Morning journal and courier., 1894-02-27

lne LOnlOn SATURDAY Review
In large households In the olden time
servants held something of the position of
retsinsrs; they formed part of the house
hold In days when households did not
spend six weeks in one place and two
months In another, or possibly six months
abroad. They were as much q part of the
establishment as the children; they came
under the ideal of retainers, and the mas
ters had q pride In retaining thsm. A
wiser generation has broken down these
ties; all men are equal, and with prosres-
sive ideas much sentiment has passed
away.
1t is useless TO bsmosn the old order; let
rs look rather at the changes which have
come into the new. The change Is quite
as much IN the master ss In the servauts
They expect higher and more elaborate
class of ssrvice to correspond with the In
crestsi luxury of life; they know that,
given good wages, tue most intelligent ser
Vice in the market Is at their command,
and they have less interest In ths training
of q household than In the days when they
were replanished by generations of the
same families living on their estates, and
who looked ITO the hand of their master"
as the end-sll and be all of their Lives.
And on the servants side, with the ioos-
eniug of feudsl aud landed interests has
undoubtedly come q resilessness, q dislike
for prolonged service In one place, Q desire
for "chsnge" (which after ali Is rot con
fned to the servan'). q greater value lie put
on the amount OF wage received, and q
proportionste indifference is felt to the
home-like comforts of the estAblishment
and the interests of the matters
OF course there are exceptions to all
thir; households who retain their servants,
and servants who grow old In the ssrvlcs
of masters But We write of the general
rule; and Il Ia q regrsttsble part of the
haste and preocoups'ion of modern dsys
that too often the hons holders think less
! of the comfort and moral well being of the
life below stairs than they do Of the con
dition of the east end or of the villages on
their estate. As class, the character of
the Hveried man servant dose not stand
high. He Is highly fed. under worked.
has every temptation to sst into driEEipg
| habits, and is too often an inveterste gam
bier. In country places he is occasionally
/ encouraged to play outdoor games. but
very little Ia done to smuse and employ
| him indoors. It il not often that the en-
/ ployers trouble themselves to ascertain tbs
! circumstances of the individual lives Of
/
! them, to show a Sympathetic recollection
| of their family ties. Too often Ii IS
thought that TO provide them with q sit-
! ting room and fe ~ books is to have sufi-
ciently arranged for their many idle min
uiea. The sversgs foo;nsn ia no reader;
his hands are too often IN mischief through
sheer idleness. And the householders
! who realzs this would do we'll IL. iuE.ssd
of starting "arts and crafts" among the
| villsgs lads in their neishborhood, they
would have such classes In the winter
nights for the edihcstion of their men and
msideps. OF ali classes the domestic ssr
want enjoys dancing, and there is no
healthier outlet for tine energies than In al
lowing and arranging for an hour or two
spent in this way during the weeks when
there is little company" and less work
Among servants there is no commoner
complaint than that the house IL dull, snd
the householder grumbles that servants
for leaving q good situation. IL this mat
ter why should the servant differ from the
master, of whose hunt after amusement
and excitement he is necessarily O silent
and observant speotstort Il is On sge In
tolerant of being bOrei, and IL IA uaTes
sonable to say that the intolsrsncs should
or must be confined to the lsisured class
There are heads of households who take q
pessimistlo view of their servants, who be
lieve they are necessarily bad, who wal.
with stupid expectation for the row OF
the ''scsndsl," who dismiss "the set'
Wholesale, and stars sfresh, learning nc
lsseon from the trAits of human nature re-
vssled, and only insisting on more rigid
aud formal rules, which they believe tend
to improve morale. They increase the