DIGITISED MANUSCRIPTS

300} most entirely disappeared. Up to the beginning of this century gentlemen wore their fine dress with ease ; they were trained to make deep salutations, to walk and dance with grace. The greatest importance was then attached to minute points of politeness. Towards the end of the seventeenth century Lord Stair was our Ambassador in France. The French King, Louis XIV., prided himself on the perfection of the manners of his court. One day he and Lord Stair happened to leave the royal palace together, and the King, as the royal chariot drew near, mo- tioned Lord Stair to enter it first. The Ambassa- dor did so, and the propriety of his conduct being afterwards criticised in the court circle, one of the courtiers observed to the King that Lord Stair had been guilty of a breach of etiquette and politeness in entering the carriage before his Majesty. ‘No,’ said the King, ‘the Ambassador was right ; it would have been rude on his part to have disobeyed my request.’ A century ago Dr. Johnson was ridiculed for having returned the bow of a negro boy in the street, whereupon he declared that he ‘would not be outdone in good manners by a negro.’ There was much hypocrisy, however, beneath the outward polish and formality of the manners of our forefathers. Courteous as they were, their habits were gross, and contrasted singularly with their stately politeness and with the elegance of their bearing and PIRI cis anAT SORT STO