Pliny the Younger - "The Letters of Pliny the Younger"

John Lothrop Motley - "The Life of John of Barneveld, 1618 19"

Paul Bourget - "Cosmopolis, v3"

Rene Bazin - "The Ink Stain, v3"

New Philadelphia Book Publisher Highlights Local Talent
Book and Publishing News from Publishers Newswire(tm)

Looking for Child to be on Cover of a New Book, 'The Model Child'
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. -- The Philadelphia literary world will celebrate the launch of two new players today, April 10th: Kay Square Press, a new publishing company focused on Philadelphia-area artists, their stories, and their art; and Kay Square's first release, 'With the Rich and Mighty: Emlen Etting of Philadelphia' (ISBN: 978-0-9815129-0-7), a critical biography by Kenneth C. Kaleta.

FlatSigned Press Alleges Don Imus Remarks Damage Legacy of President Gerald R. Ford
NEW YORK, N.Y. -- Nathan Yungerberg, an accomplished model scout and professional child photographer is launching a nation-wide casting call to find the cover model for his highly anticipated book release, 'The Model Child: A Parents Guide to the Child Modeling Industry' (ISBN: 978-0-9817018-0-6).

Books: The American Woman\'s Home

C >> Catherine E. Beecher and Harriet Beecher Stowe >> The American Woman\'s Home




Florence Nightingale writes: "Second only to fresh air in importance
for the sick is light. Not only daylight but direct sunlight is
necessary to speedy recovery, except in a small number of cases.
Instances, almost endless, could be given where, in dark wards, or
wards with only northern exposure, or wards with borrowed light, even
when properly ventilated, the sick could not be, by any means, made
speedily to recover."

In the prevalence of cholera, it was invariably the case that deaths
were more numerous in shaded streets or in houses having only northern
exposures than in those having sunlight. Several physicians have stated
to the writer that, in sunny exposures, women after childbirth gained
strength much faster than those excluded from sunlight. In the writer's
experience, great nervous debility has been always immediately lessened
by sitting in the sun, and still more by lying on the earth and in
open air, a blanket beneath, and head and eyes protected, under the
direct rays of the sun.

Some facts in physiology and natural philosophy have a bearing on this
subject. It seems to be settled that the red color of blood is owing
to iron contained in the red blood-cells, while it is established as
a fact that the sun's rays are metallic, having "vapor of iron" as one
element. It is also true that want of light causes a diminution of the
red and an increase of the imperfect white blood-cells, and that this
sometimes results in a disease called _leucoemia_, while all who
live in the dark have pale and waxy skins, and flabby, weak muscles.
Thus it would seem that it is the sun that imparts the iron and color
to the blood. These things being so, the customs of society that bring
sleeping hours into daylight, and working and study hours into the
night, are direct violations of the laws of health. The laws of health
are the laws of God, and "sin is the transgression of law."

To this we must add the great neglect of economy as well as health in
substituting unhealthful gaslight, poisonous, anthracite warmth, for
the life-giving light and warmth of the sun. Millions and millions
would be saved to this nation in fuel and light, as well as in health,
by returning to the good old ways of our forefathers, to rise with the
sun, and retire to rest "when the bell rings for nine o'clock."

The observations of medical men, whose inquiries have been directed
to this point, have decided that from six to eight hours is the amount
of sleep demanded by persons in health. Some constitutions require as
much as eight, and others no more than six hours of repose. But eight
hours is the maximum for all persons in ordinary health, with ordinary
occupations. In cases of extra physical exertions, or the debility of
disease, or a decayed constitution, more than this is required. Let
eight hours, then, be regarded as the ordinary period required for
sleep by an industrious people like the Americans.

It thus appears that the laws of our political condition, the laws ofthe
natural world, and the constitution of our bodies, alike demand
that we rise with the light of day to prosecute our employments, and
that we retire in time for the requisite amount of sleep.

In regard to the effects of protracting the time spent in repose, many
extensive and satisfactory investigations have been made. It has been
shown that, during sleep, the body perspires most freely, while yet
neither food nor exercise are ministering to its wants. Of course, if
we continue our slumbers beyond the time required to restore the body
to its usual vigor, there is an unperceived undermining of the
constitution, by this protracted and debilitating exhalation. This
process, in a course of years, readers the body delicate and less able
to withstand disease, and in the result shortens life. Sir John
Sinclair, who has written a large work on the Causes of Longevity,
states, as one result of his extensive investigations, that he has
never yet heard or read of a single case of great longevity where the
individual was not an early riser. He says that he has found cases in
which the individual has violated some one of all the other laws of
health, and yet lived to great age; but never a single instance in
which any constitution has withstood that undermining consequent on
protracting the hours of repose beyond the demands of the system.

Another reason for early rising is, that it is indispensable to a
systematic and well-regulated family. At whatever hour the parents
retire, children and domestics, wearied by play or labor, must retire
early. Children usually awake with the dawn of light, and commence
their play, while domestics usually prefer the freshness of morning
for their labors. If, then, the parents rise at a late hour, they
either induce a habit of protracting sleep in their children and
domestics, or else the family are up, and at their pursuits, while
their supervisors are in bed.

Any woman who asserts that her children and domestics, in the first
hours of day, when their spirits are freshest, will be as well regulated
without her presence as with it, confesses that which surely is little
for her credit. It is believed that any candid woman, whatever may be
her excuse for late rising, will concede that if she could rise early
it would be for the advantage of her family. A late breakfast puts
back the work, through the whole day, for every member of a family;
and if the parents thus occasion the loss of an hour or two to each
individual who, but for their delay in the morning, would be usefully
employed, they alone are responsible for all this waste of time.

But the practice of early rising has a relation to the general interests
of the social community, as well as to that of each distinct family.
All that great portion of the community who are employed in business
and labor find it needful to rise early; and all their hours of meals,
and their appointments for business or pleasure, must be accommodated
to these arrangements. Now, if a small portion of the community
establish very different hours, it makes a kind of jostling in all the
concerns and interests of society. The various appointments for the
public, such as meetings, schools, and business hours, must be
accommodated to the mass, and not to individuals. The few, then, who
establish domestic habits at variance with the majority, are either
constantly interrupted in their own arrangements, or else are
interfering with the rights and interests of others. This is exemplified
in the case of schools. In families where late rising is practiced,
either hurry, irregularity, and neglect are engendered in the family,
or else the interests of the school, and thus of the community, are
sacrificed. In this, and many other matters, it can be shown that the
well-being of the bulk of the people is, to a greater or less extent,
impaired by this self-indulgent practice. Let any teacher select the
unpunctual scholars--a class who most seriously interfere with the
interests of the school--and let men of business select those who cause
them most waste of time and vexation, by unpunctuality; and it will
be found that they are generally among the late risers, and rarely
among those who rise early. Thus, late rising not only injures the
person and family which indulge in it, but interferes with the rights
and convenience of the community; while early rising imparts
corresponding benefits of health, promptitude, vigor of action, economy
of time, and general effectiveness both to the individuals who practice
it and to the families and community of which they are a part.




CHAPTER XV.

DOMESTIC MANNERS.

Good manners are the expressions of benevolence in personal intercourse,
by which we endeavor to promote the comfort and enjoyment of others,
and to avoid all that gives needless uneasiness. It is the exterior
exhibition of the divine precept, which requires us to do to others
as we would that they should do to us. It is saying, by our deportment,
to all around, that we consider their feelings, tastes, and
conveniences, as equal in value to our own.

Good manners lead us to avoid all practices which offend the taste of
others; all unnecessary violations of the conventional rules of
propriety; all rude and disrespectful language and deportment; and all
remarks which would tend to wound the feelings of others.

There is a serious defect in the manners of the American people,
especially among the descendants of the Puritan settlers of New England,
which can never be efficiently remedied, except in the domestic circle,
and during early life. It is a deficiency in the free expression of
kindly feelings and sympathetic emotions, and a want of courtesy in
deportment. The causes which have led to this result may easily be
traced.

The forefathers of this nation, to a wide extent, were men who were
driven from their native land by laws and customs which they believed
to be opposed both to civil and religious freedom. The sufferings they
were called to endure, the subduing of those gentler feelings which
bind us to country, kindred, and home; and the constant subordination
of the passions to stern principle, induced characters of great firmness
and self-control. They gave up the comforts and refinements of a
civilized country, and came as pilgrims to a hard soil, a cold clime,
and a heathen shore. They were continually forced to encounter danger,
privations, sickness, loneliness, and death; and all these their
religion taught them to meet with calmness, fortitude, and submission.
And thus it became the custom and habit of the whole mass, to repress
rather than to encourage the expression of feeling.

Persons who are called to constant and protracted suffering and
privation are forced to subdue and conceal emotion; for the free
expression of it would double their own suffering, and increase the
sufferings of others. Those, only, who are free from care and anxiety,
and whose minds are mainly occupied by cheerful emotions, are at full
liberty to unveil their feelings.

It was under such stern and rigorous discipline that the first children
in New England were reared; and the manners and habits of parents are
usually, to a great extent, transmitted to children. Thus it comes to
pass, that the descendants of the Puritans, now scattered over every
part of the nation, are predisposed to conceal the gentler emotions,
while their manners are calm, decided, and cold, rather than free and
impulsive. Of course, there are very many exceptions to these
predominating characteristics.

Other causes to which we may attribute a general want of courtesy in
manners are certain incidental results of our domestic institutions.
Our ancestors and their descendants have constantly been combating the
aristocratic principle which would exalt one class of men at the expense
of another. They have had to contend with this principle, not only in
civil but in social life. Almost every American, in his own person as
well as in behalf of his class, has had to assume and defend the main
principle of democracy--that every man's feelings and interests are
equal in value to those of every other man. But, in doing this, there
has been some want of clear discrimination. Because claims based on
distinctions of mere birth, fortune, or position, were found to be
injurious, many have gone to the extreme of inferring that all
distinctions, involving subordinations, are useless. Such would
wrongfully regard children as equals to parents, pupils to teachers,
domestics to their employers, and subjects to magistrates--and that,
too, in all respects.

The fact that certain grades of superiority and subordination are
needful, both for individual and public benefit, has not been clearly
discerned; and there has been a gradual tendency to an extreme of the
opposite view which has sensibly affected our manners. All the
proprieties and courtesies which depend on the recognition of the
relative duties of superior and subordinate have been warred upon; and
thus we see, to an increasing extent, disrespectful treatment of
parents, by children; of teachers, by pupils; of employers, by
domestics; and of the aged, by the young. In all classes and circles,
there is a gradual decay in courtesy of address.

In cases, too, where kindness is rendered, it is often accompanied
with a cold, unsympathizing manner, which greatly lessens its value;
while kindness or politeness is received in a similar style of coolness,
as if it were but the payment of a just due.

It is owing to these causes that the American people, especially the
descendants of the Puritans, do not do themselves justice. For, while
those who are near enough to learn their real character and feelings
can discern the most generous impulses, and the most kindly sympathies,
they are often so veiled behind a composed and indifferent demeanor,
as to be almost entirely concealed from strangers.

These defects in our national manners it especially falls to the care
of mothers, and all who have charge of the young, to rectify; and if
they seriously undertake the matter, and wisely adapt means to ends,
these defects will be remedied. With reference to this object, the
following ideas are suggested.

The law of Christianity and of democracy, which teaches that all men
are born equal in rights, and that their interests and feelings should
be regarded as of equal value, seems to be adopted in aristocratic
circles, with exclusive reference to the class in which the individual
moves. The courtly gentleman addresses all of his own class with
politeness and respect; and in all his actions, seems to allow that
the feelings and convenience of these others are to be regarded the
same as his own. But his demeanor to those of inferior station is not
based on the same rule.

Among those who make up aristocratic circles, such as are above them
are deemed of superior, and such as are below of inferior, value. Thus,
if a young, ignorant, and vicious coxcomb happens to have been born
a lord, the aged, the virtuous, the learned, and the well-bred of
another class must give his convenience the precedence, and must address
him in terms of respect. So sometimes, when a man of "noble birth" is
thrown among the lower classes, he demeans himself in a style which,
to persons of his own class, would be deemed the height of assumption
and rudeness.

Now, the principles of democracy require that the same courtesy which
we accord to our own circle shall be extended to every class and
condition; and that distinctions of superiority and subordination shall
depend, not on accidents of birth, fortune, or occupation, but solely
on those mutual relations which the good of all classes equally require.
The distinctions demanded in a democratic state are simply those which
result from relations that are common to every class, and are for the
benefit of all.

It is for the benefit of every class that children be subordinate to
parents, pupils to teachers, the employed to their employers, and
subjects to magistrates. In addition to this, it is for the general
well-being that the comfort or convenience of the delicate and feeble
should be preferred to that of the strong and healthy, who would suffer
less by any deprivation; that precedence should be given to their
elders by the young; and that reverence should be given to the hoary
head.

The rules of good-breeding, in a democratic state, must be founded on
these principles. It is indeed assumed that the value of the happiness
of each individual is the same as that of every other; but as there
must be occasions where there are advantages which all can not enjoy,
there must be general rules for regulating a selection. Otherwise,
there would be constant scrambling among those of equal claims, and
brute force must be the final resort; in which case, the strongest
would have the best of every thing. The democratic rule, then, is,
that superiors in age, station, or office have precedence of
subordinates; age and feebleness, of youth and strength; and the feebler
sex, of more vigorous man. [Footnote: The universal practice of this
nation, in thus giving precedence to woman has been severely commented
on by foreigners, and by some who would transfer all the business of
the other sex to women, and then have them treated like men. But we
hope this evidence of our superior civilization and Christianity may
increase rather than diminish.]

There is, also, a style of deportment and address which is appropriate
to these different relations. It is suitable for a superior to secure
compliance with his wishes from those subordinate to him by commands;
but a subordinate must secure compliance with his wishes from a superior
by requests. (Although the kind and considerate manner to subordinates
will always be found the most effective as well as the pleasantest,
by those in superior station.) It is suitable for a parent, teacher,
or employer to admonish for neglect of duty; but not for an inferior
to adopt such a course toward a superior. It is suitable for a superior
to take precedence of a subordinate, without any remark; but not for
an inferior, without previously asking leave, or offering an apology.
It is proper for a superior to use language and manners of freedom and
familiarity, which would be improper from a subordinate to a superior.

The want of due regard to these proprieties occasions a great defect
in American manners. It is very common to hear children talk to their
parents in a style proper only between companions and equals; so, also,
the young address their elders; those employed, their employers; and
domestics, the members of the family and their visitors, in a style
which is inappropriate to their relative positions. But courteous
address is required not merely toward superiors; every person desires
to be thus treated, and therefore the law of benevolence demands such
demeanor toward all whom we meet in the social intercourse of life.
"Be ye courteous," is the direction of the apostle in reference to our
treatment of _all_.

Good manners can be successfully cultivated only in early life and in
the domestic circle. There is nothing which depends so much upon
_habit_ as the constantly recurring proprieties of good breeding;
and if a child grows up without forming such habits, it is very rarely
the case that they can be formed at a later period. The feeling that
it is of little consequence how we behave at home if we conduct
ourselves properly abroad, is a very fallacious one. Persons who are
careless and ill-bred at home may imagine that they can assume good
manners abroad; but they mistake. Fixed habits of tone, manner,
language, and movements can not be suddenly altered; and those who are
ill-bred at home, even when they try to hide their bad habits, are
sure to violate many of the obvious rules of propriety, and yet be
unconscious of it.

And there is nothing which would so effectually remove prejudice against
our democratic institutions as the general cultivation of good-breeding
in the domestic circle. Good manners are the exterior of benevolence,
the minute and constant exhibitions of "peace and good-will;" and the
nation, as well as the individual, which most excels in the external
demonstration, as well as the internal principle, will be most respected
and beloved.

It is only the training of the family state according to its true end
and aim that is to secure to woman her true position and rights. When
the family is instituted by marriage, it is man who is the head and
chief magistrate by the force of his physical power and requirement
of the chief responsibility; not less is he so according to the
Christian law, by which, when differences arise, the husband has the
deciding control, and the wife is to obey. "Where love is, there is
no law;" but where love is not, the only dignified and peaceful course
is for the wife, however much his superior, to "submit, as to God and
not to man."

But this power of nature and of religion, given to man as the
controlling head, involves the distinctive duty of the family state,
_self-sacrificing love_. The husband is to "honor" the wife, to
love her as himself, and thus account her wishes and happiness as of
equal value with his own. But more than this, he is to love her "as
Christ loved the Church;" that is, he is to "suffer" for her, if need
be, in order to support and elevate and ennoble her. The father then
is to set the example of self-sacrificing love and devotion; and the
mother, of Christian obedience when it is required. Every boy is to
be trained for his future domestic position by labor and sacrifices
for his mother and sisters. It is the brother who is to do the hardest
and most disagreeable work, to face the storms and perform the most
laborious drudgeries. In the family circle, too, he is to give his
mother and sister precedence in all the conveniences and comforts of
home life.

It is only those nations where the teachings and example of Christ
have had most influence that man has ever assumed his obligations of
self-sacrificing benevolence in the family. And even in Christian
communities, the duty of wives to obey their husbands has been more
strenuously urged than the obligations of the husband to love his wife
"as Christ loved the Church."

Here it is needful to notice that the distinctive duty of obedience
to man does not rest on women who do not enter the relations of married
life. A woman who inherits property, or who earns her own livelihood,
can institute the family state, adopt orphan children and employ
suitable helpers in training them; and then to her will appertain the
authority and rights that belong to man as the head of a family. And
when every woman is trained to some self-supporting business, she will
not be tempted to enter the family state as a subordinate, except by
that love for which there is no need of law.

These general principles being stated, some details in regard to
domestic manners will be enumerated. In the first place, there should
be required in the family a strict attention to the rules of precedence,
and those modes of address appropriate to the various relations to be
sustained. Children should always be required to offer their superiors,
in age or station, the precedence in all comforts and conveniences,
and always address them in a respectful tone and manner. The custom
of adding, "Sir," or "Ma'am," to "Yes," or "No," is valuable, as a
perpetual indication of a respectful recognition of superiority. It
is now going out of fashion, even among the most well bred people;
probably from a want of consideration of its importance. Every remnant
of courtesy of address, in our customs, should be carefully cherished,
by all who feel a value for the proprieties of good breeding.

If parents allow their children to talk to them, and to the grown
persons in the family, in the same style in which they address each
other, it will be in vain to hope for the courtesy of manner and tone
which good breeding demands in the general intercourse of society. In
a large family, where the elder children are grown up, and the younger
are small, it is important to require the latter to treat the elder
in some sense as superiors. There are none so ready as young children
to assume airs of equality; and if they are allowed to treat one class
of superiors in age and character disrespectfully, they will soon use
the privilege universally. This is the reason, why the youngest children
of a family are most apt to be pert, forward, and unmannerly.

Another point to be aimed at is, to require children always to
acknowledge every act of kindness and attention, either by words or
manner. If they are so trained as always to make grateful
acknowledgments, when receiving favors, one of the objectionable
features in American manners will be avoided.

Again, children should be required to ask leave, whenever they wish
to gratify curiosity, or use an article which belongs to another. And
if cases occur, when they can not comply with the rules of
good-breeding, as, for instance, when they must step between a person
and the fire, or take the chair of an older person, they should be
taught either to ask leave, or to offer an apology.

There is another point of good-breeding, which can not, in all cases,
be understood and applied by children in its widest extent. It is that
which requires us to avoid all remarks which tend to embarrass, vex,
mortify, or in any way wound the feelings of another. To notice personal
defects; to allude to others' faults, or the faults of their friends;
to speak disparagingly of the sect or party to which a person belongs;
to be inattentive when addressed in conversation; to contradict flatly;
to speak in contemptuous tones of opinions expressed by another; all
these are violations of the rules of good-breeding, which children
should be taught to regard. Under this head comes the practice of
whispering and staring about, when a teacher, or lecturer, or clergyman
is addressing a class or audience. Such inattention is practically
saying that what the person is uttering is not worth attending to; and
persons of real good-breeding always avoid it. Loud talking and laughing
in a large assembly, even when no exercises are going on; yawning and
gaping in company; and not looking in the face a person who is
addressing you, are deemed marks of ill-breeding.