It is of the details of this politeness, this habitual refine-
ment, that I hope to teach you something ; and I shall have
now to ask you to follow me patiently through what may
seem to you an unnecessarily minute account of the number-
less social regulations to which gentlemen and ladies submit
themselves, reminding you once more that there is no short
road to the refinements of life, and that even those who are
trained from their birth cannot rid themselves of the neces-
sity for constant care and watchfulness.
Before, however, I begin upon this part of our work I
have something to say to you upon a subject which is of very
great interest to mo.^t people, and that is the matter of
"Dress/3
Now it is undeniable that our personal appearance does,
to a greater or less extent, influence onr lives, has often an
intimate connection with our worldly success or failure, and,
in short, is a matter worthy of sober consideration. To be
slatternly, unneat, and careless ; to dress in an extravagant,
ill-chosen fashion ; to wear uncomfortable and unnatural
garments; to make either too much or too little of your
clothes, is a serious mistake, and one against which
I greatly desire to help you to guard yourselves. And what
I want you first to remark is, that while, as I have said,
your personal appearance may and probably does affect your
life, your life most certainly affects your personal appearance.
t8
ON HABITS AND MANNERS.
Unconsciously, perhaps to you, but still most surely, your
vices and virtues are moulding with strong hands, your face,
your form, your very dress, and are forcing you in spite of
yourself to carry about with you an index to the manner of
your life, which all the world may read. If you think this
an exaggeration let me ask you to look about for a moment
among your companions. Here is Laziness in the girl with
unneat hair and collar awry, who, as you can see, has been
unwilling to make the exertion which neatness requires;
here is Coarseness in the boy with dirty hands and person to
match ; here Vanity in the shape of tawdry ribbons and
mock jewelry ; and here, perhaps, Dishonesty in one who
from a room-mate's trunk has taken some small article which
may be used without detection, or may be said to have been
" borrowed.' ' On the other hand, too, is it not pleasant to
find Thrift in the plain but well-cared-for dress of some boy
who has little to spend and means to spend that little hon-
estly ; Modesty in the quiet neatness of some sweet-faced
girl ; Unselfishness in some simple garb which is bare of
ornament in order that its wearer may help a needy friend ?
While I do not, by any means, claim that in all cases
one can trust to outward signs, yet surely they have much
to do with the judgment which we form of one another, and
are therefore of real importance to every station in life, and
in both sexes.
ON HABITS AND MANNERS. 19
la regard, then, to the clothes which we wear, two
things may be considered certain, namely, that we shall
in the main follow the prevailing fashion of our time and
country, and that in detail we shall follow the bent of our
own tastes, so that while the limits of our obedience to the
fashion of the day will be regulated by our consciences and
our purses, our characters as individuals will have not a lit-
tle to do with the cut and color of our garments.
Page 6
Presented as published in 1888. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
It is of the details of this politeness, this habitual refinement, that I hope to teach you something ; and I shall have now to ask you to follow me patiently through what may seem to you an unnecessarily minute account of the numberless social regulations to which gentlemen and ladies submit themselves, reminding you once more that there is no short road to the refinements of life, and that even those who are trained from their birth cannot rid themselves of the necessity for constant care and watchfulness.
Before, however, I begin upon this part of our work I have something to say to you upon a subject which is of very great interest to mo.^t people, and that is the matter of "Dress."
Now it is undeniable that our personal appearance does, to a greater or less extent, influence our lives, has often an intimate connection with our worldly success or failure, and, in short, is a matter worthy of sober consideration. To be slatternly, unneat, and careless ; to dress in an extravagant, ill-chosen fashion ; to wear uncomfortable and unnatural garments; to make either too much or too little of your clothes, is a serious mistake, and one against which I greatly desire to help you to guard yourselves. And what I want you first to remark is, that while, as I have said, your personal appearance may and probably does affect your life, your life most certainly affects your personal appearance.
Unconsciously, perhaps to you, but still most surely, your vices and virtues are moulding with strong hands, your face, your form, your very dress, and are forcing you in spite of yourself to carry about with you an index to the manner of your life, which all the world may read. If you think this an exaggeration let me ask you to look about for a moment among your companions. Here is Laziness in the girl with unneat hair and collar awry, who, as you can see, has been unwilling to make the exertion which neatness requires; here is Coarseness in the boy with dirty hands and person to match ; here Vanity in the shape of tawdry ribbons and mock jewelry ; and here, perhaps, Dishonesty in one who from a room-mate's trunk has taken some small article which may be used without detection, or may be said to have been " borrowed.' ' On the other hand, too, is it not pleasant to find Thrift in the plain but well-cared-for dress of some boy who has little to spend and means to spend that little honestly ; Modesty in the quiet neatness of some sweet-faced girl ; Unselfishness in some simple garb which is bare of ornament in order that its wearer may help a needy friend ?
While I do not, by any means, claim that in all cases one can trust to outward signs, yet surely they have much to do with the judgment which we form of one another, and are therefore of real importance to every station in life, and in both sexes.
la regard, then, to the clothes which we wear, two things may be considered certain, namely, that we shall in the main follow the prevailing fashion of our time and country, and that in detail we shall follow the bent of our own tastes, so that while the limits of our obedience to the fashion of the day will be regulated by our consciences and our purses, our characters as individuals will have not a little to do with the cut and color of our garments.