Page:The American Democrat, James Fenimore Cooper, 1838.djvu/95

Rh other hand, they who serve owe a respectful and decorous obedience, showing by their manner as well by their acts, they understand that without order and deference, the different social relations can never be suitably filled. So far from republican institutions making any difference in this respect, in favor of him who serves, they increase the moral duty to be respectful and assiduous, since service in such a case, is not the result of political causes, but a matter of convention, or bargain.

The relations between the master and the domestic servant, are peculiar, and are capable of being made of a very endearing and useful nature. The house servant, whether man or woman, fills a more honorable, because a much more confidential station, than the lower mechanic, or farm laborer. The domestics are intrusted with the care of the children of those they serve, have necessarily charge of much valuable property, and are, in a manner, intrusted with the secrets of the domestic economy. The upper servants of a considerable and well bred family, or of those who are accustomed to the station they fill, and have not been too suddenly elevated by the chances of life, are often persons of a good education, accustomed to accounts, and, in a measure, familiarized to the usages of polite life, since they see them daily practised before their eyes. Such persons invariably gain some of the refinement and tone of mind that marks the peculiar condition of their employers.

The rule of most civilized nations, is for the master to treat the servant as an humble friend. In the more polished countries of Europe, the confidential domestic holds a high place in the household, and, after a long service, is commonly considered as an inferior member of the family.