from which there is no appeal, and the delinquent is for ever banished from refined society.  Any subtle observation, any well-timed silence, an " oh” uttered in an appropriate place instead of an " Ah,” secures from her, as from M. Talleyrand, a diploma of good breeding which is the commencement of fame and the promise of a fortune.  Under such an “instructress” it is evident that deportment, gesture, language, every act or omission in this mundane sphere, becomes, like a picture or poem, a veritable work of art; that is to say, infinite in refinement, at once studied and easy, and so harmonious in its details that its perfection conceals the difficulty of combining them.

A great lady “receives ten persons with one courtesy, bestowing on each, through the head or by a glance, all that he is entitled to;"[49] meaning by this the shade of regard due to each phase of position, consideration, and birth.  “She has always to deal with easily irritated amour-propres; consequently the slightest deficiency in proportion would be promptly detected,"[50] But she is never mistaken, and never hesitates in these subtle distinctions; with incomparable tact, dexterity, and flexibility of tone, she regulates the degrees of her welcome.  She has one “for women of condition, one for women of quality, one for women of the court, one for titled women, one for women of historic names, another for women of high birth personally, but married to men beneath them; another for women who by marriage have changed a common into a distinguished name; another still for women of reputable names in the law; and, finally, another for those whose relief consists chiefly of expensive houses and good suppers.”  A stranger would be amazed on seeing with what certain and adroit steps she circulates among so many watchful vanities without ever hurting or being hurt.  “She knows how to express all through the style of her salutations; a varied style, extending through imperceptible gradations, from the accessory of a single shrug of the shoulder, almost an impertinence, to that noble and deferential reverence which so few women, even of the court, know how to do well; that slow bending forward, with lowered eyes and straightened figure, gradually recovering and modestly glancing at the person while gracefully raising the body up, altogether much more refined and more delicate than words, but very expressive as the means of manifesting respect.” — This is but a single action, and very common; there are a hundred others, and of importance.  Imagine, if it is possible, the degree of elegance and perfection to which they attained through good breeding.  I select one at random, a duel between two princes of the blood, the Comte d’Artois and the Duc de Bourbon; the latter being the offended party, the former, his superior, had to offer him a meeting[51], “As soon as the Comte d’Artois saw him he leaped to the ground, and walking directly up to him, said to him smiling:  ‘Monsieur, the