Rensselaer Republican, Volume 18, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 April 1886 — Politeness. [ARTICLE]

Politeness.

Politonewi, nowadays, is popularly understood to imply a strict observance of the conventional rules of—rixdetywhivh regulate our hehaviortn our-daily intercourse, f ;It is a code of good manner* which exacts from Us polish of address, suavity of demeanor, and elegance of deportment. It aims at cutting off from the barbarity of our own nature every rough point and edge, and leaving us sleek and snjooth as polished ivory. Every word and action of the aspirant to modern politeness must be moulded in Conformity with its decrees; every gesture and look must obey its dictates. In his social intei-eourso lie must fashion himself, both in the adornment of his outer person and the exercise of his taste and sentiments, according to the mandate of the polite law. It furnishes him with ample,provisions for this purpose, and enacts tlje appropriate behavior for his assumption in every situnation in which he finds himself, whether it be in the withering sneer with which he crushes his enemy br the declaration of his amorous devotion to his anaiHorati. It teaches him when to Ik>w and when to evince condescension, deference, submission, hauteur, or complaisance. It metes out to him thq degree of mirth he may enjoy and the amount of demonstration which pleasure mav evoke from him, and, in a word, gives him an artificial rule whereby he - may measure out his amiability or moroseness. as circumstances require. Books of etiquette are in greater demand than in any previous age, and their contents are devoured with an avidity and zeal which is bestowed upon no other branch of knowledge. They are becoming as universally used in AeL education of the young as the multiplication table and the handbook of history, and it is considered as well nigh necessary that the youthful mind should be stored with the polite methods of using the knife and fork, and the refined manner of blowing the nose, as it is that he should be informed how many beans make six or who was the father of his .country. But there is another kind of politeness which is distinct from that which aims solely at the perfection of human mannerism and insinuating address. It has its first principles, not in the precepts of the book of etiquette, but in the sentiments of the heart. Goodness, virtue, nobleness, are the foundations upon which it arises its superstructure; they are the prime elements which generate the polite results which are so earnestly striven after. Good manners are their spontaneous and natural product, and a man possessing them needs only be natural to be polite. They are the common property of mankind and . their influence is as often seen in the workshop as at the., mansion. But this species of politeness is not and cannot be universal, and it is therefore well that the world endeavors to dissemble it. Wealth and modern refinement sup'] ply a very specious substitue for it, and often succeed in hiding its barrenness of soul beneath the glittering Covering .of and artificial manners, ii ~W6Tahuot have to orr advantage to possess the semblance, and to the majoriry the tinsel and tinfoil is not apparent, and the delusion is as satisfying as it is

We are not prepared to admit that America at the present moment is very far behind the rest of the ; world in either of the two forms of politeness we have indicated, or there is amongst us a perceptible decay in them. We have not, perhaps, the chivalrotis hardihood of the knights of the middle ages. The public peace would think itself outraged if we donned chain armor and challenged all comers. Tournaments have given place to athletic sports, and the good old feudal institutions to notions of universal quality, but surely our decay in politeness cannot be dated from these changes A man nowadays can hate another with just as j nytoh' persistency/ as when his chivalrous spirit led him to think that lie owed it as a duty of society to rid the world of the burden of his enemy's existence, and the polite modern method of evincing hatred by malignity and backbiting is, perhaps, preferable to an ounce of lead at sunrise - .’ We are making iapid strides toward the kid-glove refinement of Athens in its palmiest days; our beaux are the paragons of polite excellence; our belles are a mystery of fashion and enchantment. On every side we see untiring efforts to conform to social conventions, and it is surely unjust on this account to convict us of being “less Christian, less civilized, less humane or less chivalrous than our fathers or our founders. ” The beneficial influence which this devotioq to mannerism may exert upon out national character or the strength of our nation may be a .subject open to controversy, but there can be no doubt that American politeness is rather on the increase than decline.— American Cultivator. ’