, or observed in the chinks in + the ceiling.</p> + + <p>Most mannerisms are undesirable and very + few have any value. As they are usually formed + early, one should look out for them at the outset + and nip them in the bud, before they have a + chance to become fixed habits.</p> + + <p>I often notice myself running my fingers + through my hair about the opening sentence, as + though I could thereby loosen up my brain.</p> + + <p>Debs speaks a good deal doubled up like the + corner of a square—a mannerism that probably + has its origin, partly in a body weary from overwork, + and partly from a desire to get closer to + the auditors on the main floor.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page37" title="37"> </a>Mannerisms of matter are very common and + many speakers seem to take no trouble to avoid + them.</p> + + <p>Many speakers become so addicted to certain + hackneyed phrases that those used to hearing + them speak can see them coming sentences + away. One of the hardest ridden of these is, + “along those lines.” I have heard speakers overwork + that sentence until I never hear it without + a shudder and if I used it myself it would be + to refer to car lines, and even then I should + prefer “those tracks.”</p> + + <p>G. W. Woodbey, our colored speaker of “what + to do and how to do it” fame, never speaks an + hour without asking at least thirty times, “Do + you understand?” but the inimitable manner in + which he pokes his chin forward as he does so + usually convulses his audience and makes a virtue + of what would otherwise be a defect. The + veteran speaker Barney Berlyn says, every little + while, “you understand,” but he is so terribly + in earnest, and so forceful in his style, that no + one but a cold blooded critic would ever notice it.</p> + + <p>Another speaker I know in the west, asks his + audience about every ten minutes, “Do you get + my point?” This is very irritating, as it is + really a constant questioning of the audience’s + <a class="pagenum" id="page38" title="38"> </a>ability to see what he is driving at. It would + be much better to say, “Do I make myself understood?” + and put the blame for possible failure + where it usually belongs. If an audience fails + to “get the point” it is because the speaker failed + to put it clearly.</p> + + <p>A terribly overworked word is “proposition.” + It is a good word, but that is no reason why it + should be treated like a pack mule.</p> + + <p>Hackneyed words and phrases are due to + laziness in construction and a limited vocabulary.</p> + + <p>The remedy is to take pains in forming sentences, + practice different ways of stating the + same thing, increase your stock of words by + “looking up” every new one.</p> + + <p>The lecturer should always have a good dictionary + within reach, especially when reading, + if he has to borrow the money to buy it.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_12" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page39" title="39"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XII</span><br /> + COURSE LECTURING—NO CHAIRMAN</h2> + + <p>The very first essential to successful course + lecturing is—no chairman. On three different + occasions I have tried to deliver a long course + of lectures with a chairman, as a concession to + comrades who disagreed with me. One learns + by experience, however, and I shall never repeat + the experiment.</p> + + <p>Anyone who suggested that university course + lectures should have a presiding chairman would + get no serious hearing. All the course lecturers + now before the public dispense with + chairmen. It is a case of survival of the fittest; + the course lecturers who had chairmen didn’t + know their business and they disappeared. This + does not apply to a series of three or four lectures, + for in that case when the speaker has become + familiar with his audience, and the chairman + should be dispensed with, his work is done + and a new speaker appears who needs to be introduced.</p> + + <p>Course lecturing is by far the most difficult of + all forms of lecturing. The beginner will not, + <a class="pagenum" id="page40" title="40"> </a>of course, attempt it. There are shoals of speakers + of over five years’ experience who are not + capable of more than two lectures; many of the + best are exhausted by half a dozen. A course of + thirty to fifty is a gigantic task, and no one + who realizes how great it is will throw a straw + in the lecturer’s way. To insist on his having + a chairman could hardly be called a straw; it + would more nearly approach a stick of dynamite.</p> + + <p>I take up this question because it is certain + that this method of lecturing will increase among + Socialists in the future and we should learn to + avoid sources of disaster.</p> + + <p>Now, I will give reasons. First, in course + lectures the chairman has no functions; he is + entirely superfluous. There are no points of + order or procedure to be decided, and the speaker + does not need to be introduced.</p> + + <p>There are notices to be announced, but these + are better left with the lecturer for many reasons. + They give him a chance to clear his + throat, find the proper pitch of his voice, and + get into communication with his audience; then, + when he begins his lecture he can do his best + from the very first word.</p> + + <p>If the lecturer knows that the entire program + <a class="pagenum" id="page41" title="41"> </a>is in his own hands he is saved a great deal of + irritation and nervousness. How well I remember + those little disputes with the chair when + I knew the meeting was lagging late and the + chairman insisted we should wait until a few + more came.</p> + + <p>The speaker’s request for a good collection + will usually bring from twenty to forty per cent + better results than if it came from a chairman.</p> + + <p>In announcing the next lecture the speaker is + usually able, by telling what ground he will + cover, etc., to arouse the interest of the audience + so that they make up their minds to attend.</p> + + <p>Poor chairmen blunder along and make bad + “breaks” which irritate both audience and + speaker, while good chairmen feel they are doing + nothing that could not be better done by the + speaker and, that they are really only in his way.</p> + + <p>I have only met two kinds of men who insist + that the course lecturer should be handicapped + with a chairman; those who say it gives him too + much power—an argument that belongs to the + sucking bottle stage of our movement—and + those who enjoy acting as chairman.</p> + + <p>I should be slow to mention the latter, but + alas! my own experience so conclusively proves + it, and the peculiarity of human nature, in or + <a class="pagenum" id="page42" title="42"> </a>out of our movement is, that it is wonderfully + human.</p> + + <p>There are very few of us who do not enjoy + sitting in plain view of a large audience and, + when any good purpose is to be served, it is a + very laudable ambition.</p> + + <p>But if we have no better end to gain than + standing between a speaker and his audience + and, though with the best intentions in the world, + adding to the difficulties of a task that is already + greater than most of us would care to face, for + the sake of our great cause, and that it may be + the more ably defended, let us refrain.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_13" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page43" title="43"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XIII</span><br /> + COURSE LECTURING—LEARN TO CLASSIFY</h2> + + <p>The definition of science as “knowledge classified,” + while leaving much to be said, is perhaps, + as satisfactory as any that could be condensed + into two words.</p> + + <p>A trained capacity for classification is wholly + indispensable in a course lecturer. We all know + the speaker who announces his subject and then + rambles off all over the universe. With this + speaker, everybody knows that, no matter what + the subject or the occasion of the meeting, it is + going to be the same old talk that has done duty, + how long nobody can remember.</p> + + <p>If, under the head of “surplus value” you talk + twenty minutes about prohibition, how will you + avoid repetition when you come to speak on the + temperance question?</p> + + <p>The surest way to acquire this qualification is + to study the sciences. The dazzling array of + facts which science has accumulated, owe half + their value to the systematization they have received + at the hands of her greatest savants.</p> + + <p>It is impossible to take a step in scientific + study without coming face to face with her + <a class="pagenum" id="page44" title="44"> </a>grand classifications. At the very beginning + science divides the universe into two parts, the + inorganic and the organic. The inorganic is + studied under the head of “physics”; the organic, + under “biology.”</p> + + <p>Physics (not the kind one throws to the dogs, + of course) is then subdivided into Astronomy, + Chemistry, and Geology, while Biology has its + two great divisions, Zoology (animals) and Botany + (plants), all these having subdivisions reaching + into every ramification of the material universe, + which is the real subject matter of science, + being as it is the only thing about which we possess + any “knowledge.”</p> + + <p>Another way of learning to classify is to select + a subject and then “read it up.” Here is a + good method:</p> + + <p>Take a ten-cent copy book, the usual size + about eight by six inches and begin on the first + inside page. Write on the top of the page, left + side, a good subject, leaving that page and the + one opposite to be used for that question. Turn + over and do the same again on the next page + with some other subject. This practice of selecting + subjects, in itself, will be valuable training.</p> + + <p>In the search for subjects take any good lecture + <a class="pagenum" id="page45" title="45"> </a>syllabus and select those about which you + have a fair general idea. You will soon learn to + frame some of your own. Good examples of + standard questions are “Free Will,” “Natural + Selection,” “Natural Rights,” “Economic Determinism,” + “Mutation,” “Individualism,” and a + host of others, all of which have a distinct position + in thought, and about which there is a + standard literature.</p> + + <p>Then, in your general reading, whenever you + come across anything of value in any book, on + any of your listed subjects, turn to the page in + your copy book and enter it up, author, volume, + chapter and page. When you come to lecture + on that question, there it will be, or, at least, + you will know just where it is.</p> + + <p>Of course, the two pages devoted to “Natural + Rights” would mention, among other references, + Prof. David G. Ritchie’s book on “Natural + Rights”; and the eighth essay of Huxley’s First + Volume of “Collected Essays,” in which he annihilates + Henry George.</p> + + <p>All this means an immense quantity of reading, + but unless you have carefully read and + weighed about all the best that has been said on + any question, your own opinions will have no + value, and it is simply presumption to waste the + <a class="pagenum" id="page46" title="46"> </a>time of an audience doling out a conception that, + for aught you know, may have been knocked in + the head half a century ago.</p> + + <p>What can be more tiresome than the prattle + about “absolute justice,” “eternal truth,” “inalienable + rights,” “the identity of the ethics of + Christianity with those of Socialism,” and a lot + of other theories, which lost their footing in + scientific literature and transmigrated to begin + a new career among the uninformed, sixty years + ago.</p> + + <p>Of course, some of these positions look all + right to you now, but when you learn what has + been revealed about them by the science and + philosophy of the last six decades, they will seem + about as rational as the doctrine of a personal + devil or the theory of a flat earth.</p> + + <p>And until your reading is wide enough to give + you this view of them, you had better not attempt + course lecturing in the twentieth century.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_14" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page47" title="47"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XIV</span><br /> + PREPARATION</h2> + + <p>Said Francis Bacon, the author of “Novum + Organum,” “Reading maketh a full man, writing + an exact man, and conversation a ready man.”</p> + + <p>The first in importance of these is to be “a + full man.” The lecturer should not deliver himself + on any subject unless he has read about + all there is of value on that question.</p> + + <p>If, when you read, the words all run together + in the first few minutes, or, you invariably get + a headache about the third page, let lecturing + alone. Remember that there must be listeners + as well as lecturers, and you may make a good + listener, a quality none too common, but, as for + lecturing, you have about as much chance of success + as a man who could not climb ten rungs of + a ladder without going dizzy, would have as a + steeplejack.</p> + + <p>The speaker who writes out his speech and + commits it to memory and then recites it, has + at least, this in his favor: his performance represents + great labor. An audience usually is, and + should be, very lenient with anyone who has + obviously labored hard for its benefit.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page48" title="48"> </a>Writing out a speech has many advantages, + and beginners especially should practice it extensively. + It gives one precision or, as Bacon + puts it, makes an “exact” man. It gives one + experience in finding the correct word.</p> + + <p>If you have not learned to find the right word + at your desk where you have time to reflect, how + do you suppose you will find it on the platform + where you must go on?</p> + + <p>In trying a passage in your study it is well + to stand about as you would on a platform. My + friend Jack London assured me that when he + took to the platform his chief difficulty arose + from never having learned to think on his feet.</p> + + <p>Writing is also a great test of the value of a + point. Many a point that looks brilliant when + you first conceive it turns out badly when you + try to write it out. On the other hand, an unpromising + idea may prove quite fertile when + tried out with a pen. It is better to make these + discoveries in your study than before your audience.</p> + + <p>As to conversation and its making a “ready” + man, a better method perhaps, is to argue the + matter out with a mirror, or the wall, in about + the same manner and style as you expect to use + on the platform.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page49" title="49"> </a>To practice before one or two persons in the + style you expect to adopt before an audience is + so inherently incompatible with the different circumstances, + that I don’t believe anybody ever + made it succeed. It is far better to be alone, + especially when working out your most important + points, and building your opening and closing + sentences.</p> + + <p>Probably the best form of lecturing is to speak + from a few pages of notes. A clearly defined + skeleton, in a lecture, as in an animal, is the sure + sign of high organization, while it is desirable + to fill in the flesh and clothes with a pen beforehand, + it will be well to learn to deliver it to the + public with nothing but the skeleton before you.</p> + + <p>In course lectures, quotations must be read, as + a rule, as there is not time enough between lectures + to commit them to memory. But where + the same lecture is given repeatedly before different + audiences, this condition does not exist, + and the quotations should be memorized. Frequent + quotations, from the best authorities, is + one of the marks of a good lecture, as of a good + book.</p> + + <p>A good plan is to write out the skeleton of the + lecture fully at first, say fifteen or twenty note + book pages, then think it carefully over and condense + <a class="pagenum" id="page50" title="50"> </a>to about ten. A really good, well organized + lecture where the lecturer has had ample + time, or when he has already delivered it a few + times, should be reducible to one or two pages + of notes.</p> + + <p>This skeletonizing is a good test of a lecture. + A mere collection of words has no skeleton. Instead + of comparing with a mammal at the top of + the organic scale, it is like a formless, undifferentiated + protozoon at the bottom.</p> + + <p>As an example of a skeleton, here are the + notes of the lecture with which I closed the season + at the Garrick in May, 1907:</p> + + <blockquote> + <p class="headline">SOCIALISM AND MODERN ETHICAL SCIENCE</p> + + <ol id="notelist"> + <li>The general confusion on this question.</li> + <li>The inroads of positive science into this field.</li> + <li>The historical schools of Ethics: + <ol> + <li>The Theological.</li> + <li>The intuitional.</li> + <li>The utilitarian. + <ol> + <li>Define these;</li> + <li>explain;</li> + <li>criticise.</li> + </ol> + </li> + </ol> + </li> + <li>Modern science endorses utilitarianism.</li> + <li>This still leaves unsettled the problem of who shall determine what is of utility to society?</li> + <li>Marx gave the answer—The ruling class.</li> + <li>They rule because they control society’s foundation, its mode of production.</li> + <li>The working class, in order to enforce its own <a class="pagenum" id="page51" title="51"> </a>ethics must control society at its base; it must take possession of the means of production.</li> + </ol> + </blockquote> + + <p>When I first delivered this lecture I had about + twenty pages of notes nearly twice the size of + this book page, the three items, “define,” “explain,” + “criticize,” taking half a dozen.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_15" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page52" title="52"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XV</span><br /> + DEBATING</h2> + + <p>Really great debaters, like the animal reconstructed, + as Bret Harte relates, before “The + Society on the Stanislaw,” are “extremely rare.” + This is because the great debater must have a + number of accomplishments any one of which + requires something very closely approaching + genius.</p> + + <p>The great debater must first of all be a brilliant + speaker; but he must also be a speaker of + a certain kind. Many brilliant speakers are utterly + helpless in debate. The most helpless of + these is the speaker who is bound closely to his + fully written manuscript or who departs from + it only by memorizing the sentences.</p> + + <p>A certain preacher in a double walled brick + church found a chink in the inner wall just back + of the pulpit. He found this crevice a convenient + pigeon hole for his carefully written and always + excellent sermon during the preliminary parts of + the service. While the congregation sang the last + verse of the hymn preceding the sermon he + would draw it from its hiding place and lay it on + <a class="pagenum" id="page53" title="53"> </a>the pulpit. One fatal Sunday he pushed it too + far in and it fell between the two walls hopelessly + beyond immediate recovery. His anguish + during the last verse as the novelists say, “beggared + description.” He read a chapter from the + Bible and dismissed his flock. One cannot imagine + such a speaker, brilliant as he was with his + pages before him, achieving any success in debate.</p> + + <p>The qualities of a great debater may be ranged + under two heads: (1) general, (2) technical. + The general qualifications must be those of a + ready speaker, fully master of his subject and + able to think quickly and clearly and to clothe an + idea in forceful, suitable language on very short + notice. The ability to detect a flaw in an opponent’s + case does not consist merely in cleverness, + but will depend upon the thoroughness of your + studies before going on the platform.</p> + + <p>The great debater must go to the bottom of + things. It is all very well to take an opponent’s + speech and reply to it point by point, even to the + last detail. It is vastly better, however, if you + can lay your hands on the fundamental fallacy + that underlies the whole case and explode that.</p> + + <p>I well remember my debate with Bolton Hall. + Mr. Hall’s whole case rested on the theory of the + existence of certain Nature-given and God-given + <a class="pagenum" id="page54" title="54"> </a>rights of man. The apostles of the Single + Tax from George down never knew and probably + never will know how completely all this has + been swept into the dust-bin by modern science. + It was only necessary for me to demonstrate the + hopelessness of Mr. Hall’s main thesis to leave + him standing before the audience without so + much as the possibility of a real answer.</p> + + <p>We shall consider at some length the technical + methods that make for effective debating. In + my opinion, formed from my own experience, + this question of methods is of the greatest importance.</p> + + <p>The most important thing in this connection is + how to make the best use of the time allowed + and always know, while speaking, how much + you still have left. You may look at your watch + at the beginning of your speech, but once started, + the brain, working at full capacity, refuses to + remember, and you turn to the chairman and + ask “How much time have I?” This not only + wastes your time, but distracts the attention of + the audience from your attack or reply. Again, + the relief is only temporary, for in a few minutes + you are again in the same dilemma. Then, + worst of all, right in the middle of an argument, + down comes the gavel, and with a lame “I thank + <a class="pagenum" id="page55" title="55"> </a>you,” you sit down. There are men who can + carry the time in their heads, but as a rule they + are not good debaters, as they do so because + only a part of their energies are thrown into the + debate itself.</p> + + <p>This difficulty hampered me terribly in many + debates and the only consolation I could find + was that it seemed to hamper my opponents + about as much. But it never troubles me now + owing to the following simple, but invaluable + device: See that your watch is wound, take + half a postage stamp, and, as the chairman calls + you forth, stick the stamp across the face of + your watch in such a position that when the + large hand goes into eclipse your time is up. + Then place it on the desk where it will be always + visible, and the space between the hand and the + line of eclipse always shows your remaining + time.</p> + + <p>On the occasion of my debate with Mr. Chafin, + the last presidential candidate of the Prohibition + party, on “Socialism versus Prohibition + as a Solution of the Social Problem,” Mr. Louis + Post, the well-known editor of “The Public,” + was chairman. He courteously asked us how + much warning we needed before the close of + our several speeches. Mr. Post is no novice in + <a class="pagenum" id="page56" title="56"> </a>debate and he looked much surprised when I told + him not to warn me at all and that he would + have no need of closing me with the gavel. He + probably thought I had decided to use only part + of the time allowed me. When, at the close of my + longest speech I finished a somewhat difficult + and elaborate peroration squarely on the last + quarter of the last second, Mr. Post’s astonishment + was so great that he burst out with it to + the audience. He said: “Mr. Lewis does not + require a chairman; without any help from me + in any way he closed that speech right to the + moment. I don’t know how he does it; it is a + mystery to me; I couldn’t do it to save my life!”</p> + + <p>In my debate with Clarence Darrow on “Non-resistance,” + at the close of my long speech, when + our excellent chairman, Mr. Herbert C. Duce, + thought I had lost all track of time and was going + to need the gavel, to his surprise, just as my + last second expired I turned to Darrow and + asked a minute’s grace to quote from Tennyson, + which Darrow gave with a promptness that + scored heavily with the audience.</p> + + <p>For some days before a debate I take care + that my pocketbook is well supplied with postage + stamps.</p> + + <p>Another matter of the very first importance + <a class="pagenum" id="page57" title="57"> </a>is the taking of notes of your opponent’s speech + and preparing to reply when your turn comes. + During the last few years I have met in debate, + Henry George, Jr., Clarence Darrow, M. M. + Mangasarian, Professor John Curtis Kennedy, + Eugene Chafin, John Z. White, W. F. Barnard, + Bolton Hall, H. H. Hardinge, Chas. A. Windle, + editor of “The Iconoclast,” and others, all men + with a national and many with an international + reputation as platform masters. But I have + never been able to understand why almost all + of them, except Barnard and Kennedy, made + almost no real use of their time while I was + speaking. The probable reason is that debating + has not been cultivated as an art in this country.</p> + + <p>They sit quietly in a chair without table or note + paper and are satisfied to scribble an occasional + note on some scrap of paper they seem to have + picked up by accident. Clarence Darrow got + more out of this easy going method than any + man I ever met.</p> + + <p>With all deference to the names I have given + I must insist that this is no way to debate. It + should be done thoroughly and systematically. + For my own purposes I have reduced this part + of debating to an exact science. I do not dread + <a class="pagenum" id="page58" title="58"> </a>a debate now as I once did. My only care is to + see that I am master of the subject.</p> + + <p>I will now give my latest method of note + taking—the product of years of experience and + many long hours of careful planning. It works + so simply and perfectly that I do not see how it + can be further improved. This confidence in the + perfection of my methods is not usual with me. + I have tried every method I could hear of or + scheme out, and this is the only one that ever + gave satisfaction. Now for the method.</p> + + <p>Have a table on the platform. Never allow + the chairman to open the debate until your table + and chair have been provided. Next, a good + supply of loose pages of blank white paper of + reasonably good quality and fairly smooth surface. + A good size is nine inches long and six + wide. Any wholesale paper house will cut them + for you. Remember, they must be loose; do + not try to use a note book. Next, a good lead + pencil, writing blue at one end and red at the + other.</p> + + <p>When your opponent makes his first point + make a note of it in blue at the top of one of + your loose pages. There is no need of numbering + any of the pages. Keep that page exclusively + for that one point. Leave the upper half of the + <a class="pagenum" id="page59" title="59"> </a>page for the note of his point. If you have your + answer ready, make a note of it half way down + the page in red.</p> + + <p>This will leave a space under both the blue + note of your opponent’s point and the red note + of your reply. In the upper space you may enter + fuller detail of his point if you think best. In + the bottom space you may amplify your reply or + strike out your first idea of reply and enter one + that seems stronger.</p> + + <p>The immense advantage of this one-point-one-page + system is that in arranging the order of + reply you need only arrange the pages. The position + of any point may be changed by moving the + page dealing with it.</p> + + <p>When you have completed a page by entering + the blue note and the red reply and you feel that + you have that item well in hand, lay that page + aside and work on the completion of others. + When your opponent is about half through his + speech you should have about half a dozen pages + completed and you should begin to put them in + the order in which they are to be used.</p> + + <p>A good strong point should be selected to open. + Lay this page face downward on your table, away + from the rest of your papers, where it will stand + forth clearly and not cause you to hunt around + <a class="pagenum" id="page60" title="60"> </a>the table when the chairman calls you. Lay the + second point page on top of it, face down, of + course. When you have a pile like this, by turning + it over and laying it before you face up, you + are ready to begin. You can rearrange the order + of these pages from time to time during the latter + part of your opponent’s speech.</p> + + <p>Whenever you find your opponent developing + a point you have already grasped and noted, you + may take time to go over the pile of completed + pages. In this overhauling process you will find + some faulty pages. If you have noted a weak + point of your opponent’s and it does not admit + of a strong, clear reply, take it out of your pile and + place it separately so that it may be returned + if you can improve it sufficiently, or finally rejected + and left unused if you cannot.</p> + + <p>By the time your opponent is about to close + you should have about twice as many pages as + you can use in the time allowed you and they + should be rapidly but carefully sifted. Anything + that looks vague or weak should be thrust aside. + If need be, it is better to spend extra time on + some strong position which is fundamental to + the debate.</p> + + <p>To make a good debate you must meet your + opponent most fully on his strongest ground. + <a class="pagenum" id="page61" title="61"> </a>Any tricky evasion of his strong points and enlarging + of minor issues is disgraceful to you and + insulting to the audience. It is this latter kind + of debating which has prejudiced the public + against debates.</p> + + <p>A real debate should be a clear presentment of + two opposing schools of thought by men who + understand both, but basically disagree as to + their truth. Such a debate has an educational + value of the very highest order.</p> + + <p>Every speech, as in lecturing, should have a + strong close. The last point can usually be + selected before the debate begins, as it will probably + deal with the valuable results flowing from + your position. This method enables you to prepare + the closing sentence or sentences—which is + of great importance. It is one of the great disadvantages + of debate that your speeches are + liable to end lame and if you can avoid this, one + of your knottiest problems is solved.</p> + + <p>A strong point also should be selected to open + with; a point that will put the audience in good + humor by its wit is especially valuable. But remember + wit is only valuable when it bears on the + question and strengthens or illustrates an argument. + Any indulgence in wit merely to turn a + laugh against your opponent will disgust the + <a class="pagenum" id="page62" title="62"> </a>intelligent members of the audience and the pity + is that there are always block-heads to applaud + such deplorable methods. The platform suffers + an irreparable loss whenever it is used by debaters + whom nature intended for “shyster” + lawyers.</p> + + <p>As an example of a good point for opening a + reply, take the following from my debate in the + Garrick, October, 1907:</p> + + <p>My opponent, Mr. Hardinge, said, “As an + Individualist Mr. Spencer was an extremist in + one direction, and the Socialist is an extremist + in the other. I take a middle ground; you will + always find the truth about half way.”</p> + + <p>My note of this (in blue) was, “extremist, + middle ground.” My note of answer (in red) + was “revolving earth.”</p> + + <p>This was the answer as I made it from these + two notes:</p> + + <p>“Mr. Hardinge said we should not be Socialists + because we should then be as great extremists + in one direction as was Mr. Spencer in the + other. We should follow Mr. Hardinge’s example + and take the middle ground for, says he, + truth is always to be found half way. Therefore, + if anyone should ask you, does the earth revolve + <a class="pagenum" id="page63" title="63"> </a>from east to west, or from west to east, you + should answer, ‘a little of both.’”</p> + + <p>It would have been small consolation to Mr. + Hardinge to know that this reply was taken + from the individualist Spencer, who should have + been his mainstay in the debate. But such things + are common property and I had just as much + right to take it from Spencer as he had to take it + from George Eliot.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_16" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page64" title="64"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XVI</span><br /> + TRICKS OF DEBATE</h2> + + <p>There are a great number of tricks that may + be practiced in debate. They should be avoided + by the serious man who is debating to defend a + great cause. It is well to know the best methods + but anything like a trick should never be practiced.</p> + + <p>Some debaters I have met actually consider it + smart to fill an opening speech with empty words + so as to handicap their opponent by giving him + nothing to reply to. This is precisely what Mr. + Mangasarian did in his debate with me, but + although many disagree with me, I take the + view that he did so, not as a trick, but because of + his ignorance of the question and his want of + experience in debate. To have done this deliberately + as a clever trick, after allowing an audience + of 3,000 to pay over $1,100 for their seats would + have been criminal, and I refuse to believe that + any public man of Mr. Mangasarian’s status + would stoop to any such performance as a matter + of deliberate strategy.</p> + + <p>On one occasion, when the subject of discussion + was not of any such serious import as + <a class="pagenum" id="page65" title="65"> </a>Socialism, but more a question of who could win + a debate on a subject of small merit, I defeated + my opponent by a trick that I am heartily + ashamed of, even under those mitigating circumstances. + I record it here, not as an example to + be followed, but as a warning not to let anyone + else use it against you.</p> + + <p>Unskilled debaters usually reply to their opponent’s + points in the order in which they were + presented—seriatim. This is easy but not most + effective.</p> + + <p>This opponent, whom I heard debate with + someone else before I was engaged to try conclusions + with him, was limited, as I saw, to the + seriatim method of reply. When we met, I completely + destroyed his influence on the audience + by the following trick:</p> + + <p>Having the affirmative, I had to open and + close, which gave me three speeches to his two. + In my first speech instead of taking five to ten + good points only, I added a good number of + other points, stating them briefly and just giving + him time to get them down. These extra points + cost me about one minute each to state, and I + knew they would cost him at least four or five to + reply. Then just before closing I very seriously + advanced the heaviest objection to my opponent’s + <a class="pagenum" id="page66" title="66"> </a>position. I especially called the attention of my + audience to this point and declared it to be unanswerable + and hoped my opponent would not + forget to make a note of it. Then I paused long + enough for the audience to see that I gave him + full opportunity to get it down—as he did. Then + I gathered my threads together and entered on + my peroration.</p> + + <p>It worked out precisely as I had anticipated. + My opponent began at the beginning, as he saw + it, and all his time went over those decoy points + and the chairman rapped him down long before + he reached that special point.</p> + + <p>I then repeated the same tactics only I loaded + him more heavily with decoys than before. I + called upon the audience to witness that in spite + of my begging him to do so, he had never so + much as mentioned the main difficulty in his + position.</p> + + <p>In his second and last speech, he saw the necessity + of getting to that point but, alas, although + he hustled through the column of stumbling + blocks so rapidly that the audience hardly knew + what he was talking about, just as he was about + to reply to this much-paraded difficulty of mine—and + it really was the main weakness of his + position—down came the chairman’s gavel.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page67" title="67"> </a>Then I lashed him unmercifully. I called the + attention of the audience to the fact that twice I + had especially begged him to answer this question + and he had repeatedly failed to do so. The + audience, of course, drew the inference that he + was unable to answer, and he was considered to + be hopelessly defeated.</p> + + <p>He should, by all means, have given that point + his first consideration before dealing with the + rest of my speech.</p> + + <p>This gentleman had humiliated quite a number + of young aspirants in the local debating class, + and openly boasted of the clever tricks by which + he had done so. For once, however, he was + “hoist on his own petard.”</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_17" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page68" title="68"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XVII</span><br /> + RHETORIC</h2> + + <p>It is the function of language to convey ideas. + Ideas are the real foundation of good lecturing + and words must always be subordinate.</p> + + <p>The English Parliamentarian, Gladstone, had + the reputation of being able to say less in more + time than any man who ever lived. The difference + between a good and a bad use of words is + well illustrated in the discussion between Gladstone + and Huxley on Genesis and Science. Of + course everybody knows now that Gladstone was + annihilated, in spite of the cleverness with which, + when beaten, he would, in Huxley’s phrase, “retreat + under a cloud of words.”</p> + + <p>Grandiloquence will produce, in the more intelligent + of your audience, an amused smile, and + while it is well to have your hearers smile with + you, they should never have reason to smile at + you.</p> + + <p>Here again, a great deal depends on what you + have been reading. In the use of good, clear, + powerful English, Prof. Huxley is without a + <a class="pagenum" id="page69" title="69"> </a>peer, and his “collected essays” will always remain + a precious heritage in English literature. + For an example of the exact opposite, take the + magazines and pamphlets of the so-called new + thought, which at bottom is neither “new” nor + “thought.” In reality it is made up of words, + words, and then—more words.</p> + + <hr class="thoughtbreak" /> + + <p class="post_thoughtbreak">I read a fifteen hundred word article, in a new + thought magazine, by one of its foremost + prophets, and nowhere from beginning to end, + was there a single tangible idea, nothing but a + long drawn out mass of meaningless jargon.</p> + + <hr class="thoughtbreak" /> + + <p class="post_thoughtbreak">“Thus spake Zarathustra” is the same thing at + its best. As an example of a style to be carefully + avoided the following is in point. It is also a + rara avis; a gem of purest ray. It is taken from + the local Socialist platform of an Arizona town:</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>Therefore, it matters not, though the Creator decked + the earth with prolific soil, and deposited within great + stores of wealth for man’s enjoyment, for, if Economic + Equality is ostracised, man is enslaved and the world + surges through space around the sun, a gilded prison. It + matters not, though the infinite blue vast be sown with + innumerable stars and the earth be adorned with countless + beauties, teeming with the multiplicity of living + forms for man’s edification, for if Liberty is exiled, the + <a class="pagenum" id="page70" title="70"> </a>intellect is robbed and man knows not himself. It matters + not, though nature opens her generous purse and + pours forth melodies of her myriad-tongued voices for + man’s delectation, for, if the shackles of wage slavery + are not loosed, the mind is stultified and ambition destroyed + by the long hours of toil’s monotony in the + factory, the machine shop, in the mines, at the desk, + and on the farm. It matters not, though the fireside + of the home sheds forth a radiance in which is blended + paternal love, health and happiness, for, if woman is + denied equal suffrage, then this queen of the household, + perforce, becomes a moral slave.</p> + + <p>Man, therefore, is not the sovereign citizen as pictured + by the flashing phrases of the orator and soothsayer.</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>Liberty exiled, we have heard of before, but + economic equality ostracised, is new. The idea + that the multiplicity of living forms exist for + man’s edification, is ancient to the point of being + moldy, but we must concede originality to “myriad + tongued voices” issuing from a “purse.” The + concluding remarks about the “flashing phrases + of the orator” are peculiarly well taken—unless + that gentleman should be mean enough to say, + “you’re another.”</p> + + <hr class="thoughtbreak" /> + + <p class="post_thoughtbreak">Of course there is no objection to real eloquence + and one’s sentences should always be + smooth and rhythmical. One great source of + <a class="pagenum" id="page71" title="71"> </a>smoothness and rhythm is alliteration. Tennyson + says:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <p>“The distant dearness of the hill</p> + <p>The sacred sweetness of the stream.”</p> + </div> + + <p class="continued_paragraph">Here the smooth movement comes from the + alliteration on d in the first line and the tripling + of the initial s in the second.</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <p>“With his back to the field, and his feet to the foe.”</p> + </div> + + <p class="continued_paragraph">gets its music from the alliteration on f. In revising + the MS. of my lecture on “Weismann’s + Theory of Heredity” for publication, I found the + following sentence, referring to Johannes Mueller.</p> + + <blockquote> + <p>“He failed to fill the gap his destructive criticism + had created.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>This sentence gives to the ear a sense of + rhythm that is somewhere interrupted and disturbed. + Examination shows that the rhythm + comes from the alliterations “failed to fill” and + “criticism had created,” and the disturbance + arises from the interjection between them of the + word “destructive.” Destructive is a good word + here, but not essential to the sense and not worth + the interruption it makes in the smoothness of + the sentence. So it had to go.</p> + + <p>Avoid long words wherever possible, and + <a class="pagenum" id="page72" title="72"> </a>never use a word you do not understand. As + an example of the vast picture which half a + dozen short words of Saxon English will conjure + up, take these lines from “The Ancient + Mariner”:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <p>“Alone, alone, all, all alone,</p> + <p>Alone on a wide, wide sea.”</p> + </div> + + <p>The power of expression in a single word, + appears in Keats’ description of Ruth, in his + “Ode to the Nightingale.”</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <p>“The voice I hear this passing night was heard</p> + <p>In ancient days by emperor and clown;</p> + <p>Perhaps the selfsame song that found a path</p> + <p>Through the sad heart of Ruth, when sick for home,</p> + <p>She stood in tears amid the alien corn.”</p> + </div> + + <p>What a master-stroke is the use of “alien,” + this time a Latin derivative, in the last line + quoted. What a picture of that old time drama, + with its theme of love and sorrow co-eval with + the human race.</p> + + <p>First get your idea, then express it in words + that give it forth clearly. No verbiage, no fog + or clouds, no jargon, but simplicity, lucidity, + vividness, and power.</p> +</div> +<div id="chapter_18" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page73" title="73"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XVIII</span><br /> + THE AUDIENCE</h2> + + <p>A lecturer should realize his grave responsibility + to his audience. Nothing but absolute + physical impossibility is a sufficient excuse for + disappointing an assembly. Have it thoroughly + understood that when your name appears on a + program, you will be at your post.</p> + + <p>Never allow, if you can possibly prevent, anybody + to announce you to speak without consulting + you and getting your consent. In some cities + the method of announcing a speaker, when it is + not known whether or not he can be present and, + in some cases, even when it is known he cannot, + has prevailed in the Socialist party. The temptation + to do this consists in the possibility of + using a prominent name to attract a large audience + and then, with some lame excuse, put forward + somebody else.</p> + + <p>This succeeds for a time; then comes disaster. + In such a city a good meeting becomes almost + impossible. With the public it is, once bit, twice + shy. For myself, if when I am announced to + speak and I am not there and there is no message + <a class="pagenum" id="page74" title="74"> </a>in the hands of the chairman reporting my death + or some other almost equally good reason, it is + almost safe to say my name has been used without + my consent.</p> + + <p>Any lecturer who treats his audience lightly + has no reason to expect it will take him seriously. + There is no lecturing future ahead of the + man who says to some disappointed auditor he + meets afterward on the street: “Well, the + weather was so bad I didn’t think anybody + would turn out.” Suppose only ten people + turned out, is not their combined inconvenience + ten times as great as that of the speaker? At + least you could go and thank those who did come, + as they surely deserved, and feel that you did + your duty in the matter.</p> + + <p>I well remember one night in San Francisco, + about the twenty-first lecture of a course in the + Academy of Sciences, when it rained as only + Californians ever see it rain; it seemed to fall in + a solid mass. From 6 to 7:30 it continued with + no sign of let-up, and the streets began to look + like rivers.</p> + + <p>“No meeting tonight, that’s sure,” I concluded + as I ruefully pocketed the notes of my lecture. + But my rule compelled me to turn out and see. + To my very great astonishment the Academy was + <a class="pagenum" id="page75" title="75"> </a>full and the admission receipts were equal to the + average. Never again, if I can help it, will + weather alone keep me from appearing at a + meeting.</p> + + <p>Another matter in which speakers should consider + the feelings of their hearers is—“don’t + make excuses.” The audience wants to know + what you have to say about the subject, and not, + why you are not better prepared. The audience + will know whether you have a cold without you + taking up time telling about it.</p> + + <p>If you allow yourself to drift into the habit + of making excuses, you will never be able to + speak without doing so, and even your best prepared + effort will be unable to get by without a + stupid preamble of meaningless apologies.</p> + + <p>It is safe to conclude that the good impression + a lecture should make is not increased by + the lecturer condemning it in advance; this is + usually done to disarm criticism, secure indulgence, + and give the audience a great notion of + what you could do if you had a fair chance. + But the audience wants to see what you can do + now, and not what you might possibly have + done, under other circumstances. If your lecture + cannot bear open criticism and really needs + to be apologized for, then it ought not to be + <a class="pagenum" id="page76" title="76"> </a>delivered, and you should be sitting in the audience + listening to somebody else.</p> + + <p>Boasting is, of course, very irritating to an + audience and should be avoided, but want of + courage and self-confidence is almost as deplorable. + Of course there is no merit in self-confidence + that is not well founded in sterling ability.</p> + + <p>Somebody said, “The man who knows not, and + knows not that he knows not, is ignorant, avoid + him; the man who knows not, and knows that + he knows not, is simple, teach him; the man + who knows, and knows not that he knows, is + timid, encourage him; the man who knows, and + knows that he knows, is wise, follow him.”</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_19" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page77" title="77"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XIX</span><br /> + STREET SPEAKING</h2> + + <h3 id="chapter_19a">THE PLACE</h3> + + <p>In traveling through the country on a street-speaking + tour about the first thing a speaker observes + is the poor judgement shown by the local + comrades in the selection of street corners for + their meetings. The chosen corner is usually + where the down-and-outs and drunks congregate + and is hemmed about by cheap noisy saloons. If + a speaker is to be in a town one or two nights + he can hardly show the local comrades their error. + If I am to be in a town any longer I look through + the town during the day and early evening and + pick out a down-town corner where there is a + steady flow of average citizens and nobody will + stop unless they stop to listen. Then the night + after making the announcement at the old stand + I begin a revolution in the method of running + street meetings. I have no hard feelings against + drunks but they are useless and worse in a street + meeting. There are two reasons for the present + bad selection of corners in so many cities. First, + it is easier for a poor speaker to get an audience + <a class="pagenum" id="page78" title="78"> </a>where there are hangers-out waiting to be entertained. + Second, the city authorities like to have + Socialist speaking done where it will not reach the + live members of the community. A change of + corners sometimes means a hard fight with the + police but if the proper methods are used victory + is sure and the result is always worth the labor + spent.</p> + + <h3 id="chapter_19b">THE STYLE</h3> + + <p>Street speaking is widely different from hall + lecturing and this the reason so many speakers + succeed at one and fail at the other. The hall + lecturer opens easily and paves the way for + the treatment of his theme, but the street speaker + would get no crowd or a small one by such a + method.</p> + + <p>He must plunge at once into the heart of his + talk and put as much energy into addressing the + first dozen as when his crowd grows larger. As + soon as he adapts his voice and manner to the size + of his crowd the crowd will stop growing. The + only way to add another hundred is to talk as if + they were already there.</p> + + <p>A hall lecture should have one subject and stick + to it because the audience is the same in its composition + throughout. At a street meeting about + <a class="pagenum" id="page79" title="79"> </a>half the audience is constantly changing, and hopping + from one question to another has many advantages. + A street speaker must be interesting + or he will lose his crowd, and the better his crowd + the sooner he will lose it. If he is talking to + “bums” they will stay whether he talks or not, + but if he has an audience of people who have + other things awaiting their attention they will + pass on the moment the speaker loses his grip.</p> + + <p>This is why telling stories at street meetings + is not so good a thing as some unobserving speakers + suppose. No matter how good a story is, it + has a tendency to break up a crowd. I noticed it + often before I caught the reason. A story always + carries its own conclusion and it thereby makes a + sort of a breaking off place in a speech like the + end of a chapter in a book. At the end of a good + story the audience will laugh and take a moments + rest. For about a minute your spell is broken + and men whom you might of held the rest of the + evening remember during that minute that they + have stayed too long already. Of course this + does not apply to a story of two or three sentences + thrust into the middle of an argument + without breaking or closing it. Longer stories + may be used to advantage but they are not very + useful to a speaker who has much to say and + <a class="pagenum" id="page80" title="80"> </a>knows how to say it. Of course wit is a valuable + factor but wit shows itself in a lightning dart, + not in a long story.</p> + + <p>The street speaker should use short sentences + of simple words. He should avoid oratory and + talk as if he were telling something to another + man and in dead earnest about it. I have watched + a man talk to another man on the street forgetting + the outside world completely and using forceful + language and eloquent gestures. If such a man + could only talk like that to an audience he would + be surprised at his own success. Put him before + an audience and his natural manner disappears, + he shuffles his feet, does not know what to do + with his hands, and brings forth a voice nobody + ever heard him use before.</p> + + <h3 id="chapter_19c">DISTURBERS</h3> + + <p>As to people who disturb your meeting, if you + are speaking in hobo-dom you may well despair. + There are so many drunks, that interruptions + are constant and irrepressible, and every interruption + breaks your grip on the audience. + Moral: Don’t speak there.</p> + + <p>On a corner where you get an audience of + typical working men disturbances are rare and + in a majority of cases if they are not easily suppressed + <a class="pagenum" id="page81" title="81"> </a>it is lack of tact on the part of the + speaker. A speaker should never try to be smart + at the expense of a man in the audience, even + when he speaks out of his turn. A courteous explanation + of why you wish him to keep his questions + until after your speech is much better. If + he persists after that, he is either an ignoramus + or drunk. If drunk ask two or three of your supporters + in the audience to lead him off down the + street. If he is a natural fool the problem is not + so easy. But if you keep unbroken courtesy and + he keeps up his unprovoked interruptions some + indignant person standing near will abate the nuisance + with a punch in the eye—which is the most + effectual method in such cases.</p> + + <h3 id="chapter_19d">POLICE INTERFERENCE</h3> + + <p>There is no easier task in the world than to defeat + the police authorities in a free speech fight. + In the few cases where we lose it is our own fault. + The police are usually acting under orders when + making arrests and nothing is gained by making + bitter enemies of them unless they treat you + brutally.</p> + + <p>A cool head, a disposition to reason the matter + out with the district attorney, the chief of police, + the mayor, or in the courts, without ever offering + <a class="pagenum" id="page82" title="82"> </a>to compromise your speaking rights, will always + triumph. The realization by the authorities that + they are in a dirty and tyrannical business is one + of your strongest weapons. Courtesy and persuasive + but firm and unflinching reasoning makes + them more conscious of their humiliating part in + the matter. If you do or say foolish or offensive + things they will forget their conscience in their + anger, and give you a fight for which you alone + are to blame.</p> + + <p>There are a few exceptions to this rule; cases + where the authorities are bent on victory; even + then there is no excuse for losing your head. But + you must give them all the fight they want and + never under any circumstances show the white + feather or accept anything less than all you need + to make your meeting successful. In handling the + police and their relations to street meetings the + New York comrades have set other cities an example + to go by. The comrades select any corners + they please and during the day notify the police + by telephone that Socialist meetings will be held + that evening on such and such corners and a + policeman is instructed to protect each meeting. + The New York comrades have had many hard + battles with the police to keep this system, and + they have reason to be proud of the result.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page83" title="83"> </a>The permit system is all right if it does not + keep you from the corners you wish to use. If it + does, the best thing is to fight it out for a new arrangement + or the right to hold your meetings + without arrangements. If you conduct your case + properly the public will be overwhelmingly on + your side. It is good at such times to “view with + alarm” the introduction of Russian methods into + “free” America. If there is real intelligence on + the other side your opponents will soon conclude + that you are getting more publicity for your ideas + out of the police fight than you could ever get at + peaceful street meetings. After this light has + dawned you will proceed undisturbed.</p> + + <h3 id="chapter_19e">BOOK-SELLING AND PROFESSIONALISM</h3> + + <p>A man who does a day’s work in a shop and + speaks on a street corner in the evening has about + as much chance of becoming an effective speaker + as he would have of becoming an effective musician, + physician or lawyer by the same method. + It is necessary, however, to train before going + wholly into the work just as a man studies law + evenings, before starting out as a lawyer.</p> + + <p>In New York, Socialist street meetings are a + force and count for a great deal, because the + committee keeps a staff of capable speakers on + <a class="pagenum" id="page84" title="84"> </a>salary to do nothing else. In Chicago street, + speaking is a failure and many have concluded + we should be better without it. This is because + Chicago lacks the enterprise to follow the example + of New York and depends on voluntary, haphazard, + untrained, inefficient speaking.</p> + + <p>New York, I believe, spends a good deal of + money on its street meetings, and for some reason + Chicago does not seem to be able to do that. + But this barrier is not insurmountable. Street + meetings with efficient speakers may be made + self-supporting, but professional speakers are + the only ones who have any chance to become + efficient to the point of making their meetings pay + a salary and other expenses.</p> + + <p>I hardly think it can be done by collections but + I know by experience that it can be done by book-selling.</p> + + <p>I worked several weeks in New York one summer + at the highest rate they pay and instead of + sending a bill for wages I sent a paper dollar + which represented the surplus from book sales + after I had paid myself all that was due to me, + and no collections were taken. My best book-sale + at one meeting was $34 but it would just as + easily have gone over $40 if the supply had held + out. $20 to $30 worth of literature can be sold + <a class="pagenum" id="page85" title="85"> </a>easily enough on any one of half a dozen corners + in New York.</p> + + <p>Chicago is not as good as New York but it is + at least half as good and a good speaker could + work for $25 a week and make three or four + meetings foot the bill. I did this very easily in + Chicago last summer. The beginner should sell + 10c booklets or pamphlets, and elsewhere in this + volume he will find two speeches that will show + him how to do it. At a street meeting he need + not make these speeches in detail, but just give + the pith of them.</p> + + <p>After a while 25c books may be sold, and with + practice and hard study 50c books will sell readily. + This question is more fully dealt with in the + next chapter.</p> + + <p>About two different books may be sold effectively + at the meeting; one early in the meeting + and the other about the close. The closing book + talk however, should be begun while the meeting + is at its full strength.</p> + + <p>One street meeting that puts ten to twenty dollars + worth of good books into circulation is worth + a dozen where the only result is the remembrance + of what the speaker said.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_20" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page86" title="86"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XX</span><br /> + BOOK-SELLING AT MEETINGS</h2> + + <p>The tones of the speaker’s voice fade away + and are forever lost. Too often the ideas which + the voice proclaimed drift into the background + and presently disappear. This is the crowning + limitation of public speaking. The lecturer + should be, first of all, an educator, and his work + should not be “writ in water.” The lazy lecturer + who imagines that his duties to his audience end + with his peroration is unfaithful to his great + calling. Lazy lecturers are not very numerous + as they are certain of a career curtailed from + lack of an audience.</p> + + <p>There are some lecturers, however, who see + nothing of importance in their work except the + delivering of their lectures. And the educational + value of such workers is only a fraction + of what it might be. Life is not so long for the + strongest of us, nor are the results that can be + achieved by the most gifted such that we can + afford to waste the best of our opportunities. + This article is not intended as a sermon, but if + as lecturers we are to be educators we must + <a class="pagenum" id="page87" title="87"> </a>not neglect to use the greatest weapons against + ignorance in the educational armory—books.</p> + + <p>The books here referred to are not the volumes + in the lecturer’s own library. They, of + course, are indispensable. There have been men + who felt destined to be lecturers without the + use of mere “book learning,” but they never + lived long enough to find out why the public + did not take them at their own estimate.</p> + + <p>The man who undertakes to deal with a subject + without first reading, and as far as possible, + mastering, the best books on that subject, would + no more be a lecturer than a man who tried to + cut a field of wheat with a pocket-knife would be + a farmer.</p> + + <p>Any good lecture of an hour and a quarter + has meant ten to fifty hours’ hard reading. + There is much in the reading that cannot possibly + appear in the lecture. Another lecture on + a related theme or one widely different, has + probably suggested itself. I remember while + rummaging in history to find proofs and illustrations + of “The Materialistic Conception of + History,” which conception I was to defend + presently in a public debate, gathering the + scheme of a course of four lectures on the significance + of the great voyages of the middle ages—a + <a class="pagenum" id="page88" title="88"> </a>course which proved very successful when + delivered about a month later.</p> + + <p>Again, the reading furnishes a great deal of + material on the question of the lecture itself + which cannot be put into it for sheer lack of + time. This is why a lecture always educates + the lecturer much more than it does the hearer. + The hearer therefore labors under two great + disadvantages. First, he forgets much that he + hears, and, second, there is so much that he + does not hear at all.</p> + + <p>The first handicap can be removed by the + printing of the lectures. The second is not so + easily disposed of.</p> + + <p>A lecturer may state in three minutes an idea + which has cost many days’ reading. The idea + has great importance to the speaker and, if he + is a master of his art, he will impress its importance + on his hearers. That is what his art + is for. But that idea will never illume the hearer’s + brain as the lecturer’s until the hearer knows + as does the lecturer what there is back of it.</p> + + <p>There is only one way in which this can be + done—the hearer must have access to the same + sources of knowledge as the lecturer. This does + not necessarily mean that every hearer should + have a lecturer’s library. It does mean, however, + <a class="pagenum" id="page89" title="89"> </a>that there are some books which should be + read by both.</p> + + <p>The lecturer himself is the best judge as to + which books belong to this category. In number + they range anywhere from a dozen up, according + to the ambitions of the reader.</p> + + <p>My method of dealing with this problem has + been to take one book at a time, tell the audience + about it and see that the ushers were ready to + supply all demands. In this way I have sold + more than two whole editions of Boelsche’s book + “The Evolution of Man.” In one week speaking + in half a dozen different cities I sold an entire + edition of my first book “Evolution, Social and + Organic.” One Sunday morning this spring at + the Garrick meeting at the close of a five-minute + talk about Paul Lafargue’s “Social and Philosophic + Studies” the audience, in three minutes, + bought 250 copies, and more than a hundred + would-be purchasers had to wait until the following + Sunday for a new supply. A few + Sundays later Blatchford’s “God and My Neighbor,” + a dollar volume, had a sale of 204 copies—the + total book sale for that morning reaching + what I believe is the record for a Socialist meeting—$220.00. + The last lecture of this season + (April, 1910,) had a book sale of $190.00, which + <a class="pagenum" id="page90" title="90"> </a>included 380 paper back copies of Sinclair’s + “Prince Hagen.”</p> + + <p>These figures are given to show that this work + can be done, and if it is not done the lecturer + alone is to blame. Anyone who can lecture at all + can do this with some measure of success. There + can be no sane doubt of its value. About 500 + young men in the Garrick audience have built + up small but fine libraries of their own through + this advice given in this way, and there is no + part of my work which gives me so great satisfaction.</p> + + <p>I never allow my audience to imagine for a + moment that my book talk is a mere matter of + selling something. There will always be one + or two in the audience who will take that view—natural + selection always overlooks a few + chuckle-heads.</p> + + <p>Now let us tabulate some of the results that + may be obtained in this way:</p> + + <p>(1) By getting these books into the hands + of our hearers we give our teachings from the + platform a greater permanence in their minds. + We not only help them to knowledge, but put + them in the way of helping themselves directly. + This alone is, justification enough, but it is + not all.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page91" title="91"> </a>(2) We encourage the publication of just + those books which in our estimation contain + the principles which we regard as destined to + promote the happiness of mankind.</p> + + <p>(3) The difference between the wholesale + and retail prices is often enough to make successful + a lecture course which would have otherwise + died prematurely of bankruptcy. Where + a meeting cannot live on the collection, the book + sales may mean financial salvation. The morning + we sold $220 of books at the Garrick we + also took a collection of $80. Without the + book sales $80 would have been the total receipts, + and this collection was normal. Yet the + Garrick meetings cost $140 each. After we had + paid the publisher’s bill we had a balance from + book sales of $120, which made the total receipts + not $80 but $200. And this is among the + least important results of book selling.</p> + + <p>Everything, of course, depends on the book + talk. I will now give sample book talks which + any speaker may commit to memory and use, + probably with results that will be a surprise and + an encouragement.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_21" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page92" title="92"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XXI</span><br /> + EXAMPLE BOOK TALKS</h2> + + <p>We are by this time agreed that the sale of + the proper books at lecture meetings is greatly + to be desired. In this article we shall consider + the chief instrument by which this is attained—the + book talk.</p> + + <p>We might treat this theme by laying down + general rules as to the elements which enter + into the make-up of a successful book talk, but + while this is necessary it is not enough—so many + speakers seem to find it very difficult to apply + rules. This part of the question will be treated + in a few sentences.</p> + + <p>A book talk, to be successful, must answer + the following questions:</p> + + <p>(1) Who wrote the book? It is not, of + course, simply a question as to the author’s name, + but his position and his competence to write on + the subject, etc.</p> + + <p>(2) What object had the author in view?</p> + + <p>(3) What is the main thesis of the book?</p> + + <p>(4) Why is it necessary that the hearer + should read the book?</p> + + <p>Above all, a book talk should be interesting. + How often have we seen a speaker begin a book + <a class="pagenum" id="page93" title="93"> </a>talk at a meeting by destroying all interest and + making sales almost impossible! The speaker + holds up a book in view of the audience and + says: “Here is a book I want you to buy and + read.” That settles it. The public has been + taught to regard all efforts to sell things as + attacks upon their pocketbooks, and the speaker + who begins by announcing his intention to sell, + at once makes himself an object of suspicion. + In the commercial world it is held and admitted + that a seller is seeking his own benefit and the + advantages to the buyer are only incidental. In + our case this is largely reversed, but that does + not justify the speaker in rousing all the prejudices + lying dormant in the hearer’s mind.</p> + + <p>A good book talk thoroughly captures the interest + of the audience before they know the + book is on hand and is going to be offered for + sale. About the middle of the talk the listener + should be wondering if you are going to tell + where the book can be obtained and getting + ready to take down the publisher’s address when + you give it.</p> + + <p>His interest increases, and toward the close + he learns to his great delight that you have + anticipated his desires and he can take the volume + with him when he leaves the meeting.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page94" title="94"> </a>This is a good method, but where one is to + make many book talks to much the same audience + there are a great many ways in which it + can be varied.</p> + + <p>I will now submit a book talk which has + enabled me to sell thousands of copies of the + book it deals with. This is a ten-cent book, and + this price is high enough for the speaker’s experiments. + The speaker will later find it surprisingly + easy, when he has mastered the art + <em>to sell fifty-cent and dollar books</em>.</p> + + <p>The speaker may use the substance of this + talk in his own language, or, commit it to + memory and reproduce it verbatim. Any one + who finds the memorizing beyond his powers + should abandon public speaking and devote his + energies to something easy.</p> + + <h3>BOOK TALK NO. 1.</h3> + + <blockquote> + <p class="headline">ENGELS’ SOCIALISM, UTOPIAN AND SCIENTIFIC.</p> + + <p>For some time previous to the year 1875 the German + Socialist party had been divided into two camps—the + Eisenachers and the Lassallians. About that time + they closed their ranks and presented to the common + enemy a united front. So great was their increase of + strength from that union that they were determined + never to divide again. They would preserve their + newly won unity at all costs.</p> + + <p><a class="pagenum" id="page95" title="95"> </a>No sooner was this decision made than it seemed + as if it was destined to be overthrown. Professor + Eugene Dühring, Privat Docent of Berlin University, + loudly proclaimed himself a convert to Socialism. When + this great figure from the bourgeois intellectual world + stepped boldly and somewhat noisily into the arena, + there was not wanting a considerable group of young + and uninitiated members in the party who flocked to his + standard and found in him a new oracle.</p> + + <p>This would have been well enough if Dühring had + been content to take Socialism as he found it or if he + had been well enough informed to make an intelligent + criticism of it and reveal any mistakes in its positions. + But he was neither the one or the other. He undertook, + without the slightest qualification for the task, to overthrow + Marx and establish a new Socialism which should + be free from the lamentable blunders of the Marxian + school.</p> + + <p>Marx was a mere bungler and the whole matter + must be set right without delay. This was rather a + large task, but the Professor went at it in a large + way. He did it in the approved German manner. Germany + would be forever disgraced if any philosopher + took up a new position about anything without going + back to the first beginnings of the orderly universe in + nebulous matter, and showing that from that time on + to the discovery of the latest design in tin kettles everything + that happened simply went to prove his new + theory.</p> + + <p>Dühring presented a long suffering world with three + volumes that were at least large enough to fill the supposed + aching void. These were: “A Course of Philosophy,” + <a class="pagenum" id="page96" title="96"> </a>“A Course of Political and Social Science” + and “A Critical History of Political Economy and Socialism.”</p> + + <p>These large volumes gave Dühring quite a standing + among ill-informed Socialists, who took long words for + learning, and obscurity for profundity. His followers + became so numerous that a new division of the ranks + threatened and it became clear that Dühring’s large literary + output must be answered.</p> + + <p>There was a man in the Socialist movement at that + time who was pre-eminently fitted for that task, who + for over thirty years had proven himself a master of + discussion and an accomplished scholar—Frederick + Engels.</p> + + <p>Engels’ friends urged him to rid the movement of + this new intellectual incubus. Engels pleaded he was + already over busy with those tasks, which show him + to have been so patient and prolific a worker. Finally, + realizing the importance of the case, he yielded.</p> + + <p>Dühring had wandered all over the universe to establish + his philosophy, and in his reply Engels would + have to follow him. So far from this deterring Engels, + it was just this which made his task attractive. He says + in his preface of 1892:</p> + + <p>“I had to treat of all and every possible subject, from + the concepts of time and space to Bimetalism; from the + eternity of matter and motion to the perishable nature + of moral ideas; from Darwin’s natural selection to the + education of youth in a future society. Anyhow, the + systematic comprehensiveness of my opponent gave me + the opportunity of developing, in opposition to him, + and in a more connected form than had previously + <a class="pagenum" id="page97" title="97"> </a>been done, the views held by Marx and myself of this + great variety of subjects. And that was the principal + reason which made me undertake this otherwise ungrateful + task.”</p> + + <p>Dealing with the same point, in his biographical essay + on Engels, Kautsky says:</p> + + <p>“Dühring was a many-sided man. He wrote on + Mathematics and Mechanics, as well as on Philosophy + and Political Economy, Jurisprudence, Ancient History, + etc. Into all these spheres he was followed by Engels, + who was as many-sided as Dühring but in another + way. Engels’ many-sidedness was united with a fundamental + thoroughness which in these days of specialization + is only found in a few cases and was rare even at + that time. <span class="omitted_text">* * *</span> It is to the superficial many-sidedness + of Dühring that we owe the fact, that the ‘Anti-Dühring’ + became a book which treated the whole of + modern science from the Marx-Engels materialistic + point of view. Next to ‘Capital’ the ‘Anti-Dühring’ has + become the fundamental work of modern Socialism.”</p> + + <p>Engels’ reply was published in the Leipsic “Vorwärts,” + in a series of articles beginning early in 1877, + and afterwards in a volume entitled, “Mr. Dühring’s + Revolution in Science.” This book came to be known + by its universal and popular title: “Anti-Dühring.”</p> + + <p>After the appearance of this book Dühring’s influence + disappeared. Instead of a great leader in Socialism, + Dühring found himself regarded as a museum + curiosity, so much so that Kautsky, writing in 1887, + said:</p> + + <p>“The occasion for the ‘Anti-Dühring’ has been long + forgotten. Not only is Dühring a thing of the past + <a class="pagenum" id="page98" title="98"> </a>for the Social Democracy, but the whole throng of + academic and platonic Socialists have been frightened + away by the anti-Socialist legislation, which at least + had the one good effect to show where the reliable + supports of our movement are to be found.”</p> + + <p>Out of Anti-Dühring came the most important Socialist + pamphlet ever published, unless, perhaps, we + should except “The Communist Manifesto,” though + even this is by no means certain. In 1892 Engels related + the story of its birth:</p> + + <p>“At the request of my friend, Paul Lafargue, now + representative of Lille in the French Chamber of Deputies, + I arranged three chapters of this book as a pamphlet, + which he translated and published in 1880, under + the title: “Socialism, Utopian and Scientific.” From + this French text a Polish and a Spanish edition was + prepared. In 1883, our German friends brought out the + pamphlet in the original language. Italian, Russian, + Danish, Dutch and Roumanian translations, based upon + the German text, have since been published. Thus, with + the present English edition, this little book circulates + in ten languages. I am not aware that any other Socialist + work, not even our “Communist Manifesto” of 1848 + or Marx’s “Capital,” has been so often translated. In + Germany it has had four editions of about 20,000 copies + in all.”</p> + + <p>The man who has the good fortune to become familiar + with the contents of this pamphlet in early life will + never, in after life, be able to estimate its full value as + a factor in his intellectual development. I have persuaded + many people to buy it and have invariably given + them this advice: “Keep it in your coat pocket by day + <a class="pagenum" id="page99" title="99"> </a>and under your pillow by night, and read it again and + again until you know it almost by heart.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>At this point you may hold up the pamphlet + and announce its price. If this is done before + the lecture, have the ushers pass through the + audience, each with a good supply, and beginning + at the front row and working rapidly so as not to + unnecessarily delay the meeting. If the sale is + at the close of the meeting announce that copies + may be had while leaving and have your ushers + in the rear so as to meet the audience. A good + deal depends on having live and capable ushers. + Our big sales at the Garrick are due to ushers + being past masters in their art.</p> + + <h3>BOOK TALK NO 2.</h3> + + <blockquote> + <p class="headline">THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO.</p> + + <p>In the year 1848—over sixty years ago—Scientific + Socialism was born. Almost every objection we now + hear against Socialism holds only against the utopian + Socialism which died and was discarded by Socialists + more than half a century ago.</p> + + <p>The birth of Scientific Socialism came as the result + of the discovery of a great new truth. This truth revolutionized + all our ideas about society just as Darwin’s + discovery, eleven years later, revolutionized our notions + of organic life.</p> + + <p>From 1848 forward there was no need for speculations + and guesses as to how the world will be in the + <a class="pagenum" id="page100" title="100"> </a>future or how it might be now if it were not as it is. + From that time we knew that the present was carried + in the womb of the past and the future is already + here in embryo.</p> + + <p>If you think you know the main outlines of the future + society yet cannot find those outlines already developing + in the society about you, you are nursing a delusion. + You belong to the Socialism of Utopia—if your + future society is not already here in part, it is “nowhere,” + as Utopia means.</p> + + <p>We know today that science does not consist of a + mere collection of facts. The facts of course are necessary, + but science comes only when we push through + the facts and find the laws behind them.</p> + + <p>The discovery that gave birth to Scientific Socialism + had to do with history. This discovery changed our + ideas as to what constitutes history. The rise and fall + of kings, tales of bloody wars, the news of camp and + courts; these were supposed to be all that was important + in history. This has been well called: “Drum + and trumpet history.”</p> + + <p>Since 1848 history is the story of the development of + human society. The introduction of machinery overshadows + all kings and courts in history, as we now + know it, because it played a greater part in social + development than ten thousand kings.</p> + + <p>History itself is not a science but it is one of the + chief parts of “the science of society”—sociology.</p> + + <p>Historical movement like all movement proceeds by + law. When Karl Marx discovered the central law of + history he became the real founder of modern sociology. + His discovery of this law of history ranks with + <a class="pagenum" id="page101" title="101"> </a>Newton’s discovery of gravity or the Copernican revolution + in astronomy. It ranks Marx as one of the + men whose genius created a new epoch in human + thinking.</p> + + <p>Marx made the discovery before 1848, but that date + is immortal because in that year it was published to + the world. That date ranks with 1859 when the “undying + Darwin” gave us “The Origin of Species.”</p> + + <p>The book was not intended for a book and became + a book only by reason of its great importance. It was + published as a political manifesto—the manifesto of + “The Communist League.” Hence its name—“The + Communist Manifesto.” This book is the foundation + and starting point of Scientific Socialism and is indispensable + to all students of social science or social + questions.</p> + + <p>The book itself explains why it is not “The Socialist + Manifesto” as we might have expected. At that time + the various groups using Socialist as a title were + Utopian and some of them positively reactionary. + There is a description and analysis of these groups + in the third chapter which shows why Marx had no + part in them. Their advocates know nothing of the + new historical principle which now stands at the center + of Socialist thought and which has successfully + withstood half a century of searching criticism.</p> + + <p>This great new principle is called: “The Materialistic + Conception of History.” It is not mentioned by + name in the manifesto, but it is there like a living presence + spreading light in dark places of history which + had never been penetrated by previous thinkers. The + key to all history is found in methods of producing and + <a class="pagenum" id="page102" title="102"> </a>distributing material wealth. Out of the changes in + this field all other social changes come.</p> + + <p>Forty years later Frederick Engels gave completeness + to the Manifesto by adding a preface which defines + the main theory, gives an estimate of its value, + and explains his part as co-author with Marx.</p> + + <p>No other book can ever take the place of the Communist + Manifesto. Its value grows with the passing + years. It was the first trumpet blast to announce the + coming of the triumphant proletariat.</p> + + <p>The Manifesto’s first two chapters and its closing + paragraph are beyond all price. They are without parallel + in the literature of the world. They sparkle like + “jewels on the stretched forefinger of all time.”</p> + </blockquote> + + <p>Here the speaker may show the book and state + its price, and proceed with the selling. If the + sale is made while the audience is leaving, nothing + further need be said, and if the sale is the last + thing in the meeting it is useless to ask the audience + to remain seated during the sale. They get + irritated and the meeting breaks up in confusion. + See that your salesmen are posted at the exits + where they will face the audience as it leaves. + At one big meeting in Pittsburg where the sales + of a fifty cent book reached over sixty dollars + they would have been double but some of the + sellers came to the front, and while the audience + was clamoring for books which could not be had + at the doors, these sellers were following the + <a class="pagenum" id="page103" title="103"> </a>audience in the rear with armfuls which they had + no chance to sell.</p> + + <p>If the sale is made before the lecture while the + sellers are passing through the audience the + speaker should continue speaking of the book + so as to sustain interest. There will be no loss + of time making change if the right priced books + are sold. 10c, 25c, 50c or $1 are right prices. + At a public meeting it is a mistake to try to sell + a book at an odd price as 15c or 35c or 60c. The + demand dies and the audience gets impatient + while the sellers are trying to make change.</p> + + <p>The speaker who endeavors to make a success + of book-selling at his meetings will find his labors + doubled. The larger his sales the greater his labors. + On my last western trip I sold on an average + half a trunk full of books at each meeting + and I had no spare moment from the work of + ordering by telegram and rushing around to express + offices and getting the books to the meetings. + But the rewards are great. My trips are + always a financial success and the books I leave + scattered on my trail do far more good than + the lectures I delivered.</p> + +</div> +<div id="chapter_22" class="chapter"><a class="pagenum" id="page104" title="104"> </a> + <h2><span class="chapter_number">CHAPTER XXII</span><br /> + CONCLUSION</h2> + + <p>In concluding this series I will group several + items of importance which did not suggest themselves + under any previous head.</p> + + <p>Gestures should be carefully watched, especially + at the beginning, when future habits are + in the process of formation. They should not + be affected or mechanical like those of the child + reciting something of which it does not understand + the sense.</p> + + <p>A good story is told of the old preacher who + could weep at will and marked his manuscript + “weep here;” but, on one unfortunate occasion, + to the great consternation of his congregation, + got his signals mixed, and wept profusely during + a reference to the recent marriage of two + of his parishioners.</p> + + <p>Never allow your thumb and fingers, especially + the thumb, to stick out from the palm at right + angles like pens stuck in a potato.</p> + + <p>Never work the forearm from the elbow + “pump-handle” fashion, but always move the + arms from the shoulders. Do not move the + palms of your hands toward yourself as if you + <a class="pagenum" id="page105" title="105"> </a>were trying to gather something in, mesmerist + fashion, but always outward as is natural in + giving something forth.</p> + + <p>Cultivate a narrative style. History, poetry, + and all forms of literature take their origin in + the story-teller who once discharged all their + functions. The so-called dry facts of science, + well told, make a “story” of surpassing interest.</p> + + <p>If young, let no man despise thy youth. Plunge + boldly in, blunder if needs be, but do something; + experiment with your theories. Let the veteran + who has no sympathy with your crude efforts + “go to pot.” The lapse of years has made his + early inflictions look to him like the masterpieces + of Burke and Chatham.</p> + + <p>Never slight a small audience. Do your best + as though you had a crowded theater. If you + speak listlessly to a small gathering in a town, + depend on it next time you go there it will be + still smaller.</p> + + <p>Preserve your health and take especial care + of your throat. The speaker who doesn’t smoke + has a great advantage, and when the throat is + at all relaxed smoking should be eschewed. The + most dangerous time to smoke is immediately + after the close of a lecture. Then the cells are + all exposed from recent exercise, and it is positively + <a class="pagenum" id="page106" title="106"> </a>wicked to so abuse them with tobacco + fumes when they have served you so well. It + is equally wicked to scald them with “straight” + liquor. Any speaker who persists in either of + these habits will pay a heavy penalty. If these + things must be done, at least wait an hour or + two after speaking.</p> + + <p>All this is just so much more true of street + speaking as the throat is more exhausted by the + louder tone.</p> + + <p>When you have worked out your lecture, and + are waiting for the hour to strike, test its merit + by this question: Does it contain enough valuable + information to make a distinct addition to + the education of an average listener? If you + cannot affirm this, whatever merits otherwise it + may have, fundamentally, it fails. When the + enthusiasm has worn off, your audience should + be able to decide that, in its acquaintance with + modern knowledge, a distinct step forward has + been made. Anything else is building on sand.</p> + + <p>Always be firm, positive, courageous. First + get a mastery of the question, and then let your + audience realize that you know what you are + talking about. The great merit of a certain + speaker of long ago, seems to have been that + “he spake with authority.” Remember truth + <a class="pagenum" id="page107" title="107"> </a>is not decided by counting heads, and if you are + correct, even though the majority, in some cases + in your own audience, may be against you, they + will be obliged eventually to come to your position. + True, in the meantime you may be obliged + to suffer a temporary eclipse, but this is one of + the permanent possibilities of the career of the + real teacher.</p> + + <p>Weigh carefully, investigate thoroughly, consult + the authorities, be sure of your ground and + prepared to defend it against all comers, and + then—</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <p>“Plunge deep the rowels of thy speech,</p> + <p>Hold back no syllable of fire.”</p> + </div> + +</div> + +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<div class="pg"> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE ART OF LECTURING***</p> +<p> </p> +<p>******* This file should be named 30565-h.txt or 30565-h.zip *******</p> +<p> </p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/0/5/6/30565">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/0/5/6/30565</a><br /> </p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> +<p> </p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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