Morning journal and courier., 1888-04-09
PLEAsANT PEOPLE.
What 1t is That Makes Them Seem SC
 Rfea.
From the Atlantic Monthly. l

Nice.
 From the Atlantic Nonthly.l
 What boon to all his friends and &C., quaintances pleasant person is It may be hard to define pleasantness, but we find no difficulty in recognizing 1t when we meet with it.. Pleasant people are net always, by any means, the most admirable of mankind, nor the most interesting for it often hap pens that the qualities in man which are worthiest of esteem are, for lack of other modifying clements, the very ones which make against his agreeableness as compan- ion ; and person who does not impress us as particularly pleasant may nevertheless in- tereat us very much by the display of unusu- al mental or moral characteristics, or from a comp lexity eff nature which seems to offer itself as sn enigma we are curious to solve. Pleasant people may not even be the most truly lovable, but they are hkable {; we, per- haps, have no desire to make friends of them, in the deeper sense of friendship, but we are glad when we meet them, and enjoy ourselves while in their society. The tic thus formed, though slight, is real one, and I believe that we should all do well to re- member, in the interest of eur closer friend- ships, the attractive and cohesive force eff
 mere pleasantness. The highest virtues and offices of friendship we are not called on to exercise every day, and in familiar inter course we have not less, but rather the more, need of making ourselves pleasant because of the times when our friends will have to an swer our drafts on their patience and sy n- pathy. If we question what it is that goes to constitute a man or woman pleasant, 1t appears to be result of both temperament and character. It Is hardly necessary to say that these are not the same thing, and yet they are not distinguished in common AI1-71 and urAnAh ar 1v oo irl,t be. Without attempting any close analysis, we may perhaps say that temperament is a certain combination of clements given us at birth, while character is another set of powers and dispositions slowly acquired and grown in us: for the first, nature is responsible, our parents and ourselves for the second. It seems easiest to describe pleasant person by negatives although assrredly his pleasant ness affects us as most positive quality. To | begin with, such person must not be too much Hshut up ia his own individuality" i" to | use the phrase of an English writer-that is, l he must not be very reserved and coaesn- l trated in his emotions and affections, but have certain responsiveness of nature and opsaness of manner. He must not be too | fastidious, but able to take people for what they are and what they are worth to Aim for | the passing moment and the needs of the so- eial hour. He must not be of too intense a nature nor so preeecupied with the serious aspects and duties of life that he is unable to
 put them aside temporarily and lend himself
 to lighter thoughts and lighter people. One | of the pleasantest men ever met was one of i the most hard working, devoted to dozen l good causes and public interests beside his
 personal and professional ones. None of these were ever made . bore to others, and
 his eauable and kindly disposition, his readi-
 ness to enter into other persens' ideas, his l interest in literature and art, as well as
 weightier matters of politics and science,
 made him able to please and be pleased by men and wonaen of the most diverse sorts. It has sometimes struck me forcibly with re- l spect to such man, how pleasant he must
 be to himself-how comfortable to live with 1 every day