Yet service perfects manners and dignity, from
the highest to the lowest, and the manners of perfect servants either
public or private are models of dignity and fitness. The manners of the
best servants often put to shame those of their employers, for their
self-possession and complete knowledge of what they are and ought to be
raises them above the unquietness of those who have a suspicion that
they are not quite what might be expected of them. It is on this
uncertain ground that all the blunders of manners occur; when simplicity
is lost disaster follows, with loss of dignity and self-respect, and
pretentiousness forces its way through to claim the respect which it is
conscious of not deserving.
Truth, then, is the foundation of distinction in manners for every
class, and the manners of children are beautiful and perfect when
simplicity bears witness to inward truthfulness and consideration for
others, when it expresses modesty as to themselves and kindness of heart
towards every one. It does not require much display or much ceremonial
for their manners to be perfect according to the requirements of life at
present; the ritual of society is a variable thing, sometimes very
exacting, at others disposed to every concession, but these things do
not vary--truth, modesty, reverence, kindness are of all times, and these
are the bases of our teaching.
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