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Senilities; Or, Solitary Amusements. in Prose and Verse: With a Cursory Disquisition on the Future Condition of the Sexes
Senilities Or Solitary Amusements in Prose and Verse With a Cursory Disquisition on the Future Condition of the Sexes Author:Richard Graves General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1801 Original Publisher: T. N. Longman and O. Rees Subjects: Literary Collections / General Literary Collections / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Literary Criticism / European / English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. ... more »It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: , DELICACY OF MANNERS. Delicacy confifts in a nice fenfe of propriety and decorum in our words and actions, and a ftricl: attention not to wound the feelings of our affociates by any expreffion, or to betray a want of refpe£l by our behaviour, towards thofe with whom we converfe. Delicacy, though not a moral virtue, is at leaft a focial duty, and of great importance to render our intercourfe with each other a real enjoyment. Delicacy does not require us to flatter, or even to palliate the vices of our acquaintances, but carefully to avoid giving them pain, by allufions to any misfortunes or paft mifconducl, or to any foible or fingularity, which may happen to mark their perlbn or their character, But But delicacy alfo more particularly obliges us to be cautious not to excite any immodeft or unchafte ideas, or to fuggeft by our actions or expreffions any thing difgufling or ofFenfive to the imagination. The ancient Perfian, every one knows, thought it indecent to (pit or blow their nofe in company, or to dif- cover any other fymptom of fuperflu- ous humours, (the effect of immoderate indulgence) in the habit of their bodies. And the Mahometans, as an inftance of delicacy in another refpect, ufually fit with their arms crofs'd on their breafts, to prevent their touching any part of their body which decency requires to be concealed. How often however do we offend from thoughtleffnefs or fome ...« less