Nasby in Exile: or, Six Months of Travel in England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium, with many things not of travel — John Locke — John Shaqi
Nasby in Exile: or, Six Months of Travel in England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Germany, Switzerland and Belgium, with many things not of travel
John Locke · en
It is all well enough for me, for I prefer badly fitting clothes,
desiring to keep down to the ordinary level, and not be made too
conspicuous; but it is hard upon those less favored, and who need to
reinforce nature by art.
But always bear this in mind. When you come abroad bring with you all
the clothes you think you will need, unless, indeed, you come flying
light in the matter of baggage for convenience of transit. If that is
your idea it is well, but if you come expecting to furnish yourself in
England at a less price, or to get superior styles, you will be the
worst deceived man or woman in the world. Quality considered, there is
nothing cheaper than in America, and, as for style, it is a Parisian
dandy to a Hottentot. The English tailor is the most detestable
cloth-butcher on the globe. So unutterably bad is he that I cannot
ascribe his miracles of misfits to lack of mechanical skill, or general
imbecility; there must be underlying his work a fiendish purpose and
determination. The English tailor or dressmaker must be a misanthropic
individual who has a spite against the human race, and they must have a
vengeance to wreak which they accomplish in this way.
I don't wish it to be understood that all English men and women are
badly dressed. I have seen some most charming toilettes, but on inquiry
I found that they were well-to-do people who could afford to go to Paris
to get their clothes, or those who had just returned from New York.
If you desire to be well dressed in London, take your clothes with you.
This is the parting advice of a sufferer and victim. I have paid for my
experience--I give it to my readers gratis. That is what I am here for,
and I shall discharge my duty regardless of consequences.
The next principal nuisance you meet in England is the system of
"tipping." "Tipping," be it known, is gratuities given to servants, or
whomsoever does anything for you which, in any other enlightened country
on the face of the globe, is considered an act of courtesy, or a matter
of right.
It commences the moment you leave the dock at New York. You have paid a
very large sum for your passage, enough to entitle you to every comfort
that money can buy. But there sets upon you immediately a horde of
blood-suckers who never let go, till, gorged, they drop off at
Liverpool. There is a sovereign to the man who makes your bed; there is
the chamber-maid, there is the table steward, the smoking-room steward,
the deck steward; there are collections for asylums in Liverpool; there
are collections for the man who attends to the purser's room, where a
select few are treated to a little refreshment at five in the afternoon;
there are fees for showing the machinery of the vessel; there are tips
for the Lord only knows what. The only thing free about the vessel is
the water outside, and could a scheme be devised for making you pay for
a sight of that it would be put into operation at once.