had passed his military "little go"--is now, under
the modification of Baronet, applicable to any one favoured by wealth or
interest or party feeling. Knighthood has so far ceased to be an honour,
that men now honour themselves by declining it. The military dignity
_Escuyer_ has, in the modern Esquire, become a wholly unmilitary affix.
Not only do titles, and phrases, and salutes cease to fulfil their
original functions, but the whole apparatus of social forms tends to
become useless for its original purpose--the facilitation of social
intercourse. Those most learned in ceremonies, and most precise in the
observance of them, are not always the best behaved; as those deepest
read in creeds and scriptures are not therefore the most religious; nor
those who have the clearest notions of legality and illegality, the most
honest. Just as lawyers are of all men the least noted for probity; as
cathedral towns have a lower moral character than most others; so, if
Swift is to be believed, courtiers are "the most insignificant race of
people that the island can afford, and with the smallest tincture of
good manners."

But perhaps it is in that class of social observances comprehended under
the term Fashion, which we must here discuss parenthetically, that this
process of corruption is seen with the greatest distinctness. As
contrasted with Manners, which dictate our minor acts in relation to
other persons, Fashion dictates our minor acts in relation to ourselves.
While the one prescribes that part of our deportment which directly
affects our neighbours; the other prescribes that part of our deportment
which is primarily personal, and in which our neighbours are concerned
only as spectators. Thus distinguished as they are, however, the two
have a common source. For while, as we have shown, Manners originate by
imitation of the behaviour pursued _towards_ the great; Fashion
originates by imitation _of_ the behaviour of the great. While the one
has its derivation in the titles, phrases, and salutes used _to_ those
in power; the other is derived from the habits and appearances exhibited
_by_ those in power.

The Carrib mother who squeezes her child's head into a shape like that
of the chief; the young savage who makes marks on himself similar to the
scars carried by the warriors of his tribe (which is probably the origin
of tattooing); the Highlander who adopts the plaid worn by the head of
his clan; the courtiers who affect greynes