Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-02-23
SILENT FAMOUS MEN
CELEBRITIES THAT HAVE BEEN NOTED
AS MISeRS OF WORDS.
Some of the Worlds Greatest Char
acters Have Been Spnring OF
Language They Have Been Prod
fgaI cf Deeds of RenoNn.

IL 10 d uilphS anu llINtltStlIS i'kNA
that many of the worlds greatest men
have been as sIaring of words as they
have been prodigal of deeds.
1t is doubtful if there ever lived a
more taciturn man than Wallenstein,
the famous colSmander Of the Austrian
army during the thirty years war. 1t
is saiG of Wallensten 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 chamberlains was
banged 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 a chatterbox and William
TIE Silent brawler.
But silence is characteristic of many
of the worlds most famous soldiers.
Napoleon boasted that in his dealings
with men lie never wasted a word and
| made monosyilahles answer most pur
rcs@S Eu; nothing escaped his eyes,
and be could compress more within a
sentence t!an most men could convey
| in a quarter Of an hour.
The great Duke of Marlborough when
| receiving reports from his generals
| would produce his watch and say, II
will give you a minute And it was
! likely to go hard with the officer who
| did not observe the limitation. TO his
| staff the Duke Of Wellington was al
ways more or less a sphinx. y nod or
! q shake of the head was often the only
response they could get from him. an0
when once lie was asked What he con-
| sidered the hest equipment of COM
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
| him that the French had declared war
! be 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 We're COM
plete plans for the campaign which
closed in brilliant victory. Won Moltke
used 10 say that one verb in the Ger
man language was worth all the 9TH
ers put together. and that was "Ihune
TO Go
The wcrst thing bis enemies could
say of President Grant WAS. 'IIe wont
talk because he has SO much to con-
ceal" and vet it was precisely in this
silence that Grants real strength lay.
His orders and dispatches We're the
briefest ever penned, and when once a
charming young lady rlayfuliy asked
him why he would not talk to her he
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
| Clarlemagne was perfect miser OF
words, holding with Confucius, that
"silence is a friend that viii never be-
tray Hannibal was man of mono
| anu ulluS NttSfil was HiNh
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
! timorous or sullen taciturnity which
his friends called modesty by too mild
| name" According to Chesterfield,
! he was the most timorous and awk-
| ward man l ever saw. and even Ad-
| Olson himself. speaking of his own
deficiency in conversation. used to say.
Il can draw bills for a thousand
| pounds. though haven't a guinea in
| my pocket
| DRYDEN was unutterab1y drea as
companion. MY conversation is SLOW"
| he once wrote. my bumor saturnine
| and reserved and l am none of those
WHO endeavor to break jests in COM
| pany and make repartees.' And Sliad-
| well tells how ne once dined with Dry
Gen, and froln tie beginning to the end
of the meal the poet never opened
his lips except to eat
| Thomas Carlyle was "hOarder of
| the gold of silence and would sit for
hours putting away at his pipe. with
out uttering more than grunt or
| gruff monosyllable Leigh Hunt. his
neighbor and intimate, once wrote to
friend: Have Just spent pleasant
hour with Cariyle When l went in he
| growled 'Haloa: here again" and at
| parting be snapped out. Good day"
and that is the sum of the conversation
| he honored me with. But how elo-
quent his silence is! l just sat and
looked at him and came away strength
| ened for fresh struggle
BluAtering King.