following conversation ensued:

"What makes the lamb love Mary so?"
The eager children cry.
"Because she loves the lamb, you know,"
The teacher did reply.

The teacher was wise in his generation. In his "reply," lies a world
of meaning--one of the answers to the old question of the reason for
personal antipathies and attractions, and may perhaps be said, in this
case, to touch upon animal magnetism.

There are exceptions to every rule, and to the maxim that "love begets
love" there are many instances to be cited in which the contrary
proves true. We all have been so unfortunate at some time during our
lives as to be liked by people of whom we were not fond. But, if we
look the matter thoughtfully and honestly in the face, we will
acknowledge that in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred we are
attracted toward a person as soon as we learn that that person finds
us agreeable. Of course this knowledge must not be conveyed in a
manner that disgusts by effusiveness a sensitive person. None of us
like fulsome flattery, but a compliment so delicately hinted that it
does not shock, and scarcely surprises the person for whom it is
intended, seldom fails to produce an impression that is far from
disagreeable. Certainly no more graceful compliment can be paid a man
or woman by us selfish mortals than the acknowledgment of an affinity
between ourselves and the person whom we would honor by our
friendship. Said a well-known scholar to me:

"The most laudatory public speech ever addressed to me failed to make
my heart glow as warmly as did the remark of an old friend not long
ago. We had been separated for years, and at our reunion spent the
first hour in talking of old times, etc. Suddenly, my friend turned to
me, and grasping my hand exclaimed:

"'Old fellow! you always were, and still are, my affinity!'

"The subtle flattery of that one exclamation makes me even now thrill
with a delicious throb of self-conceit."

Not long ago, I asked of an acquaintance who is a wonderful reader of
character:

"Why has Mrs. S---- so many good friends?"

"Because she is such a good friend herself."

"But why is she attractive to so many people?" queried I.

"Because she is first attracted by them," was the quick response. "She
goes on the principle that there is some good in everybody, and sets
herself to work to find it. Each of us knows when she is thrown into
contact with a person who likes her. It is as if each wer