Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1904-02-14
SILENT FAMOUS MEN
CELEBRITIES THAT HAVE BEEN NOTED
AS MlSERS OF WORDS.
some of the Worlds Greatest Char
acters Have Been as Spuring OF
Language They Have Been Prod
tgai of Deeds of Renoyvn

acters Have Been as Spurins OF
Language rs They Have Been Prod
igaI of Deeds of Renown
1t Is a curious and interesting fact
that many of the worlds greatest men
have been as sparing of words as they
have been prodigal of deeds
1t is doubtful if there ever lived a
more taciturn man than WalIenstein,
the famous co1ymander of the Austrian
army during the thirty years war. 1t
is said of Walenstein that he "lyed in
an atmosphere of silence" and never ut
tered Il word that was not absolutely
necessary. nor would he permit others
! to speak III his presence more than was
essential. one OF his chambcrlaIls 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 Wallpnstein
It mas been recorded. Diogenes would
! have been a cbatterboX and William
/ the silent a braWler.
Eut sile!lea Ia characteristic of many
OF the worlds Ee%t famous soldiers.
! Napoleon boosted that in his dealings
! with mei9 he Il =v-'r wasted Il word and
I matle HaIe .!5i, =; 80 yer most pur-
! poses. H'l, lgptlt@& escaped his eyes.
aaG lie could COMPRESS more within IA
sem than f..z,tt meH e9.!ld convey
IN \ "!;;1"'" # "a -.
llst> ..z.a;..t Duke o.: Marlborough when
receivin~ "sHon-s fra.a his generals
would NroAHa" lis 3ee,I and say, 81
Will give Xol a lgnule." .Nnh it was
likely to 20 ,.a''5. with ,hp officer who
did not observe tine .e'.5ation To his
staff tie Duke &c Wellington was al
ways more q. less a : .s.4X \ nod or
Il shake OF the head WAS often the only
response they could get from him, an6
when once he was asked what he con-
sidered the best equipment of Il com
mander he answered. ~ long head and
q silent tongue.
Won Moltke almost riyaled Wallen-
stein in taciturnity. He never opened
| his mouth if q gesture would suffice.
and when the news WAS brought to
| him that the French had declared war
| he simply said to the aidde-camp. "Sor-
ond pigeonhole on the right. first te;'''
| and turned round to sleep again But
| he had said all that WAS neceS>s ~, for
in the pigeonhoe Indicated v.are COM
! plete plans for the car. ..}s:,n which
closed in brilliant victory. Non 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-
ccal" and Yet it was precisely in this
| silence that Grants real strength lay.
His orders and dispatches We're the
briefest ever penned, and Whom once a
charming young lady playfuiy asked
him why he would not talk 70 her he
answered, My dear, don't You know
/ that silence is one Of the greatest arts
of conversational
But it has been the same in all ages.
! Charlemagne was Il perfect Eisor of
words. holding, With Conlucius, that
silence is q friend that will never be
tray" Hannibal was man of mono
SyllableS'' and Julius Caesar was nick
named by his soldiers "Yhe Oracle.
Even great statesmen and writer's
who cannot suffer from amy 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
a name According to Chesterfield,
he Was the most timorous and aWk-
! ward man | ever saw and even Ad
olson himself, speaking of his own
deficiency III conversation, used to say,
Il can draw bills for Il thousand
pounds, though l haven't a guinea in
my pocket
Dryden was unuttorabiy drealy as 4
I companion. My conversation is SLOW
/ H. once wrote. my hUmor sattra.Ae
/ ard =, So ID an3 am none of those
'. Ee tI4Ha;, %. % break jests in cem-
pzi.v 6 nd a9zc rcparteoS. sud Siiad-
" y tels how IL once died W.th Dry
den, and from the l-a nniAg 10 the end
OF ,he meal the pot never opened
, hia fps cTcepi 10 e;t,.
] Tholnas Carh lc WAS n "Aoardor Of
ne sid CT Silence" and would sit for
n,lrs, oufl.5 away at his pipe, with
out uttcrin@ more ,han a grunt or a
: gruff mol oSyllahln. Leigh Hunt his
! uoighbor and intimate, once wrote to
a friend: Have just spent a pleasant
hour with Carly. When | went i'll he
grovled, 'Halloa; here again. and at
parting he snapped out, Good day"
and thet is the sum of the conversation
j he honore1 me with. But how elo-
al,alt his silnnce Is, iuSt sat and