1. The essential part of good breeding is the practical desire to afford
pleasure and to avoid giving pain. Any boy possessing this desire
requires only opportunity and observation to become a little gentleman.
2. Never be guilty of what are called practical jokes; that is to say,
never place a pin in a chair so that somebody may come along and sit on
the pin’s point; never pull back a chair when a person is about to sit
down, and in that way cause such a person to fall on the floor. No
little gentleman will play such tricks.
3. Whenever a lady enters a room, it is proper for boys to rise, if they
are seated, but you must never offer a lady a chair from which you have
just risen, if there is another chair in the room.
4. Never engage in conversation while a person is singing. It is an
insult not only to the singer but to the company.