546 



ENGLAND 



menls that distinguish the private dwellings of the English. As these conveniences are fo. 

 hire, it is but natural, that he whose appearance denotes the most wealth, should have the great 

 est attention. The traveler who arrives in the stagecoach will not have to encounter such a 

 rush of servants to welcome his arrival as he that comes in a post chaise, and the pedestrian 

 may often be left to wait upon himself, if he is even so fortunate as to be admitted to the house. 



There is no kind of traveling more agreeable than that of posting. The traveler ma}' hire a 

 post coach or post chaise with two horses, at any of the inns. In fashion, it very much re- 

 sembles a common coach, excepting that it contains but two seats, and the body is shaped 

 like half the body of a common coach. The usual rate of traveling is about 10 miles an hour, 

 but the post boy can easily be bribed to make it 12. The post is about 10 miles, at the end 

 of which you get another establishment, which is furnished with great celerity, and you proceed 

 as before. This is a very common method of traveling among the l ich, who seldom are found 

 in the stagecoaches. The English are inclined to travel much, and the life of the higher 

 classes is almost migratory. It is passed between London, the country, the watering-places, 

 and the continent. There are, even among the yeomanry, few of an)' substance who have not 

 been at London. 



The servants at the English inns are excellent, and indeed all over England ; as it is consid- 

 ered no discredit to serve ; and as places are desirable, there is no lack of servants ; nor is 

 there in England, as in the United States, the standing topics among matrons, of the difficulty 

 of obtaining good help. At inns, the servants have no wages, and they depend for support 

 upon the liberality of the guests ; of course they are obsequious and obliging. They are al- 

 ways well dressed, and many of them are coxcombs. Some of them give a premium for places 

 instead of receiving a salary for services. On the arrival of a coach, there is a general rush of 

 the servants to assist the passengers in alighting. Two footmen stand at the door, and proffer 

 an elbow ; the chamber-maid comes to show the rooms, and even " Boots," who gets his title 

 from what he brushes, shares in the hospitable impulse. On the departure, the servants 

 range themselves in a line, and if any guest forgets a douceur, he is gently requested to re- 

 member the chamber-maid, " Boots," &c. Sally, originally the name of an individual, now 

 designates a class, and every chamber-maid is called by that name. The English inns are in- 

 deed so excellent, that they well deserve the commendation of Shenstone, which is so often 

 scribbled upon the wainscot and windows. 



N " Whoe'er has traveled life's dull round, ;■ ■!., 



Whate'er his stages may have been, ,, . 



Must sigh to think lie still has found 

 His warmest welcome at an inn." 



The inns of England, however, are not the hospices of poverty. The alehouses are the 

 resorts of the more numerous class, that cannot afford the luxuries of the inns, and they are 

 often neat and commodious. A traveler who desires to see the unsophisticated English character, 

 will find it more at the alehouse, than at the inns. 



The most common vehicles for traveling are the mail-coaches, some of which carry 4 pas- 

 sengers within, and 10 or more upon the top. Others, however, carry more within and without, 

 and the roads are so good, that 4 horses easily carry 18 passengers. The mail-coaches go, in- 

 cluding stops, 8, 9, or 10 miles an hour. The top-seats are often preferred, as they are 

 much cheaper, and as they enable the passenger more to enjoy the beauty of the country. At 

 first, it seems perilous to ride at such an elevation, when the velocity is so great, for theie is but 

 a single iron railing to hold by ; but in a short time the traveler suffers himself lo be moved 

 with every motion o1 the coach, instead of resisting it, and to feel a perfect security in his ele- 

 vation. The coachman is well acquainted with the people who live on the road, whom he sa- 

 lutes in passing ; and to the passengers he is communicative and civil. The guard, who rides 

 in the rear with pistols at hand in case of need, and a bugle to give notice of his approach, 

 is also obliging, and it has grown into a custom for every passenger to give him a shilling for 

 every 20 miles. The coachman is also paid in a similar way. 



The coaches are of various forms ; some are of a cylindrical shape, and are very long and 

 large ; many have names like ships, painted on the pannels, together with the towns through 

 which they pass. The guard, and sometimes the coachman, wear the royal livery, and the 

 whole makes a gay appearance. On the road, each carriage passes another on the left ; Avhich 

 IS better than our custom of taking the right, as it gives the coachman a better chance to see thf 



