The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1896-03-20

IN praise OF silence. only you furnish
the silence, they will attend to the rest.
As a rule, in order to get grist for their
ceaseless mills, these extraordinary peo-
pie borrow ideas, phrases and argu-
ments right and left. SO that they are
not speaking in their own character at
all, but merely composite tumble. and
even If you do manage now and then to
get in word edgewise 1t is about as
satisfactory as conversing with phono-
graph.
Talleyrand averred that the purpose
Of language was to conceal the thought.
am sure great many persons use 1t to
cover up their want Of thought.
We have all met the man or woman
who "can converse on any subject
and interestingly ON none. The opposite
type is somewhat rarer-though not too
rare. mean the person with sim
gle topic, which he is bound to lug in.
apropos of anything or Of nothing. Let
the subject of your conversation be
prunes or prisms, universal suffrage or
the ratio Of probabilities in betting on u
horse race-it matters not wbat-he is
going to wrench 1t around to that fixed
idea of his at all hazards. A we'll
known American litterateur was once
brought to bay by faddist of this sort,
whose speciality happened to be sun
myths. After two hours Of sun myths,
served in every style, the literary man
concluded that he had had enough, SO,
turning upon his tormentor, whose pa
tronymic Glanced to be Smith, he said,
with an air of profound deliberation: II
am quite convinced, sir, by your argu-
ment as to the universal spread Of sun
myths. Your own honorable name,
Smith, which is borne by SO vast pro-
portion of our fellow creatures through
out the inhabited globe, is itself obvi-
ously derivation from the sun myth.
Mark the transition: Sun-myth,
su' myth, smyth, Smith-and there you
are. Good nightI' =
Then there are the poseur and the
poseuse, who constitute perhaps the most
numerous class of obstacles In their
conversational posing they assume an
infinite variety Of roles. but seldom by
any chance their own natural one. NJ.
Paul Bourget, the French novelist, who
visited this country last summer with
the avowed purpose Of making studies
from life, was naturally besieged by
possesses at Newport and elsewhere. II
is amusing to discover the traces Of
them in his "Outre Mer." Some Of
them would conclude their performance
with the naive exclamation: ooh, M.
Bourgetl shall be so curious to sec
what you will write about me in youi
book" One enterprising young lady
prattled ON in this strain: "Of course
shall marry money. My husband canno
be too rich or too old. Then he would
necessarily die within reasonably
short time. Just think Of being left al
interesting young widow with fabulous
wealth That Is my ideal Of perfec
bliss" But our French guest was no
to be so easily taken In as all that. 81
he simply studied his models for wha
they were-extreme types Of the poseus'
species.
One virtue of these laxative obsta
Giles, however, is that they make us ap
preciate the more by force Of contras
that golden quality Of the true CONVEX
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Du Maurier, who's
genius for piquant sayings is to m.
thinking displayed in the legends of hi
Punch pictures even more brilliantly
q than in "Trilby," states the case ex
actly in that drawing of his which rep
h resents an admiring group discussing
commonplace looking youth who stand
8. unobtrusively in the middle distance
N "Who is he anyway" asks one. why
don't you know? He is the lion Of tn
3 season. but can't see anything 81
T. traordinary in him." "Thats just 4,
He doesn't write, doesn't paint, doesn
sing or recite. can't dance. Just sim
: ny makes himself agreeable. They pa
he is irresistible and makes hosts {
friends wherever he goes. I"
The most effective weapon, whethe
Of attack or defense, tc be used againi
the obstacles In general is skillful rel
artee. But bewarel 1t must be fin,
bright, tempered end keen as Toled
blad.. -a.,a -.ti.o..--s..ly -a-~w--i--s~.>-.
II irresistible provbcation. A leading a
tress at the-well, at a theater in Ne
York-whose self esteem kept alwa.
far in advance of her artistic achiev
, ment, one evening patronized lit
/ chorus girl with, my dear, do You e
} pect some day to become great artistei
"No," replied the miss pertly. II
your"
The best advice, dear debutante, tn
I can give you about conversation
don't depend upon advice. Take couns
rather of your own sweet and gentle n
}. ture, talk naturally and frankly, y
lightly-that is, SO long as You are n
in love nor answering proposal
marriage. Above all, bear in mind tn
good conversation, like good manners,
matter of heart, not art.