ortune merely from his contempt of
riches. If to fight, or write, or dress be above you, why, then, you can
ride, or dance, or even skate; but do not think, as many young gentlemen
are apt to believe, that _talking_ will serve your purpose. That is the
quicksand of your young beginners. All can talk in a public assembly;
that is to say, all can give us exhortations which do not move, and
arguments which do not convince; but to converse in a private assembly
is a different affair, and rare are the characters who can be endured if
they exceed a whisper to their neighbours. But though mild and silent,
be ever ready with the rapier of repartee, and be ever armed with the
breastplate of good temper. You will infallibly gather laurels if you
add to these the spear of sarcasm and the shield of nonchalance.

The high style of conversation where eloquence and philosophy emulate
each other, where principles are profoundly expounded and felicitously
illustrated, all this has ceased. It ceased in this country with Johnson
and Burke, and it requires a Johnson and a Burke for its maintenance.
There is no mediocrity in such discourse, no intermediate character
between the sage and the bore. The second style, where men, not things,
are the staple, but where wit, and refinement, and sensibility invest
even personal details with intellectual interest, does flourish at
present, as it always must in a highly civilised society. S. is, or
rather was, a fine specimen of this school, and M. and L. are his worthy
rivals. This style is indeed, for the moment, very interesting. Then
comes your conversation man, who, we confess, is our aversion. His talk
is a thing apart, got up before he enters the company from whose conduct
it should grow out. He sits in the middle of a large table, and, with a
brazen voice, bawls out his anecdotes about Sir Thomas or Sir Humphry,
Lord Blank, or my Lady Blue. He is incessant, yet not interesting; ever
varying, yet always monotonous. Even if we were amused, we are no more
grateful for the entertainment than we are to the lamp over the table
for the light which it universally sheds, and to yield which it was
obtained on purpose. We are more gratified by the slight conversation
of one who is often silent, but who speaks from his momentary feelings,
than by all this hullaballoo. Yet this machine is generally a favourite
piece of furniture with the hostess. You may catch her eye as he
recounts some adventure of the mo