the invisible lines which you are able to attach to the minds with which
you are brought into association alone that you can tow society, with its
deeply freighted interests, to the great haven of your hope.

11. THE REVENGE OF SOCIETY.--The revenge which society takes upon the man
who isolates himself, is as terrible as it is inevitable. The pride which
sits alone will have the privilege of sitting alone in its sublime disgust
till it drops into the grave. The world sweeps by the man, carelessly,
remorselessly, contemptuously. He has no hold upon society, because he is
no part of it.

12. THE CONCLUSION OF THE WHOLE MATTER.--You cannot move men until you are
one of them. They will not follow you until they have heard your voice,
shaken your hand, and fully learned your principles and your sympathies. It
makes no difference how much you know, or how much you are capable of
doing. You may pile accomplishment upon acquisition mountain high; but if
you fail to be a social man, demonstrating to society that your lot is with
the rest, a {69} little child with a song in its mouth, and a kiss for all
and a pair of innocent hands to lay upon the knees, shall lead more hearts
and change the direction of more lives than you.

* * * * *

{70}

Politeness.

1. BEAUTIFUL BEHAVIOR.--Politeness has been described as the art of
showing, by external signs, the internal regard we have for others. But one
may be perfectly polite to another without necessarily paying a special
regard for him. Good manners are neither more nor less than beautiful
behavior. It has been well said that "a beautiful form is better than a
beautiful face, and a beautiful behavior is better than a beautiful form;
it gives a higher pleasure than statues or pictures--it is the finest of
the fine arts."

2. TRUE POLITENESS.--The truest politeness comes of sincerity. It must be
the outcome of the heart, or it will make no lasting impression; for no
amount of polish can dispense with truthfulness. The natural character must
be allowed to appear, freed of its angularities and asperities. Though
politeness, in its best form, should resemble water--"best when clearest,
most simple, and without taste"--yet genius in a man will always cover many
defects of manner, and much will be excused to the strong and the original.
Without genuineness and individuality, human life would lose much of its
interest and variety, as well as its manl