superior rank; they know and pay all the respect that is due to it; but they do it without being disconcerted; and can converse just as easily with a king as with any one of his subjects. That is the great advantage of being introduced young into good company, and being used early to converse with one's superiors. How many men have I seen here, who, after having had the full benefit of an English education, first at school and then at the university, when they have been presented to the king, did not know whether they stood upon their heads or their heels. [May 17, 1748.]
Vulgarity and Good Breeding at Court.—If
the king spoke to them, they were annihilated; they
trembled, endeavored to put their hands in their
pockets and missed them, let their hats fall, and were
ashamed to take them up; and, in short, put themselves
in every attitude but the right, that is, the easy
and natural one. The characteristic of a well-bred
man is, to converse with his inferiors without insolence,
and with his superiors with respect and with
ease. He talks to kings without concern; he trifles
with women of the first condition, with familiarity,
gaiety, but respect; and converses with his equals,
whether he is acquainted with them or not, upon
general, common topics, that are not, however, quite
