Talent makes a man respectable: tact makes him respected.

Talent is wealth: tact is ready-money." The difference between a man of quick tact and of no tact whatever was exemplified in an interview which once took place between Lord Palmerston and Mr.Behnes, the sculptor.

At the last sitting which Lord Palmerston gave him, Behnes opened the conversation with--"Any news, my Lord, from France?
How do we stand with Louis Napoleon ?" The Foreign Secretary raised his eyebrows for an instant, and quietly replied, "Really, Mr.Behnes, I don't know: I have not seen the newspapers!" Poor Behnes, with many excellent qualities and much real talent, was one of the many men who entirely missed their way in life through want of tact.
Such is the power of manner, combined with tact, that Wilkes, one of the ugliest of men, used to say, that in winning the graces of a lady, there was not more than three days' difference between him and the handsomest man in England.
But this reference to Wilkes reminds us that too much importance must not be attached to manner, for it does not afford any genuine test of character.

The well-mannered man may, like Wilkes, be merely acting a part, and that for an immoral purpose.

Manner, like other fine arts, gives pleasure, and is exceedingly agreeable to look upon; but it may be assumed as a disguise, as men "assume a virtue though they have it not." It is but the exterior sign of good conduct, but may be no more than skin-deep.