The Springdale news., 1889-12-06
ART OF CONVERSATION.
q Talent Possessed Only by n Few HipbIv
 Favored MortaIs


 Favored Mortals
 So rare is the conversational talent that, for fey hundred persons who write well, we find but one who talks well. Emerson, who seemed to believe that possession of the one gift pre- ciudes the other. wrote: "The condi- tons ot literary success are almost de- structlve to the best social power, as they do not leave the frolic liberty which only can encounter companion on the best terms. The authors habit of pausing for reflection before setting down his thoughts in black and white might well induce slOwness of speech; but there is abundant evidence on both sides of the argument. Macau lay How ot conversation is proverbial Sydney Smith called him: 'sthe greatest engine Of social oppression in England" Motley, in one of his letters, described Macaulay as holding the 'ribands of conversation" in his own hands, and driving wherever it suited him. .I can imagine no better fun, " he added. '.than to have Carlyle and Macaulay meet at the same dinner table with a small company. It would be like two loco motives, each with a long train, coming against each other at full speed. Both, 1 have no doubt. would be smashed into silence at the first collision. Macaulay, however, is not so dogmatic or so outrageously absurd as Carlyle, neither is he half so grotesque or amusing. When #e encounter one who really po8sessesxhe gift of speech, 1t is a well-spring of refreshmcnt to the mind. We can listen for any length of time without weariness; for infinite variety is one of the secrets of such d talHer's charm. His mind falls from one supple posture into another. We have never moment of anxiety lest he may not find the right word at the right instant. His thoughts arc his own upon the spur of the moment. without hesitation, deighting the senses and inGaming the fancy of the listener. If he speaks of bed of daf- fodils. we can smell the flowers; he captures for Us the shine of the river,
 
 wheat field iu bloom, the purple deeps of the midnight sky. If 1t is of human nature he speaks, we seem to see the person described "in his habit as he lives He can paint character in a single phrase. Set down in the unhuttering =eoldne5s of print, his diction might seem overloaded with color; but, face to face with him, We bend to the witehery of expression, the spell of voice, of kindling eye. of changing color; and are often warmed into assenting enthusiastically to argu- ments that ve can scarcely iGdorse upon sober afterthought. Like the beg gars of the nursery rhyme, the thoughts of the human race are clothed in various garments
 Some in rags, and some in tags,
 And some in velvet gowns.
 Some people need time to arrange their impressions; for their mental processes are slow, and although they will say what they mean, in the end they must not be hurried. In the op- posite extreme the thoughts tumble out of doors head foremost, and have no time to put on their singing robes.' With others, the intellectual machinery seems to rattle and creak reluctantly, as though the running-gear were out of order; or, perhaps, their ideas are in such a chaotic state that to get at them is like plunging ones hand into rag-bag. Those who talk we'll are apt to talk much. The sentence is not open to vice versa; for it is to be ob- served that ignorant and idle-minded people usually talk necessarily, as if they substitute speech for thought. Now and then we find wise mortal who keeps silent for the reason which makes most people voluble-because he has nothing to say-but for the most part, those who have the fewest ideas to express seem in the greatest haste to expose their mental barren ness.-N. O. Times-Democrat.