The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1874-11-12
ENGLAND, AS SEEN BY A YANKEE.
The - Danbury News Man on Englisl
Meal HOurs-EngIish and American
POiiteness COnIrasted - American
Drinks i'm England.

DrinkS In In Eianus
OF the hospitality of the English people
have already spoken in az glowing terms
as l am capable of framing.
1t naturally follows that a hospitable
people should be good eaters. These are,
excepting at breakfast, when a very little
does them. The late supper is RESPONSE
BILE for this, suspect. The rural people
have their meal-times at our hours. The
supper comes in, as already stated, at nine
O'Clock, or at the hour that the company
gets in, if it is at midnight. 1t is always
hearty, and consists, quite frequently, OF
cold meat, fish, bread and butter Up ecious
little butter the English use), salads, hot
pickles, tarts, and other things calculated
to make bilious party go raving mad in
the night. And the whole is topped of
with grog and tobacco. After a man has
got one of these suppers concentrated in
the pit of his stomach, he is in condition
to commit almost any atrocity, and goes
to sleep very much in doubt if he will
awake again, and somewhat inclining to
| hope that he will not. If he Is not chased
by twelve bow-legged Holsters, with RO-
man noses, before a. M, he should Sc
cure careful examination ef himself by a
competent physician. He is in danger.
Speaking to an English friend, after one
of these meals, on the scarcity of butter
and fresh bread at the English table, he
explained that fresh bread and too much
butter disagreed with the stomach. |
didn't say any thing, but | looked from
the ruins before us up to the clock, which
marked L p. m.
The English are very careful of their
| stomachs.
There is an accompaniment to each meal
which strikes a stranger most fOrcibly. 1t
| is their way of saying grace. They are
the suddenest people in this respect that
ever saw, and have way of firing off their
gratitude which is most startling. The
text is something like this: "For what we
are about to receive make us truly thank
full and this, by some families, is slid in
most Unexpectedly, and it hPs come so
rapidly and so abruptly that / have Occa-
siOnly missed it entirely, hearing only the
word "abOut," preceded and followed by
subdued whistling. There being no
abatement in the work at the table at the
time tended to make the impression less
| distinct. The giving of thanks, where it
is the custom, at the end of the meal, has
! frequently cut off a mOuthful of food, so
swift and unOstentatiOus has been its COM
| ing; and the conversation and the happy
! laughter flowed along with scarcely a
break in its current, and those who were
to finish did so, and every body felt con-
tented and looked edited.
This is quite in contrast to our New
England fashion of doing grace. L have
sat under grace which frOZe the gravy,
| irretrievably damaged the mutton, and
| imbued the greater part of the guests with
| the gloomiest fOrebodings; in which the
/ African and the South Sea Islander were
| looked after and secured beyond harm
! and all political cabalS were taken under
| the fifth rib, completely dumbfOunded, and
their evil Vaccinations scattered to the
| four winds of heaven. 1t was fine per-
! formance, and a good thing for humanity
at large, but it made the dinner look sick
think | like the English extreme the
! best. but both can be bettered. Andnevel
will be.
With plenty of roses in his garden, anC
plenty of food in the larder, an English
man manages to waltz through the wOrlC
without much trouble.
Another striking popularity of the Eng
| lish is their politeness. If they don't heal
your remark they say "beg pardon.
which is much more euphOniOus thar
"what," and, besides, delicately shifts the
responsibility of the repetition from your
The lower class are respectful in their an
swers, and the middle, like the upper
classes, are courteous if not cOmmunica
tive. No half-dOZen people can meet il
the bar-parlOr of a public house without
becoming acquainted and in the railway
carriages no American need be without
! pleasant chats and necessary Information
of the country about him. When an Eng
lishman goes to America he quite tre
quently finds different order of things
He sees less intercOmmTnicatiOn among
the occupants of his car. The common
man whom he addresses may be one who
believes the Almighty made him after the
most careful consideration, and the an
swers will be framed accordingly. Here
the people know their place. The bOOr i:
not allowed to take precedence of thu
scholar, nor even assume level with him
however great or loud his pretensions
But there is a respectfulness that become!
servility, and an independence that is OF
fenSiveneSs.
In this connection must call attention
to the curious fallacy which possesses som'
of these people, in that they limit to Amer
lea al. the possibilities for getting aheadir il
the world Once in America and fortune
or political preference IS secured. Bu
Great Britain is full of instances of success
based alone on merit, unaccOmpanied by
position or wealth. AnewsbOy is in thei
cabinet. A common gardener was thC
architect of the Crystal Palace, and died ;
knight. The very owners of this tallacy
have shown me scores of wealthy neigh
bors who. within their remembrance, wer'
once confined to less than four dollars ;
week.
If America has a larger field there i
greater competition. Merit and perse
verence will win the goal anywhere, o
''bust" the universe.
Despite the age of this nation, and tn
many advantages it has enjoyed in tn
past three centuries, many of its peOpl
are bow-legged. This is owing, L think
to continuous standing on their feet at al
extremely early age admiring the genera
aspect of the national debt. 1t is wha
might be called the bow-legacy of na
tional debt. There is no present DANCE
of similar afflictiOn resting upon Amer
ca. Our debt is so large that we can see
without standing up.
But YOU see no pools of tobacco juic
on the pavement here, except where som
American has stopped to think.
The English are as unostentatious i
. their names as in other things. John
the common male, and Jane the pOpula
female cognomen. l begin to think tina
nearly all the female servants are calle
. ''Jane." | am not sure there is not a
act of Parliament to that effect. The teri
. S, rvant is used in broader sense her
than in our country. The employees of
, company are called servants" whethe
; they are at the head or foot of the list. In
! aoine an American railway ticket-selle
called a servant. But it is too dreadful
think of; and, fortunately, no one wOul
dare do it. Employers are addressed a
masters" excepting at their backs b
dissipated servants, who dub them ''goN
ernors." The female head OF the house
: addressed by the servants as ''missis, an
it is a term her husband frequently use'
We excel the English in building car,
, but they completely distance us in veal
ing an eye-glass. 1t is not double glasi
r understand, but a single disc with sive
= or gold rim, and secured by cord abOr
the neck. from which it bangles when NJ
: in use. 1t is worn only by the Englis
e exquisite, and he generally does it as /
e asks a question, or on entereng a ROOF
/ where there is anybody to see him. Som,
f times it is suddenly put up without an
! | rrfg hQ