The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1913. MODERN MANNERS.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1857, 17 September 1913, Page 6

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 17, 1913. MODERN MANNERS.

In the course of a sermon in Auckland on Sunday last on the ideals of womanhood; the Kev. E. Inglis made some severe remarks about "a new typo of woman whose aim is apparently to be as man-like as- possible." He stated among other things that "they are hardened and made selfconscious by the love of pleasure, and evidently have not any higher object in life than to have , a good time." Mr. Inglis did not malce a wild attack on women in general, but made it quite clear that his remarks referred to one special type; and no one who goes about with his eyes open and reads .the newspapers and magazines can deny that this type of womanhood is becoming only too common. Tho English and American papers have lately been paying a good deal of attention to such subjects as the Suffragette movement, the decay of manners, tho orgy of undress, vulgarity in dancing, freak dinners, and the break-up of family life; and one cannot help feeling that all these things are only different phases of some world-wide tendency, the full meaning of which cannot yet be understood. There can be no doubt that a great change is taking place in tho relations between the sexes. Courtesy and good manners are going out of fashion, and old ideals are being shattered; and if this movement continues the world will in the future ba a less pleasant place to live in than it has been in the past. Manners in the true sense of the word are something more than superficial formalities of a more or less meaningless nature. They are a matter of character—the outward expression of sympathy and respect for others,. and a real desire to increase the sum total of human happiness by making the ordinary transactions of daily life as friendly as possible. Courtesy has been defined as unselfishness, and the definition is a good one. The selfish person thinks of himself first, and regards other people mainly as means whereby his own comfort and convenience may be secured.

Speaking at the prize distribution ceremony of the Guildford Grammar School recently, Lord Rosebery had some interesting things to say about good manners. He asked why did tho men of the early seventeenth century emphasise the importance of courtesy? He thought there were two reasons for this —"first, they were models of courtesy and good manners themselves—for the Englishmen of the seventeenth century were tho greatest breed of Englishmen that England has ever possessed ;_and also because they realised the enormous importance of courtesy and good manners in the common transactions of life." No one can truthfully accuse the Englishman of the present day of wasting too much time and energy in what are called acts of courtesy- The modern schoolboy is half-ashamed to touch his hat to his teacher, and the girls show a tendency to copy the manners—or lack of manners—of the boys. Young men may be seen every day in the streets of 'Wellington with pipes in tneir mouths when in company with their lady friends, and in a crowd it is a case of everyone for himself or herself, and "the devil take the hindmost." Even men who pride themselves on their loyalty very often think it too great a strain to stand oi' raioe thoiv hate when tbo National Antlicai is p.layed or euug, and yet,

as Loud Eosedery remarked, this 1 sign of respect to the Kino is also, a mark of veneration for tho com-l mtinity to which wo belong, and in that way to ourselves. It has become a commonplace remark'that "the age of chivalry is gone," and, indeed, it must be admitted that men do _ not _ show that courtesy and consideration for women which were naturally expected in society a generation or two ago. What is the cause of the change I Are not tho women themselves largely to blame 1 It is really very difficult to maintain that respect which is due to womanhood if the women themselves make it clear that their womanhood is something to which they attach no value. The militant Suffragette and the man-like woman seem to create an atmosphere which stifles chivalry, and in view of the prevalence of certain extreme modcm- fashions in dress, tho question arises whether one can, or ought to, resoect what is not in their view respectable. Bishop Neligan remarked in an address to English schoolgirls the other day that "persons before whom men ought to feel it an honour to bend the knee are sometimes not decent to look at." And womanliness is becoming just as oldfashioned in the ballroom as in the street. It is being driven out by the Bunny Hug and the Turkey Trot, and other like vulgarities; and one naturally asks whether people who do not retain their own seli-respect can expect to be respected by others'! It is not surprising, therefore, that in nearly all human relationships— in the family, in business, and in society —good manners are becoming more and more conspicuous by their absence, and are in danger of disappearing altogether. One can only hope that the limit has been almost reached, and that before long a reaction will set in. When people begin to realise that discourtesy is an ugly thing—only another name for selfishness —and that in William of Wykehaii's famous words, "Manners makyth man," then we may expect that our social rclationships < will once more be graced by that spirit of courtesy and consideration for others which naturally finds their expression in good manners.