Mr. Lacey on the Charges of Innkeepers, &;c. 



1823.] 



regard to results governed by the keeper, 

 chances of cards and dice! 



Common Sense 



311 



N.B.— Thougli the icitihcrafl of that mi- 

 serable philosophy, which is still (aught in 

 our universities, and honoured in our 

 scientific institutions, tends to confirm the 

 faith of the educated in causation, contrary 

 to reason and the laws of mechanics ; yet 

 the credulity of human nature in general 

 is fostered by the transforming powers of 

 harlequin's wand, and the other fascinating 

 food of superstition, intrmliiced on the 

 stage. Even the idioms of our language, 

 and half our common-place phraseology, 

 are debased by admitted miracles, all in 

 the spirit of witclicraft, and introduced 

 into it in the age of Shakspeare and New- 

 ton, when witchcraft and conjuration were 

 identified with religion itself, admitted by 

 law, and questioned by no one. Yet the 

 time must come when, as a consequence 

 of these false admissions, the books and 

 compontions of the age of the first four 

 Georges must become even more obsolete 

 than the qnaint wit of the age of Elizabeth 

 and the early Stnarts. 



To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 

 SIR, 



THERE is much truth in the re- 

 marks of your correspondent C. 

 in the last Number; though I think lie 

 is somewhat in error when he takes 

 seven shillings per bottle as the ave- 

 rage price charged by innkeepers, &c. 

 for port-wine : I believe it will be 

 found that the majority of them only 

 charge six shillings; which, even for 

 a good article, is certainly a higii 

 price. But I think the most crying 

 sin of the innkeeper is the giving a bad 

 article, a mere poisonous compound 

 often, highly deleterious and injurious 

 to the health and constitution of those 

 who dare to drink it. If it were pos- 

 sible to get genuine old port-wine, I 

 do not think six shillings per bottle, if 

 the measure was tolerable, too much 

 for them to charge : for, if it has been 

 several years in bottle, wiietiier in tlieir 

 own cellars or those of the wiiic-mer- 

 chant, interest for capital must be laid 

 on; and it nmst be reeoilcetcd, that 

 the number of innkeepers anti |)ubli- 

 cans who lay wine in by the pipe arc 

 very few in comparison of those who 

 purchase it by the dozen, and take a 

 consitlerable credit : in which ease they 

 will not get good ag<;d port-wine under 

 about lifty-fdur shillings, if for that ; 

 and then six shillings per bottle is not 

 loo much for the various acconmioda- 

 tions necessarily ufl'ordtd by the inn- 



But, as I li«vo before said, 

 the difficulty is to get it good, which I 

 have so constantly found nearly impos- 

 sible in a long journey, that in despair 

 I have constantly ordered sherry, as 

 the least harmless of the two ; and in 

 this article. I must say, (with all my 

 wish that innkeepers should be paid, 

 and well paid, for the accommodations 

 given,) the imposition is infinitely 

 greater than in jjort ; for tlicir sherry 

 is generally charged seven shillings, 

 and is almost invariably half Cape: 

 but whether the innkeeper or the wine- 

 merchant is most to blame for this, I 

 cannot tell ; but such is undoubtedly 

 the fact. 



C. states that the innkeeper, who > 

 had charged him so highly for his- 

 wine, " broke forth with volubility up- 

 on the enormous expenses to which h& 

 was subject, — rent, taxes, &c." Be it 

 remembere<l, these are no trifles; and 

 they should really form some excuse- 

 for a little apparent overcharge: for it 

 has been said, many years back, that 

 man meets with his 



" Warmest welcome at an inn." 



For the last twelve months, there is 

 no doubt but the innkee|)er's greatest 

 profit has been on eatable articles, and 

 not drinkable. From three to four 

 shillings is a very general cliarge for a 

 common hasty stage-coach dinner, in- 

 dependent of beer, wine, or waiters ; 

 and tliis dinner consisting probably of 

 a couple of joints, and a pudding or 

 tart: of which he must be a good 

 trencher-man who could consume, in 

 the short space of time allowed, more 

 than a shiiling's worth ; and, as to the 

 ])oor ladies, who have picked two or 

 three mouthfuls, and are charged the 

 same, 1 have really oftin piiied them, 

 or those who paid for them: for, whe- 

 ther treated or not, it is the same thing 

 to the innkeeper. 



About the latter end of lis! siimmei-, 

 I remember taking a stage-coach din- 

 ner at an inn in Suffolk : the number 

 which sat down was eight. It was 

 what is called a cheap house, and 

 we had consequently a plain dinner ; 

 as follows: — A delicious light and ge- 

 nuine Suffolk pudding, served up first, 

 with the gravy of the meat ; a roast 

 leg of mutton of about ten pounds, 

 with potatoes, greens, bread, and 

 cheese; and we hugged ourselves at 

 the cheapness of the repast, viz. half- 

 a-crown a-liead, and sixpence lor ale, 

 of which, upon, the average, we did 

 nni drink above a iiinl a-i.icer. Lt a\- 



