Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1859-04-23
Good MannersThei Want and Their
Influence.

tho manners and social bearing ofmillions.l
say unfortunate influence, for the reason I
that every cause of coarsencss and gulgarity /
deserves to be deeply deplored.
Few characteristics are worthy of highcrl
estimation than true politeness, dignGed and
genteel department. And that none should |
mistake my intention, let me remark that by !
the term politeness / mean something far
higher and nobler than may seem to attach |
TO the idco. There is much that passes with |
the Ignorant and dishonest which deserves
not the name, and should find advocates
among sober and intelligent people, 10 bow
with grace and smile with complaisanee, TO
assume a manner of suavity and kindness
which has no benevolence, no heart in it, to
put on the manner of courteous bearing mere
ly 10 serve apurposc, and lay it aside when
the occasion that called it forth was passed
by, is the mere counterfeit of the manners of.
we'll brcd and genteel society. ~ 49,
Dancing mrsters. fops and flirts may be ex-
cused for the practice of this spurious styleof
politeIcss, but that which respectable and in-
teiligent people should possess, and which
should be taught in all our schools, isas,an-
like this as gold is unlike its cheapest eoun-
terfeit. Ithas its originin the heart. 1t is
! the dcvelopnentand exercise ofoutwafd man
| Hesitation, the practical application 4of the
royal law, "WhatsoeyeIsye we would that mon
should do to You, do you even so to them."-
| AS we wish others TO treat us with kind re-
/ fspect, showing regard for our feelings md
a regard for our happiness, SO should &c our
manner toward thenl This spiritswill ever
induce genuine courtesey and politencss, as
! o characteristic of human Intercourse. And
the possession and exercise of this spirit
| among all people would 60 far to Induce the
4 highest well-benE of society. Dissension,
| strife bitterness and numberless other sour
ces Of misery would seldom arise, .
But the tendency of thugs at the prcseI,t
day is not in the direction OF this temper and
! tone of bearing, but decidedly the reverse.-
| And IN this respect. as in regard to health,
there manifestly has been rapid progress in
the wrong direction during the last two years.
Phrenologisfsa affirm that theorgan ofreyer-
ence is much less Developed upon tho crapia
ofour youth than upon those of their parents.
However, this nioy be, it requires but little
investigation to make tho discovery That
| Young America acknowledges nothing spuri
Gus within the circlo of his acquaintance. He
has heard so much nonsense in regard to the
unparalleled greatness and glory Of the Am
erican people, their wisdom and prowess,
| their vast,and overwhelming superiority to
all other nations, that he has come to the alb.
| surd conclusion that g We are the people,
and wisdom will die with MS" And, unfor-
tunatoly for him, he has in some way dcduc-
| ed the conclusion that among all the thirty
millions of wise men and heroes who make
up this great nation, one is quite so wise.
and heroic as his own individual self. This
elevated selfestimaton leads him to take on.
airsnot at all expressive of respect for the
opiiIions of others. TO treat them deffGrcn-
italy would be to treat himself with indigni-
ty. This temper of necessity leads to coarse
! ness and rndeness of bearing, to gross viola
tions Of all tie principles oftrue courtesy, Of
genuine Politeness. ~.
But whore, in all our. land, does this
good old practice now prevail Where are
the evidences in our children of the pos
session of that spirit of kind respect and
I appropriate regard for their superior in
| Years and wisdom? Who does not know,
| thotsbo@s and courtesies, on the part Of
our;boys and girls, are obsolete, both IN
idea and practice, and are numbered with
the lost arts of the ancients It has been
ffelnarked that "therc arc thousands of
boys IN this great country, not one ofwhomi
has eyer made a low, unless when he had
occasion to dodge a SNOWFALL, a bfickhat
or 8 boulder,"
Some eight or ten winters since, cx-
Governor Everett, of 'Mass0chnsctts, with
the late Amos Lawrence, was IN a sleigh
riding IN Boston Is they approached n
school house a score of young boys rushed
out into the street to enjoy their afternoon
recess. Said tllc Gove,nof to lis friend, 4
g Let us observe whether these boys make
obcisance TO us, as we were taught fifty
years ago At tbe sanie time he eSpres-
scd the fear fhot habits of .cisility wore
less practised ts.;aa ssoris,essi!y thag
passed the school house al questions and
doubt upon the subject received speedy