was kindly, gathering him as Autumn, the messenger of Winter,
reaps the leaves.

* * * * *

No one has ever made the claim that Jay possessed genius. He had something
which is better, though, for most of the affairs of life, and that is
commonsense. In his intellect there was not the flash of Hamilton, nor the
creative quality possessed by Jefferson, nor the large all-roundness of
Franklin.

He was the average man who has trained and educated and made the best use
of every faculty and every opportunity. He was genuine; he was honest; and
if he never surprised his friends by his brilliancy, he surely never
disappointed them through duplicity.

He made no promises that he could not keep; he held out no vain hopes.

As a diplomat he seems nearly the ideal. We have been taught that the line
of demarcation between diplomacy and untruth is very shadowy. But truth is
very good policy and in the main answers the purpose much better than the
other thing. I am quite willing to leave the matter to those who have
tried both.

We can not say that Jay was "magnetic," for magnetic men win the rabble;
but Jay did better: he won the confidence and admiration of the strong and
discerning. His manner was gentle and pleasing; his words few, and as a
listener he set a pace that all novitiates in the school of diplomacy
would do well to follow.

To talk well is a talent, but to listen is a fine art. If I really wished
to win the love of a man I'd practise the art of listening. Even dull
people often talk well when there is some one near who cultivates the
receptive mood; and to please a man you must give him an opportunity to be
both wise and witty. Men are pleased with their friends when they are
pleased with themselves, and no man is ever so pleased with himself as
when he has expressed himself well.

The sympathetic listener at a lecture or sermon is the only one who gets
his money's worth. If you would get good, lend your sympathy to a speaker,
and if, accidentally, you imbibe heresy, you can easily throw it overboard
when you get home.

John Jay was quiet and undemonstrative in speech, cultivating a fine
reserve. In debate he never fired all his guns, and his best battles were
won with the powder that was never exploded. "You had always better keep a
small balance to your credit," he once advised a young attorney.

When the first Congress met, Jay was not in favor of complete independence
from