ted it as useless, and after another interval a
thought came to him which he saw might have served, if the suspense had
not been already so prolonged; this was also put aside; and after a
series of belated remarks had occurred to him, each of which seemed to
be hopelessly unworthy of the expectation he had excited, the hostess,
seeing that things had gone wrong, came, like Artemis, and led
Iphigenia away, without the philosopher having had the opportunity of
indulging in a single reflection. The experience, he said, was of so
appalling a character, that he set to, and invented a remark which he
said was applicable to persons of all ages and of either sex, under any
circumstances whatever; but, as he would never reveal this precious
possession to the most ardent inquirers, the secret, whatever it was,
has perished with him.

One of my friends has a perfectly unique gift of conversation. He is a
prominent man of affairs, a perfect mine of political secrets. He is a
ready talker, and has the art, both in a tete-a-tete as well as in a
mixed company, of mentioning things which are extremely interesting,
and appear to be hopelessly indiscreet. He generally accompanies his
relation of these incidents with a request that the subject may not be
mentioned outside. The result is that every one who is brought into
contact with him feels that he is selected by the great man because of
some happy gift of temperament, trustworthiness, or discretion, or even
on grounds of personal importance, to be the recipient of this signal
mark of confidence. On one occasion I endeavoured, after one of these
conversations, not for the sake of betraying him, but in the interests
of a diary which I keep, to formulate in precise and permanent terms
some of this interesting intelligence. To my intense surprise and
disappointment, I found myself entirely unable to recollect, much less
to express, any of his statements. They had melted in the mind, like
some delicate confection, and left behind them nothing but a faint
aroma of interest and pleasure.

This would be a dangerous example to imitate, because it requires a
very subtle species of art to select incidents and episodes which
should both gratify the hearers, and which at the same time it should
be impossible to hand on. Most people who attempted such a task would
sink into being miserable blabbers of tacenda, mere sieves through
which matters of secret importance would granulate into the hands of