good; they have made laws to restrain the wicked; they have agreed among
themselves as to the duties of society, and have annexed an honorable
character to the practice of those duties. He is the honest man who
observes them with the most exactness, and the instances of them
multiply in proportion to the degree of nicety of a person's honor."

Originally a gentleman was defined to be one who, without any title of
nobility, wore a coat of arms. And the descendants of many of the early
colonists preserve with much pride and care the old armorial bearings
which their ancestors brought with them from their homes in the mother
country. Although despising titles and ignoring the rights of kings,
they still clung to the "grand old name of gentleman." But race is no
longer the only requisite for a gentleman, nor will race united with
learning and wealth make a man a gentleman, unless there are present the
kind and gentle qualities of the heart, which find expression in the
principles of the Golden Rule. Nor will race, education and wealth
combined make a woman a true lady if she shows a want of refinement and
consideration of the feelings of others.

Good manners are only acquired by education and observation, followed up
by habitual practice at home and in society, and good manners reveal to
us the lady and the gentleman. He who does not possess them, though he
bear the highest title of nobility, cannot expect to be called a
gentleman; nor can a woman, without good manners, aspire to be
considered a lady by ladies. Manners and morals are indissolubly allied,
and no society can be good where they are bad. It is the duty of
American women to exercise their influence to form so high a standard of
morals and manners that the tendency of society will be continually
upwards, seeking to make it the best society of any nation.