He had countless anecdotes, which he introduced to his auditors by a "that reminds me of." He had endless quotations, with the quotation marks omitted.

Finally he had an idea on every subject, and generally a theory as well.

Carlyle speaks somewhere of an "inarticulate genius." He was not alluding to Mr.Pierce.
Like most good talkers, Mr.Pierce was a tongue despot.

Conversation must take his course, or he would none of it.

Generally he controlled.
If an upstart endeavored to turn the subject, Mr.Pierce waited till the intruder had done speaking, and then quietly, but firmly would remark: "Relative to the subject we were discussing a moment ago--" If any one ventured to speak, even _sotto voce_, before Mr.Pierce had finished all he had to say, he would at once cease his monologue, wait till the interloper had finished, and then resume his lecture just where he had been interrupted.