might be expected of them. It is on this
uncertain ground that all the blunders of manners occur; when simplicity
is lost disaster follows, with loss of dignity and self-respect, and
pretentiousness forces its way through to claim the respect which it is
conscious of not deserving.

Truth, then, is the foundation of distinction in manners for every
class, and the manners of children are beautiful and perfect when
simplicity bears witness to inward truthfulness and consideration for
others, when it expresses modesty as to themselves and kindness of heart
towards every one. It does not require much display or much ceremonial
for their manners to be perfect according to the requirements of life at
present; the ritual of society is a variable thing, sometimes very
exacting, at others disposed to every concession, but these things do
not vary--truth, modesty, reverence, kindness are of all times, and these
are the bases of our teaching.

The personal contribution of those who teach, the influence of their
companionship is that which establishes the standard, their patience is
the measure which determines the limits of attainment, for it is only
patience which makes a perfect work, whether the attainment be high or
low. It takes more patience to bring poor material up to a presentable
standard than to direct the quick intuitions of those who are more
responsive; in one case efforts meet with resistance, in the other,
generally with correspondence. But our own practice is for ourselves the
important thing, for the inward standard is the point of departure, and
our own sincerity is a light as well as a rule, or rather it is a rule
because it is a light; it prevents the standard of manners from being
double, one for use and one for ornament; it imposes respect to be
observed with children as well as exacted from them, and it keeps up the
consciousness that manners represent faith and, in a sense, duty to God
rather than to one's neighbour.

This, too, belongs not to the fleeting things of social observance but
to the deep springs of conduct, and its teaching may be summed up in one
question. Is not well-instructed devotion to Our Lady and the
understanding of the Church's ceremonies a school of manners in which we
may learn how human intercourse may be carried on with the most perfect
external expressiveness? Is not all inattention of mind to the
courtesies of life, all roughness and slovenliness, all crude
unconventionality