The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-10-06
Rnbntnuh 9.spatth.
SATURDAY MoRNINa....soo T'Re isce.
conversationui Powers.

z
81 The late William Haxlitt man gifted with
/ great powera Of observation and expression.
Was Of opinion that sectors and AUTHORS were
not fitted, generally speaking, 70 shine IN con.
heard ~ ana As q actors they could not speak
Tragedies in the drawing room,s Aad heir VII
= IVES llkely to be comedy ana iaree nsassecond-
hand. The biography OF men OF ieetert, In q
the greatest names In Engiish and French
. 1ftersturA men who have filled books with an
eloduer se aud truth that defy oblivion, were
mere mates before their fellow.nen. They
had eoiaen ineoss, which, ia the privacy OF
home. they ccaid convert iato coin bearing an
impress that would insure universal currency;
but ihey could not on tie spur Of the nomens,
produce the farthings carrent in the market
AAd philosopher; LSfontaine, celebrated lot
his witty fables; aad Button. the great natural
ist, were all singulnriy deficient IN .ne po WEE
of couycrSation Marmontef, she noseiisl was
90 dull In society that his friend said OF MIN,
nf.er An in Ter view, 81 mast 60 and read his
tales to recompeuse myself for the WEAKNESS
As :, tsrneills, the greatest drama,ist OF
rrxnee he was compile ely Lost, In sociesy--sso
Ahseat aud esu oarrsssed that he wrote of him.
self witty oSap, ea, ,SF"usn ,ne 1 month Of
Another. Wilton papers seems 70 be something
widely different from that play Of words, ia
conversation, which, while 1t sparkies, dies
for Charles IL, the wittlest NOR arch that ever
eat on the Eugiish throne, WAS SO charmed with
the hnmor of .hudibras" that he caused him.
: seif 20 be Ia troduced in the character of pr-
7vasegen sieman to Butter, It's author The witty
king found the authors very dull companion;
aud was of opinion, with many others, that SO
stupid 3 fellow could Eever have written so
cievsra book Addison, whose classic elegance
of style has long been considered the best model
for Young wrlters, was shy aud ab.ent In So.
ciety. preserving, even before a single stranger,
stiff and dig ifled silence. lie was accustomed
10 say tnere could be no ready conversation out
md nd h4l 4 uya
then thinking aloud. Steel, swift Pope, and
Congreve--men possessing literary ana con-
yersa,ionai powers Of the highest order al
lowed MIN 70 have been delightful compan-
ION among in inmates; and Young writes OF him
that me was rather mute in society GU some
occasions, but when he began 10 be company
he was full OF yisacity, and went on In noble
STRAIN OF thought and language, so as TO cham
the ate "a iiou of every one to him. Goldsmith,
on the contrary, as described BY his contem.
porary writers, appeared Ia company To have
NO sna rk of that genius which snone forth So
brightly in his works. HIS address was awk-
ward his nauner uncouth, his language un-
polished; he uesiIa ted IA speaking, aud was al
waysunasppy II the conversation dld not turn
q upon himself. DIR. Johnson spoke of him as an
Inspired idiot; yet the great essayist, though
delivering Oracies 10 those around niin in POM
pous phrases, which have been happily de-
seribed as SPOKEN IN the JUhnSonese tongue,
was not co lied 10 be catled good conversor.
Nearer 10 our own time, We have had many
J authors wnose faculty told twice. Sheridan
and Theodore HOOK were IeliOHs OF lnHulte
lest; they could "set table ina roar, aud I'LL
psxes with Ia thos ana vii of such ! qualify
tnat it makes their Survivors think "We could
have spared oetlsr men," Buras was famous
for his coiioq Vial powers; and Gait rs said to
have reeu as skiitui the sIvr y-J-iiefs OF the
East in fixing the atten ton of hrs auditors on
hrs prolonged narrations. Coieridse was IN
: the habit OF pouring forth brtiliant nbroken
monoloyues of two or three hours duration to
listeners so enchanted that, like Adam, whose
ears were filled with the clog uence OF an arch
angel, they forgot "ali place-ail seasons, and
their change - but this was not conversation,
and f. " might venture to emulate that "oic
man clog uent" with hopes OF equ ai success
Washing ton Irving, in the account he has
given of his visit TO Abbotsford, says of Sir
Walter Scott that his conversation was frank,
hearty, picturesque, and dramatic. lie Ge,er
talked for effect or display, but from the How
of ais spirI Is, the stores vi his memory, and
the yigor Of mas Imagination. He was as good
a listener q taiker appreciated every ming
that others said, however humble might be
1hsir rank and professions, and was quick to
testify his perception OF any point In their
discourse. No ones concerns, no ones
thoughts and opinions, no ones tastes and
4 pleasures seemed beneath him. he made him.
ssif so thoroughly the companion OF those
with whom he happened 10 be, that they for
goi, for q time, his vast superiority, and only
racollected aud wondered, when all was over,
that ii was Scott with whom they hao been ON
such familiar terms, In whose society they had
FELT so perfectly at ease.-Chasabsrs' Journal