Beadle's Dime Book of Practical Etiquette for Ladies and Gentlemen / Being a Guide to True Gentility and Good-Breeding, and a Complete Directory to the Usages and Observances of Society

The Project Gutenberg eBook, Beadle's Dime Book of Practical Etiquette for Ladies and Gentlemen, by anonymous

BEING A GUIDE TO TRUE GENTILITY AND GOOD-BREEDING, AND A COMPLETE DIRECTORY TO THE USAGES AND OBSERVANCES OF SOCIETY. INCLUDING Etiquette of the Ball Room, of the Evening Party, the Dinner-Party, the Card and Chess Table, of Business, of the Home Circle, &c., &c. PREPARED EXPRESSLY FOR THE DIME SERIES BY A COMMITTEE OF THREE. NEW YORK: IRWIN P. BEADLE, & CO., NO. 137 WILLIAM STREET.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1859, By IRWIN P. BEADLE, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the Southern district of New York.

That man is a gentleman! How the heart opens to let him in, without any further commendation! He may be wise, and rich, and remarked for his genius; but if he be not a true gentleman, his gifts will not avail to make him a favorite and a desirable companion.
That woman is a lady! What matter, then, if she is not clad in silks, or is not beautiful of form or feature? She has the key which unlocks all hearts for her, for to be a lady, implies high qualities and gracious gifts of soul.
Why, then, are not all persons gentlemen and ladies? We can not tell, except it be that some, and a large class of, persons look upon politeness as something effeminate, or as fit only for fops; and therefore make boors of themselves, because it is so manly to be coarse and to do just as one pleases. Some are actually ignorant of what constitutes true politeness, and err not from willfulness, but from want of knowledge. But such persons are readily forgivable, for, if their disposition is to be polite, they will find the way very easy into the confidence of all, and will learn, ere long, what custom and usage has sanctioned as fit and proper regulations for the intercourse of men with men, women with women, and all with one another.
It is to such persons as those last-named, that we especially address this little manual. To learn the usages of society is easy, if one only will learn; for, after all, these usages are not complicated and burdensome, but grounded upon simplicity itself: the great law which underlies all, is the blessed Golden Rule: