Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 9, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 10 January 1912 — NERVOUS IN PUBLIC [ARTICLE]

NERVOUS IN PUBLIC

I --‘1 V ■■ MANY WORLD-FAMED SPEAKERS NEVER OVERCOME THIS. With Some It Persists as Mannerisms •—Yawn and Handkerchief of Late Duke of Devonshire —Glad- ’ . stone’s Peculiar Actions. Persons who are unaccustomed to speak in believe that their nervousness is solely due to their inexperience, and that public men can make speeches as coolly as they make conversation. In some cases this may Jje so, but few speakers are ever able wiiolly able to cast off their nervousness. Sometimes it persists only in the form of a mannerism, attractive or otherwise, but some old parliamentarians never escape from the tremors and terrors which bhook them when their maiden speech was delivered. The late duke of Devonshire is usually spoken of as the perfect type of the impassive Englishman. When he entered the house of commons as Lord Cavendish, he distinguished himself by prefacing his maiden speech with a prodigious yawn. But he was by no means as languid in fact hs he was in appearance. When he rose to speak he would lean one arm on the nearest of the two iron-bound boxes on the table between the front benches. After a slight hesitation and a few quiet wdrds, the other hand would steal to the tail pocket of his coat and emerge holding a neatly-folded white cambric handkerchief. Without unfolding it he would gently rub the corners of his mouth, and this done, the hand, still holding the handkerchief, would rest on the hip or be thrown back. Sitting near him, one could observe that the grip on his handkerchief tightened, and that the muscles of the hand were in continuous action.,, At the close of his speech the hand opened, and one saw not the clean, folded cambric handkerchief, but only a solid, greasy ball, which was quickly returned to the pocket. Here was the safety valve for the Impassive nobleman’s nervousness, Gladstone was one in whom nervousness jiad become mannerism. When he rose to speak he began with a few gracious words on the speech which was about to follow, or some pointed * remark as to the character and importance of the subject In_ his earlier days this was, no doubt to “get his breath.” His next act was to raise his right hand over his head with the thumb bent down ajid gently scratch his skull. That is rather common among public speakers. The third action of Mr. Gladstone was his peculiar and individual sign. Throwing his arms downward by his side, he would with ’ his fingers seize the Cuffs of his coat and draw these down over his shirt cuffs so as to conceal them completely. The ordinary practice is just the reverse, the desire being to expose and not conceal the white linen of the shirt cuffs. These were the Invariable preludes to the great commoner’s speeches.—Pall Mall Magazine.