ls from Holstein and thereabouts looked very well
in it. This costume is being superseded in Hamburg to-day by the
English livery of a black frock with a white cap and apron. But in
other German cities, in the ordinary middle-class household, the
servants wear what they choose on all occasions. In most places they
are as fond of plaids as their betters, and in a house where
everything else is methodical and well arranged, you will find the
dishes plumped on the table by a young woman wearing a tartan blouse
decidedly decolletee, and ornamented with a large cheap lace collar. I
have dined with people whose silver, glass, and food were all
luxurious; while the girl who waited on us wore a red and white
checked blouse, a plaid neck-tie with floating ends, and an enormous
brooch of sham diamonds. In South Germany the servants wear a great
deal of indigo blue: stuff skirts of plain blue woollen, with blouses
and aprons of blue cotton that has a small white pattern on it. Some
ladies keep smart white aprons to lend their servants on state
occasions, but the laciest apron will not do much for a girl in a
sloppy coloured blouse with a plaid neck-tie. But these same girls who
look such slovens usually have stores of tidy well-made body linen and
knitted stockings. In England a servant of the better class will not
be seen out of doors in her working-dress. "In London," says the
Idealist in her Memoirs, "no woman of the people, no servant-girl will
stir a step from the house without a hat on her head, and this is one
of the ugliest of English prejudices. While the clean white cap worn
by a French maid looks pretty and suitable, the Englishwoman's hat
which makes her "respectable" is odious, for it is usually dirty, out
of shape, and trimmed with faded flowers and ribbons." It gives me
pleasure to quote this criticism made by an observant German on our
English servants, partly because it is true, and it is good for us to
hear it, and partly because it encourages me to continue my criticism
of German as compared with English servants. For it ought to be
possible to criticise without giving offence. The Idealist has a very
poor opinion of English lodging-house bedrooms and lodging-house
keepers, and she states her opinion quite plainly, but I cannot
imagine that anyone in this country would be hurt by what she says. On
the contrary, it is amusing to find the ills from which most of us
have suffered at times recognised by the stranger