ntually upsets
and destroys all discipline.

Servants should never be reproved in the presence of guests, or
members of the family, or other servants, but should be talked with
singly, and considerately, but plainly.

CHAPTER IV

CONVERSATION AND CORRESPONDENCE

_The Art of Conversation_

CONVERSATION is a game we all play, but most of us with ill success.
We do not take pains to learn the rules, and we do not consider the
honor of winning sufficiently great. It is, however, an accomplishment
that all who will may possess, that consumes a great deal of the time
of all of us, and that yields great pleasure and profit if skillfully
used.

The subject of conversation should be pertinent, and of interest to
all, or at least the majority, of those in the group of talkers. The
treasures of experience and of knowledge should be grouped about the
topic, and every one who contributes should take care to proffer
nothing that the conversation has not logically called forth. Then the
pleasure and the success of the time thus spent is measured only by
the wit and mental resources of the talkers.

News which has a universal interest is always a legitimate subject of
discussion. Personal news which has only the interest of gossip or
scandal is never permitted among cultured people, no more than are
physiological facts or the records of criminology. It is a safe rule
to speak of things rather than of persons.

The brilliant conversationalist never monopolizes the talk, as such a
method would prevent his most telling points or his keenest wit from
having dramatic expression. If he tells an anecdote which holds the
attention of the table or of the circle of listeners, he permits his
duller neighbor to tell the next, not only that his own wit may have a
foil, but that his next anecdote may meet the sharp edge of whetted
appetites.

If dining out or being entertained, do not play the host or hostess by
leading the conversation, even though your talent in that direction be
far superior to theirs. You thereby do them an injustice which is
exceedingly discourteous on the part of one who has accepted of
hospitality.

Never interrupt. It kills the expression of any thought to interrupt
the speaker, and every person, no matter how badly he may express
himself, has a right to the effort and to what he can win of the
hearer's attention.

To supply a word which seems to fail the speaker is perhaps a friendly
service, if he