Tour in England, Ireland, and France, in the years 1826, 1827, 1828 and 1829.: with remarks on the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and anecdotes of distiguished public characters. In a series of letters by a German Prince.Pückler-Muskau, Hermann, Fürst von
History
Tour in England, Ireland, and France, in the years 1826, 1827, 1828 and 1829.: with remarks on the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and anecdotes of distiguished public characters. In a series of letters by a German Prince.
Pückler-Muskau, Hermann, Fürst von
Great Britain -- Description and travel; Great Britain -- Social life and customs -- 19th century
If you go out, you never find a dirty staircase, nor one in which the
lighting serves only to make darkness visible. Throughout the house, day
and night, reign the greatest order and decency; and in some hotels
every spacious set of apartments has its own staircase, so that no one
comes in contact with others. At table, the guest is furnished with a
corresponding profusion of white table linen, and brilliantly polished
table utensils; with a well-filled 'plat de ménage,' and an elegance of
setting out which leaves nothing to wish for. The servants are always
there when you want them, and yet are not intrusive: the master of the
house generally makes his appearance with the first dish, and inquires
whether everything is as you desire;--in short, the best inns afford
everything that is to be found in the house of a travelled gentleman,
and the attendance is perhaps more perfect and respectful. It is true
the reckoning is of a piece with the rest, and you must pay the waiters
nearly as much as you would a servant of your own. In the first hotels,
a waiter is not satisfied with less than two pounds a-week for his own
private fees. Such gifts or vales are more the order of the day in
England than in any other country, and are asked with the greatest
shamelessness even in the churches.
I visited the bazaars to-day. These establishments have come very much
into fashion within the last few years, and afford great facilities to
buyers. The so-called horse bazaar is built on a very large scale, and
daily draws together a very motley assemblage. It includes several
extensive buildings, where hundreds of carriages and harness of every
kind, new and old (the latter made to look like new), are exposed to
sale, at all prices, in a very long gallery. In other rooms are
porcelain wares, articles of dress, glass mirrors, 'quincaillerie,'
toys, and even collections of foreign birds and butterflies, all for
sale. At length you reach a coffee-room in the centre of the
establishment, with a glazed gallery running round an open space. Here,
while comfortably seated at breakfast (in rather mixed company it is
true), you see a number of horses led out from the extensive stables
where they are well taken care of, and to which any one who has a horse
to sell may send it for a certain fee. They are then put up to auction.
When a horse is warranted sound by the auctioneer, you may buy it with
tolerable safety, since the proprietor of the establishment is
responsible for the warranty. The best are certainly not to be found
here, but the cheapest are; and to many this is a great recommendation:
perhaps a still greater is the being able to get all one wants in the
same place. There are already, as I said, several of these bazaars, and
they are worth a visit. The convenient walking on the excellent
'trottoirs,' the gay and ever-changing groups, and the numerous splendid
shops, make the streets of London, especially in the evening, a very
agreeable walk to a foreigner.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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