--Vice
is not often passive; nor is there often a medium between gratitude for
benefits, and hatred to the author of them. A little mind is hurt by the
remembrance of obligation--begins by forgetting, and, not uncommonly,
ends by persecuting.
We dined and passed the afternoon from home to-day. After dinner our
hostess, as usual, proposed cards; and, as usual in French societies,
every one assented: we waited, however, some time, and no cards came--
till, at length, conversation-parties were formed, and they were no
longer thought of. I have since learned, from one of the young women of
the house, that the butler and two footmen had all betaken themselves to
clubs and Guinguettes,* and the cards, counters, &c. could not be
obtained.
* Small public houses in the vicinity of large towns, where the
common people go on Sundays and festivals to dance and make merry.
This is another evil arising from the circumstances of the times. All
people of property have begun to bury their money and plate, and as the
servants are often unavoidably privy to it, they are become idle and
impertinent--they make a kind of commutation of diligence for fidelity,
and imagine that the observance of the one exempts them from the
necessity of the other. The clubs are a constant receptacle for
idleness; and servants who think proper to frequent them do it with very
little ceremony, knowing that few whom they serve would be imprudent
enough to discharge them for their patriotism in attending a Jacobin
society.
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