Year: 1873




MEN often speak of good manners as an
accomplishment. / speak of them as a
duty. What, then, are good mannersp
Such manners as the usages of society
have recognized as being agreeable to
men. Such manners as take away rude.
ness, and remit TO the brute creation all
coarseness. There are great many who
feel that good manners are effeminate.
They have a feeling that rude bluntness
is great deal more manly than good
manners. 1t is great deal more bedstLy.
But when men are crowded in communi-
| ties, the art of living together is no small
art How to diminish friction; how to
promote ease of intercourse; how to make
every part of mans life contribute to
the welfare and satisfaction of those
around him; how to keep down offensive
pride; how to Danish the raspings of sell
| tishness from the intercourse of men how
to move among men inspired by various
and confictive motives, and yet not have
| cOllisions-this is the function of good
| manners.


1t is not effeminate to be refined. And
in this land no man should plead inabili-
| ty. There may be a peasantry in other
countries, there may be class in foreign
lands, who have no opportunities there
may be those whose toll is so continuous,
whose opportunities for knowing what
constitutes good manners are so few, and
whose ignorance is so gross, that they are
eXcusabie; but this is not the case with
any within the sound of my voice.


That a man is mechanic, is no reason
why he should not be perfect gentle
man. | affirm for every American citizen
the right to be not simply man, but a
good-mdnnered man. l have seen men at
the anvil who were as perfect gentlemen
as men of books or men of society.
know no reason why a man who tans
hides should not be gentleman. l know
no reason why man who digs in the
soil, man who works in metals and
woods, man who builds, should not be
a perfect gentleman. There is nothing in
mechanical occupations which is incom-
patible with the highest courtesy.


Not only is the violation of good man
ners inexcusable on ordinary grounds,
but it is sinful. When, therefore, parents
and guardians and teachers would inspire
the young with a desire for the manners
of good society, it is not to be thought
that they are accomplishments which may
be accepted or rejected. Every man is
bound to observe the laws of politeness.
1t is the expression of goodwill and kind
ness. 1t promotes both beauty in the
man who possesses it, and happiness in
those who are about him. 1t is a religi
Gus duty, and should be a part of re
ligious training


There is a great deal of contempt ex.
| pressed for what is called etiquette in so.
ciety. Now and then there are elements
of etiquette which perhaps might well be
ridiculed but in the main there is just
reason for all those customs which come
under the head of etiquette. There is a
reason which has regard to facility of in
| tercourse. There is reason in the avoid
ance of offense. There is a reason in
comfort and happiness. And no man can
afford to violate these unwritten customs
of etiquette who wishes to act as Christ
ian gentleman.


l may speak, also, of tendency which
is bred by our institutions-the want OF
veneration. There are various ways in
which this want of veneration shows
itself. We often hear that there is not the
same respect shown for the aged that
there used to be. We know that there is
very little respect shown for magistrates
and men in authority. This is partly due
| think, to the institutions under which
we live. One of the unfortunate effects
derived from the early stages of demo
cratic training is the sense of personal
sovereignty; the feeling that we stand or
as high ground as anybody else. Under
monarchial institutions men are taught tC
revere the great and glorious government
The feeling ofreverence does not prevail tC
any great extent among us. | discern
great lack in this respect. Children, now
a-days, are brought up to be pert, to bt
saucy, to be almost without restraint
They are brought to have very little re
gard either for their parents or for theil
superiors And, although there are {
great many Christian households where
children are rightly bred in this regard, i
seems to me there mas been a decay o
that instruction which used to prevail, thu
tendency of which was to make childrer
modest and respectful. We bring up ou
children to be old, and smart, and imper
tinent.


This courtesy which carries with it re
spect; this testimony of veneration to tn,
aged this yielding ones self in thou
sand little society rites for the sake o
making others happy-oh, what bright
ness it gives to lifel What beauty, wha
adorn ment it gives to Christian character


There are many other points that
might speak of. The effect of punctualit,
and order; the relations which men sus
tain to each others convenience and ne
cessities-these, and hundred othe
branches of this subject, l might dis
course upon; but it is not necessary that
should go into them. l have given sucl
examples as l have, merely as specimens
for the purpose of calling your attention
to the minuteness and carefulness will
which the Scripture inculcates thes,
things. 1t enjoins not merely the Tigh
spirit, but the right spirit manifested il
the most beautiful Way.-E'TtTdctS from
Sermon by Henry Ward Beecher.