and consequently,as there is no one principal object of awe and respect,people are apt to take a greater latitude in their behavior,and to be less upon their guard;and so they may,provided it be within certain bounds,which are upon no occasion to be transgressed.But,upon these occasions,though no one is entitled to distinguished marks of respect,everyone claims,and very justly,every mark of civility and good-breeding.Ease is allowed,but carelessness and negligence are strictly forbidden.If a man accosts you,and talks to you ever so dully or frivolously,it is worse than rudeness,it is brutality,to show him,by a manifest inattention to what he says,that you think him a fool or a blockhead,and not worth hearing.It is much more so with regard to women;who,of whatever rank they are,are entitled,in consideration of their sex,not only to an attentive,but an officious good-breeding from men.Their little wants,likings,dislikes,preferences,antipathies,fancies,whims,and even impertinencies,must be officiously attended to,flattered,and,if possible,guessed at and anticipated by a well-bred man.You must never usurp to yourself those conveniences and 'agremens'
which are of common right;such as the best places,the best dishes,etc.,but on the contrary,always decline them yourself,and offer them to others;who,in their turns,will offer them to you;so that,upon the whole,you will in your turn enjoy your share of the common right.It would be endless for me to enumerate all the particular instances in which a well-bred man shows his good-breeding in good company;and it would be injurious to you to suppose that your own good sense will not point them out to you;and then your own good-nature will recommend,and your self-interest enforce the practice.
There is a third sort of good-breeding,in which people are the most apt to fail,from a very mistaken notion that they cannot fail at all.Imean with regard to one's most familiar friends and acquaintances,or those who really are our inferiors;and there,undoubtedly,a greater degree of ease is not only allowed,but proper,and contributes much to the comforts of a private,social life.But that ease and freedom have their bounds too,which must by no means be violated.A certain degree of negligence and carelessness becomes injurious and insulting,from the real or supposed inferiority of the persons:and that delightful liberty of conversation among a few friends is soon destroyed,as liberty often has been,by being carried to licentiousness.But example explains things best,and I will put a pretty strong case.Suppose you and me alone together;I believe you will allow that I have as good a right to unlimited freedom in your company,as either you or I can possibly have in any other;and I am apt to believe too,that you would indulge me in that freedom as far as anybody would.But,notwithstanding this,do you imagine that I should think there were no bounds to that freedom?Iassure you,I should not think so;and I take myself to be as much tied down by a certain degree of good manners to you,as by other degrees of them to other people.Were I to show you,by a manifest inattention to what you said to me,that I was thinking of something else the whole time;were I to yawn extremely,snore,or break wind in your company,Ishould think that I behaved myself to you like a beast,and should not expect that you would care to frequent me.No.The most familiar and intimate habitudes,connections,and friendships,require a degree of good-breeding,both to preserve and cement them.If ever a man and his wife,or a man and his mistress,who pass nights as well as days together,absolutely lay aside all good-breeding,their intimacy will soon degenerate into a coarse familiarity,infallibly productive of contempt or disgust.The best of us have our bad sides,and it is as imprudent,as it is ill-bred,to exhibit them.I shall certainly not use ceremony with you;it would be misplaced between us:but I shall certainly observe that degree of good-breeding with you,which is,in the first place,decent,and which I am sure is absolutely necessary to make us like one another's company long.
I will say no more,now,upon this important subject of good-breeding,upon which I have already dwelt too long,it may be,for one letter;and upon which I shall frequently refresh your memory hereafter;but I will conclude with these axioms:
That the deepest learning,without good-breeding,is unwelcome and tiresome pedantry,and of use nowhere but in a man's own closet;and consequently of little or no use at all.
That a man,Who is not perfectly well-bred,is unfit for good company and unwelcome in it;will consequently dislike it soon,afterward renounce it;and be reduced to solitude,or,what is worse,low and bad company.
That a man who is not well-bred,is full as unfit for business as for company.
Make then,my dear child,I conjure you,good-breeding the great object of your thoughts and actions,at least half the day.Observe carefully the behavior and manners of those who are distinguished by their good-breeding;imitate,nay,endeavor to excel,that you may at least reach them;and be convinced that good-breeding is,to all worldly qualifications,what charity is to all Christian virtues.Observe how it adorns merit,and how often it covers the want of it.May you wear it to adorn,and not to cover you!Adieu.
