Manners into Morals: What the Victorians Knew

Himmelfarb, Gertrude. "Manners into Morals: What the Victorians Knew." The American Scholar 57, no. 2. 1988.

Excerpt:

“Manners and morals”- the expression is peculiarly, unmistakably Victorian. Not “manners” alone: Lord Chesterfield in the eighteenth century was fond of discoursing to his son on the supreme importance of manners (manners as distinct from – if necessary, in opposition to – morals). And not “morals” alone: philosophers had al- ways taken this as their special province – indeed, had made it so elevated a subject that it had little to do with anything so mundane as manners.

Read more on Jstor: Manners into Morals: What the Victorians Knew