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Article ESSAY ON POLITENESS. ← Page 3 of 3 Article ESSAY ON POLITENESS. Page 1 of 3 →
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Essay On Politeness.
temptation . It however appears probable , according to the opinion of Aristoxenes , that Pythagoras readily ate beans , and that he found them very good .. Pythagoras left several works , which he forbid to be made public . Plato found means to procure them , and paid at the rate of upwards pf eight hundred pounds sterling for them .
Essay On Politeness.
ESSAY ON POLITENESS .
I HAVE always been of opinion that politeness depends very little upon fashion . For genuine politeness we must look to a hig her and a more permanent princip le . Whether we understand it in its fall latitude , as implying a general courtesy and urbanity to all ; or whether we confine it to people of education ( not extending it to those in inferior stations ) we must still refer it to a more worthy
source than that of a few incidental opinions , which maintain but a momentary influence , and then give way to other notions , all equally the offspring of caprice . Politeness ( as it regards an intercourse with people of education ) will be exercised in a general attention to the company ; not limited to a few , but diffused among all , in such a deference to the opinions ,
feelings , and inclinations of those around us , as excludes the appearance of self-love or self-indulgence ; and , indeed , actually absorbs all ideas of self . It is more connected with the mind than the body . It is certainly much assisted by an easy address : for a person may often mean well , without having the power of expressing wiiat he means . He may be courteous in intention , and be aukward in the execution . The politeness , however , which we have been defining , will generally break through these external obstacles , and make its way by persevering exertion to oblige , till it conciliates the heart ; .
even though it should trust entirely to the suggestions of nature , and borrow no assistance from the modish lessons of artificial behaviour . This politeness , then , is independent , as to its origin , on custom and fashion ; though the general diffusion and display of it , at the present moment , may partly be attributed to their influence . To prove the independence we are assertingwe have only to consider
, " whether any man in former ages , more enli g htened than his contemporaries , seemed to entertain these ideas of it , when so far from being sanctioned , this genuine politeness was discountenanced by fashion . In this country , the true politness , so closely allied to urbanity and gentleness , was once much repressed by the current modes of
behaviour ; especially when those of inferior rank were admitted to the tables of the great . A few centuries ago , the little civilities and attentions were measured out to different people in exact proportion to their respective stations . So thar , in a promiscuous company , for instance at the table of a Nobleman , it would be easy to discover the various degrees of his guests , as to'family , fortune , or profession , by his scrupulous formalities corresponding with their different pretensions , If the Nobleman were the first of his company , he gene-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Essay On Politeness.
temptation . It however appears probable , according to the opinion of Aristoxenes , that Pythagoras readily ate beans , and that he found them very good .. Pythagoras left several works , which he forbid to be made public . Plato found means to procure them , and paid at the rate of upwards pf eight hundred pounds sterling for them .
Essay On Politeness.
ESSAY ON POLITENESS .
I HAVE always been of opinion that politeness depends very little upon fashion . For genuine politeness we must look to a hig her and a more permanent princip le . Whether we understand it in its fall latitude , as implying a general courtesy and urbanity to all ; or whether we confine it to people of education ( not extending it to those in inferior stations ) we must still refer it to a more worthy
source than that of a few incidental opinions , which maintain but a momentary influence , and then give way to other notions , all equally the offspring of caprice . Politeness ( as it regards an intercourse with people of education ) will be exercised in a general attention to the company ; not limited to a few , but diffused among all , in such a deference to the opinions ,
feelings , and inclinations of those around us , as excludes the appearance of self-love or self-indulgence ; and , indeed , actually absorbs all ideas of self . It is more connected with the mind than the body . It is certainly much assisted by an easy address : for a person may often mean well , without having the power of expressing wiiat he means . He may be courteous in intention , and be aukward in the execution . The politeness , however , which we have been defining , will generally break through these external obstacles , and make its way by persevering exertion to oblige , till it conciliates the heart ; .
even though it should trust entirely to the suggestions of nature , and borrow no assistance from the modish lessons of artificial behaviour . This politeness , then , is independent , as to its origin , on custom and fashion ; though the general diffusion and display of it , at the present moment , may partly be attributed to their influence . To prove the independence we are assertingwe have only to consider
, " whether any man in former ages , more enli g htened than his contemporaries , seemed to entertain these ideas of it , when so far from being sanctioned , this genuine politeness was discountenanced by fashion . In this country , the true politness , so closely allied to urbanity and gentleness , was once much repressed by the current modes of
behaviour ; especially when those of inferior rank were admitted to the tables of the great . A few centuries ago , the little civilities and attentions were measured out to different people in exact proportion to their respective stations . So thar , in a promiscuous company , for instance at the table of a Nobleman , it would be easy to discover the various degrees of his guests , as to'family , fortune , or profession , by his scrupulous formalities corresponding with their different pretensions , If the Nobleman were the first of his company , he gene-