dwelling should, if possible, have a room as sacred
from intrusion as the house is to the family. No child, grown to years
of discretion, should be outraged by intrusion. No relation, however
intimate, can justify it. So the trunks, boxes, packets, papers, and
letters of every individual, locked or unlocked, sealed or unsealed,
are sacred. It is ill manners even to open a book-case, or to read a
written paper lying open, without permission expressed or implied.
Books in an open case or on a center-table, cards in a card-case, and
newspapers, are presumed to be open for examination. Be careful where
you go, what you read, and what you handle, particularly in private
apartments."

This right to privacy extends to one's business, his personal
relations, his thoughts, and his feelings. _Don't intrude_; and always
"mind your own business," which means, by implication, that you must
let other people's business alone.

5. _Conformity._

You must conform, to such an extent as not to annoy and give offense,
to the customs, whether in dress or other matters, of the circle in
which you move. This conformity is an implied condition in the social
compact. It is a practical recognition of the right of others, and
shows merely a proper regard for their opinions and feelings. If you
can not sing in tune with the rest, or on the same key, remain silent.
You may be right and the others wrong but that does not alter the
case. Convince them, if you can, and bring them to your pitch, but
never mar even a low accord. So if you can not adapt your dress and
manners to the company in which you find yourself, the sooner you take
your leave the better. You may and should endeavor, in a proper way,
to change such customs and fashions as you may deem wrong, or
injurious in their tendency, but, in the mean time, you have no right
to violate them. You may choose your company, but, having chosen it,
you must conform to its rules til you can change them. You are not
compelled to reside in Rome; but if you choose to live there, you must
"do as the Romans do."

The rules which should govern your conduct, as an isolated individual,
were such a thing as isolation possible in the midst of society, are
modified by your relations to those around you. This life of ours is a
complex affair, and our greatest errors arise from our one-side views
of it. We are sovereign individuals, and are born with certain
"inalienable rights;" but we are also members of