such as:--

"It's coming yet, for a' that,
That man to man, the warld o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that!"

And under the influence of this principle, he was a gentleman by nature,
and one of nature's noblemen, without ever thinking whether he was or
not, as he who is truly such never needs to and never does.

And then recall the large-hearted Ben Franklin, when sent to the French
court. In his plain gray clothes, unassuming and entirely forgetful of
himself, how he captured the hearts of all, of even the giddy society
ladies, and how he became and remained while there the centre of
attraction in that gay capital! His politeness, his manners, all the
result of that great, kind, loving, and helpful nature which made
others feel that it was they he was devoting himself to and not himself.

This little extract from a letter written by Franklin to George
Whitefield will show how he regarded the great principle we are
considering: "As to the kindness you mention, I wish it could have been
of more service to you. But, if it had, the only thanks I should desire
is that you would always be equally ready to serve any other person that
may need your assistance; and so let good offices go around, for mankind
are all of a family. For my own part, when I am employed in serving
others, I do not look upon myself as conferring favors, but as paying
debts. In my travels, and since my settlement, I have received much
kindness from men to whom I shall never have any opportunity of making
any direct return, and numberless mercies from God, who is infinitely
above being benefited by our services. These kindnesses from men I can,
therefore, only return on their fellow-men; and I can only show my
gratitude for these mercies from God by a readiness to help his other
children and my brethren."

No, true gentlemanliness and politeness always comes from within, and is
born of a life of love, kindliness, and service. This is the universal
language, known and understood everywhere, even when our words are not.
There is, you know, a beautiful old proverb which says, "He who is kind
and courteous to strangers thereby shows himself a citizen of the
world." And there is nothing so remembered, and that so endears one to
all mankind, as this universal language. Even dumb animals understand it
and are affected by it. How quickly the dog, for example, knows and
makes it known when he is spoken to and treated kindly or the reverse!
And h