But whence do they obtain such magic power?
What is the secret of that almost hypnotic influence over people which we would give anything to possess?
Courtesy is not always found in high places.

Even royal courts furnish many examples of bad manners.

At an entertainment given years ago by Prince Edward and the Princess of Wales, to which only the very cream of the cream of society was admitted, there was such pushing and struggling to see the Princess, who was then but lately married, that, as she passed through the reception rooms, a bust of the Princess Royal was thrown from its pedestal and damaged, and the pedestal upset; and the ladies, in their eagerness to see the Princess, actually stood upon it.
When Catherine of Russia gave receptions to her nobles, she published the following rules of etiquette upon cards: "Gentlemen will not get drunk before the feast is ended.

Noblemen are forbidden to strike their wives in company.

Ladies of the court must not wash out their mouths in the drinking-glasses, or wipe their faces on the damask, or pick their teeth with forks." But to-day the nobles of Russia have no superiors in manners.
Etiquette originally meant the ticket or tag tied to a bag to indicate its contents.