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 MongoDB Applied
Design Patterns

Rick Copeland

www.it-ebooks.info
MongoDB Applied Design Patterns
by Rick Copeland
Copyright © 2013 Richard D. Copeland, Jr. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
Published by O’Reilly Media, Inc., 1005 Gravenstein Highway North, Sebastopol, CA 95472.
O’Reilly books may be purchased for educational, business, or sales promotional use. Online editions are
also available for most titles (http://my.safaribooksonline.com). For more information, contact our corporate/
institutional sales department: 800-998-9938 or corporate@oreilly.com.
Editors: Mike Loukides and Meghan Blanchette Indexer: Jill Edwards
Production Editor: Kristen Borg Cover Designer: Karen Montgomery
Copyeditor: Kiel Van Horn Interior Designer: David Futato
Proofreader: Jasmine Kwityn Illustrator: Kara Ebrahim

March 2013: First Edition

Revision History for the First Edition:

2013-03-01: First release

See http://oreilly.com/catalog/errata.csp?isbn=9781449340049 for release details.

Nutshell Handbook, the Nutshell Handbook logo, and the O’Reilly logo are registered trademarks of O’Reilly
Media, Inc. MongoDB Applied Design Patterns, the image of a thirteen-lined ground squirrel, and related
trade dress are trademarks of O’Reilly Media, Inc.
Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as
trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book, and O’Reilly Media, Inc., was aware of a trade‐
mark claim, the designations have been printed in caps or initial caps.
While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher and author assume no
responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained
herein.

ISBN: 978-1-449-34004-9
[LSI]

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 Table of Contents

Preface. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Part I. Design Patterns

1. To Embed or Reference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Relational Data Modeling and Normalization 3
What Is a Normal Form, Anyway? 4
So What’s the Problem? 6
Denormalizing for Performance 7
MongoDB: Who Needs Normalization, Anyway? 8
MongoDB Document Format 8
Embedding for Locality 9
Embedding for Atomicity and Isolation 9
Referencing for Flexibility 11
Referencing for Potentially High-Arity Relationships 12
Many-to-Many Relationships 13
Conclusion 14

2. Polymorphic Schemas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Polymorphic Schemas to Support Object-Oriented Programming 17
Polymorphic Schemas Enable Schema Evolution 20
Storage (In-)Efficiency of BSON 21
Polymorphic Schemas Support Semi-Structured Domain Data 22
Conclusion 23

3. Mimicking Transactional Behavior. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

The Relational Approach to Consistency 25
Compound Documents 26
Using Complex Updates 28

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 Optimistic Update with Compensation 29
Conclusion 33

Part II. Use Cases

4. Operational Intelligence. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Storing Log Data 37
Solution Overview 37
Schema Design 38
Operations 39
Sharding Concerns 48
Managing Event Data Growth 50
Pre-Aggregated Reports 52
Solution Overview 52
Schema Design 53
Operations 59
Sharding Concerns 63
Hierarchical Aggregation 63
Solution Overview 64
Schema Design 65
MapReduce 65
Operations 67
Sharding Concerns 72

5. Ecommerce. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Product Catalog 75
Solution Overview 75
Operations 80
Sharding Concerns 83
Category Hierarchy 84
Solution Overview 84
Schema Design 85
Operations 86
Sharding Concerns 90
Inventory Management 91
Solution Overview 91
Schema 92
Operations 93
Sharding Concerns 100

6. Content Management Systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101

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 Metadata and Asset Management 101
Solution Overview 101
Schema Design 102
Operations 104
Sharding Concerns 110
Storing Comments 111
Solution Overview 111
Approach: One Document per Comment 111
Approach: Embedding All Comments 114
Approach: Hybrid Schema Design 117
Sharding Concerns 119

7. Online Advertising Networks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

Solution Overview 121
Design 1: Basic Ad Serving 121
Schema Design 122
Operation: Choose an Ad to Serve 123
Operation: Make an Ad Campaign Inactive 123
Sharding Concerns 124
Design 2: Adding Frequency Capping 124
Schema Design 124
Operation: Choose an Ad to Serve 125
Sharding 126
Design 3: Keyword Targeting 126
Schema Design 127
Operation: Choose a Group of Ads to Serve 127

8. Social Networking. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129

Solution Overview 129
Schema Design 130
Independent Collections 130
Dependent Collections 132
Operations 133
Viewing a News Feed or Wall Posts 134
Commenting on a Post 135
Creating a New Post 136
Maintaining the Social Graph 138
Sharding 139

9. Online Gaming. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141

Solution Overview 141
Schema Design 142

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 Character Schema 142
Item Schema 143
Location Schema 144
Operations 144
Load Character Data from MongoDB 145
Extract Armor and Weapon Data for Display 145
Extract Character Attributes, Inventory, and Room Information for Display 147
Pick Up an Item from a Room 147
Remove an Item from a Container 148
Move the Character to a Different Room 149
Buy an Item 150
Sharding 151

Afterword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153

Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155

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 Preface

Whether you’re building the newest and hottest social media website or developing an
internal-use-only enterprise business intelligence application, scaling your data model
has never been more important. Traditional relational databases, while familiar, present
significant challenges and complications when trying to scale up to such “big data”
needs. Into this world steps MongoDB, a leading NoSQL database, to address these
scaling challenges while also simplifying the process of development.
However, in all the hype surrounding big data, many sites have launched their business
on NoSQL databases without an understanding of the techniques necessary to effec‐
tively use the features of their chosen database. This book provides the much-needed
connection between the features of MongoDB and the business problems that it is suited
to solve. The book’s focus on the practical aspects of the MongoDB implementation
makes it an ideal purchase for developers charged with bringing MongoDB’s scalability
to bear on the particular problem you’ve been tasked to solve.

Audience
This book is intended for those who are interested in learning practical patterns for
solving problems and designing applications using MongoDB. Although most of the
features of MongoDB highlighted in this book have a basic description here, this is not
a beginning MongoDB book. For such an introduction, the reader would be well-served
to start with MongoDB: The Definitive Guide by Kristina Chodorow and Michael Dirolf
(O’Reilly) or, for a Python-specific introduction, MongoDB and Python by Niall O’Hig‐
gins (O’Reilly).

Assumptions This Book Makes

Most of the code examples used in this book are implemented using either the Python
or JavaScript programming languages, so a basic familiarity with their syntax is essential
to getting the most out of this book. Additionally, many of the examples and patterns

vii

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are contrasted with approaches to solving the same problems using relational databases,
so basic familiarity with SQL and relational modeling is also helpful.

Contents of This Book

This book is divided into two parts, with Part I focusing on general MongoDB design
patterns and Part II applying those patterns to particular problem domains.

Part I: Design Patterns

Part I introduces the reader to some generally applicable design patterns in MongoDB.
These chapters include more introductory material than Part II, and tend to focus more
on MongoDB techniques and less on domain-specific problems. The techniques de‐
scribed here tend to make use of MongoDB distinctives, or generate a sense of “hey,
MongoDB can’t do that” as you learn that yes, indeed, it can.
Chapter 1: To Embed or Reference
This chapter describes what kinds of documents can be stored in MongoDB, and
illustrates the trade-offs between schemas that embed related documents within
related documents and schemas where documents simply reference one another by
ID. It will focus on the performance benefits of embedding, and when the com‐
plexity added by embedding outweighs the performance gains.
Chapter 2: Polymorphic Schemas
This chapter begins by illustrating that MongoDB collections are schemaless, with
the schema actually being stored in individual documents. It then goes on to show
how this feature, combined with document embedding, enables a flexible and ef‐
ficient polymorphism in MongoDB.
Chapter 3: Mimicking Transactional Behavior
This chapter is a kind of apologia for MongoDB’s lack of complex, multidocument
transactions. It illustrates how MongoDB’s modifiers, combined with document
embedding, can often accomplish in a single atomic document update what SQL
would require several distinct updates to achieve. It also explores a pattern for im‐
plementing an application-level, two-phase commit protocol to provide transac‐
tional guarantees in MongoDB when they are absolutely required.

Part II: Use Cases

In Part II, we turn to the “applied” part of Applied Design Patterns, showing several use
cases and the application of MongoDB patterns to solving domain-specific problems.
Each chapter here covers a particular problem domain and the techniques and patterns
used to address the problem.

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Chapter 4: Operational Intelligence
This chapter describes how MongoDB can be used for operational intelligence, or
“real-time analytics” of business data. It describes a simple event logging system,
extending that system through the use of periodic and incremental hierarchical
aggregation. It then concludes with a description of a true real-time incremental
aggregation system, the Mongo Monitoring Service (MMS), and the techniques and
trade-offs made there to achieve high performance on huge amounts of data over
hundreds of customers with a (relatively) small amount of hardware.
Chapter 5: Ecommerce
This chapter begins by describing how MongoDB can be used as a product catalog
master, focusing on the polymorphic schema techniques and methods of storing
hierarchy in MongoDB. It then describes an inventory management system that
uses optimistic updating and compensation to achieve eventual consistency even
without two-phase commit.
Chapter 6: Content Management Systems
This chapter describes how MongoDB can be used as a backend for a content man‐
agement system. In particular, it focuses on the use of polymorphic schemas for
storing content nodes, the use of GridFS and Binary fields to store binary assets,
and various approaches to storing discussions.
Chapter 7: Online Advertising Networks
This chapter describes the design of an online advertising network. The focus here
is on embedded documents and complex atomic updates, as well as making sure
that the storage engine (MongoDB) never becomes the bottleneck in the ad-serving
decision. It will cover techniques for frequency capping ad impressions, keyword
targeting, and keyword bidding.
Chapter 8: Social Networking
This chapter describes how MongoDB can be used to store a relatively complex
social graph, modeled after the Google+ product, with users in various circles, al‐
lowing fine-grained control over what is shared with whom. The focus here is on
maintaining the graph, as well as categorizing content into various timelines and
news feeds.
Chapter 9: Online Gaming
This chapter describes how MongoDB can be used to store data necessary for an
online, multiplayer role-playing game. We show how character and world data can
be stored in MongoDB, allowing for concurrent access to the same data structures
from multiple players.

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Conventions Used in This Book
The following typographical conventions are used in this book:
Italic
Indicates new terms, URLs, email addresses, filenames, and file extensions.
Constant width
Used for program listings, as well as within paragraphs to refer to program elements
such as variable or function names, databases, data types, environment variables,
statements, and keywords.
Constant width bold
Shows commands or other text that should be typed literally by the user.
Constant width italic
Shows text that should be replaced with user-supplied values or by values deter‐
mined by context.

This icon signifies a tip, suggestion, or general note.

This icon indicates a warning or caution.

Using Code Examples

This book is here to help you get your job done. In general, if this book includes code
examples, you may use the code in this book in your programs and documentation. You
do not need to contact us for permission unless you’re reproducing a significant portion
of the code. For example, writing a program that uses several chunks of code from this
book does not require permission. Selling or distributing a CD-ROM of examples from
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quoting example code does not require permission. Incorporating a significant amount
of example code from this book into your product’s documentation does require
permission.
We appreciate, but do not require, attribution. An attribution usually includes the title,
author, publisher, and ISBN. For example: “MongoDB Applied Design Patterns by Rick
Copeland (O’Reilly). Copyright 2013 Richard D. Copeland, Jr., 978-1-449-34004-9.”

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If you feel your use of code examples falls outside fair use or the permission given here,
feel free to contact us at permissions@oreilly.com.

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Acknowledgments
Many thanks go to O’Reilly’s Meghan Blanchette, who endured the frustrations of trying
to get a technical guy writing a book to come up with a workable schedule and stick to
it. Sincere thanks also go to my technical reviewers, Jesse Davis and Mike Dirolf, who
helped catch the errors in this book so the reader wouldn’t have to suffer through them.
Much additional appreciation goes to 10gen, the makers of MongoDB, and the won‐
derful employees who not only provide a great technical product but have also become
genuinely close friends over the past few years. In particular, my thanks go out to Jared
Rosoff, whose ideas for use cases and design patterns helped inspire (and subsidize!)
this book, and to Meghan Gill, for actually putting me back in touch with O’Reilly and
getting the process off the ground, as well as providing a wealth of opportunities to
attend and speak at various MongoDB conferences.
Thanks go to my children, Matthew and Anna, who’ve been exceedingly tolerant of a
Daddy who loves to play with them in our den but can sometimes only send a hug over
Skype.
Finally, and as always, my heartfelt gratitude goes out to my wonderful and beloved wife,
Nancy, for her support and confidence in me throughout the years and for inspiring me
to many greater things than I could have hoped to achieve alone. I couldn’t possibly
have done this without you.

xii | Preface

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 PART I
Design Patterns

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Exploring the Variety of Random
Documents with Different Content
 As it is not possible always to avoid being either too ceremonious
or too familiar, our greatest care should be not to err on the side of
familiarity, which, the old proverb truthfully says, breeds contempt.

He that domineers over and insults those below him is sure to

cringe and truckle to those above him.

In most things it is well to follow the fashion, but in all things it is

ill to follow the fashion without discretion. The man that allows other
people to think for him in small things is incapable of thinking for
himself in great ones.

“All ceremonies,” says Chesterfield, “are in themselves very silly

things; yet a man of the world must know them. They are the
outworks of manners, which would too often be broken in upon if it
were not for that defence that keeps the enemy at a proper
distance. For that reason I always treat fools and coxcombs with
great ceremony, true good breeding not being a sufficient barrier
against them.”

The hearths of tyrannical, bullying fathers and of scolding,

complaining mothers are always the scenes of continual bickerings.
There, there is never union but ever disunion. If, in such families,
there exists any affection among their members, there is no show of
it.

If you are a father, be the companion of your children, not their

drill-master. If their love for you does not suffice to induce them to
do your bidding, the fault is yours, not theirs. Your wishes should be
their law, and they will be, if it has been your habit to affectionately
appeal to their reason, to their sense of right—in short, to their
nobler instincts.

Not only right thinking men, but wrong thinking men that are
sensible, are prompt in the keeping of their engagements, whether
of business or of pleasure.
 Be slow to make promises, but having made a promise do your
uttermost to keep your word. Every time another breaks his word
with you, resolve anew never to fail to keep yours. Bad examples
tend either to demoralize or to elevate. They elevate those in whom
the good naturally predominates.

Men of sense are often looked upon as being conceited for no

other reason than that the fools know they look upon them as being
so many donkeys.

There are many ignoble, foolish, unbred men in the world whose
policy is so shortsighted that they continually bow to place rather
than to worth. They forget that he that is up to-day may be down
to-morrow, and that no man is so insignificant that he is powerless
to do them good or harm. Such men have not even the politeness of
enlightened selfishness.

Little men in authority, as a rule, are on the look-out for small

occasions on which to show their importance, while in matters of
any magnitude they readily yield the lead to others.

The man of sense never does anything simply for flourish, to show
off, for “splurge.” He never makes presents to any one that he
cannot abundantly afford to make. He never goes to any expense
that his means do not justify. He assumes that those with whom he
associates, that he entertains, that he extends civilities to are
sensible people, and he remembers that sensible people always look
upon every kind of ostentation as vulgar.

A recent writer on the amenities of social intercourse says: “Don’t

say ‘Miss Susan’ or ‘Miss Mary.’ This strictly is permissible with
servants only. Address young ladies by their surname, with prefix of
Miss, except when in a family of sisters a distinction must be made,
and then give the name in full.” On this injunction, the breezy little
St. Louis Spectator comments, with as much sense as humor,
essentially, thus: “I think that such a rule of etiquette as this is
rather Utopian when one considers the impossibility of its practical
enforcement. Suppose, for instance, that Mr. Blank is playing whist
with three sisters of the Turtletack family, when suddenly Miss
Sempronia Turtletack asks:
“‘What led the last time round?’
“‘Clubs, Miss Sempronia Turtletack,’ answers Mr. Blank.
“‘Are you sure?’
“‘Quite sure. I led a small club, Miss Theodosia Turtletack followed
suit with a small card, Miss Elvira Turtletack played her king, and
you, Miss Sempronia Turtletack, trumped.’”
It is hardly possible that any such custom as this exists in any
circle of society in any country; but if such a custom does anywhere
exist, it is in a circle so starched and stayed that it would be difficult
for an every-day mortal to breathe in it, and so stilted and stupid
that no sensible mortal would want to breathe in it.

I go out of my way to give the following extract wider publicity, but

there is so much in it that many persons would do well to take to
heart, that I cannot resist the temptation to reprint it. I find it in Our
Continent, and it is from the facile pen of Mrs. Louise Chandler
Moulton.
“Good breeding, like charity, should begin at home. The days are
past when children used to rise the moment their parents entered
the room where they were and stand until they had received
permission to sit. But the mistake is now made usually in the other
direction of allowing to small boys and girls too much license to
disturb the peace of the household. I think the best way to train
children in courtesy would be to observe toward them a scrupulous
politeness. I would go so far as to say that we should make it as
much a point to listen to children without interrupting them and to
answer them as sincerely and respectfully as if they were grown up.
And indeed many of their wise, quaint sayings are far better worth
listening to than the stereotyped commonplaces of most morning
callers. Of course, to allow uninterrupted chatter would be to
surrender the repose of the household, but it is very easy, if children
are themselves scrupulously respected, to teach them in turn
scrupulously to respect the convenience of others, and to know
when to talk and when to be silent.
“If a child is brought up in the constant exercise of courtesy
toward brothers and sisters and play-mates, as well as toward
parents and uncles and aunts, it will have little left to learn as it
grows older. I know a bright and bewitching little girl who was well
instructed in table etiquette, but who forgot her lessons sometimes,
as even older people do now and then. The arrangement was made
with her that for every solecism of this sort she was to pay a fine of
five cents, while for every similar carelessness that she could
discover in her elders she was to exact a fine of ten cents, their
experience of life being longer than hers. You may be sure that
Mistress Bright Eyes watched the proceedings of that table very
carefully. No slightest disregard of the most conventional etiquette
escaped her quick vision, and she was an inflexible creditor and a
faithful debtor. It was the prettiest sight to see her, when conscious
of some failure on her own part, go unhesitatingly to her money-box
and pay cheerfully her little tribute to the outraged proprieties.
“The best brought-up family of children I ever knew were
educated on the principle of always commending them when it was
possible to do so, and letting silence be the reproof of any wrong-
doing that was not really serious. I have heard the children of this
household, when their mother had failed to say any word of
commendation after some social occasion, ask as anxiously as
possible, ‘What was it, mamma? I know something was wrong.
Didn’t we treat the other children well, or were we too noisy?’ In
that house reproof was never bestowed unsought—only
commendation, of whatever it was possible to commend, was
gratuitous.
“I think this system would be as good for those grown-up children,
the husbands and wives, as for those still in the nursery. I once
asked the late Hepworth Dixon, with whom I happened to be talking
on this subject, what he thought was the reason why some women
held their husbands’ hearts securely and forever, while others were
but the brief tenants of a few months or years. ‘What,’ I asked, ‘is
the quality in a woman that her husband loves longest?’
“‘That she should be a pillow,’ answered Mr. Dixon, and then
meeting the inquiry in my eyes, he went on, ‘Yes, that is what a man
needs in his wife—something to rest his heart on. He has excitement
and opposition enough in the world. He wants to feel that there is
one place where he is sure of sympathy, a place that will give him
ease as a pillow gives it to a tired head. Do you think a man will be
tempted to turn from the woman whose eyes are his flattering
mirror—who heals where others wound?’
“And surely he was right. We are grateful for even a too flattering
faith in us, and if there is any good in us at all, we try to deserve
this faith. But tenderness in the conjugal heart is much more
common than grace in the conjugal manner. Since, however, next to
that supreme good of being satisfied in one’s own conscience is that
second great good of being satisfied in one’s own home, surely no
details of manner that tend to such a result are too slight to be
observed. I believe in making as pretty a toilet to greet the returning
husband as one put on to await the expected sweetheart; and, when
the husband comes, he makes a mistake very fatal to his own
interests if he fails to notice what he would have praised in other
days. It is a trite saying that life is made up of trifles; but surely the
sum of all these domestic trifles amounts to the difference between
happiness and unhappiness.”

If you are the head of a family, be slow to assert your authority;

remember that about the most disgusting creature on earth is the
domestic tyrant. As we start so we are likely to continue; if a man
starts as a domestic bully, as a domestic bully he is likely to continue
to the end, making himself unhappy and those about him unhappy
his life long. “Half of us find fault from habit; but some of us, we
fear, do so from an inborn ugliness of disposition.”
 The manner of others toward us is usually the reflex of our manner
toward them. As men have howled into the wood so it has ever
howled out.

Beneath the habitually gentlemanly demeanor of many men—yes,

very many—there lurks a spirit of bullyism that seems to avail itself
of every pretext to appear on the surface. Men that are thus afflicted
are ever ready for an altercation, in order, it would seem, to show
their familiarity with the ways and the peculiar phraseology of the
braggart and brawler. Such men always say that they are gentlemen,
and gentlemen always say that such men are blackguards.

Forwardness, especially in the youthful, is something to be carefully

guarded against. The man, old or young, whose manner is forward
and “loud” is never a welcome addition to a social circle. The
forward and loud are generally as inane as they are noisy. If one
observes them, one often finds that what they say is but an
elaboration of thoughts already expressed by other members of the
company.

If forwardness is a thing to be avoided, diffidence is not less a

thing that should be cured. Each is alike proof of a lack of breeding.
Diffidence can be thoroughly cured only by acquiring the polite
accomplishments, of those in whose society one feels
uncomfortable. The boor, unless he is a downright blockhead, never
feels at ease in the society of the cultured.

Good manners go far toward supplying the want of good looks.

They constitute the secret of that fascination that we often see
exerted by persons that are not gifted with physical attractions.

Maxims of Stephen Allen, Mayor of New York City from 1821 to

1823:
“Never be idle.
 “If your hands cannot be usefully employed, attend to the
cultivation of your mind.
“Always speak the truth.
“Make few promises.
“Live up to your engagements.
“Keep your own secrets, if you have any.
“When you speak to a person, look him in the face.
“Good company and good conversation are the very sinews of
virtue.
“Good character[A] is above all things else.
“Your character[A] cannot be essentially injured except by your
own acts.
“If any one speaks evil of you, let your life be so that no one will
believe him.
“Drink no kind of intoxicating liquors.
“Ever live, misfortune excepted, within your income.
“When you retire to bed, think over what you have done during
the day.
“Make no haste to be rich.
“Small and steady gains give competency with tranquillity of mind.
“Never play at any game of chance.
“Avoid temptation through fear that you may not withstand it.
“Earn money before you spend it.
“Never run into debt unless you see a way to get out.
“Never borrow if you can possibly avoid it.
“Do not marry until you are able to support a wife.
 “Never speak ill of any one.
“Be just before you are generous.
“Keep yourself innocent, if you would be happy.
“Save when you are young, to spend when you are old.
“Read over the above maxims at least once a week.”

If a man boasts that he could worst you in a set-to, answer that

you think it very likely as you have no experience in fisticuffing; that
you have never struck any one and should hardly know how to go to
work to do it.
If a man threaten to do you bodily harm, ask him if he is in
earnest. If he says he is, run. There is more glory in avoiding a
mêlée by running away than there is in remaining and coming off
the victor.
But—if the devil be on the side of the blackguard and he corners
you, teach him, to the best of your ability, that you are not really a
poltroon, though you are quite willing that bullyism should think you
one.

Mr. Sparks gives us a collection of directions that Washington

called his “Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company.” They
are as follows:
“1. Every action in company ought to be with some sign of respect
to those present.
“2. In the presence of others sing not to yourself with a humming
voice, nor drum with your fingers or feet.
“3. Speak not when others speak; sit not when others stand, and
walk not when others stop.
“4. Turn not your back to others, especially in speaking; jog not
the table or desk on which another writes or reads; lean not on any
one.
 “5. Be no flatterer, neither play with any one that delights not to
be played with.
“6. Read no letters, books or papers in company; but when there
is a necessity for doing it, ask leave. Come not near the books or
writings of any one so as to read them unasked; also look not nigh
when another is writing a letter.
“7. Let your countenance be pleasant, but in serious matters
somewhat grave.
“8. Show not yourself glad at the misfortune of another, though he
be your enemy.
“9. They that are in dignity or in office have in all places
precedency; but while they are young, they ought to respect those
that are their equals in birth or other qualities, though they have no
public charge.
“10. It is good manners to prefer those to whom we speak before
ourselves, especially if they be above us, with whom in no sort we
ought to begin.
“11. Let your discourse with men of business be short and
comprehensive.
“12. In visiting the sick do not presently play the physician if you
be not knowing therein.
“13. In writing or speaking give to every person his due title
according to his degree and the custom of the place.
“14. Strive not with your superiors in argument, but always submit
your judgment to others with modesty.
“15. Undertake not to teach your equal in the art he himself
possesses; it savors of arrogancy.
“16. When a man does all he can, though it succeeds not well,
blame not him that did it.
“17. Being constrained to advise or to reprehend any one, consider
whether it should be done in public or in private, presently or at
some other time, also in what terms to do it; and in reproving show
no signs of choler, but do it with sweetness and mildness.
“18. Mock not nor jest at anything of importance; break no jests
that are sharp or biting; and if you deliver anything witty or
pleasant, abstain from laughing thereat yourself.
“19. Wherein you reprove another be unblamable yourself, for
example is ever better than precept.
“20. Use no reproachful language to any one, neither curses nor
revilings.
“21. Be not hasty to believe flying reports to the disparagement of
any one.
“22. In your apparel be modest, and endeavor to accommodate
nature rather than to procure admiration. Keep to the fashion of
your equals, such as are civil and orderly, with respect to time and
place.
“23. Play not the peacock, looking everywhere about you to see if
you are well decked, if your shoes fit well, if your stockings sit neatly
and clothes handsomely.
“24. Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem
your own reputation, for it is better to be alone than in bad
company.
“25. Let your conversation be without malice or envy, for it is a
sign of a tractable and commendable nature; and in all causes of
passion admit reason to govern.
“26. Be not immodest in urging your friend to discover a secret.
“27. Utter not base and frivolous things among grown and learned
men, nor very difficult questions or subjects among the ignorant, nor
things hard to be believed.
“28. Speak not of doleful things in time of mirth nor at the table;
speak not of melancholy things, as death and wounds; and if others
mention them, change, if you can, the discourse. Tell not your
dreams but to your intimate friends.
“29. Break not a jest when none take pleasure in mirth. Laugh not
aloud, nor at all without occasion. Deride no man’s misfortunes,
though there seem to be some cause.
“30. Speak not injurious words, neither in jest nor in earnest. Scoff
at none, although they give occasion.
“31. Be not forward, but friendly and courteous, the first to salute,
hear and answer, and be not pensive when it is time to converse.
“32. Detract not from others, but neither be excessive in
commending.
“33. Go not thither where you know not whether you shall be
welcome or not. Give not advice without being asked; and when
asked, do it briefly.
“34. If two contend together, take not the part of either
unconstrained, and be not obstinate in your opinion; in things
indifferent, be of the major side.
“35. Reprehend not the imperfections of others, for that belongs
to masters, parents and superiors.
“36. Gaze not on the marks or blemishes of others, nor ask how
they came. What you may speak in secret to your friend deliver not
before others.
“37. Speak not in an unknown tongue in company, but in your own
language; and that as those of quality do, and not as the vulgar.
Sublime matters treat seriously.
“38. Think before you speak; pronounce not imperfectly, nor bring
out your words too hastily, but orderly and distinctly.
“39. When another speaks, be attentive yourself, and disturb not
the audience. If any hesitate in his words, help him not, nor answer
him till his speech be ended.
 “40. Treat with men at fit times about business, and whisper not in
the company of others.
“41. Make no comparisons; and if any of the company be
commended for any brave act of virtue, commend not another for
the same.
“42. Be not apt to relate news if you know not the truth thereof.
In discoursing of things you have heard, name not your author
always. A secret discover not.
“43. Be not curious to know the affairs of others, neither approach
to those that speak in private.
“44. Undertake not what you cannot perform. Be careful to keep
your promise.
“45. When you deliver a matter, do it without passion and
indiscretion, however mean the person may be you do it to.
“46. When your superiors talk to anybody, hear them; neither
speak nor laugh.
“47. In disputes be not so desirous to overcome as to give liberty
to each one to deliver his opinion, and submit to the judgment of
the major part, especially if they are judges of the dispute.
“48. Be not tedious in discourse, make not digressions, nor repeat
often the same matter of discourse.
“49. Speak no evil of the absent, for it is unjust.
“50. Be not angry at table, whatever happens; and if you have
reason to be so show it not; put on a cheerful countenance,
especially if there be strangers, for good humor makes one dish a
feast.
“51. Set not yourself at the upper end of the table; but if it be
your due, or if the master of the house will have it so, contend not,
lest you should trouble the company.
“52. When you speak of God or His attributes, let it be seriously, in
reverence and honor, and obey your natural parents.
 “53. Let your recreations be manful, not sinful.
“54. Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial
fire called Conscience.”

FOOTNOTE:
[A] Good name—reputation—is probably what is meant here.
Calumny may injure one’s good name, but it cannot injure one’s
character.
 WHAT IS A GENTLEMAN?

Education begins the gentleman; but reading, good company, and reflection must
finish him.—Locke.

A man of polished and agreeable manners, as distinguished from the vulgar and
clownish.—Worcester.

It would be hard to find two persons that fully agree with regard to
what constitutes a gentleman. It is far easier to tell what a gentleman
is not than what a gentleman is.
For example, we all agree that the man is not a gentleman that is
ignorant of those usages that, by common consent, regulate refined
social intercourse; that does not, in his dress, conform, within certain
limits at least, to the prevailing modes; that is desirous to attract
attention by affecting eccentricities; that bears himself as though he
thought himself an object of special attention, i.e., is self-conscious;
that has no thought for the comfort, the feelings, or the rights of
others. In short, we all agree that no man deserves to be called a
gentleman that is not a man of education; i.e., that is not sufficiently
acquainted with books and with the usages of refined social
intercourse to acquit himself creditably in the society of cultivated
people. Not moral worth, nor learning, nor wealth, nor all three
combined, can, unaided, make a gentleman, for with all three a man
might be coarse, unbred, unschooled in those things that no man can
be ignorant of and be welcome in the society of the refined.
A modern English writer says that to formulate the definition of a
gentleman in negatives would be easy. “As, for instance,” he says, “we
may say that a true gentleman does not soil his conscience with
falsehoods, does not waste his time on sensual indulgence, does not
endeavor to make the worse appear the better reason, does not
ridicule sacred things, does not wilfully give cause of offence to any,
does not seek to overreach his neighbor, does not forget the respect
due to womanhood, or old age, the feeble or the poor. But, to speak
affirmatively,” he continues, “a gentleman is one whose aims are
generous, whose trust is constant, whose word is never broken,
whose honor is never stained, who is as gentle as brave, and as
honest as wise, who wrongs no one by word or deed, and dignifies
and embellishes life by nobility of thought, depth of feeling, and grace
of manner.”
Thackeray wrote of the gentleman thus: “What is it to be a
gentleman? Is it not to be honest, to be gentle, to be generous, to be
brave, to be wise, and, possessing all these qualities, to exercise them
in the most graceful outward manner? Ought not a gentleman to be a
loyal son, a true husband, an honest father? Ought not his life to be
decent, his bills to be paid, his tastes to be high and elegant, his aims
in life lofty and noble? In a word, ought not the biography of the First
Gentleman in Europe to be of such a nature, that it might be read in
young ladies’ schools with advantage, and studied with profit in the
seminaries of young gentlemen?”
Another English writer says that the primary essentials of what
constitutes the true gentleman are Goodness, Gentleness and
Unselfishness. “Upon these qualities,” he says, “are based all those
observances and customs that we class together under the head of
Good Manners. And these good manners, be it remembered, do not
consist merely in the art of bowing gracefully, of entering a room
properly, of talking eloquently, of being familiar with the minor habits
of good society. A man may have all this, know all this, and yet, if he
is selfish, or ill-natured, or untruthful, fail of being a gentleman. Good
manners are far from being the evidence of good training only; they
are also the evidence of a refined nature. They are the fruit of good
seed sown on good soil. As a just and elevated thought clearly and
gracefully expressed is evidence of a well-trained mind, so every act,
however unimportant, and every gesture, however insignificant, is
evidence of the kindly, considerate, modest, loyal nature of the true
gentleman, or—of the reverse.”
In a story by Spielhagen, the distinguished German novelist, I find
the following:
“What do you call a gentleman?” asked the Duke. “Will you give me
a definition of the word?”
“That is not so easy, my lord; indeed, I am not sure that it is
possible to define the word satisfactorily,” replied Lady De Vere. “By
resorting to metaphors, however, I may perhaps be able to outline
what we all feel, but are unable fully to describe. A gentleman is one
in whom the vigorous and the delicate are happily united. The soft,
the refined—all that comes from frequenting the society of women of
culture, lies in the ‘gentle;’ the strong, the firm, the stern—all that
comes from battling with men, lies in the ‘man;’ ‘gentle’ implies the
possession of all the social, ‘man’ of all the civil, virtues; ‘man’ is the
fiery wine, ‘gentle’ the tasteful goblet; ‘man’ is the sharp, correct
drawing, ‘gentle,’ the warm, soft coloring; ‘gentle’ might be the
Sybarite, who is disturbed by the falling of a rose-leaf, ‘man’ is the
Brutus, who as judge knows not even his own child. Pericles, the
brave, magnanimous, amiable, refined Athenian, might be offered as
an example of the true gentleman.”
In his essay in The Century, for October, 1883, on the
“Characteristics of London,” W. J. Stillman contrasts the English
gentleman with the best American type as follows:
“And it is in this very class that we find here and there that best
type of humanity, as the world knows it, the true English gentleman—
a being whose exterior decorum may be counterfeited by his
emulator, whose inmost gentleness and courtesy may be shadowed
forth in peer or peasant—who loves his kind, and feels the common
bond of divine birth, but whose most perfect union of noble demeanor
and large-heartedness can only be found where the best type of mind
has been permitted the largest and richest culture, and the
completest freedom of hereditary development in the most favorable
external circumstances. There are nobles and noblemen—men who
seem to be conscious only that surrounding men are lower than they,
and others whose illumination pervades every one near them and
brings all up into the same world of light and sweetness. The prestige
of nobility is founded on a true human instinct; occasionally one finds
an English nobleman who justifies its existence, and makes us snobs
in spite of our democracy.
“I could, I am certain, point to Americans who in every substantial
trait of the gentleman will stand comparison with any aristocrat born
—men in whom gentlehood has grown to hereditary ripeness; the
third and fourth generations of men who have cultivated on American
soil the virtues of honesty, morality, sincerity, courtesy, self-
abnegation, humanity, benevolence; men and women whose
babyhood was cradled in those influences that make what we call
‘good breeding,’ and to whom the various vulgarities of our parvenu
princes are as foreign as to the bluest-blooded heir of Normandy
fortune; and this is to me a more grateful and sympathetic type of
humanity than that of its English congener.”
In the writings of a Gallic philosopher, of a former generation, that I
lately chanced upon, I find the homme comme il faut—a man that is
pretty nearly the counterpart of our gentleman—described essentially
as follows:
At the first glance we discover in him nothing that arrests the
attention. He is simple, calm, ingenuous, manly rather than graceful,
sedate rather than animated. His manner is neither reserved nor
demonstrative, but attentive, respectful and guarded; neither
obsequious nor imperious, but calm and self-possessed. His politeness
appears in acts rather than in protestations. Though he does not
despise convention, he is not its slave; he does not allow himself to
be hampered by the unimportant, nor does he ever see a heinous
offence in a trifling breach of established usage.
His dress is an index of his character: simple, appropriate,
harmonious. The man of the world pronounces it tasteful, the man of
the people sees in it nothing that is unusual, and the man of sense
recognizes in it a certain independence of the newest mode.
 Being of those that make haste discreetly, he studies the characters
of his acquaintances before giving them his confidence. In
conversation, he is neither impatient, restless, nor hurried, and
though he is careful in selecting his words, he attaches more
importance to the matter of his discourse than to the manner. Made
to give the tone, he is content to receive it: he is wont to take as
much pains to remain unnoticed as many another takes to make
himself seen.
If he appears in a circle where he is not known, the greater number
see in him only a quiet, plain man that, despite his simplicity,
however, has that about him to which they involuntarily yield their
respect. The superficial, the presuming, and the malicious, though
ignorant of the cause, are embarrassed by his steady, searching
glance; the loyal and the unfortunate, on the contrary, are drawn
toward him, feeling that in him they shall find a friend.
He is guarded in speaking ill of others, a thing he never does but
with right intentions—as, for example, to unmask a hypocrite, to
punish the guilty, or to protect the weak. In speaking of his enemies,
he never forgets to be just; he is not of those that are blind to the
virtues of even the most unworthy, nor is he of those that are so
ungenerous as to deny them.
He is temperate in sustaining his opinions, and opposes only to be
better informed, or to enliven the conversation; and often he will
suddenly acknowledge his defeat, and confess with generous sincerity
that the reasons of his opponent are better than his own. His victories
are not less noble. His aim is to enlighten, not to humiliate, much less
to offend. If he finds that he is opposed by presumption, obstinacy or
ignorance, it is his habit to yield. “You may be right,” he will say; “my
way of seeing things is often erroneous, and this, quite likely, is the
case now.”
He avoids what is likely to create discord, seeks to promote kindly
feeling among his fellows, and never pleads the faults of others in
extenuation of his own. He is slow to take offence, opposes incivility
with urbanity, and passion with moderation. Wrong-doing he accounts
a weakness, and he pleads weakness as its excuse; the wrong-doer
excites his pity rather than his hate.
He possesses, in a high degree, the happy faculty of adapting
himself to others, from whom he expects no more than they can give
and from whom he obtains the best they have. “There are few,” he
says, “in whom, if we study them, we do not find some estimable
qualities. If each has his weaknesses, so each has his virtues, which it
is for us to discover.” Herein he excels.
The same day may see him dogmatize with a pedant, reason with a
sage, shine in a social circle, console the unfortunate, contend for the
rights of humanity, and swear fidelity to the woman of his choice. He
talks trade to the shopkeeper, politics to the ambitious, perspective to
the painter, play-things to childhood, house affairs to the matron, and
probity to all. All he says bears the impress of a benign, humane
philosophy that is now grave and now gay, as the time or the place
may demand.
In nothing does his prudence more appear than in his pleasures, for
be their character what it may, they never see him overstep the limit
prescribed by decency and self-respect. That pleasure that injures no
one seems to him innocent, and that recreation that follows labor
seems to him reasonable.
Honesty with him has become a sort of instinct, which he exercises
without reflection. The possibility that he could take an ignoble
advantage, be wilfully unjust, or betray a trust, material or
confidential, has never crossed his thought.
In the management of his material concerns, he is a model. In
large expenditures he is guarded, in order that he may be the better
able to be liberal in small ones. He never is guilty of that parsimony in
little things that disgraces more than display in great ones ever exalts.
It is his special care to be discriminating in his bounties, moderate in
his expenditures and punctual in his payments. He often denies
himself the pleasures of luxury to indulge in those of benevolence. If
misfortune lessens his income, he is prompt to retrench; he knows
that the friends and acquaintances he will lose should not be
accounted veritable losses. He is modest in prosperity, resigned in
adversity, and dignified always.
If he speaks of religion, he chooses carefully the time and the
place. Whatever the prevailing belief in the community in which he
lives, he considers it as forming a part of the laws, and he respects
whatever contributes to stability and order. He attacks abuses only
and seeks to destroy only what he can replace. He takes nothing on
trust, but examines well before giving his assent; and that religion
finds most favor with him that attaches most importance to the doing
of good deeds. The man that in his eyes is the most truly religious is
he that does most for his fellows. He rejoices that beneficence is held
in like esteem by all creeds, however widely may differ their dogmas,
and that the various religions of the world repose on the belief in the
existence of a Supreme Being that punishes vice and rewards virtue.
He has the modesty to think and the honesty to confess that as so
many millions are in error, he also may err. Nor has he the
presumption, like so many of his fellows, to set himself up as an
infallible judge of others. But he pities those presuming motes that
live but an instant, come they know not whence, and go they know
not where, and yet would judge the whole by a part, and eternity by a
span, conclude that all is but the product of chance, assert that what
passes their reason is not reasonable, and deny the existence of Him
to whom millions of years are but a moment, and millions of miles but
a point.

THE END.
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G O Kingdom.
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12mo. Cloth, $1.50.
By An American, resident in the United
N E W E D I T I O N O F E N G L I S H O D E S . Selected by Edmund W. Gosse. With
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two Head and Tail Pieces from Original Drawings by Louis Rhead. 16mo. Cloth,
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N E W E D I T I O N O F E N G L I S H LY R I C S . Uniform with “English Odes.”

With nearly Eighty Head and Tail Pieces from Original Drawings by Louis Rhead.
16mo. Cloth, special design in gold, $1.50. Same, in parchment, $1.75.

T H E M U S I C S E R I E S . Consisting of Biographical and Anecdotical Sketches of

the Great German Composers; The Great Italian and French Composers; Great
Singers; Great Violinists and Pianists. Five volumes, 18mo. Bound in half white
and red sides, $3.50 per set; half calf, $8.00.

T H E H O U S E H O L D B O O K O F P O E T R Y. By Charles A. Dana. Entirely new

edition, from new stereotype plates, enlarged and brought down to the present
time. With nearly Two Hundred additional Poems. Illustrated with Steel
Engravings. Royal 8vo. Cloth, gilt extra, $5.00; half calf, $8.00; morocco,
antique, $10.00; tree calf, $12.00.

F I F T Y P E R F E C T P O E M S . A Collection of Fifty acknowledged Masterpieces,

by English and American Poets, selected and edited by Charles A. Dana and
Rossiter Johnson. With 72 Illustrations, printed on Japanese silk paper, and
mounted on the page. Large 8vo. Bound in white silk, $10.00; morocco,
$15.00.

P O E M S O F N AT U R E . By William Cullen Bryant. Profusely illustrated by Paul

de Longpré. 8vo. Cloth, gilt, $4.00.

P U N C T U AT I O N . With Chapters on Hyphenization, Capitalization, Spelling, etc.

By F. Horace Teall, author of “English Compound Words and Phrases,” etc.
16mo. Cloth, $1.00.
“The rules and directions for the use of the various marks of punctuation are brief,
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“It seems to be one of the most sensible and practical works on the subject that
has come under notice.”—Cleveland Plain Dealer.

F RENCH STUMBLING-BLOCKS AND ENGLISH STEPPING-

S T O N E S . By Francis Tarver, M. A., late Senior French Master at Eton College.
12mo. Cloth, $1.00.
“A most valuable book for advanced students of French as well as beginners....
The book is one of the most useful of the many good books that appear on this
subject.”—San Francisco Bulletin.
 “One can hardly commend it too highly.”—Boston Herald.
“A work which will be of great help to the reader and student of French, and
which fully meets the promise of its title.”—Chicago Evening Post.

D O N ’ T ; or, Directions for avoiding Improprieties in Conduct and Common Errors

of Speech. By Censor. Parchment-Paper Edition, square i8mo, 30 cents. Vest-
Pocket Edition, cloth, flexible, gilt edges, red lines, 30 cents. Boudoir Edition
(with a new chapter designed for young people), cloth, gilt, 30 cents. 138th
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“Don’t” deals with manners at the table, in the drawing-room, and in public, with
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life, and with ordinary errors of speech.

W H cloth,
AT T O D O . A Companion to “Don’t.” By Mrs. O liverB Bell
gilt, uniform with Boudoir Edition of “Don’t,” 30 cents.
unce. Small 18mo,

A dainty little book, containing helpful and practical explanations of social usages
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E R R O R S I N T H E U S E O F E N G L I S H . By the late William B. Hodgson, LL.

D., Fellow of the College of Preceptors, and Professor of Political Economy in
the University of Edinburgh. 12mo. Cloth, $1.50.