This Dutch Prejudice Often Leads Them To Toil Under The
Weight Of Some Ten Or A Dozen Petticoats, Which, With
An enormous
basket, literally speaking, as a bonnet, or a straw hat of
dimensions equally gigantic, almost completely conceal the
Human
form as well as face divine, often worth showing; still they looked
clean, and tripped along, as it were, before the wind, with a weight
of tackle that I could scarcely have lifted. Many of the country
girls I met appeared to me pretty - that is, to have fine
complexions, sparkling eyes, and a kind of arch, hoyden playfulness
which distinguishes the village coquette. The swains, in their
Sunday trim, attended some of these fair ones in a more slouching
pace, though their dress was not so cumbersome. The women seem to
take the lead in polishing the manners everywhere, this being the
only way to better their condition.
From what I have seen throughout my journey, I do not think the
situation of the poor in England is much, if at all, superior to
that of the same class in different parts of the world; and in
Ireland I am sure it is much inferior. I allude to the former state
of England; for at present the accumulation of national wealth only
increases the cares of the poor, and hardens the hearts of the rich,
in spite of the highly extolled rage for almsgiving.
You know that I have always been an enemy to what is termed charity,
because timid bigots, endeavouring thus to cover their sins, do
violence to justice, till, acting the demigod, they forget that they
are men. And there are others who do not even think of laying up a
treasure in heaven, whose benevolence is merely tyranny in disguise;
they assist the most worthless, because the most servile, and term
them helpless only in proportion to their fawning.
After leaving Sleswick, we passed through several pretty towns;
Itzchol particularly pleased me; and the country, still wearing the
same aspect, was improved by the appearance of more trees and
enclosures. But what gratified me most was the population. I was
weary of travelling four or five hours, never meeting a carriage,
and scarcely a peasant; and then to stop at such wretched huts as I
had seen in Sweden was surely sufficient to chill any heart awake to
sympathy, and throw a gloom over my favourite subject of
contemplation, the future improvement of the world.
The farmhouses, likewise, with the huge stables, into which we drove
whilst the horses were putting to or baiting, were very clean and
commodious. The rooms, with a door into this hall-like stable and
storehouse in one, were decent; and there was a compactness in the
appearance of the whole family lying thus snugly together under the
same roof that carried my fancy back to the primitive times, which
probably never existed with such a golden lustre as the animated
imagination lends when only able to seize the prominent features.
At one of them, a pretty young woman, with languishing eyes of
celestial blue, conducted us into a very neat parlour, and observing
how loosely and lightly my little girl was clad, began to pity her
in the sweetest accents, regardless of the rosy down of health on
her cheeks. This same damsel was dressed - it was Sunday - with taste
and even coquetry, in a cotton jacket, ornamented with knots of blue
ribbon, fancifully disposed to give life to her fine complexion. I
loitered a little to admire her, for every gesture was graceful;
and, amidst the other villagers, she looked like a garden lily
suddenly rearing its head amongst grain and corn-flowers. As the
house was small, I gave her a piece of money rather larger than it
was my custom to give to the female waiters - for I could not prevail
on her to sit down - which she received with a smile; yet took care
to give it, in my presence, to a girl who had brought the child a
slice of bread; by which I perceived that she was the mistress or
daughter of the house, and without doubt the belle of the village.
There was, in short, an appearance of cheerful industry, and of that
degree of comfort which shut out misery, in all the little hamlets
as I approached Hamburg, which agreeably surprised me.
The short jackets which the women wear here, as well as in France,
are not only more becoming to the person, but much better calculated
for women who have rustic or household employments than the long
gowns worn in England, dangling in the dirt.
All the inns on the road were better than I expected, though the
softness of the beds still harassed me, and prevented my finding the
rest I was frequently in want of, to enable me to bear the fatigue
of the next day. The charges were moderate, and the people very
civil, with a certain honest hilarity and independent spirit in
their manner, which almost made me forget that they were innkeepers,
a set of men - waiters, hostesses, chambermaids, &c., down to the
ostler, whose cunning servility in England I think particularly
disgusting.
The prospect of Hamburg at a distance, as well as the fine road
shaded with trees, led me to expect to see a much pleasanter city
than I found.
I was aware of the difficulty of obtaining lodgings, even at the
inns, on account of the concourse of strangers at present resorting
to such a centrical situation, and determined to go to Altona the
next day to seek for an abode, wanting now only rest. But even for
a single night we were sent from house to house, and found at last a
vacant room to sleep in, which I should have turned from with
disgust had there been a choice.
I scarcely know anything that produces more disagreeable sensations,
I mean to speak of the passing cares, the recollection of which
afterwards enlivens our enjoyments, than those excited by little
disasters of this kind.
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