ss implies much more than politeness, for very often the most faultless politeness may be associated with effeminacy, and an effeminate boy cannot be manly. He may be very careful to raise his hat to a lady and to give up his seat in the street-car, but he may betray manners the very opposite to true manliness as he holds on to the strap.
In the public hall of the great school of Marlborough College, England, are inscribed the lines of Emerson:
So nigh is grandeur to our dust,
The manly youth rises to every occasion with generosity, magnanimity, and with a superiority to everything that is mean, little, contemptible, and paltry. "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man I put away childish things."
The manly boy is not born with a silver spoon in his mouth. He grows right on from the cradle to the development of youth. Taught to be a "little man" by his mother, respected as a "little man" by his sisters, treated as a "little man" by the servants and dependents, the boy of thirteen is quite ready for a father's instructions and explanations of all that implies manhood. He considers not only lying, but shuffling and dishonest excuses, contemptible and wicked. He is kind to his companions, being fully conscious of his own faults and failings. He is always true to his word and his promise. His moral courage and independence of character are always chastened with humility. He is a true knight errant with all the traditions of chivalry, whether he is the son of a millionaire or wheels a wheelbarrow. This is the stuff of which true citizens are made, for heroism begins at home.
We can highly recommend "Contented John" and that delightful "Hardy Tin Soldier" in Volume I. There are many manly heroes in Volume II - "Cadmus," "Perseus," "Theseus," "Hercules," and "Siegfried." Chapter III of "The Cid" in Volume III is a perfect lesson in manliness; in that same volume very little folks will appreciate "Defending the Fort." In Volume IV "Wee Willie Winkie" is one of the finest stories of its kind ever written. Turning to real life, read "Nathan Hale" and "Sir Philip Sidney" in Volume VII, and of course "George Washington" in Volume IX. The "Athletics and Health" division in Volume X will be of prime importance in helping to form the character of any boy. Among poems memorize "Casabianca" and Lowell's tribute to Abraham Lincoln in Volume XI. Poems in the section of "Wars and Battles" should also serve to good purpose.