Punctuality

New Zealand Tablet, 1 October 1908, Page 9

Punctuality

Louis XVIII. was, for an easy-going day and court, a stickler for punctuality, and described it as ' the politeness of kings.' King Edward possesses this form of royal politeness in an eminent degree. In the case of ' the great Duke ' (Marlborough) manners may be truly said to have made the man. But Nelson, who was move than the Maryborough of the ocean wave, once declared that the thing -which made him was that, all his ute, he was ready a quarter of an hour before the appointed time. 'If,' says Max O'Relt in his book of confidences, Between Ourselves (1902), « if some men whom I know were to say to me, " On August 10, 1903, I shall be with you at twenty minutes past four," I should never think of reminding them ; I know they would be there. These men are all successful; this quality is essential to success in all the pursuits of life. The reliable — absolutely reliable — man is the one who is wanted everywhere. . . Punctuality and consideration for other people's feelings are the two noblest attributes of the perfect gentleman and of the perfect lady. . -. For punctuality, bring up your children in military style; teach them that one minute past ten o'clock is not ten o'clock. If you succeed, you will have done them a much better turn than if you had loaded them with all that has been written in Greek and Latin. As for the dear wife of your bosom, teach "her punctuality at her own expense. If she comes late when you have given her an appoint- ' ment, don't make a scene, don't scold, don't sulk, don't bore her. Look pleasant all the time, as if you were always happy to have her, early or late. - Next time go without her. ' * Our boys would do well to paste these punctuality counsels into their hats. Householders might advantageously frame and glaze them and hang them up where they may be read by all— especially by the laggards whose religion hangs so loosely upon them that they are behindhand with their appointment with the King of Kings when the Sunday morning smiles. Strange, indeed, that the very people who are never late for football " match or picnic train, come lumbering to Mass with serene and * leisured pace, Sunday after Sunday, when only by a generous interpretation of the Church's law— if at all— they are able to fulfil the most sacred obligation of the Lord's day.