In some countries and among some people (as, for instance, in France) there is a custom that when a person meets you at the door or on the stairs he shall take off his hat and say, "Pardon." There is no reason why he should do so except that he chanced to meet you, and he thinks that perhaps he should be forgiven. We find that the sensitiveness of man's heart is so delicate that even the presence of a stranger causes a jar. But by saying, "Pardon," that uncomfortable feeling is at once removed, and, in the place of that, the good feeling of friendship is introduced.