MISCELLANEOUS PAPERS. On CONVERSATION. [From GRAVES'S SENILITIES, or SOLITARY AMUSEMENTS.] Μισω μνήμονα συμπότην I hate a pot-companion with a good me'mory.' THERE cannot be a more se strain of convivial conversation, than is implied in this proverbial maxim of the ancient Greeks. It betrays a consciousness of the trifling, if not absurd or reprehensible kind of communication which too often prevails on those occasions. The most cautious and re served, in the freedom of social in- • noise, An airy scene of transitory joys. What had been said, I ask'd myself.' "In general, indeed, those agreeable conversations which we daily hear mentioned as having been enjoyed even in the society of distinguished characters, if rigidly scrutinized, would, probably, fall far short of our expectation. I never had the honour of being admitted to the assembly of the Bas Bleu club, which consists of the most celebrated female characters in the kingdom. But from those who have enjoyed that felicity, I have heard that the conversation often turned upon fashions, the occurrences of the day, and other chit-chat which prevails in other female assemblies. "In so numerous a mixed company, indeed, where every one comes full charged with literature and science, ready primed for explosion, a little harmless small talk among the less enlightened memral discharge of wit and learning bers, may be better than one genefrom the whole assembly, which must necessarily produce a Babel of confusion. lieve, that the observation of some "But, what, then! are we to be of our best writers is unfounded: That the hours spent in conversa⚫tion L3 companions who will patiently at tend to their superior wisdom, and admire their splendid talents, and applaud their eloquence. "This accounts for the gratification which the French lady re ⚫tion with our friends, are some of the most delightful portions of our existence? By no means: what I would insinuate is, that when a numerous concourse of individuals, unconnected and of different dispositions, is assembled to-ceived from the visit of Tristram gether in one company; each ambitious of displaying his eloquence and gaining attention, or obtruding his intelligence of frivolous occurrences, uninteresting to the company, though, perhaps, gratifying to himself; this may be called talking or haranguing, or what you please, but hardly merits the name of con versation. "As for those tumultuous assemblies called routs, we might as well expect edifying conversation from a flight of martins and swallows on the, eve of their migration, as from such a multifarious concourse of fluttering fops and flaunting flirts. as are there usually crowded together. An evening at a tavern is generally spent in an equally insig Bificant, though, perhaps, more joyous and sociable, and less formal style of conversation. Shandy. She declared to every one she met, that she never had a more improving conversation, than with that gentleman, though (says he) the lady had all the conversation to herself; for, I call 'heaven to witness, that not five words passed my lips.' * "We may conclude, then, I think, that the pleasure which we receive from the conversation of a circle of friends, does not arise from the fine things which are said, the shrewd observations which are made, the learning which is shown, or the wit which is displayed, so much as from the benevolent dispo sition, and the exercise of the kind affections which accompany this friendly intercourse, and the ease and freedom with which every one delivers his sentiments, proposes his doubts. or unbo.oms himself of "But when a small circle of any remarks which he may have friends and acquaintance, of near-made, and which he wishes to com ly equal rank and of similar dispositions and habits of life, meet together, desirous to please and to be pleased, the reciprocal communication of sentiments and observations, with kindness and good-humour, cannot but be highly pleas. ing and improving to all parties. But the usual error of too many is a desire to shine, rather than to inform, and to please themselves rather than their company, by en grossing more than their due's re of the conversation. municate. When, therefore, you may have met with this refined gratification, and enjoyed an attic entertainment, do not boast of your good fortune, nor tell every one you meet what an agreeable conversation or delightful evening you have spent and how merry or how facetious you were: much less give any specimen of your good cheer; for the wit or humour of what is said depends on so many circumstances of time and place, that it is ten to one but what set the table in a roar' at night, will appear very insipid in the morne ing, and what you relate may be re "Though I will not subscribe to the infallibility of Lavater's system of physiognomy; yet the feelings of every one, without any rules, may interpret the sentiments of most people from the air and cast of their countenances. "Man is by nature sociable and friendly to man; and when there is no opposition of interests, rarely harbours any malicious or hostile disposition against his fellow-creatures. Whence then are those unfriendly, contemptuous, and repulsive airs which we continually meet with in those with whom we have no connexion, and whom we have never injured or offended? who survey us with such a supercilious, disdainful mien, as if they questioned our right to exist in the same district, or even on the face of the same globe with themselves. "I sometimes meet a man so stately in his deportment, so haughty in his look, with such an air of defiance in his whole manner, that I shrink from his appearance, and feel myself annihilated in his presence. Yet, on recovering from my dismay, and reflecting on the limited power and capacity of every human being, I find probably, on inquiry, the real character of this illustrious per air con sonage: that his pompous ceals a mean spirit, and that the solemn countenance is only a veil for his ignorance and insignifi cance. "Such are many of those colossal figures who seem to bestride the world, and under whose legs, as it were, we petty mortals must I peep about,' to find a loop-hole to pass by them, without being crushed against the wall, or justled into the kennel. "One man, whom I have met, perhaps, at a third place, assumes a reserved and distant air, lest I should claim him as an acquaintance *. Another man, with eyes fixed, looks straight forwards, and though our elbows almost touch, seems unconscious that any one is near him, or at least worth his notice. "A third is near-sighted; and though we have met, perhaps, on various occasions, has not the ho "The Tepino-phoby, or dread of low acquaintance,' prevails more in Bath, perhaps, than in any other public place in Europe." L 4 nour nour to recollect my name. All these are different stratagems of pride and self-importance, which, though not reducible to the precise rules of quarrelling, like the lie 'direct,' and for which we can call a man to account; yet may, and ought to be resented, or rather treated with the contempt which they deserve. I remember a stout fellow, with a most terrific countenance, who, if he met a man strutting alon in sublime contemplation of his own importance, and a sovereign contempt of all around him, would, on a sudden, run up to him, turn his large white eyes upon him, and cry, Boh! This, it may be supposed, often involved him in a scuffle, or rough rencounter; but generally raised a laugh at the expense of the haughty despot. "A proud look is an insult on the public. Pride was not made for man, nor for woman neither. Yet I have seen a fair spinster, rather past her bloom, who has been conversing with a polite smile in the midst of two or three gentlemen; but on the appearance of a young nymph in the glossy lustre of fifteen, assume an haughty air, and survey the blushing harmless virgin with such a murderous aspect that I have been alarmed for the consequences. "What then do I expect from those whom I meet in public, and who certainly have a right to look, as well as to act, as they please, in defiance of my assumed censorial authority? "Why, I expect, that every man should look with an air of kindness and benignity on all mankind; or, at least, not assume an hostile or menacing aspect towards those who have never injured or offended him. "Let a man of rank or distinction assume the dignity becoming his station and character; but let not those who have no rank, nor, perhaps, any character, to distinguish them from the vulgar, affect that superiority, which is an affront to every one they meet, and which will not easily be allowed them in a country of true liberty, and where education and virtue make the only real distinction; and where men will not be imposed upon or kept in awe by a solemn appearance or arrogant pretensions. "A friend of mine, when he meets a man of this description, snaps his fingers at him, and ejacu lates a scrap of Latin after him, Non hujus te facio! I do not care this for you! "For my own part, as I love all mankind, I rather pity than resent the folly of this theatrical hero, who struts his hour on the stage, and then is seen no more.' On what is called a FALSE VOICE. [From DESPIAU'S SELECT AMUSEMENTS in PHILOSOPHY and MATHEMATICS."] "A FINE voice is certainly preferable to every instrument whatever. Unfortunately, many persons have only a false voice; but, in general, this does not arise from any defect in the organs of the voice, which are al most the same in all mankind: it originates from the ears, owing to an inequality of strength in these organs, organs, or to some want of delicacy or tension; in consequence of which, as they receive unequal impressions, we necessarily hear false sounds, and the voice, which endeavours to imitate them, becomes itself false. On this subject Dr. Vandermonde made a very simple experiment, which he relates in his Essay on improving the human Mind, and which may be repeated on children who pronounce with a false voice, in order that a remedy may be applied at that tender age when the organs are still susceptible of modification. "The experiment, as he describes it, is as follows: I made choice,' says he, of a clear day, ' and having fixed on a spacious apartment, I took up my station in a place judged most convenient for my experiments. I then stopped one of the ears of the child who was to be the subject of them, and made her recede 'from me, till she no longer heard the sound of a repeating watch which I held in my hand, or at least until the sound of the bell produced a very weak impression on 'her organs of hearing. I then 'desired her to remain in that place, and immediately going up to her unstopped her ear, and stopped the other, taking care to cause her to shut her mouth, lest the sound should be communi'cated to the ear through the eustachian tube. I then returned 'to my station, and making my 'watch again strike, the child was quite surprised to find that she heard tolerably well; upon which I made a sign to her to recede again till she could scarcely hear 6 6 'the sound.' It results from this experiment, that in the ears of persons who have a false voice, there is an inequality of strength; and the means of remedying this defect in children, is to ascertain by a similar mode, which ear is the weakest. When this has been discovered, nothing better can be done, in my opinion,' says Dr. Vandermonde, than to stop up 'the other as much as possible, and 'to take advantage of that va'luable opportunity of frequently exercising the weak ear, but in 'such a manner as not to fatigue it. 'The one thus made to labour alone 'will be strengthened, while the 'other will always retain the same 'force. The child's ear should 'from time to time be unstopped, in order to make it sing, and to discover whether both ears have the same degree of sensibility.' This natural defect may be then corrected, and any person may be made to acquire a true voice, provided the means pointed out by Dr. Vandermonde, be early employed. "Persons who have a false voice, in consequence of some inequality in the ears, may be compared to those who squint; that is to say, who, in order to see an object distinctly, do not turn equally towards it the axis of both eyes, because they have not the same visual powers. It is probable that the former, if they had early accustomed themselves to make use of only one ear, would hear distinctly different sounds, which they would have imitated, and would not have contracted a false voice." FRENCH |