n
their new abode, and are not crowded together pell-mell, or like papers
and books in ---- library, as I think they must be after a transatlantic
meal. As for the point of a mere consumption of food, I take it the palm
must be given to your Frenchman. I had some amusement to-day in watching
the different countries. The Americans were nearly all through their
dinner by the time the first course was removed. All that was eaten
afterwards was literally, with them, pure makeweight, though they kept a
hungry look to the last. The English seemed fed even before the dinner
was begun; and, although the continental powers in general had the art
of picking till they got to the finger-bowls, none really kept up the
ball but the Frenchmen. It happened to be Friday, and I was a little
curious to discover whether the Nuncio came to these places with a
dispensation in his pocket. He sat next to Madame de Damas, as good a
Catholic as himself, and I observed them helping themselves to several
suspicious-looking dishes during the first course. I ought to have told
you before, that one rarely, almost never, helps his neighbour, at a
French entertainment. The dishes are usually put on the table, removed
by the servants to be carved in succession, and handed to the guests to
help themselves. When the service is perfect, every dish is handed to
each guest. In the great houses, servants out of livery help to the
different _plats_, servants in livery holding the dishes, sauces, etc.,
and changing the plates. I believe it is strictly _haut ton_ for the
servants in livery to do nothing but assist those out of livery. In
America it is thought stylish to give liveries; in Europe those who keep
most servants out of livery are in the highest mode, since these are
always a superior class of menials. The habits of this quarter of the
world give servants a very different estimation from that which they
hold with us. Nobles of high rank are employed about the persons of
princes; and, although, in this age, they perform no strictly menial
offices, or only on great occasions, they are, in theory, the servitors
of the body. Nobles have been even employed by nobles; and it is still
considered an honour for the child of a physician, or a clergyman, or a
shopkeeper, in some parts of Europe, to fill a high place in the
household of a great noble. The body servant, or the _gentleman_, as he
is sometimes called even in England, of a man of rank, looks down upon a