§ 60. The theory of conversation here attempted seems to be completely
contained in the foregoing paragraphs, so far as the author has been
able to investigate it. No doubt many of his readers will wonder that a
subject so interesting can be made so dry, and will complain (in spite
of § 5) that he has not given at least a few specimens of what he
approves. If he is unable to compose them, why not cull them from the
best novel literature of the day? It is, of course, quite easy to give
such examples, which can be found in thousands from the comedies of
Sheridan to the stories of Lever—who was himself, like Sheridan, a great
master of conversation. But who ever profited directly in his own
conversation by reading conversations? Who could ever transfer to
ordinary intercourse the imaginary dialogues of romance? They may be
elaborate and studied, like those of Walter Scott’s heroines, and indeed
the lovers’ dialogues of almost all novelists; or they may be perfectly
natural and easy, like those of Charles Lever just referred to. But in
either case they are stereotyped in their book, and are useless even as
models. One may quote from them an occasional brilliant or foolish
remark, as one may from any book, but that is all.
There is always this difficulty about any practice, which has never been
reduced to rule, that the laws of it, when set forth in order, seem
trivial and dull; nor will the student believe that such valuable and
complicated results can be derived from mere truisms. We are quite
accustomed to that surprise in the case of logic. The whole system of
human reasoning in all its wonderful intricacy is built up from a few
general principles in themselves perfectly and necessarily obvious, just
as the prose of Ruskin and the poetry of Browning are expressed in
combinations of twenty-six letters. But as in this case the theory of
composing words is easy enough, and yet the art a mystery, which only
very few can ever attain in perfection,—each, too, after his own
fashion, and stamped with his own genius,—so the theory of conversation
may be reduced to a small number of general observations, and yet the
perfect practice of it is a mystery, which defies analysis—one of the
myriad manifestations of human genius which all can admire but no one
can ever explain.