INTRODUCTION


The author of this manual has at various intervals prepared several
treatises relating to the art of speech. Their wide circulation is an
indication of the demand for works upon this subject. They were intended
to embrace the principles which govern speech-making in the forum, in the
pulpit, or at the bar. While these do not differ essentially from the
principles applicable to occasions where the object is only entertainment,
yet there are certain well-defined differences which it is the purpose of
this little volume to point out. We hope thus to render the same service to
a person who is called upon to offer or respond to a toast in a convivial
assembly, as the author's previous volumes rendered to those preparing to
speak upon subjects of a serious and practical nature.

That help is needed, and may be afforded, no one will deny. A novice called
upon to participate in the exercises of a public banquet, an anniversary,
or other entertainment, unless he has an experienced friend to give him a
few hints or advice, is apt to be dismayed. He does not even know how to
make a start in the work of preparation, and his sense of inability and
fear of blundering go far to confuse and paralyze whatever native faculty
he may have. A book like this comes to him at such a time as reinforcements
to a sorely pressed army in the very crisis of a battle. As he reads, some
ideas which seem practical, flash upon him. He learns what others before
him have done. If he is to offer a toast, he examines the list furnished
in this volume, finding one perhaps that pleases him, or one is suggested
which is better adapted to his purpose than any in the book, and he wonders
at the stupidity of the author in omitting it. Soon he becomes quite
interested in this suggested toast, and compares it with those in the list
to find out wherein it differs. Thus gradually and unconsciously he has