non-speech-making

Updated: May 12, 2025

There can be little doubt that this non-speech-making ability was not merely the result of inaptitude, but was also a principle, for when his favorite nephew was elected a burgess, and made a well-thought-of speech in his first attempt, his uncle wrote him, "You have, I find, broke the ice. Never exceed a decent warmth, and submit your sentiments with diffidence.

Paul Leicester Ford - The True George Washington [10th Ed.]