[373] “It is, in fact, almost necessary to have an inherited aptitude for the relationship involved—a relationship very similar in some respects to that subsisting between sovereign and subject. From both servant and subject there is demanded an all-pervading attitude of watchful respect, accompanied by a readiness to respond at once to any gracious advance that may be made without ever presuming or for a moment ‘forgetting themselves.’”—Booth, VIII., 225. [374] “The habits of servants in large houses and the strict observance of etiquette give rise to some very curious customs. There are three grades of servants, named ‘kitchen,’ ‘hall,’ and ‘room,’ after the places in which they take their meals.”—Booth, VIII., 229. “There is no class less open to democratic ideas than a contented servant class. Compared with them their titled and wealthy employers are revolutionists. They cannot bear change, their minds are saturated with the idea of social grades and distinctions, they will not even live with one another on terms of social equality.”—William Clarke, _Contemporary Review_, December, 1900. [375] Mercier speaks of establishments where valets and maids had themselves valets and lackeys (XI., 277), and says that generally a lackey in the upper classes takes the name of his master when he goes with other lackeys, as he also adopts his customs, his gestures, his manners, carries a gold watch, and wears lace; a lackey _du dernier ton_ even wears two watches like his master (II., 124). “The maid of a visitor ranks, of course, with the upper servants. She is addressed not by her own name, but by the surname or title of her mistress.”—Booth, VIII., 230. [376] “I have four servants in London who do the work two used to do in New York.”—American housekeeper in London. Booth, VIII., 225-230 _passim_. [377] Booth, VIII., 224. An interesting illustration of the social stratification in England is suggested by the sermons delivered to servants by the late Master of Balliol. _Sermons_, pp. vii., 348. Lewis Carroll “was always ready and willing to preach at the special service for college servants which used to be held at Christ Church every Sunday evening.”—Collingwood, _Life and Letters of Lewis Carroll_, p. 77. [378] The home for aged servants in Dresden is under the immediate patronage of the Queen. In 1892, when visited, it had accommodations for fifteen women who must be at least sixty-two years old and give proof of having been a servant before being admitted. It does not apparently differ in principle from a well-conducted old ladies’ home except that its inmates must all have been servants.