his heart that her nose, for a turned-up one, seemed rather pretty;
and that her eyes appeared to him, as far as he could judge, to be
quite up to the average standard of such things!

A nice chance he would stand against the man who would tell her that
her face was like a fresh blush rose, that her hair was a wandering
sunbeam imprisoned by her smiles, and her eyes like two evening stars.

There are various ways of flattering, and, of course, you must adapt
your style to your subject. Some people like it laid on with a
trowel, and this requires very little art. With sensible persons,
however, it needs to be done very delicately, and more by suggestion
than actual words. A good many like it wrapped up in the form of an
insult, as--"Oh, you are a perfect fool, you are. You would give your
last sixpence to the first hungry-looking beggar you met;" while
others will swallow it only when administered through the medium of a
third person, so that if C wishes to get at an A of this sort, he must
confide to A's particular friend B that he thinks A a splendid fellow,
and beg him, B, not to mention it, especially to A. Be careful that B
is a reliable man, though, otherwise he won't.

Those fine, sturdy John Bulls who "hate flattery, sir," "Never let
anybody get over me by flattery," etc., etc., are very simply managed.
Flatter them enough upon their absence of vanity, and you can do what
you like with them.

After all, vanity is as much a virtue as a vice. It is easy to recite
copy-book maxims against its sinfulness, but it is a passion that can
move us to good as well as to evil. Ambition is only vanity
ennobled. We want to win praise and admiration--or fame as we prefer