ENTHUSIASM 469Any person who would answer the question in the negative would
convict themself on the charge of selfishness, and no one wants to live
with a guilty conscience on such a charge. Just as the farmer first plows
his ground, then fertilizes it in order that he may be sure of a crop, so
does this paragraph fertilize the mind of the reader and prepare it for
the seed that is to be placed there through the subtle suggestion the
paragraph contains.
Now carefully study the second paragraph of the letter and you will
observe that it carries a statement of fact that the reader can neither
question nor deny! It provides him no reason for argument because it is
obviously based on a sound fundamental. It takes him the second step
of the psychological journey that leads straight toward compliance with
the request that is carefully clothed in the third paragraph of the letter,
but you will also notice that the paragraph begins by indirectly paying
the reader a nice little compliment: "Therefore, if you will write me of
your views as to the most essential points to be borne in mind by those
who are offering personal services for sale;' et cetera. Study the wording
of this sentence, together with the setting in which it has been placed,
and you will observe that it hardly appears to be a request at all, and
certainly there is nothing about it to suggest that the writer of the letter
is requesting a favor jor his personal benefit. At most, it can be construed
merely as a request for a favor for others.
Next study the closing paragraph and notice how tactfully con-
cealed is the suggestion that if the reader should refuse the request
he is placing himself in the awkward position of one who does not care
enough about those who are less fortunate than himself to spend a
stamp and a few minutes of time for their benefit.
The whole construction of the letter is such that if the reader lays
it aside without complying with the request that it makes, he will have to
reckon with his own conscience! This effect is intensified by the last sentence
of the last paragraph and especially by the last thirteen words of that
sentence: «who will read your message, believe in it, and be guided by it.JJ