CHAPTER VI.

Of Meditation.

§§ 1-4. Meditation occupies the middle ground between writing and improvisation, and is perhaps more frequently employed than either. _After_ we have formed our style by the constant practice of writing, meditation can be cultivated by progressive exercise to such a degree that an entire discourse may be prepared and arranged without the use of the pen.

§§ 5-7. But the orator is not to adhere so scrupulously to what he has thought out as to reject new ideas which may flash upon him during the actual delivery of a speech. Meditation should secure us, on the one hand, from ever being at a loss: on the other it ought not to prevent us from improving the opportunity afforded by some incidental occurrence. If we are to hesitate, painfully recollecting what we have formulated in thought, it were better to trust wholly to improvisation. 9 While we are at a loss to recall our prepared thoughts, we miss others suggested by the subject itself, which always offers a wider field than can possibly be covered by previous meditation.