The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1891-09-25

"I'M SURE YOU LIKE BROWNING"
her gentle faith in the goodness Of those
about her, and he warns her of the dan
ger such an innocent lamb as she incurs
by trusting the wolves so fearlessly.
OF course he is no wolf, oh, no! But
probably the innocent lamb knows TIE
marks Of a wolf quite well, and will take
care Of herself even while she seems i'm
plicitly to receive the warnings and rev.
Citations of her kind guide and mentor.
A man who can talk judiciously and
acceptably to a woman about herself
will be voted by that woman an agree
able man, and if he has a pretty large
female acquaintance he will have nu-
cleus of admirers to proclaim this opin-
ion.
But to be a universally agreeable man
"a man whom other mes will admit to
be agreeable, although they won't use
that word-requires something more.
A man to be agreeable in general society,
at dinner party, at reception, at any
of those places and times when t6te-a-
tetes are either impossible or in bad
taste, must be able to talk to more than
one person and upon impersonal topics.
He must know something about great
many subjects, and yet not have the air
of instructing his hearers. Nothing is
much moro irritating than the ex-cathe-
dra style, when the speaker seems to
mount a rostrum and hold up his hand
for silence before each utterance. That
was the matter with the agreeable man
FIRST mentioned, and he annoyed me so
much that | resolutely forgot all the val
liable information 80 carefully impaired.
Another rock upon which | have seen
a great many men meet shipwreck is
unadaptability; they talk and talk well.
not too learnedly and not too satirically,
but they talk upon subjects which have
no interest for their audieRce. A gen.
tleman once called upon me and bright
little girl who was visiting me. He
staid nearly two hours and he talked
almost without intermissiOn upon some
scheme for irrigating Arizona and es-
tablishing mills upon the artificial wa
ter courses. do not doubt thut it was
a most brilliant and interesting exposi-
ton if only we had cared anything at
all about the irrigation of Arizona, but
my entire vitality was absorbed in the
effort to keep awake and look politely
interested, while my little friend made
Punch and Judy puppets out of her
handkerchief and some tides, and at ap-
propriate moments bobbed Mr.. Punch's
head in assent or caused Columbine to
caper with delight
Certainly that man did not know how
to make himself agreeablel
People sometimes ask me, knowing
that am familiar with most parts of
the civilized world, where have found
the most agreeable men and the most
acceptable companions
1t is a hard question to answer, for
ones taste changes so much from time
to time, and according to the conditions
of ones own life.
In early youth / was thrown much
with men of Latin blood, Spaniards and
Frenchmen, and naturally learned to
think their modes of thought and
speech. their somewhat formal courtesy
and stately grace the I1ost agreeable en-
semble in the world. Later have seen
very much of Englishmen, and nothing
can be more agreeable than the frank,
honest high bred courtesy of true Eng
lish gentleman. although he cannot
claim much of grace, vivacity or versa
tility.
But today give the palm to my own
countrylnen, for they combine the splen-
did strength and honor of the English
man with the wit and worldly wisdom
of the Frenchman, and the Spaniard's
appreciation of and graceful devotion to
women; in fact, as the people of these
United States are the union of all the
races of the earth, where but among
their men should we look for specimens
of the best qualities of all men? Perhaps
this estimate will not hold good in all
directions; perhaps not every American
combines the romance of the Spaniard
with the wit of the Frenchman, and the
nobleness of the EngEshman or the Ger
man ancestor of the Englishman, but
the combination is very possible, and in
greater or less degree | have seen it
among the agreeable Americans of my
acquaintance.
said so the other day and my nearer
at once inquired:
"Where most frequently? North,
south, east or westY" and replied after
due consideration:
81 have found the agreeable man
north, south, east and west"
MRS. FRANK LESLIE.