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ESSAY XXXII. OF DISCOURSE.

NOME in their discourse desire rather commendation of wit, in being able to hold all arguments, than of judgment, in discerning what is true; as if it were a praise to know what might be said, and not what should be thought. Some have certain commonplaces and themes, wherein they are good, and want variety; which kind of poverty is for the most part tedious, and, when it is once perceived, ridiculous. The honourablest part of the talk is to give the occasion; and again to moderate and pass to somewhat else, for then a man leads the dance. It is good in discourse, and speech of conversation, to vary and intermingle speech of the present occasion with arguments, tales with reasons, asking of questions with telling of opinions, and jest with earnest; for it is a dull thing to tire, and as we say now, to jade' anything too far. As for jest, there be certain things which ought to be privileged from it—namely, religion, matters of state, great persons, any man's present business of importance, and any case that deserveth pity; yet there be some that think their wits have been asleep, except they dart out somewhat that is piquant, and to the quick-that is a vein which would be bridled:

'Parce puer stimulis, et fortius utere loris."

And, generally, men ought to find the difference between saltness and bitterness. Certainly, he that hath a satirical vein, as he maketh others afraid of his wit, so he had need be afraid of others' memory. He that questioneth much shall learn much, and content much, but especially if he apply his questions to the skill of the persons whom he asketh, for he shall give them occasion to please themselves in speaking, and himself shall continually gather knowledge; but let his questions not be troublesome, for that is fit for a poser; and let him be sure

Jade. To over-ride or drive.

'I do not now fool myself to let imagination jade me.'-Shakespere. 2Boy, spare the spur, and more tightly hold the reins.'-Ovid, Met. ii. 127. $ Poser. Examiner. (From pose, to interrogate closely.) She posed him, and sifted him to try whether he were the very Duke of York or not.'-Bacon's Henry VII.

to leave other men their turns to speak-nay, if there be any that would reign and take up all the time, let him find means to take them off, and bring others on, as musicians use to do with those that dance too long galliards.' If you dissemble sometimes your knowledge of that you are thought to know, you shall be thought, another time, to know that you know not. Speech of a man's self ought to be seldom, and well chosen. I knew one was wont to say in scorn, 'He must needs be a wise man, he speaks so much of himself,-and there is but one case wherein a man may commend himself with a good grace, and that is in commending virtue in another, especially if it be such a virtue whereunto himself pretendeth. Speech of touch* towards others should be sparingly used; for discourse ought to be as a field, without coming home to any man. I knew two noblemen, of the west part of England, whereof the one was given to scoff, but kept ever royal cheer in his house; the other would ask of those that had been at the other's table, 'Tell truly, was there never a flout or dry blow given?' To which the guest would answer, 'Such and such a thing passed.' The lord would say, 'I thought he would mar a good dinner.' Discretion of speech is more than eloquence; and to speak agreeably to him with whom we deal, is more than to speak in good words or in good order. A good continued speech, without a good speech of interlocution, shows slowness; and a good reply, or second speech, without a good settled speech, showeth shallowness and weakness. As we see in beasts, that those that are weakest in the course, are yet nimblest in the

1 Galliard. A sprightly dance.

That.

'Gay galliards here my love shall dance,

Whilst I my foes goe fighte.'-Fair Rosamond.

'What is thy excellence in a galliard, Knight ?—Shakespere.
What; that which. See page 72.

'Pretend to. Lay claim to.

Swift.

"Those countries that pretend to freedom.'

Touch. Particular application. 'Dr. Parker, in his sermon before them, touched them for their being so near that they went near to touch him for his life. -Hayward.

Flout. Jeer; taunt; gibe.

'These doors are barred against a bitter flout;

Snarl if you please; but you shall snarl without.'-Dryden.
Full of comparisons and wounding flouts.'-Shakespere.

Agreeably. In a manner suited.

turn; as it is betwixt the greyhound and the hare. To use too many circumstances' ere one come to the matter, is wearisome; to use none at all, is blunt.

ANNOTATIONS.

Among the many just and admirable remarks in this essay on Discourse,' Bacon does not notice the distinction-which is an important one-between those who speak because they wish to say something, and those who speak because they have something to say: that is, between those who are aiming at displaying their own knowledge or ability, and those who speak from fulness of matter, and are thinking only of the matter, and not of themselves and the opinion that will be formed of them. This latter, Bishop Butler calls (in reference to writings) a man's writing with simplicity and in earnest.' It is curious to observe how much more agreeable is even inferior conversation of this latter description, and how it is preferred by many,—they know not why—who are not accustomed to analyse their own feelings, or to inquire why they like or dislike.

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Something nearly coinciding with the above distinction, is that which some draw between an unconscious' and a 'conscious' manner; only that the latter extends to persons who are not courting applause, but anxiously guarding against censure. By a conscious' manner is meant, in short, a continual thought about oneself, and about what the company will think of us. The continual effort and watchful care on the part of the speaker, either to obtain approbation, or at least to avoid disapprobation, always communicates itself in a certain degree, to the hearers.

Some draw a distinction, again, akin to the above, between the desire to please, and the desire to give pleasure; meaning by the former an anxiety to obtain for yourself the good opinion

1 Circumstances. Non-essential particulars; adjuncts.

This peroration, with such circumstance.'-Shakespere.

2 Ere. Before. 'The nobleman said unto him, Sir, come down ere my child

die. -John iv. 49.

of those you converse with, and by the other, the wish to gratify them.

Aristotle, again, draws the distinction between the Eiron and the Bomolochus,-that the former seems to throw out his wit for his own amusement, and the other for that of the company. It is this latter, however, that is really the 'conscious' speaker; because he is evidently seeking to obtain credit as a wit by his diversion of the company. The word seems nearly to answer to what we call a 'wag.' The other is letting out his good things merely from his own fulness.

When that which has been called 'consciousness' is combined with great timidity, it constitutes what we call 'shyness;' a thing disagreeable to others, and a most intense torture to the subject of it.

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There are many (otherwise) sensible people who seek to cure a young person of that very common complaint, by exhorting him not to be shy,-telling him what an awkward appearance it has, and that it prevents his doing himself justice, &c. All which is manifestly pouring oil on the fire to quench it. For, the very cause of shyness is an over-anxiety as to what people are thinking of you; a morbid attention to your own appearance. The course, therefore, that ought to be pursued is exactly the reverse. The sufferer should be exhorted to think as little as possible about himself, and the opinion formed of him, to be assured that most of the company do not trouble their heads about him,-and to harden him against any impertinent criticisms that may be supposed to be going on,— taking care only to do what is right, leaving others to think and say what they will.

And the more intensely occupied any one is with the subjectmatter of what he is saying the business itself that he is engaged in, the less will his thoughts be turned on himself, and on what others think of him.

A. was, as a youth, most distressingly bashful. When he was in Orders, he was staying at a friend's house, where there was also another clergyman, who was to preach, and who remarked to him how nervous he always felt in preaching in a strange church, asking whether the other did not feel the same. Perhaps he expected to be complimented on his modesty; but A. replied, 'I never allow myself to feel nervous in preaching;

I dare not be thinking of myself, and of the opinion formed of me, when I have such a momentous work in hand, as my Master's cause, and for the salvation of souls.' The other, a little taken by surprise, admitted that this was what a Christian minister ought to be occupied with; but,' said he, 'he may be allowed, surely, to feel doubts as to his own qualification for so high and important an office.' 'True,' replied A., 'but the proper time for such doubts is before he takes Orders; after that, he should be thinking only of the work itself, and of striving to become more and more qualified for it.'

As for the greater degree of nervousness [bashfulness] felt in addressing a large assembly than a few, I beg leave to extract a passage from my Elements of Rhetoric, in which I have endeavoured to account for this remarkable phenomenon,for surely it must be considered as such, that a person who is able with facility to express his sentiments in private to a friend, in such language, and in such a manner, as would be perfectly suitable to a certain audience, yet finds it extremely difficult to address to that audience the very same words, in the same manner, and is, in many instances, either completely struck dumb, or greatly embarrassed when he attempts it. Most persons are so familiar with the fact, as hardly to have ever considered that it requires explanation: but attentive consideration shows it to be a very curious, as well as important one; and of which no explanation, as far as I know, has been attempted. It cannot be from any superior deference which the speaker thinks it right to feel for the judgment of the hearers; for it will often happen that the single friend, to whom he is able to speak fluently, shall be one whose good opinion he more values, and whose wisdom he is more disposed to look up to, than that of all the others together. speaker may even feel that he himself has a decided and acknowledged superiority over every one of the audience; and that he should not be the least abashed in addressing any two or three of them, separately; yet, still, all of them, collectively, will often inspire him with a kind of dread.

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'Closely allied in its causes with the phenomenon I am considering, is that other curious fact, that the very same sentiments, expressed in the same manner, will often have a far more powerful effect on a large audience than they would have

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