effeminacy takes the place of manliness; drawling stupidity,
of wit; stiffness and hauteur, of ease and civility; and
self-illustration, of a decent and respectful regard to
others.

A man of fashion must never allow himself to be pleased.
Nothing is more decidedly _de mauvais ton_ than any
expression of delight. He must never laugh, nor, unless his
penetration is very great, must he even smile; for he might
by ignorance smile at the wrong place or time. All real
emotion is to be avoided; all sympathy with the great or the
beautiful is to be shunned; yet the liveliest feeling may be
exhibited upon the death of a poodle-dog.

At the house of an acquaintance, he must never praise, nor
even look, at the pictures, the carpets, the curtains, or the
ottomans, because if he did, it might be supposed that he was
not accustomed to such things.

About two years ago, it began to be considered improper to
pay compliments to women, because if they are not paid
gracefully they are awkward, and to pay them gracefully is
difficult. At the present time it is considered dangerous to
a man's pretensions to fashion, in England, to speak to women
at all. Women are voted bores, and are to be treated with
refined rudeness.

There is no possible system of manners that will serve to
exhibit at once the uncivility and the high refinement which
should characterize the man of fashion. He must therefore