Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-12-25
UNCONSCIOUS EGOTISM.
THE ART OF PoLlrENEss-wHAT IT is.
A Brief story in Good Manners; with
Reflections Valuable to all Classes.

be careless as TO graceS of manner and
conversation. We look back OCCASION
ally on the days of Periclcs, when the
Athenians talked in ~high.sounding
phrases and saluted each other with the
Difference which subjects only give to
kings, or on the days of the ancient
regime, when the courtiers Of a Louis
were conspicuous for a conventional
%politeness and grace that scarcely
served to conceal the hatred, the venom,
the and vulgarity that lay
beneath. And, therefore, a%Ssociating
%politeness either with a state of society
where there is but little freedom of
thought, speech or action, and where
the social fabric is built up of classes
who are divided by laws of caste, or
else with sleepy oriental countries
where men lead the life of lotus-eaters.
and rust away in idlenesS, the study of
manners engages but little of our
thoughts. We tacitly admit, of course,
that the exercise Of such IN attribute
is all right; but orr great weakness is
to look to results instead of to details,
and we are too apt to forget that those
results are brought about by the very
means which we make light of. 1t
must be admitted, however, that we
admire p%oliteness in others. AS a
people, beneath the rough exterior
which WE SO often assume, we have a
sympathetic and a kindly nature; we
are alive to a tale of distress and are
ready to respond to the cry Of suffer-
ing; but we are too careless of the little
courtesies which add such "A charm to
either social or business intercourse.
PoliteneSS may be styled m of the
delicate ~humanitieS; it Sweeten5 eXis-
tence; and besides being a high social
virtue it is-and this is something
worthy of attention in such a practical
age really useful in many ways,
and proves itself to be a safe and re-
m%uneratiye. business investment.
1t is hardly possible to estimate the
amount nf unconscious egOtiSn to be
found in every man and woman. 1t
crops out in the most in the most uu-
expected quarters, and exercises a large
influence on the common affairs Of lie.
Civility, therefore, affects us more than
native modesty would probably care TO
acknowledge. WelOok for it in others.
no matter what may be the particular
relation which they sustain to us and
we to them. and we feel disappointed
and are rufled by its absence. Tho
larger the city and the more crowded
the community the less do we find com
mercial politeness; it seems to dwind!e
away in an Inverse ratio tn the square
of business. Men will tell You, if they
ever stop to discuss the matter, that
they have no time 10 baStOW on hobby
phrases and superluous convention
alities, and that there is no place in
the counting room. the store, the ware
house, or the factory for the meaning
less and steorOtyped genutlectiOns Of
the court or drawing room. This may
be true. but there is sample room and
verge enough for the happy medium
of which Horace SINGS without trans
forming ourselves into Doors or Turvey-
drops. We smile wien witnessing
"Pinafore at the absurd suggestion of
Sir Joseph Porter that the captain of
that ship will say if you pleas@"to his
men when giving any command. And
yet, after all, there is a sound principle
underlying this piece Of b%urlcsgue. The
man who is kind and gracious to those
who for the time being are under him
will certainly have his reward. Every
reader of Dickens can remember the
despairing cry of Joe, the street waif,
in Bleak House -" He wor real good
to me, he wOr." This portion Of the
scum of a seething city, with scarcely a
glimmering instinct or an idea as to
right or wrong, was touched by kind
ness and by geptleness. He could not
understand it; he did not comprehend
iUS oiSiIliISdIlIt vi lIChilliI- bib " do
something different from what he had
ever met with or known, and 80 in his
blind and ignorant cropping he came
upon the truth as to
That best portion Of n good mans life,
His title. namc!rss. mremembered acts
or kindness aud OF love.
Men will argue sometimes that they
have no time to be polite. forgetting
that it takes the same amount of time
to be uncivil and d~isagreeable. There
are more things needed to insure sue
cess than money, experience and integ-
rity. The amenities which some de-
spise so much are also potent factors;
and even if you can point out a nan
who is rude, and churllsh aud yet sue
cessful in life that is no argument
against the truth of the theory; it
simply shows that he has succeeded in
spite of the want of pol!teness. If,
therefore, c%ivility be such a large and
potential ingredient Of success, it is
strange that it shonld be used so spar
ingly. 1t costs nothing, it required no
room for storage, and can, III fact, be
carried in the vest pocket or put in a
glove box and the more of it that is