The politeness discussed in the last chapter finds an expression in some characteristic kinds of writing. These are the so-called minor genres (far from minor in reality) which embody in their very form something of the ideal of polite communication. There are salon genres such as the portrait or the maxim, but the three central forms are the dialogue, the letter and the essay. All of these are much beloved of French and British authors of the late seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. All are capable of embracing subjects from the trivial to the grandiose, from the commonplace to the abstruse. And in all of them the matter is poured into a specifically social mould, where the polite values of ease and unpretentiousness (le naturel) are paramount. The enemy is pedantry, dogmatic self-assertiveness. The ideal is well expressed in a fine passage from the introduction to Hume's Dialogues concerning Natural Religion:

Hume is writing about dialogue here, but his ideal marriage of study and society suits the serious essay equally well. In fact he did write a short essay ‘On Essay-Writing’ which makes similar points.