it
deserves to be read in all ages; as long as courts endure, as long as
princes reign and knights and ladies meet, as long as valor and courtesy
hold a place in our hearts, the name of Castiglione will be held in
honor."

In his _Book of the Courtier_, Castiglione said very little about
perfection of speech; he discust only the standard of literary language
and the prescribed limits of the "vulgar tongue," or the Italian in
which Petrarch and Boccaccio had written. What he says about grace,
however, applies also to conversation: "I say that in everything it is
so hard to know the true perfection as to be well-nigh impossible; and
this because of the variety of opinions. Thus there are many who will
like a man who speaks much, and will call him pleasing; some will
prefer modesty; some others an active and restless man; still others one
who shows calmness and deliberation in everything; and so every man
praises or decries according to his mind, always clothing vice with the
name of its kindred virtue, or virtue with the name of its kindred vice;
for example, calling an impudent man frank, a modest man dull, an
ignorant man good, a knave discreet, and so in all things else. Yet I
believe that there exists in everything its own perfection, altho
concealed; and that this can be determined through rational discussion
by any having knowledge of the thing in hand."

If this superb courtier could not reach decisions regarding perfection
in matters of culture and polish, I could scarcely hope to have entirely
reconciled the contending phases of conversation, even if I have
succeeded in impressing positively the evident faults to be avoided,
and the avowed graces of speech to be attained. With Castiglione as a
model I can only say regarding conversation what he said about the
perfect courtier: "I praise the kind of courtier that I most esteem, and
approve him who seems to me nearest right, according to my poor
judgment.... I only know that it is worse not to wish to do well than
not to know how."

Those heretofore interested in agreeable speech will at once recognize
my obligation to the few men and women who have written entertainingly
on conversation, and from whom I have often quoted. My excuse for
offering a new treatment is that I may perhaps have succeeded in
bringing the subject more within the reach of the general public, and to
have written more exhaustively. The deductions I have made are the
result of an affection