should tend to show a regard to their beauty or good sense: even men are not without their vanities of one kind or other, and flattering that vanity, by words and looks of approbation, is one of the principal characters of good breeding. In female conversation be as pleasant as possible: the very name of an argument frightens a woman, who is commonly sooner convinced by a happy turn, or witty expression, than by any demonstration, or by all the rules of logic. You must converse with them, as a man would with those from whom he might have expectations, but without making requests. The great secret, with them, is to be amiable without design; and, whenever you commend, add your reasons for so doing. It is this which distinguishes the approbation of a man of sense from the admiration of fools and the flattery of sycophants.

Address and manners, with weak persons, who are actually three-fourths of the world, are every thing; and even people of the best understanding are taken in with them. Where the heart is not won, nor the eye pleased, the mind will be seldom on our side.

In short, learning and erudition, without good breeding, are tiresome and pedantic: and an illbred man is as unfit for good company as he will be unwelcome in it. Nay, he is full as unfit for business as for company. Make, then, good breeding the great object of your thoughts and actions. Be particularly observant of, and endeavor to imitate, the behavior and manners of such as are distinguished by their politeness; and be persuaded, that good breeding is to all worldly qualifications what charity is to all Christian virtues: it adorns merit, and often covers the want of it.

GENTEEL CARRIAGE.

Next to good breeding is a genteel manner and carriage, wholly free from those ill habits, and awkward actions, which many very worthy persons are addicted to.

A genteel manner of behavior, how trifling soever it may seem, is of the utmost consequence in private life. Men of very inferior parts have been esteemed, merely for their genteel carriage and good breeding, while sensible men have given disgust for want of it. There is something or other that prepossesses us, at first sight, in favor of a well-bred man, and makes us wish to like him.

When an awkward fellow, says a witty author, first comes into a room, he attempts to bow, and his sword, if he wears one, gets between his legs, and nearly throws him down. Confused and ashamed, he stumbles to the upper end of the room, and seats himself in the very chair he should not. He there begins playing with his hat, which he presently drops; and recovering his hat, he lets fall his cane; and in picking up his cane, down goes his hat again: thus it is a considerable time before he is adjusted. When his tea or coffee is handed to him, he spreads his handkerchief upon his knees, scalds his mouth, drops either the cup or the saucer, and spills the tea or coffee in his lap. At dinner he is more uncommonly awkward: there he tucks his napkin through a button-hole, which tickles his chin, and occasions him to make a variety of wry faces; he seats himself upon the edge of the chair, at so great a distance from the table that he frequently drops his meat between his plate and his mouth; he holds his knife, fork, and spoon, dif

ferently from other people; eats with his knife, to the manifest danger of his mouth; picks his teeth with his fork, rakes his mouth with his finger, and puts his spoon, which has been in his throat a dozen times, into the dish again. If he is to carve, he cannot hit the joint, but, in laboring to cut through the bone, splashes the sauce over every body's clothes. He generally daubs himself all over, his elbows are in the next person's plate, and he is up to the knuckles in soup and grease. If he drinks, it is with his mouth full, interrupting the whole company with, "to your good health, sir;" and "my service to you;" perhaps coughs in his glass, and besprinkles the whole table. Further, he has, perhaps, a number of disagreeable tricks; he snuffs up his nose, picks it with his fingers, blows it, and looks in his handkerchief; crams his hands first into his bosom, and next into his breeches. In short, he neither dresses nor acts like any other person, but is particularly awkward in every thing he does. All this, we own, has nothing in it criminal; but it is such an offence to good manners and good breeding, that it is universally despised; it makes a man ridiculous in every company, and, of course, ought carefully to be avoided by every one who would wish to please.

From this picture of the ill-bred man, you will easily discover that of the well-bred; for you may readily judge what you ought to do, when you are told what you ought not to do; a little attention to the manners of those who have seen the world will make a proper behavior habitual and familiar to you.

Actions that would otherwise be pleasing, frequently become ridiculous by your manner of doing them. If a lady drops her fan in company, the

worst-bred man would immediately pick it up, and give it to her; the best-bred man can do no more; but then he does it in a graceful manner, which is sure to please; whereas the other would do it so awkwardly as to be laughed at.

You may also know a well-bred person by his manner of sitting. Ashamed and confused, the awkward man sits in his chair stiff and bolt upright; whereas the man of fashion is easy in every position; instead of lolling or lounging as he sits, he leans with elegance, and, by varying his attitudes, shows that he has been used to good company. Let it be one part of your study then, to learn to sit genteelly in different companies, to loll gracefully, where you are authorized to take that liberty, and to sit up respectfully, where that freedom is not allowable.

In short, you cannot conceive how advantageous a graceful carriage and a pleasing address are, upon all occasions; they ensnare the affections, steal a prepossession in our favor, and play about the heart till they engage it.

Now, to acquire a graceful air, you must attend to your dancing; no one can either sit, stand, or walk well, unless he dances well. And in learning to dance, be particularly attentive to the motion of your arms, for a stiffness in the wrist will make any man look awkward. If a man walks well, presents himself well in company, wears his hat well, moves his head properly and his arms gracefully, it is almost all that is necessary.

There is also an awkwardness in speech, that naturally falls under this head, and may and ought to be guarded against; such as forgetting names, and mistaking one name for another; to speak of Mr. What-d'ye-call-him, or You-know-who, Mrs.

N

Thingum, What's-her-name, or How-d'ye-call-her, is exceedingly awkward and vulgar. It is the same to address people by improper titles, as sir for my lord; to begin a story without being able to finish it, and break off in the middle with “I have forgotten the rest.”

Our voice and manner of speaking should like. wise be attended to. Some will mumble over their words so as not to be intelligible, and others will speak so fast as not to be understood; and, in doing this, will sputter and spit in your face: some will bawl as if they were speaking to the deaf; others will speak so low as scarcely to be heard; and many will put their face so close to yours as to offend you with their breath. All these habits are horrid and disgusting, but may easily be got the better of, with care. They are the vulgar characteristics of a low-bred man, or are proofs that very little pains have been bestowed on his education. In short, an attention to these little matters is of greater importance than you are aware of; many a sensible man having lost ground for want of these little graces, and many, possessed of these perfections alone, having made their way through life, who otherwise would not have been noticed.

CLEANLINESS OF PERSON.

But, as no one can please in company, nowever graceful his air, unless he be clean and neat in his person, this qualification comes next to be considered. For though your clothes be plain, if they be clean, and your linen white, it matters not that they be rich you will be respectable without it.

Negligence of one's person not only implies an insufferable indolence, but an indifference whether