The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1873-02-07
Po1iteness at Home.

Brown. as her little son handed her
paper he was requested to bring.
s'Thank you, Bridget, " the little fellow
said few hours after, as he received a
glass of water from his nurse.
sEWelI, Mrs. Brown, you have the
best-mannered children I ever saw"
said neighbor. "I should be thank
full if mine were as polite to me as
yours are to the servants. You never
spend half as much time on your chill
dren's clothes as I do, and yet every
one notices them, they are so well be
haved
60 We always try to teach our children
politeness, - was the quiet reply.
This was the whole secret. When I
hear parents grumbling about the Ill
manners of their children, I always
wish to ask, 'Have you always treated
them with politeness?" I once knew a
man, considered quite a gentleman in
society, who would speak to his chill
dren in a manner that well-instructed
dog would resent He would order
them with a growl to bring him his slip
pers, or perform some other little SER
vice; and yet he complained of the
rudeness and disobedience of his chill
dren.
Many parents who are polite and pol
ished in their manners toward the world
at large, are perfect Doors inside the
home circle. What wonder if the chill
dren are the same If they should &C
cidentally brush against another in the
streets, an apology would be sure to fol-
low; but who ever thinks of offering an
excuse to the little people, whose rights
are constantly being violated by their
careless elders? If a stranger offer the
slightest service, he is gratefully thank
ed but who ever remembers to re-
ward the little tireless feet that are
travelling all day long, upstairs and
down, on countless errands for some
body?
1t would be policy for parents to treat
their children politely, for the sake of
obtaining more cheerful obedience, if
for no other reason. The costless use
of an eff you please" and &c I thank
you, now and then, will go far to light
en- an otherwise burthensOme task. Say
to your son, g John, shut the door,
and with a scowl he will move slowly
towards it, and shut it with bang
The next time say, "John, Will you
shut the door, please ?" and he will
hasten with a pleasant smile to do your
bidding.
Many children, as they grow older,
are obliged to learn the rules of polite
ness as they would lesson. The con-
sequence is, when they appear in socie-
ty they are awkward and laundering.
On the other hand, children who have
been accustomed to politeness at home
are at their ease in the most polished
circles, and are saved that confusion
and bitter self-condemnation which are
sure to follow any breach of the rules
of etiquette.
Some children, learning from their
parents, seem to consider politeness at
home affectatiOn- Brothers who would
Jump up with alacrity to give an easy
chair to some dashing miss of their &C
qua'ntance, Will appropriate it to them
selves when at home, without the slight
est apparent consciousness of the pres
ence of a sister, or perhaps mother.
Want of politeness is the cause of more
quarrelling among brothers and sisters
than anything else.
In their plays children are constantly
meeting with little accidents, for which
they should be taught to apologize. I
have seen the cheeks of a child flush
with anger, his eyes flash, and little
hand raised to strike the unfortunate
breaker of toy, when, as if by magic,
the blow was arrested by these words,
" Excuse me, as I did not mean to.
Polish is not everything. It is, how
ever, something. It is better to have a
black kettle that is sound than bright
one with a hole in the bottom; but
there is no reason why the bright one
should not be sound too. Shine them
up, and both happiness and influence
will be increased.