The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-08-20
r fined Manners at Home.

There is power in the tout ensemble
| beyond that of the tailor. The coat
may be of the latest Partisan cut, and
the man may be a beast, whose leopard
! spots, all the tailor's art csn not hide.
There is power beyond that of gold,
which can make one forget the shabby
coat and the old fashioned dress. It is
the manner, which money en- not buy,
which the tailor can not cut. But how
is this enviable address to be obtained
By seeking the true and beautiful in the
divine and in the human.
"Can you give me a general rule for
manners 2" a girl once asked her teach
er. eyes: cultivate your heart, was
the answer
There is large class OF people whose
full dress manners are put on aud off
with the full dress. A "society man F"
may be perfect ghoul at home. Only
the other day, Jack, who is such an ele-
| CANT creature at a party, stepped on his
| sisters foot in a crowd. With a low
bow. and voice expressive of the
| deepest solicitude, he said, 81 beg
your pardon" But a second after,
"Oh, is it you, Mary9 I thought it
was some one else" Indeed, if some
| people who have not thought much of
| the matter will take the pains to COM
pare their manners abroad with those
at home, they will be ast1nished beyond
measure.
And yet, is this moralizlng? What a
vast change might be made for the bet
ter in the home circlei Mariana, who
is always so polite abroad, feels at per
feet liberty to be impatient, lose her
temper, and sulk in her own family.
She "won't," and she "will," and
"Sam's ugly" and "Mother's cross ;"
yet, after all, she is probably in the
midst of those 81 e loves best, and those
who have most love for her.
Why not the full dress manners with
plain dress? They won't wear out 10y
common usage, but grow stronger and
sYeeter, like a long used flute. 1t would
glorify home life. 1t would be an ever
recurring melodious strain amid the
toughest discords. If a man would
only be as polite to his wife as lie had
been to his sweetheart, how much hap
pier some wives might be. If woman
would try to make herself and her home
as fair and as bright as in old c0urtiDg
days, the married life would be happier.
A word of appreciation, encouragement,
or sympathy, glorifes all the weary
hours of dingy toll, as the light of the
setting sun touches with gold the spin
ner and the loom in the dark factory.
Socrates walked the streets of Athens
poorly clad and barefoot but yet his
wisdom and virtues were such, that
after his death his statue was nodded in
brass, and stood for the example of a
hero before the youth of this city.
About his home life there is not much
said, except in regard to the tongue of
Xantippe, his wife Whether he were
altogether martyr, or whether he may
not have been somewhat in fault him
self, some are inclined to doubt. AL
though his great philosophical soul
might have remained unmOved, with the
earth quaking beneath his feet, and the
rocks rending before his eyes, yet he
may have had but little patience with
her about the household cares in which
she needed his a1vice. There are great
men, you know, might look calmly on a
tidal wave, who might exasperate a
saint-woman, we mean-by their indif-
ference to home concerns.
A mother in the country asked Der
daughter, "Annie, don't you want to do
something for me?' The answer came,
q" Mother, 1 wish you wouldn't ask me
if [ want to do things for you. OF
course / don't want TO particularly, but
I'm willing to-" If Annie had been
staying with her rich aunt il town,
would she have dared to answer in this
way? But is not more courtesy due to
a mother than any one else?
He wore neither cravat nor gloves, |
but his manners were full dress" She |
wole lovely Paris dress, but her man
ners were den1i toilette. "She looks |
divinely at party" is often said; but |
"is she divine at home ?" cannot always |
be affirmatively answered.
There is a sacred pattern but open |
to all. The beginning of such life az |
home may be as still and silently sweet |
as the opening of rose in the darkness
of night, but its infuence-ah that is
as immeasurable as the heaven is higher
tEO