The Servants Wait As Slowly
As Their Mistresses Carve.
The young women here, as well as in Sweden, have commonly bad teeth,
which I attribute to the same causes.
They are fond of finery, but
do not pay the necessary attention to their persons, to render
beauty less transient than a flower, and that interesting expression
which sentiment and accomplishments give seldom supplies its place.
The servants have, likewise, an inferior sort of food here, but
their masters are not allowed to strike them with impunity. I might
have added mistresses, for it was a complaint of this kind brought
before the mayor which led me to a knowledge of the fact.
The wages are low, which is particularly unjust, because the price
of clothes is much higher than that of provision. A young woman,
who is wet nurse to the mistress of the inn where I lodge, receives
only twelve dollars a year, and pays ten for the nursing of her own
child. The father had run away to get clear of the expense. There
was something in this most painful state of widowhood which excited
my compassion and led me to reflections on the instability of the
most flattering plans of happiness, that were painful in the
extreme, till I was ready to ask whether this world was not created
to exhibit every possible combination of wretchedness. I asked
these questions of a heart writhing with anguish, whilst I listened
to a melancholy ditty sung by this poor girl.
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