32.  Whispering in company is another act of ill-breeding; it seems to insinuate either that the persons whom we would not wish should hear, are unworthy of our confidence, or it may lead them to suppose we are speaking improperly of them; on both accounts, therefore, abstain from it.

So pulling out one letter after another, and reading them in company, or cutting or pairing one’s nails, is unpolite and rude.  It seems to say, we are weary of the conversation, and are in want of some amusement to pass away the time.

33.  Humming a tune to ourselves, drumming with our fingers on the table, making a noise with our feet, and such like, are all breaches of good manners, and indications of our contempt for the persons present; therefore they should hot be indulged.

Walking fast in the streets is a mark of vulgarity, implying hurry of business; it may appear well in a mechanic or tradesman, but suits ill with the character of a gentleman or a man of fashion.

Staring any person you meet, full in the face, is an act also of ill-breeding; it looks as if you saw something wonderful in his appearance, and is, therefore, a tacit reprehension.

34.  Eating quick, or very slow, at meals, is characteristic of the vulgar; the first infers poverty, that you have not had a good meal for some time; the last, if abroad, that you dislike your entertainment; if at home, that you are rude enough to set before your friends, what you cannot eat yourself.  So again, eating your soups with your nose in the plate, is vulgar; it has the appearance of being used to hard work; and of course an unsteady hand.

Dignity of Manners.

1.  A certain dignity of manners is absolutely necessary, to make even the most-valuable character either respected or respectable in the world.

Horse-play, romping, frequent and loud fits of laughter, jokes, waggery, and indiscriminate familiarity, will sink both merit and knowledge into a degree of contempt.  They compose at most a merry fellow, and a merry fellow was never yet a respectable man.  Indiscriminate familiarity either offends your superiors, or else dubs you their dependent and led captain.  It gives your inferiors just, but troublesome and improper claims to equality.  A joker is near a-kin to a buffoon; and neither of them is the least related to wit.

2.  Mimicry, the favorite amusement of little minds, has been ever the contempt of great ones.  Never give way to it yourself, nor ever encourage it in others; it is the most illiberal of all buffoonery; it is an insult on the person you mimic; and insults, I have often told you, are seldom forgiven.

As to a mimic or a wag, he is little else than a buffoon, who will distort his mouth and his eyes to make people laugh.  Be assured, no one person ever demeaned himself to please the rest, unless he wished to be thought the Merry-Andrew of the company, and whether this character is respectable, I will leave you to judge.