Excerpt from The Book of Good Manners: Etiquette for All Occasions An American traveller, when once rallied upon the fact that there was no aristocracy in his country, replied: "Pardon me, you forget our women!" It was gallantly said, and characteristic of the chivalry that has always been so marked a trait of American manhood. It is the stock reproach among Europeans towards us - this lack of aristocracy - which politely but thinly veils their conviction that we are a nation of rich and prosperous parvenus. We resent the reflection because it seems to imply the lack of qualities which, to our minds, the word stands for. Now we believe the outward and visible signs of aristocracy are shown in perfect breeding, charm of manner, and unfailing courtesy, of which the inward grace is an instinctive refinement that is not merely a decorative attribute. True aristocracy derives nothing from the possession of money - wealth but makes ill-breeding more conspicuous. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.