to drink first to the lady of the house, and next to the master; not to eat awkwardly or dirtily; not to sit when others stand; and to do all this with an air of complaisance, and not with a grave, sour look, as if you did it at all unwillingly. [No date, Letter 70.]
Letter Writing.—Let your letter be written as
accurately as you are able—I mean with regard to
language, grammar, and stops; for as to the matter
of it the less trouble you give yourself the better it
will be. Letters should be easy and natural, and
convey to the persons to whom we send them, just
what we should say to the persons if we were with
them. [No date, Letter 72.]
The Results of Carelessness.—To this oscitancy
we owe so many mistakes, hiatus's (sic),
lacunæ, etc., in ancient manuscripts. It may be here
necessary to explain to you the meaning of the
oscitantes librarii; which I believe you will easily
take. These persons (before printing was invented)
transcribed the works of authors, sometimes for
their own profit, but oftener (as they were generally
slaves) for the profit of their masters. In the first
case, dispatch, more than accuracy, was their object;
for the faster they wrote the more they got;
in the latter case (observe this), as it was a task im-
