THE
GENTLEMAN AND LADY'S
BOOK OF POLITENESS
AND
PROPRIETY OF DEPORTMENT,
DEDICATED TO THE
YOUTH OF BOTH SEXES.
BY Mme. CELNART.
TRANSLATED FROM THE SIXTH PARIS EDITION,
ENLARGED AND IMPROVED.
BOSTON.
ALLEN AND TICKNOR,
AND
CARTER, HENDEE & CO
1833.
Entered according to Act of Congress, the year 1833, by Allen and
Ticknor, in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the District
of Massachusetts.
BOSTON: Kane and Co. 127 Washington Street.
PREFACE.
The present work has had an extensive circulation in France, the country
which we are accustomed to consider as the genial soil of politeness;
and the publishers have thought it would be rendering a useful service
on this side of the Atlantic to issue a translation of it.
Some foreign visitors in our country, whose own manners have not always
given them a right to be censors of others, have very freely told us
what we ought _not_ to do; and it will be useful to know from
respectable authority, what is done in polished society in Europe, and,
of course, what we _ought to do_, in order to avoid all just censure.
This object, we are confident, will be more effectually accomplished by
the study of the principles and rules contained in the present volume,
than by any other of the kind.
By persons who are deemed competent judges in such a case, this little
work has been pronounced to be one of the most useful and practical
works extant upon the numerous and delicate topics which are discussed
in it. We are aware, that a man can no more acquire the ease and
elegance of a finished gentleman, by any manual of this kind, than in
the fine arts he could become a skilful painter or sculptor by studying
books alone, without practice. It is, however, equally true, that the
_principles_ of Politeness may be studied, as well as the principles of
the arts. At the same time, intercourse with polite society, in other
words, _practice_, as in the case of the arts, must do the rest.
The reader will find in this volume some rules founded on customs and
usages peculiar to France and other countries, where the Roman Catholic
religion is established. But it was thought better to retain them in the
work, than to mutilate it, by making such material alterations as would
have been occasioned by expunging every thing of that description. In
our liberal and tolerant country, these peculiarities will give offence
to none; while to many, their novelty, at least, will be interesting.
The Translator.
_Boston, May 6, 1833._
CONTENTS.
PART I.
Page.
Introduction.
Of Propriety of Deportment, and its Advantages xiii
CHAPTER I.
Of Propriety of Conduct in Relation to Religious Duties 1
Sect. 1. Of respectful Deportment at Church ibid.
2. Of religious Propriety in our Intercourse with
the World 6
CHAPTER II.
Of Propriety of Conduct in Relation to Domestic Duties 9
CHAPTER III.
Of Propriety of Conduct in Conjugal and Domestic Relations 12
CHAPTER IV.
Of Propriety as regards one's self 19
Sect. 1. Of the Toilet ibid.
2. Of Reputation 27
CHAPTER V.
Of Propriety in regard to one's Business or Profession 32
Sect. 1. Politeness of Shopkeepers and Customers ibid.
2. Politeness between Persons in Office and the Public 38
3. Politeness of Lawyers and their Clients 39
4. Politeness of Physicians and their Patients 40
5. Politeness of Artists and Authors, and the deference
due to them 42
6. Politeness of Military Men 46
7. Politeness of Ecclesiastics and Females of Religious
Orders; and the deference due to them 48
PART II.
OF PROPRIETY OF DEPORTMENT IN REGARD TO OUR SOCIAL RELATIONS.
CHAPTER I.
Of Deportment in the Street 50