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carry him far into the country with some congenial friend; and now
keep him dangling about the town from one old book…shop to another;
and scraping romantic acquaintance with every dog that passed。 His
talk; compounded of so much sterling sense and so much freakish
humour; and clothed in language so apt; droll; and emphatic; was a
perpetual delight to all who knew him before the clouds began to
settle on his mind。 His use of language was both just and
picturesque; and when at the beginning of his illness he began to
feel the ebbing of this power; it was strange and painful to hear
him reject one word after another as inadequate; and at length
desist from the search and leave his phrase unfinished rather than
finish it without propriety。 It was perhaps another Celtic trait
that his affections and emotions; passionate as these were; and
liable to passionate ups and downs; found the most eloquent
expression both in words and gestures。 Love; anger; and
indignation shone through him and broke forth in imagery; like what
we read of Southern races。 For all these emotional extremes; and
in spite of the melancholy ground of his character; he had upon the
whole a happy life; nor was he less fortunate in his death; which
at the last came to him unaware。
CHAPTER X。 TALK AND TALKERS
Sir; we had a good talk。 … JOHNSON。
As we must account for every idle word; so we must for every idle
silence。 … FRANKLIN。
THERE can be no fairer ambition than to excel in talk; to be
affable; gay; ready; clear and welcome; to have a fact; a thought;
or an illustration; pat to every subject; and not only to cheer the
flight of time among our intimates; but bear our part in that great
international congress; always sitting; where public wrongs are
first declared; public errors first corrected; and the course of
public opinion shaped; day by day; a little nearer to the right。
No measure comes before Parliament but it has been long ago
prepared by the grand jury of the talkers; no book is written that
has not been largely composed by their assistance。 Literature in
many of its branches is no other than the shadow of good talk; but
the imitation falls far short of the original in life; freedom and
effect。 There are always two to a talk; giving and taking;
comparing experience and according conclusions。 Talk is fluid;
tentative; continually 〃in further search and progress〃; while
written words remain fixed; become idols even to the writer; found
wooden dogmatisms; and preserve flies of obvious error in the amber
of the truth。 Last and chief; while literature; gagged with
linsey…woolsey; can only deal with a fraction of the life of man;
talk goes fancy free and may call a spade a spade。 Talk has none
of the freezing immunities of the pulpit。 It cannot; even if it
would; become merely aesthetic or merely classical like literature。
A jest intervenes; the solemn humbug is dissolved in laughter; and
speech runs forth out of the contemporary groove into the open
fields of nature; cheery and cheering; like schoolboys out of
school。 And it is in talk alone that we can learn our period and
ourselves。 In short; the first duty of a man is to speak; that is
his chief business in this world; and talk; which is the harmonious
speech of two or more; is by far the most accessible of pleasures。
It costs nothing in money; it is all profit; it completes our
education; founds and fosters our friendships; and can be enjoyed
at any age and in almost any state of health。
The spice of life is battle; the friendliest relations are still a
kind of contest; and if we would not forego all that is valuable in
our lot; we must continually face some other person; eye to eye;
and wrestle a fall whether in love or enmity。 It is still by force
of body; or power of character or intellect; that we attain to
worthy pleasures。 Men and women contend for each other in the
lists of love; like rival mesmerists; the active and adroit decide
their challenges in the sports of the body; and the sedentary sit
down to chess or conversation。 All sluggish and pacific pleasures
are; to the same degree; solitary and selfish; and every durable
band between human beings is founded in or heightened by some
element of competition。 Now; the relation that has the least root
in matter is undoubtedly that airy one of friendship; and hence; I
suppose; it is that good talk most commonly arises among friends。
Talk is; indeed; both the scene and instrument of friendship。 It
is in talk alone that the friends can measure strength; and enjoy
that amicable counter…assertion of personality which is the gauge
of relations and the sport of life。
A good talk is not to be had for the asking。 Humours must first be
accorded in a kind of overture or prologue; hour; company and
circumstance be suited; and then; at a fit juncture; the subject;
the quarry of two heated minds; spring up like a deer out of the
wood。 Not that the talker has any of the hunter's pride; though he
has all and more than all his ardour。 The genuine artist follows
the stream of conversation as an angler follows the windings of a
brook; not dallying where he fails to 〃kill。〃 He trusts implicitly
to hazard; and he is rewarded by continual variety; continual
pleasure; and those changing prospects of the truth that are the
best of education。 There is nothing in a subject; so called; that
we should regard it as an idol; or follow it beyond the promptings
of desire。 Indeed; there are few subjects; and so far as they are
truly talkable; more than the half of them may be reduced to three:
that I am I; that you are you; and that there are other people
dimly understood to be not quite the same as either。 Wherever talk
may range; it still runs half the time on these eternal lines。 The
theme being set; each plays on himself as on an instrument; asserts
and justifies himself; ransacks his brain for instances and
opinions; and brings them forth new…minted; to his own surprise and
the admiration of his adversary。 All natural talk is a festival of
ostentation; and by the laws of the game each accepts and fans the
vanity of the other。 It is from that reason that we venture to lay
ourselves so open; that we dare to be so warmly eloquent; and that
we swell in each other's eyes to such a vast proportion。 For
talkers; once launched; begin to overflow the limits of their
ordinary selves; tower up to the height of their secret
pretensions; and give themselves out for the heroes; brave; pious;
musical and wise; that in their most shining moments they aspire to
be。 So they weave for themselves with words and for a while
inhabit a palace of delights; temple at once and theatre; where
they fill the round of the world's dignities; and feast with the
gods; exulting in Kudos。 And when the talk is over; each goes his
way; still flushed with vanity and admiration; still trailing
clouds of glory; each declines from the height of his ideal orgie;
not in a moment; but by slow declension。 I remember; in the
ENTR'ACTE of an afternoon performance; coming forth into the
sunshine; in a beautiful green; gardened corner of a romantic city;
and as I sat and smoked; the music moving in my blood; I seemed to
sit there and evaporate THE FLYING DUTCHMAN (for it was that I had
been hearing) with a wonderful sense of life; warmth; well…being
and pride; and the noises of the city; voices; bells and marching
feet; fell together in my ears like a symphonious orchestra。 In
the same way; the excitement of a good talk lives for a long while
after in the blood; the heart still hot within you; the brain still
simmering; and the physical earth swimming around you with the
colours of the sunset。
Natural talk; like ploughing; should turn up a large surface of
life; rather than dig mines into geological strata。 Masses of
experience; anecdote; incident; cross…lights; quotation; historical
instances; the whole flotsam and jetsam of two minds forced in and
in upon the matter in hand from every point of the compass; and
from every degree of mental elevation and abasement … these are the
material with which talk is fortified; the food on which the
talkers thrive。 Such argument as is proper to the exercise should
still be brief and seizing。 Talk should proceed by instances; by
the apposite; not the expository。 It should keep close along the
lines of humanity; near the bosoms and businesses of men; at the
level where history; fiction and experience intersect and
illuminate each other。 I am I; and You are You; with all my heart;
but conceive how these lean propositions change and brighten when;
instead of words; the actual you and I sit cheek by jowl; the
spirit housed in the live body; and the very clothes uttering
voices to co