"_Your most obedient humble Servant._"--In Beloe's _Anecdotes of
Literature_, vol. ii. p. 93., mention is made of a poem entitled _The
Historie of Edward the Second, surnamed Carnarvon_. The author, Sir
Francis Hubert, in 1629, when closing the dedication of this poem to his
brother, Mr. Richard Hubert, thus remarks:
"And so, humbly desiring the Almighty to blesse you both in
soule, body, and estate, I rest not your _servant_, according to
the _new_, and fine, but false phrase of the time, but in honest
old English, your loving brother and true friend for ever."
Query, At what time, and with whom did this very common and most
unmeaning term in English correspondence have its origin?