Frederick Douglass, the Orator - Monroe County Library System

Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLAS, ,,M / 93
they were fictions; we speak fictions as %£ $hey
were truths." I I i«* 22° A ]^
Mr. Douglass, as an extemporaneous speaker*
was much more impressive than he has been since
he began to write out his speeches and deliver
them from manuscript. He remarked to the
writer one day that he thought he had made a
mistake in thus writing out his lectures; he imbibed
the idea that his extemporaneous speeches
would be defective and subject him to criticism.
He had by so doing lost much power in delivery.
" For," said he, " I never was a good reader."
The first address he wrote out in full was the
paper before the Western Reserve College in
1854. Ever since his return from England in
i860 he has steadily followed the habit of writing
what he has to say and reading from manuscript.
His former style is what we call extemporaneous,
but we do not wish to convey the idea that he
spoke without preparation. On the contrary, he
gave much thought to the topics which he intended
to discuss, and then prepared notes under
the different divisions of his subject. By not
being confined to his manuscript, he caught the
inspiration of his audience. This inspiration, so
essential to true eloquence in the orator, can
never be secured by the essayist, however finished
and perfect he may be.
While Mr. Douglass may have lost much of