And Absalom rose up early in the morning.
Courtesy wins hearts
Lady Montague, speaking of gentle manners, remarked: “Civility costs nothing, but buys everything.” Said Burleigh to Queen Elizabeth: “Win hearts, and you have the brains and the purses of all.”
Servile flattery
Compare the description of Bolingbroke’s behaviour which Shakespeare puts into the mouth of Richard II.:--
“Ourself and Bushy, Bagel here and Green,
Observed his courtship to the common people;
How he did seem to dive into their hearts
With humble and familiar courtesy,
What reverence he did throw away on slaves,
Wooing poor craftsmen with the craft of smiles.”
King Richard II., Acts 1:1-26, Sc. 4.
(A. F. Kirkpatrick, M. A.)