West-Jersey pioneer., 1872-05-10
ON CONVERSATION.

ITO excel in conversation" says sensi-
| BILE writer, ''one must not be always striving
to say good things; to say one good thing,
one must say many bad and more Indifferent
ones" 1t is much to be regretted, since
conversation is the charm of society, that
there are so few good takers in the world,
when there are so many orators. Most men
can harangue-very few can converse; every
little village can boast of a score of Fourth
of July orators, each of whom, with the
field to himself, can hold forth by the hour
together, sensibly and eloquently, at least
acceptaby; while the same men if placed
in drawing room. would be either COM
pletely SILENT or ''monopolize the floor'' in
delivering dissertation.
| The art of keeping upa social discussion
by short, brilliant sallies, lively repartees,
apt Illustrations and graceful illusions, is
exceedingly rare; it is attained only by long
practice. The southern nations of Europe,
particularly the French, are adopts in
this eminently social art but they are
trained to it from early infancy. The mo-
ment French boy can speak, his express
sions of language are carefully watched and
corrected. He is made to select di
ciously between nearly synonymous epithets;
and as he grows up, this habit becomes a
second nature to him, begetting confidence,
fiuency and elegance of speech. Nor does
the Frenchman, the Italian, the Spaniard,
or Greek, speak with his lips alone: his eyes,
1 H. he T..
and the ''action-a -action-actiop,' deemed
| by the master of oratory its Alpha and
Omega, is readily and constantly employed
| 1t might be thought that the fuency of
the languages of southern Europe alone ac-
counted for this facility, had there not been
brilliant examples of conversational excel
lence in England, in spite of the acknowl-
edged harshness of the Saxon tongue
| Sheridan owed much of the renown he en-
.ioyed-much of his personal fascination, to
his brilliant conversation. But with him it
was not art carlsed to the extent of second
nature; he suffered under the difficulty ex-
pressed at the commencement of this arti-
cle-he was constantly laboring to excel
His reputation as a wit compelled him to
make these efforts; and he thus prepared
his brilliant sayings beforehand, and until
| an opportunity occurred to introduce, or
rather to ''work them in, - he sat silent and
anxious.
| 1t is related of Sheridan that an acquint-
ance of his knowing his friends habit, pill
fered one of his conversation cards. on
| which tho haadS of hiS anacdofoS nd
ticisms were written down previous to being
delivered at a brilliant party. Having mas
| tered this programme, the malicious wag
went to the party little before Sheridan
and related all his good things, so that when
| the wit himself arrived, he was mortified
and astounded at the GOODNESS and indifer-
ence with which all his sallies were received,
and at being told that all his bran new
stories were affairs of at least half an hour
old!
Theodore Hook was far happier than
Sheridan in society; running fire of pms,
witticisms and humor sustained the spirit of
his talk and rendered him irresistible. But
he possessed the rare gift of improvisation;
and we are told he could sit down to the
piano and compose the air and words of a
song as he went along. Such facility is al
most incredible.
"The soul of conversation, " says Hazlitt,
sis sympathy. Authors should converse
chiefly with authors, and their talk should
be of books. No man can get above his
pursuit in life, it is getting above himself,
which is impossible. In general it shines
only by reflection. You must take your cue
from your compa ny-must rise as they rise,
and sink as they fall. You must see that
your good things, your knowing illusions,
are not flung away, like the pearls i'll the
adage."
But there is one little idea above all 9TH
ers that we would humbly suggest as wor-
| thy the consideration of ALL Whether in
sermonizing or in storytelling, in wit or
pathos, in sorrow or in mirth, be short:
| "For brevty is very good,
| When we are, or are not understood"
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