commoner, the mode of address was diversified ac cording to the antiquity of his family, or the extent of his possessions; so that a stranger, who happened to be present at the levee of a great man, could, with tolerable certainty, by examining his features, or attending to the lowness of his bow, judge of the different degrees of dignity among his visitors.

Were it the purpose of the present paper, this might be traced back to a very remote period. By the Earl of Northumberland's household book, begun in the year 1512, it appears, that my Lord's boardend, that is to say, the end of the table where he and his principal guests were seated, was served with a different and more delicate sort of viands, than those allotted to the lower end. • It is thought good,' says that curious record, that no pluvers be brought at no time but only in Christmas, and principal feasts, and my Lord to be served therewith, and his board-end, ' and no other.'-The line of distinction was marked by a large Saltcellar, placed in the middle of the table, above which, at my Lord's board-end, sat the distinguished guests, and below it those of an in

ferior class.

In this country, and in a period nearer our own times, we have heard of a Highland chieftain, who died not half a century ago, remarkable for his hospitality, and for haviug his table constantly crowded with a number of guests; possessing a high idea of the dignity of his family, and warmly attached to ancient manners, he was in use very nicely to discriminate, by his behaviour to them, the ranks of the different persons he entertained. The head of the table was occupied by himself, and the rest of the company sat nearer or more remote from him according to their respective ranks. All, indeed, were allowed to partake of the same food; but when the liquor was produced, which was, at that

time, and perhaps still is, in some parts of Scotland, accounted the principal part of a feast, a different sort of beverage was assigned to the guests, according to their different dignities. The chieftain himself, and his family, or near relations, drank wine of the best kind; to persons next in degree, was allotted wine of an inferior sort; and to guests of a still lower rank, were allowed only those liquors which were the natural produce of the country. This distinction was agreeable to the rules of politeness at that time established: the entertainer did not feel any thing disagreeable in making it; nor did any of the entertained think themselves entitled to take this treatment amiss.

It must be admitted, that a behaviour of this sort would not be consonant to the rules of politeness. established in the present age. A man of good breeding now considers the same degree of attention to be due to every man in the rank of a gentleman, be his fortune, or the antiquity of his family, what it may; nay, a man of real politeness will feel it rather more incumbent on him to be attentive and complaisant to his inferiors in these respects, than to his equals. The idea which in modern times is entertained of politeness, points out such a conduct. It is founded on this, that a man of a cultivated mind is taught to feel a greater degree of pleasure in attending to the ease and happiness of people with whom he mixes in society, than in studying his own. On this account he gives up what would be agreeable to his own taste, because he finds more satisfaction in humouring the taste of others. Thus a gentleman now-a-days takes the lowest place at his own table; and, if there be any delicacy there, it is set apart for his guests. The entertainer finds a much more sensible pleasure in bestowing it on them, than in taking it to himself.

From the same cause, if a gentleman be in company with another, not so opulent as himself, or however worthy, not possessed of the same degree of those adventitious honours which are held in esteem by the world, politeness will teach the former to pay peculiar attention and observation to the latter. Men, even of the highest minds, when they are first introduced into company with their superiors in rank or fortune, are apt to feel a certain degree of awkwardness and uneasiness which it requires some time and habit to wear off. A man of fortune or of rank, if possessed of a sensible mind and real politeness, will feel, and be at particular pains to remove this. Hence he will be led to be rather more attentive to those who, in the eyes of the multitude, are reckoned his inferiors, than to others who are more upon a footing with him.

It is not proposed, in this paper, to inquire what are the causes of the difference of men's ideas, as to the rules of politeness in this and the former age. It is sufficient to observe, and the reflection is a very pleasant one, that the modern rules of good-breeding must give us a higher idea of the humanfty and refinement of this age than of the former; and, though the mode of behaviour above mentioned may not be universally observed in practice, yet it is hoped it will not be disputed, that it is consonant to the rnles which are now pretty generally established.

It ought, however, to be observed, that when we speak, even at this day, of good breeding, of politeness, of complaisance, these expressions are always confined to our behaviour towards those who are considered to be in the rank of gentlemen; system of politeness or of complaisance is established, at least in this country, for our behaviour to those of a lower station. The rules of good-breed

but no

N° 16. ing do not extend to them; and he may be esteem. ed the best-bred man in the world who is a very brute to his servants and dependents.

This I cannot help considering as a matter of regret, and it were to be wished that the same humanity and refinement, which recommends an equal attention to all in the rank of gentlemen, would extend some degree of that attention to those who are in stations below them.

It will require but little observation to be satisfied, that all men, in whatever situation, are endowed with the same feelings (though education or example may give them a different modification); and that one in the lowest rank of life may be sensible of a piece of insolence, or an affront, as well as one in the highest. Nay, it ought to be considered, that the greater the disproportion of rank, the affront will be the more sensibly felt; the greater the distance from which it comes, and the more unable the person affronted to revenge it, by so much the heavier will it fall.

It is not meant, that in our transactions with men of a very low station, and who, from their circumstances, and the wants of society, must be employed in servile labour, we are to behave in all respects, as to those who are in the rank of gentlemen. The thing is impossible, and such men do not expect it. But in all our intercourse with them, we ought to consider that they are men possessed of like feelings with ourselves, which nature has given them, and which no situation can or ought to eradicate. When we employ them in the labour of life, it ought to be our study to demand that labour in the manner easiest to them: and we should never forget that gentleness is part of the wages we owe them for their service.

Yet how many men, in other respects of the best

and most respectable characters, are, from inadvertency, or the force of habit, deaf to those considerations! and, indeed, the thing has been so little attended to, that in this, which has been called a polite age, complaisance to servants and dependents is not, as I have already observed, at least in this country, considered as making any part of politeness.

But there is another set of persons still more exposed to be treated roughly than even domestic servants, and these are, the waiters at inns and taverns. Between a master and servant a certain connection subsists, which prevents the former from using the latter very ill. The servant, if he is good for any thing, naturally forms an attachment to his master, and to his interest, which produces a mutual intercourse of kindness between them. But no connection of this sort can be formed with the temporary attendants above mentioned. Hence the monstrous abuse which such persons frequently suffer; every traveller, and every man who enters a tavern, thinks he is entitled to vent his own ill-humour upon them, and vollies of curses are too often the only language they meet with.

Having mentioned the waiters in inns and taverns, I cannot avoid taking particular notice of the treatment to which those of the female sex, who are employed in places of that sort, are often exposed. Their situation is, indeed, peculiarly unfortunate. If a girl in an inn happen to be handsome, and a parcel of young thoughtless fellows cast their eyes upon her, she is immediately made the subject of taunt and merriment; coarse and indecent jokes are often uttered in her hearing, and conversation shocking to modest ears is frequently addressed to her. poor girl, all the while, is at a loss how to behave; if she venture on a spirited answer, the probable consequence will be, to raise the mirth of the fa

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