attempt to deceive us, is an insult to our understandings and an affront
to our morals. The pretender to politeness is a cheat. He tries to palm
off the base for the genuine; and, although he may deceive the vulgar,
he cannot overreach the cultivated. True politeness springs from right
feelings; it is a good heart, manifesting itself in an agreeable life;
it is a just regard for the rights and happiness of others in small
things; it is the expression of true and generous sentiments in a
graceful form of words; it regards neatness and propriety in dress, as
something due to society, and avoids tawdriness in apparel, as offensive
to good taste; it avoids selfishness in conduct and roughness in
manners: hence, a polite person is called a _gentle_ man. True
politeness is the smoothness of a refined mind and the tact of a kind
heart.

Politeness is a word derived from the Greek word _polis_, which means a
city--the inhabitants of which are supposed, by constant intercourse
with each other, to be more refined in manners than the inhabitants of
the country. From _polis_, comes our English word _polish_, which
signifies an effect produced by rubbing down roughnesses until the
surface is smoothed and brightened: hence, we speak of polished minds
and polished manners. Persons in good society rub against each other
until their sharp points are worn down, and their intercourse becomes
easy. The word _urbanity_ comes from the Latin word _urbs_; that, also,
means a city, and it signifies politeness, gentleness, polish, for a
similar reason.

In mingling with our fellow-men, there is a constant necessity for
little offices of mutual good will. An observing and generous-minded
person notices what gives him offense, and what pleases him in the
conduct of others; and he seeks at once to correct or cultivate similar