And now to close, I would like to ask you, who read these few remarks of mine, to endeavour to put more gentleness and courtesy in your dealings with other people than you have done heretofore; for in all of us there is always room for improvement, and there is not one of us surely but must admit that we often leave little courtesies undone and little gentle words unsaid. Courtesy is like the drop of oil that enables machinery to work noiselessly and smoothly, for it lessens the jars and friction of life and the consequent worry and fretfulness. Little things make or mar the peace of life, therefore exhibit courtesy which is “Love in little things,” and you will gain the gratitude and esteem of those around you, and carry away in your minds these lines of Lord Houghton, and never, if you can avoid it, lose an opportunity of putting them into practice—
“An arm of aid to the weak,
A friendly hand to the friendless,
Kind words, so short to speak,
But whose echo is endless:
The world is wide—these things are small,
They may be nothing, but they are All.”