1906 A Bachelor's Cupboard

A BACHELOR'S CUPBOARD Bachelor Etiquette feet gentlemen I have ever met have come of obscure origin and plain beginnings. The mere fact of not be- ing well-born, however, has never kept a man out of a club or society, nor would a long pedigree necessarily give the entree. Social affiliations are indispensable, however Inherited or acquired. No one can tell ex- actly what makes a gentleman; still, everyone recog- nizes one the moment he comes upon the scene." "A man's a man for a' that," says Bobby Burns; and after all, It's the little things that count — that go to show whether a man Is a gentleman or no. One w^ho wishes further Information upon this interesting subject may do wtU to read " John Halifax, Gentleman," after which he may brush up on etiquette. But all the dic- tionaries of etiquette in the world will not make a man a gentleman, If he be not kind, brave, and honorable in love and business, truthful, loyal, and reverent. Someone has said that courtesy is a good imitation of Christianity, since most rules of etiquette are based upon unselfishness and a proper regard for the feelings of other people. Most people have heard of the French king w^ho was so well bred that when one of his friends dropped a priceless wine glass. Immediately, as though through Inadvertence, broke one himself to prove that such a mischance, which might happen to anyone, was of no special consequence. There is, of course, a distinction between good man- ners and good form. The one comes to a man through 30

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