6722. POLITENESS, European.—
With
repect to what are termed polite manners, without
sacrificing too much the sincerity of language,
I would wish my countrymen to adopt
just so much of European politeness, as to be
ready to make all those little sacrifices of self,
which really render European manners amiable,
and relieve society from the disagreeable scenes
to which rudeness often subjects it. Here
(France), it seems that a man might pass a life
without encountering a single rudeness.—
To Mr. Bellini. Washington ed. i, 445.
(P.
1785)
