THINKING ALOUD.

Otago Witness, Issue 1916, 10 August 1888, Page 31

THINKING ALOUD.

Coleridge said of a certain member of Parliament : "He thinks aloud. Everything in his mind, good, bad, or indifferent, out it comes " ; and the same remark applies to the thinking of a great number of people. Everybody knows at least one person who is in the habit of " spitting out " whatever first comes to his tongue, and although remarks made under such circumstances are not always pleasant, they are at least honest, which is more than can invariably be said of the remarks of those who are in the habit of thinking in the usual way and then deliberately formulating a set phrase or a well-turned compliment. In the man who thinks aloud you can never be deceived, for just as a man who sits down with pen in hand and paper before him must, if ho gives free play to his thoughts, jot down some of his sentiments, although perhaps half unconsciously, so the " candid man " (as we may perhaps be permitted to call him) cannot help but betray tha workings of his mind. Take, for example, a perfectly apocryphal story told of Lord Dudley and Ward. His lords hip considered it a bore to hare anyone in the same railway carriage with him. Just as the train was leaving on one occasion, a gentleman jumped into the carriage in which he was seated, whereupon his lordship muttered, "What a bore ! I. ought to say something, I suppose. Perhaps I had better ask him to dinner. I'll think about it." And all this, be it noted, was in a tone sufficiently loud for the other occupant of the carriage to hear. Many other similar stories are told of this peer. H.R.H. the late Duke of Cambridge, father of the present Commander-in-chief, seems to have teen a man of like character. When the officiating clergyman repeated the customary formula, " Let us pray," he used to audibly mutter, "Yes, certainly; by all means. It is said of Hood that an inherent quality of his nature was that he could never resist the temptation to make a pun. In like manner there are those who, like Lord Dudley and Ward, cannot avoid giving expression to their thoughts ; and every social circle, however small, has at least one individual of this class— a person whom his or her associates call "blunt" or "straightforward," and whose silliest utterances are generally pardoned because of their evident unpremeditatedness. It is a moot point whether most ' of Mr Dv Maurier's " Things Letter left unsaid," may not be put down to those who ! " think aloud." At any rate, many " things better left unsaid " have been uttered by individuals of this class. Analogous to thinking aloud is what may be called "soliloquising with the pen," to which Carlyle was much addicted. When was writing his books he interpolated all manner of ejaculations. Mr Moncure D. Conway says that when reading some of Carlyle's manuscript he came across one of these ejaculations in the middle of almost every page : " What utter rubbish this is . I am writing," or " What abominable nonsense ; I must go and take a walk." Then, perhaps, the very next sentence would be in his best vein. De Qnincey was also in the 1 habit of soliloquising with his pen. In reading a proof sheet he would fall into a reverie, and scribble on the margin a number I of sentences about indigestion, blue pills, money matters, and so on — evidently just as the thoughts came into his mind. Several contemporary literary men are likewise credited with the same habit. Olearly then there are many persons who may be said to think aloud, who cannot help expressing their thoughts just as they arise. There is a well known story told of a gentleman who was always wont to talk to himself apparently quite unconscious that anybody could hear him, and one of his habits was to ejaculate " and butter," whenever the clergyman said " Give us this day our daily bread." Embarrassing as this was to those around him, and awkward as the utterances of persons who think aloud frequently are, the habit is not without compensating advantages to those with whom such persons are brought in contact.