The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1910-03-28
THE PERFECT SERVANT.
One Who Sees Everything. but says
Nothing.

Prom the london Telegraph
There is something very alluring about
the notion Of a faithful servant He has
been a pet character with poets and nov
elists from the time Homer drew Eu-
maeus. the devoted sWineherd. Sanch0-
Panza is one Of the worlds heroes. The
old retainers in Scott make up a whole
army. But perhaps it is better evidence
OF the way such characters appeal 70 the
great heart OF the people TO recall the
methods OF common melodrama. hot
with. How often are the horrid
Vaccinations OF the villain frustrated bv
the comic craft of the old servant. male
or female? How often is the only con-
ISOLATION Of the desolate heroine in the
affection OF the low-comedv nurse?
This sort OF thing is very popular on
the stage. but in the cold air of very
practical life it has been known TO pail
\ servant too affectionate can be rather
a nuisance. a servant too careful about
you can be more than a little tyrant.
The old retainer sometimes has too good
a memory Of the days when master or
mistress was child, and is apt TO pre-
serve the manner appropriate TO that re-
lationship But upon the whole, it IS
not such minor troubles as these which
We have nowadays to fear. In the
busting, hustling, modern world there is
little chance OF our relations with serv-
ants becoming too personal We are
much more likely to lapse into a habit
Of treating them as machines, which
they naturally repay by the same cold.
limited service a machine renders. What
is the perfect servant? We had a sug-
gestion in Nine. Stenheirs trial. when
Mariette Woln thus summed I'D the
whole duty of the world below stairs:
"A servant should see everything and
say nothing"
A good many people Will protest hastily
The command TO say nothing IS well
enough, but they have no desire to en-
courage a servant to see everything.
There is so much I'm the most respectable
life which is not intended for publication.
But If YOU want TO be absolutely private.
the only way is TO keep no servants at all.
With the least curious Of maids or men
about the house they must see much. and
if they have intelligence enough to be
good servants. they will infer deal more
Moreover, if you want TO be we'll served,
Il Is desirable that they should. We NAV
not go the whole way with Marietta. 1t
is not desirable that a servant should see
everything. Omniscience is not safe for
any human being. No one who wishes to
remain comfortable human being would
seek to possess it. But your perfect serv-
ant must know enough about you and
your ways to be able to anticipate your
wishes and your actions. That is the only
way to secure a household where every
thing runs smoothly. The admirable
Crichton Of service must know even more
than this. He or she needs an under
standing of the manners and customs
emotions and tempers of the ordinary
guests. of master and mistress. How is
this to be gained without watching the
behavior of master and mistress in COM
pany and after the company is gone? The
sad truth is that if you will have good
servants you must let them into your con-
fdence. Whether that is worth while IS a
question for the individual taste and fancy.
We are not to forget the other clause
IN this brief theory as 70 the whole duty
of servants. They are not only to see
everything, but to say nothing You sleep
better If you realize at once that this is
council of the impossible, The human be-
ing is not yet made who viii say nothing
of what amuses, interests. or annoys her.
If you suppose that your servants find
you neither annoying nor interesting nor
even amusing. YOU are to be congratulated
on a superhuman and quite useless mod
esty All you can hope for is that they
viii say nothing nasty. Provision for that
contingency is in your own hands. For
sad and cruel as the conclusion is. there
is no doubt about it: you will never get
the perfect servant till you are the perfect
mistress