English essays; Great Britain -- Social life and customs
But, though a special divinity always hedged, as it still hedges,
the travels of an Eldest Son, the more modest journeyings of his
parents were not accomplished without considerable form and fuss.
Lord and Lady Proudflesh or Mr. and Mrs. Goldmore travelled all over
Europe in their own carriage. It was planted bodily on the deck of the
steamer, so that its privileged occupants could endure the torments
of the crossing in dignified seclusion; and, when once the solid
shore of the Continent was safely reached, it was drawn by an endless
succession of post-horses, ridden by postillions, with the valet and
maid (like those who pertained to Sir Leicester and Lady Dedlock)
"affectionate in the rumble." The inside of the carriage was a miracle
of ingenuity. Space was economized with the most careful art, and all
the appliances of travel--looking-glasses and luncheon-baskets, lamps
and maps, newspapers and books--were bestowed in their peculiar and
appropriate corners. I possess a "dining equipage" which made the
tour of Europe not once but often in the service of a Diplomatist.
It is shaped something like a large egg, and covered with shagreen.
It contains a tumbler, a sandwich-box, and a silver-handled knife,
fork, and spoon; the handle of each of these tools unscrews, and in
their hollow interiors the Diplomatist carried his salt, sugar, and
pepper. On the roof of the carriage was the more substantial luggage. A
travelling-bath, though not unknown, was rather an exceptional luxury,
and, according to our modern notions, it was painfully small. A silver
tub which sufficed for the ablutions of the great Duke of Marlborough
through the campaigns which changed the face of Europe now serves as a
rose-bowl at the banquets of Spencer House.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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