Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1871-01-13
sEE1Na AND NOT sEH1Na.

maxim. Yet the rule Is laid down by
that apostle of Discrimination, Chester
field, in his letters to his son. If the
current photography Of the maxim Is
intended to represent mispronuncia-
tion, Chesterfield is answerable for
something of the same kind, only
worse-ths pronunciation of .'obliged''
as if written "obleeged." This affecta-
ton came in under the authority Of
Chesterfield and his compeers. 1t Is
now laid aside, with many tpity 1t
we're not ally Of tho maxims OF that
artificial gentleman and polished
profigate. It is n Of the healthy
signs Of the tiues that It is hard to find
Chssterfield's Letters in modern edi-
lions. Still there Is wisdom in the
maxim, If 1t DO not construed to incul-
cate hypocrisy and double dealing.
How to take In all the points of the
situation, all the characteristics Of
your companions, is an art which 1t Is
good to know; and how to do this
without awkward staring, and without
impertinent questioning, Is an accom-
plishment. The laying down Of max
inns for department Is generally use
less; and in the case of Chesterfield
and his SON It was emphatically so.
Not all the fathers teachings could
make the son anything better than n
very ungainly parsonage. lie was
what Is exprssslvely, though not ele-
gantly, called a "booby." True apo-
l~iteness, like everything else genuine,
is not a superficial varnish, but either
an Unborn sentiment or the product of
careful and conscientious training. 1t
results from the honest desire to make
those about you comfortable, and to
put them at their ease. The first
requisite is that you feel at ease your
self, and the next is that you place the
mere conventionalities Of social inter-
course at their proper value. Observe
them by all means in your own con-
duct, but do not ridicule. those who do
10 not happen to be masters Of the
little ceremonies which, fashionable
to-day, may be voted obsolete to-mor-
row. or all the painfully absurd
things which one encounters, nothing
Is more absurd than the struggle Of
some honest folk to seem "fashiona-
Bile" or "gentsel." The effort destroys
all the illusion-for the first rule Of de-
pertinent anywhere is self-possession.
Whatever may be said Of the lesser
observances Of society, the maxim at
the head Of this article Is a "canon"
never repealed, and of perpetual
utility. Eyes were given US for seeing,
ears for hearing, reason for the combi-
nation OF sights and sounds and men,
ory for the retention Of the results.
Social intercourse insensibly forms our
manners, and, what Is Of much o
consequence. our minds also. We
should see without staring, and hear
without straining, and learn without
cross-examining our i~nterlocutors with
minute questions. 1t is q . accom-
plishmeut never to be surprised-but
it is o rare and more effective to be
surprised gracefully. The Roman Am
bassador who had never seen an ele-
plant was al example Of Won lerful
stolidity. A curtain was suddenly
raised behind his seat, the truak of an
elephant hung before his nose, and the
tusks cleaned over his head. Still the
Roman sat as composedly as If no such
surprise had been sprung upon him.
He "saw the elephant " with perfect
composure. Davy Crockett mo spool
men he of finical manners) would have
sprung to his feet and apostrophized
the huge quadruped. Such a course
would have been quite as effective as
the Roman Generals, twice Us natural
and equally Indicative Of courage.
"Seeing the elephant" Is a modern
proverb, which, no doubt, could be
traced back to the. pleasant surprise
referred to above and the old heather,
no doubt, took in all the dimensions of
the animal while he pretended to be
staring at vacancy, and thinking about
nothing. So the Chestertieldian pre-
cept, and the American version OF 1t,
prove alike to be among those things
which are not "new under the SUM-"
The good st. Anthony's course is a safe
one. When she knew a thing had an
ugly guise, he did not care to look"
and our young folks would do we'll to
spare themselves the investigation Of
what they know by intuition is evil.
Still let them supplement the use of
their ears by the action Of their brains,
and they may meet the elephant with
out fear, always provided they do not
throw themselves under his feet.