Note 4 — ESTIMATE No. IV.
Reading edition
Do not give unusually high standing
Wages
. These should neither exceed nor fall short of the Rates which Custom has established; or, in the former case, you will make your own servants idle and extravagant, and those of your neighbours unhappy and discontented. If you do not pay the customary compensation for the service you receive, you will excite a continually rankling discontent in the minds of your Domestics, and will be harassed with those continual changes in your establishment, which will soon render Good Servants shy of engaging in it.
The best way to encourage Servants is to give them “Occasional Presents and Indulgences.” These I would not bestow in Money, but give him a pair of Good Boots or Shoes, or an Umbrella, or a Watch, according to his Diligence and Long Service: confer these Rewards, rather as given for general Good Conduct, than as for any particular occurrence, or they may be received as merited payment for an insulated piece of service.