I am told on good report that in the dynastic families who can afford to employ a Trusted Retainer, Man or Woman of all Work, Trusted Morals Consultant, Wise Counselor, or Secular Priest, that the advisor may become almost a member of the family. Having no personal reference point in this fabulously growing world of dynasties I wonder if Mammy in Gone with the Wind would be such an adoptive family member, only today the Serving Professional, down to the Valet, or the wet nurse, has freely chosen her or his role, however elevated or debased. Then I recalled that The Happy Tutor himself my ego ideal and role model, was a cleric in the employ of an Ancient Family, a household priest, a teacher, a disciplinarian, and a fool, to judge by the Cap and Bells pushed back on his neck in this engraving by Holbein for Erasmus's The Praise of Folly. So, everything old is new again, and serve we must, in places high or low. I would rather be whipped in the drawing room than in the stable. And if my Mistress were to adopt me, for my good behavior, and a lifetime of confidential services, I would only hope to inherit a child's portion, which would amount, to about 1/3rd of the world's wealth, of which I would be a Good Steward in my turn, employing others to Serve me Professionally. So, turnabout is Fair Play.
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