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the type which he presents should be more acceptable to the American people. Underneath an occasional appearance of brusqueness is hidden an even greater respect for women—that touchstone of true gentility. Our national institutions themselves teach men to respect one another as those of no European nation do.

There is an unwritten code of manners in our best American society, and there is no better code on the face of the earth. To afford those whom untoward circumstances have placed outside the pale of this true democratic nobility an opportunity of acquiring the culture and ease of deportment which is there found, this book has been written. That its basis is English cannot be denied, since our very civilization has an English foundation. But this has been Americanized to suit American customs, institutions and ideas. It is not a book whose injunctions are to be regarded as the puppet automatically obeys the will of its constructor. Its precepts, founded as they are upon a commendable self-forgetfulness and a respect for the rights and duties of others, should be learned literally by heart, that their manifestations may flow spontaneously from the individual.