o
much sorrow and disaster to others by these occasional whirlwinds of
passion. In all that delicacy of feeling and usual regard for "the
amenities" indicate, they are "well-bred." To say that they are not is
as ungenerous as to criticise the conduct of the insane. But habitual,
cold-blooded, and willful ill-temper--the trade-mark of unmitigated
selfishness--is indisputably ill-bred. Whatever the tendency,
temperament, or temptation, good form requires the cultivation and the
exhibition of good humor and a disposition to take a cheerful and
generous view of people and things.

This calm serenity does not mean weakness or moral cowardice. The
dignity that forbids one to be rude also forbids one to endure
insolence. A gentleman may scathe a liar in plain unvarnished terms,
and yet not lose a particle of his own repose of manner; and the higher
his own standards are, the more merciless will be his denunciation of
what he holds to be deserving of rebuke. But through it all, he has
his own spirit well in hand, under curb and rein. The ominous calm of
a well-bred man is a terror to the garrulous bully. It is "the triumph
of mind over matter."

Next to the etiquette of self-control--and, if anything, harder to
comply with--is the etiquette of forbearance, which is often
overlooked; for people who have high standards themselves are apt to be
intolerant of gross offenders against social rules. Those who by
inheritance or by culture are blessed with a logical mind and an
equable temper, should be lenient in judging cruder people, whose dense
ignorance aggravating their malicious intent, causes them to do
astounding violence to the principles of morality and etiquette alike,
by exhibitions of ugly temper. Only by making allowances can the
conduct of some people be accounted less than criminal.

Let all reflect that it is impossible to be a _lady_, or a _gentleman_,
without _gentle_ manners.

A FEW POINTS ON DRESS

Perfect congruity is the secret of successful dressing.

The first harmony to be observed is that between the dress and the
wearer's purse. Good form considers not merely what can be _paid for_
without "going in debt," but what can be purchased without cramping the
resources in some other direction and destroying the proper balance of
one's expenditures. The girl who uses a month's salary to buy one fine
gown, and denies herself in the matter of needed hosiery to make up for
the extravagance, i