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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 1, 1878)
fcfflgwqwMiMg 'nm .I ib 55 wau&ix. T mm NO. 8. TUBLTO OriNION. iCO oil to such n pitch as to overwhelm him with sound alone. Hut we may ho sure that the sound was not devoid of sense and reason. We now ask what Is requisite to become a tine talker; one must not. only be wide ly read, but must have besides originality, wit, and genius. Travel develops and cultivates the descriptive powers; gives ease and lluency, and furnishes plenty of material. All people like to laugh, and they will listen more good Inunorcdly to any thing weighty you may have to say if you first tickle their comical side, there fore, let us have plenty of good, whole some fun. Sarcasm is to be indulged in sparingly; it is like playing with edged tools. A sarcastic person will sacrillce any ones feeling for the sake of appearing sharp. Wit, too, should be of such a na ture as never to carry a heart stain away on its blade. Conversation should be adapted to the people with whom we con verse. What interests one man, another cares nothing about. As Selden puts it, "words must be lilted to a man's mouth." Conversation is an art, and, although one who is naturally endowed with fine conversational powers ma' acquire it with less difficulty, still by study and at tention, a high degree of excellence may be acquired by almost any one. E. PUBLIC OPINION. The fallibility of mankind has passed into proverb and by-word. And being weak and vacillating, there is perhaps no motive which can inlluencc us as much as the approval or disapproval, the smiles or frowns of our fellow creatures. That this is one of the most potent iulluences that move us, few will question. For there are but few who do not fall under its sway, and indeed we would at once feel some hesitation in receiving the young man or woman into our friendship, or entrusting them with our worldly allalrs; if, avow edly or openly, they disregard tho opin ion and judgments of the world. The person who can say, unhesitatingly and without blushing, "I care not what tho world may say of me," is indeed far down the path of moral degradation, and it will require sharp and efficient means to arouse the soul from tho lethargy into which it has fallen. And of such a per son we must be prepared to hear an ac count of prolligacy and debauchery. Among such we must expect the frcquen. tors of tho card-table. From this class come those, who fill ourjails and prisons. Hut aside from this dark view of tho case, there arc other extremes in which it is equally fatal to indulge. Whilst a lack of due regard for this monitor inn' lead one into all the by-paths which have been mentioned; on the other hand, an uiidi.c reaped for the opinion of others, or au overweening desire for public. applause, will as surely lead one astray, and bring on n hasty downfall as in the other ex. trcme. Tho one who depends upon the approval of others in a course of action is no more stable than the wind, which to day blows from the north, and to-morrow from the south ; than tho waters which come and go upon tho seashore. His mind cannot ho held in ballast by the weighty dictates of conscience and reason, nor his course be governed by tho laws of justice. Neither can our opinions and judgments be received with respect and deference, if wo show to tho world that we are unstable and fickle; for the very ones whom wo are striving to please, be ing tho ones who are watching us tho most closely, are the first to discover and condemn our motives. Neither does a fickle mind deserve tho support and confidence of a conservative, steady people ; since to-day the fiery sup porter of economy and refonn,niay to-morrow be its bitter opponent. In the long line of worthies of tho past, we find scarce lv a bpuefactor of the human race, who was not odious because of his radical ideas and opinions. Galileo, when endeavoring to teach his discovery, was cast into pris on. Cicero, giving us a model of oratory
