rs by birthright, may be acquired by patience
and perseverance. Avoid high tones and nasal tones. Do not talk
rapidly, or in a hesitating, stumbling fashion. A partial course in
elocution and voice training will work wonders in this direction, and
any one determined to succeed will never regret the time or money so
spent.

Cultivate also, if shy and timid by nature, self esteem sufficient to
imagine that you are quite the equal of those with whom you are about
to meet. This resolution will enable you to say what you wish without
fear of mistake, and without showing too much respect of persons. The
above-mentioned elocutionary lessons will also be an aid toward
acquiring self-possession.

Repose of manner should be assiduously cultivated. Do not fidget or
loll about in your chair, or twist your fingers constantly, or play
with something while you talk, or restlessly beat a tattoo with
fingers or feet. All such faults render your companionship a burden to
those about you.

Indulge in no facial contortions, as they rapidly become habits
difficult to break and usually leave their traces on the face in lines
impossible to efface. Lifting the eyebrows, rolling the eyes, opening
them very widely, twisting the mouth and opening it so as to show the
tongue in talking, are all disagreeable habits, that, once acquired,
can only be broken by ceaseless vigilance. Practice talking without
moving the facial muscles but slightly. Do this before your mirror
daily, if necessary, and before the same faithful mentor learn to open
the eyes less widely, parting the lids only just so far as to show the
colored iris without a glimpse of the white portion, or cornea, of the
eye above or below it. The time thus spent will result in a change
most gratifying to yourself and friends.

Conversational Sins.

Never interrupt a person who is talking. Never take the words out of
anyone's mouth and finish the sentence for them. To do this is
ill-bred and does not bespeak your superior discernment, but your
ignorance of polite society.

Puns, unless exceptionally witty, are to be carefully avoided. Young
ladies, especially, should beware of establishing any reputation for
punning. At all events, puns should never be far-fetched.

Do not whisper in company; nothing can be more vulgar. Neither should
two in a gathering converse together in a foreign language, not
understood by the others present, or talk blindly in a manner
unintelligible only t