Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1879-11-01
THE oIvINENEss OF COURTESY.
from The Golden Rule.l

From The Golden Rule
Courtesy is not courtl1neSs for courtlineSS car
carries the idea Of good feeling. Courtliness is
manner put on,-iS something external. the
way OF making bow, OF taking a step, OF carry
body while courtesy is Of the heart, and springs
from real kindness Of soul, seen in tenderness,
sympathy and love.
The courtly and the courteous man! We feel
the difference between the two at once, though
courtly and courteous come from the same root
We cannot and never do, call the courtly di-
vine, because 1t is mannerism: but courtesy is
so. because it springs from feeling. and is eX-
pressed in regard for Others. We can call cour-
teSy divine because between 1t and SeltiShueSS
there is not the least affinity, and We understand
the theogfanS to tell us that SeltiShneSS is sinful
ness. If we wanted the letter OF the Bible to
support us in saying courtesy is divine, We
should refer to the language, BE courteous"
and say, see what real gentleman he was who
said so! If we wanted further proof OF the need
of being courteous, we might remind those
whose office it is to commend Christianity TO the
world, that being discourteous is the most efTec-
tive way of defeating their end.
careful observer cannot but feel how effect
ually many OF those who represent the Christian
idea prevent themselves from doing their work
by certain and unmistakable uncourteouSneSs
OF life and speech. They are rude-whch. pos
Sibly. they may call being frank" and try 10
excuse it by saying, '.it is only our way" They
are self-aSSerting, and not self-furgetting. They
wound the feelings of Others instead OF regard
ing them. Those who have any dealings with
them in trade like well enough their money and
do not object to make s. out OF Them but they
Go not like them, and behind their backs do not
hesitate TO say so. No one but feels at once the
utter contrast between their conduct and His
whom they call their pattern and master; and
the lines OF one of the Elkabethan dramatlsts
come to our mind
'sThe best of men
That e'er wore earth about Him a sufferer;
soft meek, patient, humble, tranquil spirit,
The first true gentleman that ever breathed."
To call Jesus gentleman may sound shocking
to some. If SO, 1t only shows what false idea
they have of what 1t is to be gentleman. Give
reth is not degraded by Being so named.
1t is of no use for Christian to get provoked
GUS they Will not heed what he says to them
The fact is men will not hear the man who has a
rude, ungracious manner; and the reason why Is
plain to everybody but the offender himself
Very likely he will pitch upon every reason but
the true one, but the Christian may as well IN
derStand at once, that If he would do his work. a
diSoourteouS manner is one of the first things to
be avoided.
And it is no use to say, If one treats an oppo-
nent like gentleman, that he is lessening his
own influence for good, and giving evil a better
not know the world, and has quite mistaken the
spirit Of his faith. When, according to the
Eastern fable Abraham drove out OF his tent the
man who cared nothing for the patrarch'S God
the reproof OF God to him was, Il have borne
with him these many years, and couldst not
thou co 1t for one nfght?"
Nnen we SPEAK OI making Ine manner OF
Jesus our standard OF life aud speech, we recall
the reproach, old enough, that he used many
hard words to the men of his time; and to some
one who, in the presence OF DIR. Claiming, spoke
of this In condemnation OF Jesus, the doctor
took the New Testament and read the offensive
passages as he supposed they should be read
and an adverse criticism was Immediately dis
armed "Oh, If he said it so, that alters the
matter" Discourtesy is not roughneSs. One
may be plain-spoken and still courteous.
We do not say that courtesy Is Christianity;
but that the Christian cannot dispense with It's
aid. In the apostolic enumeration of the fruits
OF the spirit, we do not find courtesy mentioned
but when we think Of what diScOurtesy is, we
shall be quite ready to say that Christian can
not be discourteous, for courtesy In the polite
ness of the golden rule. AS the chief of the
means for building us up in this true grace of
the Christian character, is the genuine recog-
milton that every man is the child Of the Father
in heaven. Exalt the idea OF man as a child of
God, and he must be treated as such. 1t is only
as We think meanly Of him that we treat him
with disrespect-