S28 GROOMS. 



can tie up flowers, and can gather in fruit; so, to the height of his mis- 

 tress's requirements, he is better than a person of loftier qualifications. 

 If any garden produce should thrive, it is hailed as the evidence of 

 Thomas's ability ; should aught totally fail, the loss is attributed to the 

 influence of the season. Thus credited for the good and shielded from 

 the bad, it is scarcely cause for w^onder should Thomas increase in fame, 

 or soon grov^^ to regard himself as perfection in the gardening capacity. 



To recompense for the extra toil of servitude, the country groom 

 takes his place at the kitchen table, and is thereby saved from many 

 temptations to which the London outdoor domestic is necessarily ex- 

 posed. He can occupy a chair before the kitchen fire when the day 

 ^nd the day's work has ended. In such places there is never any lack 

 of conversation, while the conduct of master, of missus, and of the 

 family is open to criticism. But the town groom knows nothing of such 

 enjoyments ; he may leave his horse, during the day, for the performance 

 of domestic duties, but, after dark, it is essential to his master's peace of 

 mind that the man should be thought located in the stable. 



Within the last-named place he has a solitary room allotted him, 

 which lies immediately under the slates and directly over the Qoach- 

 house. If he has a family, his wife and children have to share the one 

 small apartment, within which has to be performed the sleeping, the 

 cooking, the eating, and the washing of the home clothes, to which, very 

 frequently, is added the soiled linen of some patronizing neighbor. 

 Within such a spacious residence, devoted to so many and to such oppo- 

 site uses, a human being is expected to live and to thrive ; to be healthy 

 and to regard the place as his haven of domestic felicity. 



Scientific investigation, however, has demonstrated that a London 

 mews affords the most unwholesome abiding-place which is to be found 

 within the limits of the metropolis. With only slates above to ward off 

 the summer's parching heat, or to keep out the winter's biting frost ; 

 with the huge lungs below constantly vitiating the atmosphere of the 

 place, it is no reason for surprise if the woman soon becomes a quarrel- 

 some hag; if the children grow "fractious" imps; while the man learns 

 to shun his home, and to practice arts which are needed to supply his 

 extravagances elsewhere. 



Undermine the bodily health, and assuredly the moral principle has a 

 tendency to give way. Squalor is not friendly to the maintenance of 

 probity.- This fact is illustrated by nations as well as exemplified among 

 individuals. The most necessitous are, as a tribe, always the most dis- 

 honest; but healthy poverty does not always indicate the keenest 

 craving. The millionaire may be more greedy than the pauper. Yet 

 when want arises from a loss of health, the desires generally increaP;e ae 



