Morphy's Speech in England

Definitely not with Harrwitz😂

Methinks you assume too much.

The eloquence to which I alluded to was in regard to Paul's speech , and NOT the Thomas Moore quote.

Nope, I was HOPING you had accidentally attributed the quote to Morphy when you compared him to Shakespeare. Otherwise I couldn't imagine the comparison. Its a very nice speech but not really even in the same ballpark.

With regard to ladies, though...

I'm a simple man. I see post about Morphy. I comment to express my fanboism. 

I posted this speech because a) I have never seen it published before other than in the source and b) because it shows how Paul Morphy, even as a young man of 21 and as one who perceived himself as a gentleman, responded to courtesy (not all 19th century men acted with this type of propriety).   Morphy, when speaking formally, used somewhat flowery prose, a type that was probably as much indicative of his upbringing and literary tastes as it was of the general times.  

That's what I was going to say !

Elizabethan England ?   

Here are two known speeches by Morphy:  the first from the NY testimonial banquet in his honor upon his return from Europe and the second from a similar banquet given in Boston:

Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen:

Twelve months have elapsed since bidding adieu to my Western home. I sought beyond the blue waters the foreign skies of another hemisphere; and again I have returned to the land of my birth and affections. Another year has glided by and once more I find myself by the friends whose good wishes and approbation cheered my wandering course. I thank them - I most sincerely thank them for the more then cordial which has greeted my return to the Empire City. Well may they say that they have made their City the verdant spot in my sandy path - the green and ever-blooming oasis of repose where, like the way-worn traveler, I forget the fatigue and exposure of the journey, and gather renewed life and energy for its completion. Not satisfied, however, with showering innumerable attentions upon me, they this night cap the climax of their favors by presenting me, in conjunction with a large number of the citizens of New York, this beautiful piece of workmanship and a superb testimonial of their regard and sympathy. How thankfully received - how dearly prized - mere words can not portray. I shall proudly take it to my Southern home and preserve it as a precious memento of my friends in New York.

I fear, ladies and gentlemen, that lengthy comments upon the game of chess might prove uninteresting to a large portion of the highly intellectual audience before me. Of my European tour I will only say it has been pleasant in almost every respect. Of the adversaries encountered in the peaceful jousts of the checkered field, I retain a lively and agreeable recollection. I found them gallant, chivalrous and gentlemanly, as well as true votaries of the kingly pastime.

A word now on the game itself. Chess has never been and never can be aught but a recreation. It should not be indulged it to the detriment of other and more serious avocations - should not absorb the mind or engross the thoughts of those who worship at its shrine; but should be kept in the background and restrained within its proper province. As a mere game, a relaxation from the severer pursuits of life, it is deserving of high commendation. It is not only the most delightful and scientific, but the most moral of amusements. Unlike other games in which lucre is the end and the aim of the contestants, it recommends itself to the wise by the fact that its mimic battles are fought for no prize but honor. It is eminently and emphatically the philosopher's game. Let the chessboard supercede the card table, and a great improvement will be visible in the morals of the community. But, ladies and gentlemen, I need not expiate on the field so ably traversed by the eloquent gentleman who has just addressed you. I thank you from my heart for the very flattering manner in which you have been pleased to receive his too complimentary remarks, and for the numerous attentions received at your hands. I shall leave New York with melancholy sorrow, for I part from friends than whom none truer can be found. Let them rest assured that along with the memory of the chessboard I possess the memory of the heart. And now, with a renewal of my sincere thanks for the splendid token of your regard with which you have presented me tonight, and the assurance that I shall cherish in unfading memory the remembrance of my sojourn here, I bid you, ladies and gentlemen, a farewell, which I fondly hope will not prove the last.

Mr. President and Gentlemen:

I sincerely thank you. To one and all I tender the expression of my warm and heartfelt acknowledgements. But, gentlemen, on such an occasion as present, unprepared as you know I am, I must be allowed to say, gentlemen, that I rise with peculiar embarrassment and unaffected diffidence in attempting to speak before an intellectual aristocracy such as I have never before witnessed, whose celebrity and literary achievements are a part of our country's history. In such an illustrious presence, it would ill become me to make a speech. I can only tender my thanks to the committee, with an expression of my sincere acknowledgements for the pleasure of being surrounded by a company so distinguished.

He would have made a great Diplomat.

Chapter 15 of Lawson's book (pages 197-198 in the original edition).

Thanks.  I don't own a copy of "Paul Morphy" by Lawson and it's been 20 years since I read it.  I didn't recall reading it there.  

I do not have Lawson in front of me at the moment, but I am sure that I have seen this before.

https://www.nytimes.com/1976/10/17/archives/paul-morphy.html

Have you tried using the link on a computer? Anyway, it is (supposed to be) a link to a review of Lawson’s biography of Paul Morphy. If you do a search for Paul Morphy by Lawson, you should be able to access some sort of description, but the basic information is that Lawson examined a LOT of material from the time when Morphy was alive. There are quotes from many reports and documents, texts of speeches, etc. If one is really into this sort of thing, one can also examine reprints of many books from the period. I particularly enjoyed a reprint of Staunton’s book about the 1851 tournament. Staunton included the text of a speech by someone who argued that Staunton still deserved to be considered to be the number one chess player. Some audience reaction was included (“hear, hear”).

привет

Great speech by Morphy. Effusive, humble, and eloquently worded.

I always feel a pang of sadness whenever Morphy's frailty is mentioned in articles from his time.

The man had a brilliant mind, but his health was so fragile that it was noticed by all those around him.