neighbor at the table the starting-point for what he says to the whole company.  He will thus make sure of a perfectly natural key, to begin with; and can go on from this quiet “As I was just saying to Mr. Smith,” to discuss the gravest question of Church or State.  It breaks the ice for him, like the remark upon the weather by which we open our interview with the person whom we have longed for years to meet.  Beginning in this way at the level of the earth’s surface, we can join hands and rise to the clouds.  Begin in the clouds,—­as some of my most esteemed friends are wont to do,—­ and you have to sit down before reaching the earth.

And, to come last to what is first in importance, I am taking it for granted that you have something to say, and a strong desire to say it.  Perhaps you can say it better for writing it out in full beforehand.  But whether you do this or not, remember that the more simple and consecutive your thought, the easier it will be both to keep it in mind and to utter it.  The more orderly your plan, the less likely you will be to “get bewildered,” or to “lose the thread.”  Think it out so clearly that the successive parts lead to one another, and then there will be little strain upon your memory.  For each point you make, provide at least one good argument and one good illustration, and you can, after a little practice, safely leave the rest to the suggestion of the moment.  But so much as this you must have, to be secure.  Methods of preparation of course vary extremely; yet I suppose the secret of the composure of an experienced speaker to lie usually in this, that he has made sure beforehand of a sufficient number of good points to carry him through, even if nothing good should occur to him on the spot.  Thus wise people, in going on a fishing excursion, take with them not merely their fishing tackle, but a few fish; and then, if they are not sure of their luck, they will be sure of their chowder.

These are some of the simple hints that might be given, in answer to inquiring friends.  I can remember when they would have saved me some anguish of spirit; and they may be of some use to others now.  I write, then, not to induce any one to talk for the sake of talking,—­Heaven forbid!—­but that those who are longing to say something should not fancy the obstacles insurmountable, when they are really slight.

VII

PRINCIPLES OF GOVERNMENT

“That liberty, or freedom, consists in having an actual share in the appointment of those who frame the laws, and who are to be the guardians of every man’s life, property, and peace; for the all of one man is as dear to him as the all of another, and the poor man has an equal right, but more need, to have representatives in the legislature than the rich one.  That they who have no voice nor vote in the electing of representatives do not enjoy liberty, but are absolutely enslaved