HOW FORMS OF SALUTATION HAVE ORIGINATED. 79 



*bot, expressed a willingness to be trodden ujDon — was an at- 

 tempt to mitigate wrath by saying, in signs, "Tread on me 

 if you will." Remembering, further, that kissing the foot, 

 as of the Pope and of a saint's statue, still continues in 

 Europe to be a mark of extreme reverence ; that prostra 

 tion to feudal lords was once general ; and that its dis 

 appearance must have taken place, not abruptly, but by 

 gradual modification into something else ; we have ground 

 for deriving from these deepest of humiliations all inclina- 

 tions of respect ; especially as the transition is traceable. 

 The reverence of a Russian serf, who bends his head to 

 the ground, and the salaam of the Hindoo, are abridged 

 prostrations ; a bow is a short salaam ; a nod is a short 

 bow. 



Should any hesitate to admit this conclusion, then per- 

 haps, on being reminded that the lowest of these obeisances 

 are common where the submission is most abject; that 

 among ourselves the profundity of the bow marks the 

 amount of respect ; and lastly, that the bow is even now 

 used devotionally in our churches — ^by Catholics to their 

 altars, and by Protestants at the name of Christ — they will 

 see sufficient evidence for thinking that this salutation also 

 was originally worship. 



The same may be said, too, of the curtsy, or courtesy, 

 as it is otherwise written. Its derivation from courtoisie, 

 courteousness, that is, behaviour like that at court, at once 

 shows that it was primarily the reverence paid to a mon- 

 arch. And if we call to mind that falling upon the knees, 

 or upon one knee, has been a common obeisance of subjects 

 to rulers ; that in ancient manuscripts and tapestries, ser- 

 vants are depicted as assuming this attitude while oifering 

 the dishes to their masters at table ; and that this same at- 

 titude is assumed towards our own queen at every presen- 

 tation ; we may infer, what the character of the curtsy 

 itself suggests, that it is an abridged act of kneeling. As 



