 | The works of Washington Irving |  |
FAMILY SERVANTS.
Verily old servants are the vouchers of worthy
housekeeping. They are like rats in a mansion, or
mites in a cheese, bespeaking the antiquity and
fatness of their abode.
In my casual anecdotes of the Hall, I
may often be tempted to dwell on circumstances
of a trite and ordinary nature,
from their appearing to me illustrative of
genuine national character. It seems to
be the study of the squire to adhere, as
much as possible, to what he considers
the old landmarks of English manners.
His servants all understand his ways,
and for the most part have been accustomed
to them from infancy; so that,
upon the whole, his household presents
one of the few tolerable specimens that
can now be met with, of the establishment
of an English country gentleman
of the old school.
By the by, the servants are not the
least characteristic part of the household:
the housekeeper, for instance, has been
born and brought up at the