Anecdotes of public men; by John W. Forney.

140 ANECDOTES OF PUBLIC MEN.
root and extend over the whole area of civilization. How these
will germinate and grow, whether into a creed or a faction, into
a great mission or a new mischief, is one of the mysteries of
the age.
[July 30, 1871.]
XXX.
How to win friends and keep them is the secret of a successful public man. Andrew Jackson possessed it, without absolutely courting the people. His strict integrity, generous nature, high honor, military character and history, were the chief
elements of his prestige. Henry Clay possessed and knew how
to use it. His charms were unrivaled eloquence, supreme ambition, innate patriotism, commanding presence, and magnetism of men and women. John Quincy Adams, Martin Van
Buren, and James Buchanan were cold and formal men, who
inspired admiration by their talents, but never awakened real
affection. Abraham Lincoln captured every body by seeming
to be indifferent to the very qualities in which he was eminent.
His simplicity and naturalness, so to speak, were resistless.
But no character, certainly no candidate for our highest office,
was a completer master of the gift of securing tenacious friends
than Stephen A. Douglas. He had scarcely touched the floor
of Congress before he became an object of interest. His extreme youth, his boyish appearance, his ready wit, his fine
memory, his native rhetoric, above all, his suavity and heartiness, made him a favorite long before he was named for President. He delighted in pleasant company. Unused to what is
called "etiquette," he soon adapted himself to its rules, and
took rank in the dazzling society of the capital. Many a time
have I watched him leading in the keen encounters of the