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The Upper Rhine : Mayence to the Lake of Constance
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TIIEIK TREATMENT OF DOMESTICS.

379

" Ycs! she brings her character from the Police-office,"added the Deutscher; "and if you did not choose to speakvell of her ven she vas leaving you, they vould not let heranother place take."

Nor have these wretched bondwomen much induljxenceto hope for at the hands of their German mistresses. Many" ladies " bave the coffee-grounds rc-burnt for tlie use of theirservants, and upon a decoction of these (without either milkor sugar) and a piece of sour black bread, without butter, thepoor creatures have to make their breakfast, whilst theirdinner consists of the poorest possible soup and dough dum-plings; so that when a German " braves Mädchen " hears tliatEnglish domestics sometimes grumble at having to eat coldmeat, she considers the story to be one of those Muncliau-senisli exaggerations that travellers are supposed to delight in.When the girl, too, finds that in an English family she getssugar and butter, and meat every day, she boasts to her lesslucky acquaintanccs that there is not a " Fürstin " in allDeutschland that lives better than she.

Some of the serving-girls, again, have to sit without fire inthe winter nights, for even the wives of Generals we knew tohave the ashes rakcd out of the kitchen-stove immediatelyafter the dinner was cooked. And often when the poor crea-tures fall ill, they are left to moan in solitude in their wretchedloft, (the usual sleeping-place allotted to German servants), andcompelled to pay another girl to do their work for them.

" Yes," said one to us, " they are hard grinding mistresses,and will have every groschen they may pay, out of the verybones of any one who works for them. That poor woman yousee washing in the 'Hof yonder, has to stand at the tub from5 o'clock in the morning tili 10 o'clock at night, and thenthey will almost grumble to give her the eight groschens(9%d.) in addition to the weak coffee and soup she has had