Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-06-05
SILENT FAMOUS MEN
CELEBRITIES THAT HAVE BEEN NOTED
AZ MlSERS OF WORDS.

some OF the WOridS GreateSt thar-
acters Have Been as Spnring of
Language ns They Have Been Prod
igal of Deeds of Renown.
1t is a curious and interesting fact
that many of the worlds greatest men
have been as sparng of words as they
have been prodigal of deeds.
1t is doubtful if there ever lived
more taciturn man than Wallenstein,
the famous coISmander of the Austrian
army during the thirty years war. 1t
is said of Wallenstein that he ''lived in
an atmosphere of silence" and never ut
tered a word that was not absolutely
necessary, nor would he permit others
to speak In his presence more than was
essential. One of his chamberlans was
hanged for waking Wallenstein with
needless noise His servants were SO
many mutes, not daring to open their
lips in his presence, and he was sur
rounded by patrols. and the approaches
to his house We're barricaded by chains
to preserve him from the least disturb
ance. In comparison with Wallenstein.
it has been recorded. Diogenes would
have been clatterboX and William
the Silent a brawlcr.
But silence is a characteristic of many
of the worlds most famous soldiers
Napoleon boastcd that in his dealings
with men he never wasted Il word and
made mon0sHlIH!,lcs answer most pur-
poses But nothing escaped his eyes.
and he could compress more within q
sentence than E.rSt mon cvu,d convey
n Il Gi,ario:' q: N !"Hr.
IEc :s:eat b';!.;h Of Marlborough when
feeei'ili-s reports fre!l - generals
would proe.ure his watcli and say, II
will give yea II minute. And it was
likely to go hard with the o..crr who
did not observe the limitation. 70 his
staff the Duke of Wellington WAS al
ways more ol. less Il sphinx. \ nod or
a shake OF the head was often the only
response they could get from him. ana
when once he was asked what he con-
sidered the best equipment of a CON-
mander he answered, "A long head and
a silent tongue
Won Moltke almost rivaled Wallen-
stein in taciturnity. He never opened
his mouth if gesture would suffice,
and when the news was brought to
hfm that the French had declared war
he simply said to the aid de camp Sec
ond pigeonhole on the right, first tier"
and turned round to sleep again But
he had said all that Was necessary, for
in the pigeonhole indicated were COM
plete plans for the campaign which
closed in brilliant victory. Won Moltke
used to say that one verb in the Ger
man language was worth all the 9th
ers put together, and that was "thun'
Ito do"
The worst thing his enemies could
say of President Grant WAS. He won't
talk because he has SO much to con-
ceal." ana yet it was precisely in this
silence that Grants real strength lay.
His orders and dispatches were the
briefest ever penned. and when once a
charming young lady playfnlly asked
him why he would not talk to her ho
answered, My dear, don't you know
that silence is one of the greatest arts
of conversation
But it has been the same in all ages.
Charlemagne was a perfect mser of
words holding, with Confucius, that
"silence is friend that will never be.
tray" Hannibal was man of mono
syllables.' and Julius Caesar was nick
named by his soldiers The Oracle"
Even great statesmen and writer's
who cannot suffer from any lack Of
words have often been among the most
reserved of men. OF Addison, John
son says, "Of his external manners
nothing is so often mentioned as that
his friends called modesty by too mild
a name" According to Chesterfield.
he was 1.-THE most tilnorous and awk-
ward man ever Saw,' and even Adj
olson himself, speaking of his own
deficiency in conversation, used to say,
II can draw bills for a thousand
pounds. though | haven't a guinea in
my pocket
DRYDEN was unutterably drea - IS
companion. My conversation is slow
he once wrote. my humor saturnine
and reserved, and | am none of those
who Cndcayor to break jeSts in COM
pany and make repartees. And Shad-
we'll tells how he once dined with Dry
den, and from the beginning to the end
of the meal the poet "neyer opened
his lips except to eat
Thomas Carlyle was a "hoarder OF
the gold of silence" and would sit for
hours, putting away at his pipe with
out uttcring more than grunt or
gruff monosyllable. Leigh Hunt, his
neighhor and intimate, once wrote to
Il friend: "IIave just spent a pleasant
hour with Carlyls When went in he
growled. '1Ialloa; here again" and at
parting ne snapped out Good day.
l - =; !. ~ -. ~. 2 i.ar