Los Angeles daily herald., 1875-02-13

Pitt-composed, ofcourse,, many years
before, buttI believe not then pub
/ fished. Each verse ended with the
words: a AiaQoN M Tea
sls- "NWho bade you do it.o =
| b 1.-THE, same, the same, 4a ssQgIs
.9tL Lettels four Do fQrm his name,
There are many accounts of Col
eridge's gigantic powers of monologue.
The story perhaps least known is one
to the effect that he was dining with
some friends near London, when a
broken soldier, in old dtattered uniform,
came to the window begging, on which
Coleridge launched into a history
causes, effects, everything, Of the Pc
ninsular war. "What a Pity said
one Of the party afterward, that that
old soldier came up to the windoww
1T would have been all the same"
said the other, elf o magpie had
hopped across the PATH 49, g..ssa
1t seldom happens that those who
are famous in monOlogue are equally
clever ut retort. But Coleridge uttered
one OF the finest things, on sudden
provocation, ever said in any language.
He was addressing a Bristol mob,
when some of his hearers, not liking
his sentiments, Missed. He paused,
looked calmly round at them, and then
enunciating very slowly, said: "When
ON the burning embers Of democracy
you throw the cold water of reason, no
wonder that they hiss" 1t was Of
course better suited to an Athenian
assembly than to Bristol mob-but
it was a glorious outburst all the same.
"The old man eloquent passed
away from us forty years ago; and
now Macauly is gone. Few are they
/. of the mourners beside his open grave
in Westminster Abbey who have not
been charmed by his wonderful flow
Of conversation. 1t was mostly at
reakfast parties that he put forth his
strength. For my own part l think
that q breakfast party is the sorriest
entertainment in the world. Few
men are up to the mark at ten O'clock
in the morning. / have heard men
say that they cannot talk by daylight.
And ifI had the combined powers of
Demosthenes and Cicero, 1 think that
| should be in the same condition.
Moreover, if, a man has anything to
do--and most men have something
be feels while eating his outlet and
slipping his coffee that he is kept away
from his ,wOrk-and that his business
( will fall into arrears. At dinner-time
he feels some satisfaction in the
thsught that he has done the work
and is at peace with all mankind.
But there are exceptions to all rules;
and some entertainers equally genial
and experienced, ,such as Lord Hough-
ton and the late Sir Robert Inglis, have
contrived to make their guests forget
that the labors of the day were before
them, and make the outlets and coffee
taste almost like turtle and venison
and cold punch and champagne. OF
course, ON these or nearly all of these
occasions, Macauly was the chief, if
not the sole speaker. Sydney Smiths
we'll known mot that the great histo-
rian, on certain occasion, had tran
scended himself, for he had "sOme
flashes of silence, ~ represented, better
than anything else could have done,
MacaHly's general manner of mono
iogues. 1t must be confessed that
sometimes q little personal variety
was lOnged for-that q little more dis
cussi on would have been pleasant.
But Macauly did not speak to elicit
the opinion of others but, to express
his own. do not, at present, remem-
ber more than one occasion, on which
anything that Macauly said evoked
even a brief discussion. He said that
he had been endeavoring to ascertain
at what period the word plunder was
introduced into the English language,
and whence it came. 1T was not, he
said, to be found either in the Bible or
Shakespeare. This led to some general
talk. I do not think that any of us
knew that, the importation was so
modern-though most agreed that the
origin of the word was Dutch. / OBJ
served that I thought / had seen it in
the earliest records of the East India
,C0mpany---that is in the letters Of the
shippers to the Court of Directors.
"Picked up, doubtless, from Dutch
shippers" said Macauly. What |
stated seemed to interest him greatly,
and he asked me to ascertain the
point. / promised to do so when |
had time; but the good time never
came. This, however, was an excep-
tioh, and GENERALLY there was con-
tinual flow of talk-now like the MUIR
mur, now like the roaring Of river.
One always thought of Ldbttur ct
labetur. We marveled and admired,
but for the most part went away dis
appointed. We found that we had
learned so little.--7he Cosrahitl Maga-
zine. 50 b ~ nl
| Oroville has two ministers, eight