Note 735 — THE LIFE OF SAMUEL JOHNSON, LL.D. (continued 4)
Reading edition
Hume said:—'The French have more real politeness, and the English the better method of expressing it. By real politeness I mean softness of temper, and a sincere inclination to oblige and be serviceable, which is very conspicuous in this nation, not only among the high, but low; in so much that the porters and coachmen here are civil, and that, not only to gentlemen, but likewise among themselves.' J.H. Burton's Hume, i. 53.