ient. I am not about to indicate these rules, but I may suggest that in all matters of dress, of care of the person, of carriage, of command of the features and voice and eyes, and of what are called the ways of good society, it is of great use to be well informed. They will not take you one step on the way, but they will smooth it, and the lack of them may block it altogether. The main dependence must be on the things we have considered. If one is centrally true, kind, honorable, delicate, and considerate, he will almost without fail have manners that will take him into any circle where culture and taste prevail over folly. Still, this inward seed needs fostering. It should levy on all graceful forms, on practice and discipline, on observation, on fashion even, and make them subserve its native grace. Watch those of excellent reputation in manners. Keep your eyes open when you go to the metropolis, and learn its grace; or, if you live in the city, when you go to the country, mark the higher quality of simplicity. Catch the temper of the great masters of literature; the nobility of Scott, the sincerity of Thackeray, the heartiness of Dickens, the tenderness of Macdonald, the

delicacy of Tennyson, the grace of Longfellow, the repose of Shakespeare.

Manners in this high sense, and so learned, take one far on in the world.

resistible. If you meet the

They are irking he will

recognize you as a brother. They are a defense against insult. All doors fly open when he who wears them approaches. They cannot be bought. They cannot be learned as from a book; they cannot pass from lip to lip; they come from within, and from a within that is grounded in truth, honor, delicacy, kindness, and consideration.

These pages may fall under the eyes of some readers along with the Christmas-tide. No theme is more appropriate to it. The spirit of these days is alive with tenderest courtesy. A gentleman can have no better watchword than that sung at Bethlehem : "Peace on earth, good-will to men."

"Come wealth or want, come good or ill,
Let old and young accept their part,

And bow before the awful will,

And bear it with an honest heart.

"Who misses or who wins the prize?
Go, lose or conquer as you can;

But if you fail, or if you rise,

Be each, pray God, a gentleman.

1 Epilogue to Dr. Birch and his Young Friends.

IV.

THRIFT.