within our gates.
None of us admire the battered tawdry finery we see in our streets
every day, and I cannot believe that German ladies admire the shocking
garments in which their servants will come to the door and wait at
table. But though these clothes are sloppy looking and unsuitable,
they are never ragged; and the girl who puts on an impossible tie and
blouse will also wear an impeccable long white apron with an
embroidered monogram you can see across the room. In most towns
servants go shopping or to market with a large basket and an umbrella.
They do not consider a hat or a stuff gown necessary, for they are not
in the least ashamed of being servants. Some years ago they made no
attempt to dress like ladies when they went out for themselves, and
even now what they do in this way is a trifle compared to the
extravagant get-up of an English cook or parlour-maid on a Sunday
afternoon. A German girl in service is always saving with might and
main to buy her _Aussteuer_, and as she gets very low wages it takes
her a long time. She needs about _L_30, so husbands are not expensive
in Germany in that class. German servants get less wages than ours,
and work longer hours. Speaking out of my own experience, I should say
that they were indefatigable, amiable, and inefficient. They will do
anything in the world for you, but they will not do their own work in
a methodical way. A lady whose uncle at one time occupied an important
diplomatic post in London, told me that her aunt was immensely
surprised to find that every one of her English servants knew his or
her work and did it without supervision, but that none of them would
do anything else. The German lady, not knowing English ways, used to
make the mistake at first of asking a servant to do what she wanted
done instead of what the servant had engaged to do; but she soon found
that the first housemaid would rather leave than fill a matchbox it
was the second housemaid's "place" to fill; and what surprised her
most was to find that her English friends sympathised with the
housemaids and not with her. "We believe in everyone minding his own
business," they said.

"We believe that it is the servant's business to do what his employer
wants," says the German.

"You must tell him what you want when you engage him," you say. "Then
he can take your place or leave it."

"But that is impossible ... _Unsinn_ ... _Quatsch_...." says the
German indignantly. "How can I tell what I s