Wilkes thought, for he used to say: "I am the ugliest man in the three kingdoms and yet if any one gives me a quarter of an hour's start I shall gain the heart of any woman before the handsomest "--by his manner.

When she who became the second wife of Sheridan saw him for the first time she recoiled with horror, so ugly did she think him, but she was soon head and ears in love with him because of his captivating manners.

And when young people marry is there anything which enables them to keep the hearts they have won so much as preserving those sweet manners which made each acceptable to the other in courting days.

Let us think of some of the common causes of bad manners, so that by keeping them in view we may be better enabled to avoid them. I think the sources that are most productive of bad manners are these four-vanity, ill-nature, want of sense, and want of sympathy.

The vain man can scarcely be well-mannered, for he is so absorbed in the contemplation of his own perfections that he cannot think of other people and study their feelings. Vulgarians think only of themselves and their own concerns. Their ancestors were all heroes, and they themselves are more heroic than even they were. There is no art or accomplishment in which

they do not excel. Their children are better than any other children; so are their servants, horses, and everything that they honour by possessing. All their geese are swans. Now, surely, it is not a very gentlemanly thing for a man to spend his time in trying to make himself seem big and others in comparison small, and he need not be surprised if the others vote him a boor and a bore.

Then, vanity renders people too self-conscious to have good manners, for if we are thinking of the impression we are making, we cannot give enough attention to the feelings and conversation of others. Shyness was a source of misery to Archbishop Whately. When at Oxford his white rough coat and white hat obtained for him the sobriquet of "The White Bear"; and his manners, according to his own account, corresponded with the appellation. He was directed, by way of remedy, to copy the example of the best-mannered men he met in society; but the attempt to do this only increased his shyness. He found that he was all the while thinking of himself rather than of others, whereas thinking of others rather than of one's self is the essence of politeness. Finding that he was making no progress, he said to himself, "I have tried my utmost, and find that I must be as awkward as a bear all my life, in

spite of it. I will endeavour to think about it as little as a bear, and make up my mind to endure what can't be cured." In thus endeavouring to shake off all consciousness as to manner, he says, "I succeeded beyond my expectations; for I not only got rid of the personal suffering of shyness, but also most of those faults of manner which consciousness produces."

Ill-nature is a too common source of bad manners. What but this could have made the bookseller reply, as he noticed the bodily proportions of Dr. Johnson, who had asked him for literary work, "Go buy a porter's knot and carry trunks? It is ill-nature that causes boys to torment lunatics and weak-minded people, and to make personal remarks upon those who are afflicted with bodily infirmities.

It is difficult to see how the "natural born fool"-to use an American expression-can be well-mannered, for without good sense a man must continually make a fool of himself in society.

But the most productive source of bad manners is want of sympathy. Our manners are bad because we have not the fellow-feeling which we ought to have.

The two chief rules for manners are, first, think of others; second, do not think of your

self, and these cannot be carried out without sympathy. We must be able to go out of ourselves and realise the feelings and circumstances of another if we would confer pleasure and avoid inflicting pain.

Want of sympathy it is which constitutes the hard man, one who, without committing anything that might be called a fault, rides roughly over the most sensitive feelings of your nature.

A good manner is the art of putting our associates at their ease. Whoever makes the fewest persons uncomfortable is the bestmannered person in a room. We cannot imagine a case in which a man could be at a loss what to say or do in company if he were always considerate for the feelings of others, forgot himself, and did not lose his head or leave his common-sense at home. Such an one

may not have studied etiquette; he may be chaotic rather than "good form," as the slang expression is; and yet, because his head and heart are sound, he will speak and act as becomes a gentleman. On the other hand, a very pedant in form and bigot in ceremonies may be nothing better than the mildestmannered man that ever cut a throat."

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It has been said that to be a social success one must be a moral failure, but this is not the case. It is not insincerity, but real sympathy

that wins hearts. Certainly those who consciously aim at social success and at that alone are often beasts.

A badly-mannered person makes you feel old, ugly, and disagreeable, and one with good manners that you are very nice and that your presence at the time is quite indispensable to his or her happiness. A visitor calls at a most inconvenient time, but the lady of the house, if she have unselfish manners, will never allow the individual to discover the fact. If this be deceit, may I always be deceived! Trying to please is not always vanity; it may come from a genuine desire to make others happy.