Deceit frequently lurks beneath the smile and honeyed words of the
flatterers, and he who believes that the avenues to woman's heart are
only accessible by such means, proves, beyond a doubt, that he has
associated with none but the frivolous, the vain and weak-minded of the
sex. Poor, indeed, is that compliment which man pays to woman, when he
expatiates on her sparkling eyes, her flowing tresses, and ruby lips, as
though she were only a beautifully fashioned creature of clay, while he
virtually ignores the existence of those higher and holier powers which
she shares in common with man, and which make her, in proportion to
their wise and careful development, akin to the angels.
Arthur Bernard was no flatterer, it is true, but chivalrous in every
sense of the word. A keen appreciator of all that is honorable and
high-minded, he could not stoop to those petty meanesses, which too
often characterize the conduct of those who flatter themselves with the
name of =gentleman=,--a title which Tennyson forcibly describes as
"Usurped by every charlatan,
And soiled with all ignoble use.
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