The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-17 00:00:00

The onslaught against hotels, their proprietors,
attendants, the accommodations afforded, and
prices charged, continues with unabated vigour.
Not a day elapses, not a broad sheet of the Levia-
than is delivered to the community, in which, at
least, a column is not devoted to the publication
of alleged grievances, and of by no means flatter-
ing comparisons between England and foreign
hostelries. Nay, more, we are wafted across the
Atlantic, in order to cite examples injurious to
the character and conduct of our compatriots in
what is termed the " public line." Be it so ; we
have not the slightest objection to the publicity
thus given to the question, or the manner in
which attention has been directed thereto. It
will, we trust, have the effect of removing, or, at
least, alleviating, the actual grievances on both
sides, of remedying acknowledged evils on the
part of the guests as well as of their hosts, pointing
out the spot where the shoe really pinches, and
above al of bringing them to light—the true
state of the case in the great majority of instances,
and proving, beyond the possibility of doubt or
difficulty, that if due allowance be made for the
difference of prices of wines and other materials
supplied, the traveller of moderate pretensions
may journey as economically, and with far more
real comfort, through the United Kingdom, and
sojourning at its well-abused hotels and inns,
than if he went to a foreign land and spent his
time and money among " aliens in language, in
manners, and in religion," whom he was unable
to understand or complain to save through the
medium of an interpreter.
The first essential point that renders a com-
parison unfair between English and Continen-
tal or American hotels is, that abroad we
conform to the habits of the several esta-
blishments ; at home we expect these esta-
blishments to accommodate themselves to ours,
without any consideration for the trouble, incon-
venience, or expense we impose upon the proprie-
tors or attendants. There we yield to the estab-
lished regulations. Here we expect that every- '
thing shall be altered to suit our will and plea-
sure. There we are satisfied to dine at the table
d'hote, and to associate with the general body of
guests in the public saloon. Here we take our
!weals in private, and each party requires a sepa-
rate sitting room, handsomely fitted up, with fire,
light, and every comfort for our own use. There,
the attention of the waiters not being distracted
by simultaneous summonses to many different
parts of the house, the attendance is much easier,
and the wants of all can be more readily supplied,
many orders being taken at the same time. Here
the waiter is bewildered by the ringings of mul-
titudinous bells, and urgent orders from dif-
ferent parties, who require instant obedience.
Thus, additional servants are required, extra sup-
plies of plate, (h., all of which must be charged
in the bill, as the proprietor does not throw his
doors open for the mere satisfaction of being
soundly abused. He naturally looks for a more
substantial reward for his services than even empty
praise, if such a thing could be expected from the
would-be aristocratic traveller, whose only claim
to the title consists in heaping indiscriminate cen-
sure on everything and everybody, while endea-
vouring to show that he is accustomed to much
better at home than he can obtain while taking
his ease in his inn !
The first conditions, then, indispensable to a
due solution of the vexata questio is, that Eng-
lishmen, aye, and Englishwomen, should, while
travelling, forget their exclusive and pretentious
habits, that the ladies by whom a gentleman
may happen to be accompanied should consent to
take their meals in a well-regulated public room,
which their presence will speedily so far improve
as to remove the objections that might otherwise
be felt by husbands, fathers, or brothers. Female
society will purify the atmosphere of the coffee-
room, and exercise a beneficial influence on those
who are compelled to spend much of their time
away from domestic comforts, and seldom enjoy
the cheerful blaze of " their ain firesides." We
laugh at the Moslem scruples that forbid a lady
from being seen abroad without her veil, but we
see nothing objectionable in secluding our own
females from being seen in the general room of a
hotel, and taking her tea and toast before retiring
for the night or starting for the day's journey, if
exposed to the gaze of other wayfarers like her•
self.

We must also endeavour to get rid of the pal-
try feeling of aiming at being thought some-
thing higher than we really are. " What
will MRS. GRUNDY say ?" is the interrogatory ;
the answer whereto proves the rock ahead,
the source of extravagance and annoyance,
that embitters the existence of many fami-
lies. The moment we leave home—so soon
as we enter into any place where we are un-
known, we endeavour to be thought members of
the aristocracy, to induce waiters and chamber-
maids, who have never before seen us, and among
whom we may never again be brought, to sup-
pose that we are very great people, accustomed
to show and magnificence, and unable to spend a
pces
or, at lt
single day without these indispensable adjuncts.
It is the interestto seemof t h etso b
e persons v tod, o bean
d deceivedth e a p_,
east,
easily put on. For that purpose
We Bearancluandaerre rail at those money we cannot afford, and then
wh
ae
We pass ,y t 0 take advantage of our weakness.
eeterent those suited for persons
finances, band heeel establishments suited to our
movingpay for in
lingly very
the efferent spheres, who wil-
and obtain the call for „mmodation they require,
Moselle" •
provincial town, and for in an English
port
Rhine. The object is to astonish theerry on the
lie is astonished in the first instan waiter, and
Mrs. GRUNDY, fearing Viator, partie?
c , while the
feeling on the following morning, When the billates in the' 4
delivered to the departing guest, who has for.
ten the transient triumph of the preceding even-
ing, and is quite alive to the X. s. d. view of the
subject, and the magnificence of the order, is
merged in the magnitude of
the payment the
retribution that awaits the recklessness of the
assumption of grandeur and gentility.
a
If we inquire of the class who have far r,reater
experience in the comforts and expenses of Eng-
lish hotels than any other—the commercial tra-
vellers—we find that they obtain excellent accom-
modation, on very reasonable terms. That every
civility is shown, every complaint at once respect-
fully attended to, and that few men live better

1 trous, and the intensity of the crisis greatly
I magnified, by the undue restriction placed on the
issue of money by the automatical action of the
law. The accuracy of these views was established
beyond the possibility of doubt by the mania of
1845-6, followed by the collapse and crisis of
1847. It was, however, found that the
mischief to the community brought enormous
profits to the Bank, and thus that the
interests of the proprietors and of the public
were antagonistical. Those who could decline
such a handsome dividend and bonus at the time
when everything else was seriously depressed,
found it to be their interest to create another
crisis and to foster another panic. The public
might suffer, but their own gains would be
largely enhanced. Accordingly we find them an-
ticipating the active Act of 1844, which,
from the large amount of bullion still stored
iu the vaults of the Bank, and the considerable
reserve still at the disposal of the Bank, might
never come into operation. In place of allaying
the fever and excitement of the public mind, of
checking the uncalled-for panic that induces
men to cast their stock and shares on the mar-
ket, to be sacrificed at any price, however in-
adequate, that can be obtained, they aggravate
the irritation, and play the game of the Bears, in
creating, so far as in their power lies, a monetary
crisis. As we have already stated, they are play-
ing the game of the moneyocracy, and grinding
down the poor and needy to the very utmost. Let
themnot swuipthposime,ruhnolivty. ev er,As m
thatr.thceeyeKcEansliz
this game
appropriately declared, the time is rapidlyapproach-
ing when the renewal of the Bank Charter must
be brought under the notice of Parliament. The
Directors may then find the sense in which their
conduct has been viewed by those who have suf-
fered so severely, in order to double the dividend I
to 8 per cent, per annum.