, 1872-12-29
THE GREAT CONVERSERS.
BIZ PROFESSOR WILLIAM MATTHEW'S, OF TIE UNI
vERS1TY OF CHICAGO.


vERs1TY OF CHICAGO.
Among the books that remain to be written,
one Of the most interesting and Instructive is g
volume upon the great conversers OF all ages,
portraying their styles and peculiaritios, and
giving well-selectod specimens, kind OF quint-
essence, Of their sayings. To Gull out their
wlsest and wistiest, as well az their most elo-
qnent observations, the very apices re,atna, from
all the t Ana " and books Of table-talk that
have been published from the days OF Keno
phon and his " Memorabilia to those Of Eek
ermanns Conversations with Goethe"
would be no essy task; yet it would
be labor we'll spent, and ne can
hardly think Of book more piquant or charm
ing. The materials for it are exhaustlees, and
the difficulty would be to grnpple with such an
embarrassment OF riches" to know, after
opening the 1oodgates OF anecdote aud reminis-
cence, when to close them. One becomes, by
familiarity, moro aud more ena1nored Of such
theme; and he is 10th, just az he has brg gun to
1ngate the arid wastes Of modern social life
with the sparkling waters OF q younger age, to be
slenced by some Pa1aemon OF publisher with
his inexorable . C{audite jam riros, p,te3T sat
prata bibert.nt.''
Before speaking OF scme Of the most famoua
takers OF ancient and modern times,-which We
propose to do in few a7ticler,-we des::e to say
word upon a question which has been
nooted by certain essayists, namely, whethec
authors or men OF the world are the better
conyersers. William Hazlitt, who was + keen
observer, and mingled much in the society OF
literary men, declares that authors and actors
ere not fitted to shine in the social circle. Au-
thors, he thought, Sought to be read, and not
heard; !" and, as to actors, they: he thinks, who
have intoxicated and maddened multitudes By
their public display Of talent, can rarely be
supposed to feel much atimulus in entertaining
one or two friends, or in being the life Of
dinner party. She who perished over
night by the dagger or the bowl,
as Cassandra or Cleopatra, may be
allowed to sip her tea in silence, and
not to bo herself again till she 1evivea in Aspa-
sia. Actors, again, utter cut-and-dry repartees
which are put into their mouths, and must be
little embarrassed when their cue is taken from
them. Rousseau, On the other hand, who wrote
80 laborious1y, pronounces the conversation Of
authors superior to their books; M opinion
which, except in the case Of few, to whom tho
stimulus Of society was necessary to bring out
their stores, the biographies Of celebrated au-
brated writer's, who have filed their books
defy oblivion, have been dumb before
their fellow-men. Not seldom it happens
that gems OF the purest ray serene emit very
dreamy lustre at tho dinner-table Of patronizing
big-wiggery, or in the salons Of blue-stocking-
1sm. How often has it happened that your man
OF genius, when invited to packed assembly for
the express purpose of being pumped, has
proved as drT and wheezy as g weu in August,
giving out not even drop of the anticipated
living water Many a fine spirit that cen pre-
sent novel ideas in Kaleidoscope variety upon
paper, not only awing you by their profundity,
but dazzling you by their tropical splen-
dor, is notorious for his inability to put
two ideas together by word Of mouth,-faiGng
even to find 3 door Of utterance in that eternal
refuge for the destitute of small talk, the
weather! Golden ingots he has,-precious bars
OF thought, which, in the privacy Of home, he
can burnish into Hplendor, or convert into the
coin Of the realm; but, like many J. wealthy cap
ftaHst, he cannot, on the spur OF the moment
produce the farthings current in the market,
place.
Abundant reason is there why this should be
so. Those who expect an author that his e1-
hausted himself in his books to be equally bril-
liant in company, forget that it is the very fact
that ho has larished his riches in his writings
that must disqua1ify him from displaying
them elsewhere. It is simply be-
cause he has been reused to an
intense pitch Of excitement whilo engaged in tho
task Of composition that he is proportionally
nerveless and relaxed in his socia1 hours. The
electrical eel cannot be always giving of shocks;
tho bow that has long been strung loses it's elaa-
ITCHY; the bird that soarH to the stars must
sometimes rest it's wing on the earth. While
other men in society abandon their whole souls
to tho topics OF the moment, and, concentrating
their energies, appear keen and animated, the
man Of genius, who has stirred the vast sea OF
human hearts BY his writings, feels languor
and prostration arising from the secret
toll OF thought; and it is only when
he has recruited his energies by rola1a-
ton and repoBe, and is once
more in his study, surrounded by those master-
spirits with whom he has so o@ten held "celes-
tial colloquy sublime," that his soul rekindles
with enthusiasm, and pours itself On paper in
thoughts that breathe, and words that burn.
It is said that neither Pope nor Dryden we're
brilliant in conversation tire one being too
s'saturnine and reserved," and the other too
much afraid Of tbs author OF the "Essay On
Man. Neither Addison nor Cowper shone in
society, and the same ia true Of the celebrated
French authors, Descartes, 1s Fontaine,
and Button. Addison, indeed, could talk
charmingly to one or two friends, but
he was shy and absent before strangers.
TO use his own happy metaphor, he "oould
draw bills for thousand pounds, though he had
not guinea in his pocket" Hurno's writings
were 80 superior to his conversation, that
Horace Walpolo used to say TINT he understood
nothing till he had written upon it. Goldsmith
waa blundering converser, and showed hardly
spark Of the genius that blazes through his
writings.- Occasionally he blurtod ont good
thing, when he applied to johnson a saying
in ono Of Cibber's p1ays,-"There is no arguing
With Johnson for, when his pistol misses fire,
he knocks down his adversary with tho butt end
Of it," but generally he talked like roor
Poll" and when he made an accidental hit,
soon nentraIized its effects by something e1-
qu1sitoly foolish. Neither Cornei1le, the great
French dramatist, nor Marmoutel the novelist