Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-01-07

very soon ceased to respect any one, and the
principle of 'in honor preferring one an
other had been superseded by blatant self
assertion.
servility ana Courtesy.
The right to be rude is what the vulgar
minded mean by I'm good as you are"
and their personal declaration of independ-
ence is an insolent bearing, void of all those
delicate amenities which make up the COM
mon courtesies of social intercourse, and do
SO much to smooth our way in the world
what we give we receive in the matter of
respect II we would be respected ourselves,
we must pay due need of respect to others
1t is the want of common courtesy among
the lower orders in all countries their
ocor1shneSs. that makes them conspicuousy
low. What they consider servility people
OF birth and breeding call politeness The
higher nature becomes apparent in an eX-
qulsite difference of demeanor. Fine man
ners are the outcome of fine character, and
good address comes naturally from a
good heart. Good manners therefore,
should not be a matter Of class or social DO
sition, and, in fact this is not the case.
The rule is that the higher you ascend in
the social scale, the more polish you find !;
but detestable manners are to be found in
all classes, and SO, also, is that dignity Of
bearing, that self-respect and respect for
others. which make for gentlehood.
There is no more misery making propen-
sity in man than the habit of ungra cious-
ness. The members of a family who treat
each other ungraciously are miserable
themselves, and a source of misery general
ly. A very clever man, who had raised
himself, by his character and ability, into
social position much higher than that to
which he was born, remarked to me once
after another gentleman had stepped for
ward to open the door for lady, his sister,
who was leaving the room: 'Ah, l wish
had been taught to do that in my youth.
But in homes like mine the women have
to wait on the men, and nobody pays any,
body pretty attentions. The example of my
father made me imagine it beneath the
dignity of a man-body to be polite to his
womankind. l see now how refining the
habit of Difference is, and find myself at
disadvantage among you people, to whom
kindly courtesy comes naturally, because it
is habitual.
Humanity Without Urbanity.
That ungraciousness is not the conse-
quence of any want of altruism in the
English is made evident by the fact that to
us is due the credit of having set the best
practical example of altruism to the whole
world. Our charities are on colossal scale.
The amenities of civilized warfare are the
outcome of our benevolence. The reform
of the prison system in England was the
beginning of the end of the age of torture.
The first societies for the prevention of
cruelties of all kinds were promoted by us;
and nowhere else are institutions for the
relief of suffering so generously supported.
There is, however. a crude contradiction be-
tween our national sentiments, as expressed
in our institutions, and our domestic mem
ners. The most prominent of our character
istics, the most typical, and the most ac-
tive, is humanity, but 1t is humanity In the
abstract. The same man who, of his pity
contributes large sums to the funds Of the
Society for the Prevention OF Cruelty to
Children is apt to be, by reason of his un-
gracious manners, a monster from whom
all children, his own included, fly in af-
fright. Doubtless the lingering influence
Of Puritan harshness is responsible in a
measure for this, but other potent in
nuences are also at work The whole
tendency of the age Is toward ungracious-
ness, as we ourselves signify, when we
meet people Of distinguished manners, and