Third printing, February, 1904.

Copyright, 1901.
by
JOHN A. CONE,
in the
United States
and
Great Britain.
Entered at Stationer's Hall,
London.

All Rights Reserved.

TO
MY MOTHER.

CONTENTS.

PREFACE.

The makers of books have been divided into two classes—the creators and the collectors. In preparing this volume the author has made no claim to a place in the first division, for he has been, to a great extent, only a collector. The facts which the book contains are familiar to intelligent people, and the only excuse offered for presenting them in a new dress is that we need to be reminded often of some truths with which we are most familiar.

In our daily intercourse with one another, we may forget to render to others that thoughtfulness and attention which we exact from them.

We all know that the essence of courtesy is the purpose, in speech and manner, to be agreeable, attractive, and lovable, to awaken by our presence happy impressions in another. We all understand this, but we so easily forget it, or, at least, forget to put it into practice.

Courtesy is not the least of the Christian virtues, and it should be studied as an art.

The reader is requested to accept these chapters in the spirit in which they were prepared. They are not profound psychological studies, or even original essays, but only a bringing together of simple, yet important truths, which are of concern to us all. Possibly they may be of some help—"Lest we forget,——"

THE MAN WHO PLEASES.

There are few subjects of deeper interest to men and women than that of personal fascination, or what is sometimes called "personal magnetism." We commonly talk about it as though it were some mysterious quality of which no definite account could be given.

"A man is fascinating," we say, "he is born magnetic; he has an indefinable charm which cannot be analyzed or understood," and, with the term "naturally magnetic," we hand the matter over to the world of mystery.

Is this quality of so bewildering a nature that it cannot be understood, or will a study of those men and women who possess preëminently the power of pleasing show us the secret of their influence, and prove to us that the gift of fascination is not, necessarily, innate, but that it can, to a great degree, be acquired?

Will we not find that what appears to be the perfection of naturalness is often but the perfection of culture?

From all our well-known public men who have won the reputation of being "naturally magnetic," perhaps we could not select a better example than James G. Blaine. With the possible exception of Henry Clay, no other political leader in our history, under all circumstances, had so devoted and determined a following. Both Clay and Blaine possessed sympathetic and affectionate dispositions, and both understood human nature and the art of pleasing. It may be said that Mr. Blaine's popularity was due, in a great measure, to the brilliant and attractive nature of his public service, and this was, no doubt, true to a certain extent. No man knew better than he the importance of making the most of opportunities for dramatic and sensational display, and his methods of statesmanship were always calculated to please the multitude.