And then, again,
civility seems to be lacking in the city as well naturally as out of
necessity. Milton has put this forcibly by saying "courtesy oft is
sooner found in lowly sheds, with smoky rafters, than in tapestry halls
and courts of princes, where it first was named." The small courtesies
sweeten life. The great ones ennoble it. The extent to which a man can
make himself agreeable, as seen in the lives of Swift, Thomas Moore,
Chesterfield, Coleridge, Sydney Smith, Aaron Burr, Edgar Poe, and those
odd creatures called
"BEAUX," SUCH AS BRUMMEL, NASH, ETC.,
goes to show the immense importance of the art, and its influence in
determining the success of any man in business. Good-breeding shows
itself the most where to an ordinary eye it appears the least. Says
Chesterfield: "How often have I seen the most solid merit and knowledge
neglected, unwelcome, and even rejected; while flimsy parts, little
knowledge, and less merit, introduced by the Graces, have been received,
cherished, and admired." You have seen beautiful swords of auroral flame
dart into the zenith; you have seen marvelous flights of meteors, which
were gone ere your admiration had given rise to a cry of pleasure.
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