people do speak to friends sitting near them, but in a low tone of voice.
It would be shocking to enter a church and hear a babel of voices!

Ordinarily in church if a friend happens to catch your eye, you smile, but
never actually bow. If you go to a church not your own and a stranger
offers you a seat in her pew, you should, on leaving, turn to her and
say: "Thank you." But you do not greet anyone until you are out on the
church steps, when you naturally speak to your friends. "Hello" should not
be said on this occasion because it is too "familiar" for the solemnity of
church surroundings.


=SHAKING HANDS=

Gentlemen always shake hands when they are introduced to each other.
Ladies rarely do so with gentlemen who are introduced to them; but they
usually shake hands with other ladies, if they are standing near together.
All people who know each other, unless merely passing by, shake hands when
they meet.

A gentleman on the street never shakes hands with a lady without first
removing his right glove. But at the opera, or at a ball, or if he is
usher at a wedding, he keeps his glove on.


=PERSONALITY OF A HANDSHAKE=

A handshake often creates a feeling of liking or of irritation between two
strangers. Who does not dislike a "boneless" hand extended as though it
were a spray of sea-weed, or a miniature boiled pudding? It is equally