The Laws Of Etiquette Or Short Rules And Reflections For Conduct In Society

In a rapidly growing consumer market for etiquette manuals during the nineteenth century, this is an example of a manual that attempts to reinforce the authority of its contents by suggesting legal foundations in its title as well as the qualifications of its author, in this case "A Gentleman." The straightforward chapters include "Good Breeding," "Dress," "Balls," and "Funerals." Reissued throughout the 1840s, much of the manual is a paraphrasing of earlier texts.

How to build a positive social image? This is the main question this book tries to answer. The author, who preferred to stay anonymous, shares his own experiences of social routes. He describes himself as a person "who has been in the habit of frequenting good society" and decided to share his observations with the public.

We do not pretend that a man will be metamorphosed into a gentleman by reading this book, or any other book. Refined manners are like refined style which Cicero compares to the colour of the cheeks, which is not acquired by sudden or violent exposure to heat, but by continual walking in the sun. Good manners can certainly only be acquired by much usage in good company. But there are a number of little forms, imperiously enacted by custom, which may be taught in this manner, and the conscious ignorance of which often prevents persons from going into company at all ...

"The formalities of refined society were at first established for the purpose of facilitating the intercourse of persons of the same standing, and increasing the happiness of all to whom they apply. They are now kept up, both to assist the convenience of intercourse and to prevent too great familiarity. If they are carried too far, and escape from the control of good sense, they become impediments to enjoyment. Among the Chinese they serve only the purpose of annoying to an incalculable degree. 'The government,‛ says De Marcy, in writing of China, 'constantly applies itself to preserve, not only in the court and among the great, but among the people themselves, a constant habit of civility and courtesy."