We publish an excerpt from a recent criticism of public speaking at Harvard, which is creating wide comment. It certainly is not difficult to account for such a criticism. It is merited and the writer has far from overstated the facts as they exist. It has long been deemed among the students a trivial matter to pursue any regular course of voice instruction and the natural result is that for several years the public speaking has been as a rule execrable. The speaking at commencement would disgrace any other college than that one which so proudly holds such matters light. When to an immature paper, often hastily prepared, is added glaring defeats of voice and manner, in its presentation, there is hardly cause for surprise that the character of the commencement speaking offers an admirable opportunity to those who wish to criticise. As a rule the men who are selected to speak have had no elocutionary training whatever. A few may have been induced to attend the voluntary classes just long enough to dishearten them upon the eve of speaking. Is it any wonder that from such material such results follow? The university has just cause for congratulation that the "dramatic expression" has passed as useless for practical purposes. But that does not aid matters. Men will not spend their time in oratorical drill unless they are compelled to do so by a demand made by the college that public speaking shall in some way be improved. How that end is to be accomplished is questionable. As it now stands the appeal is made to the personal pride of each member of the university.