at the table d'hôte. "Had I not," he said, "the pleasure of coming from Bonn to Cologne with you? I see one of your party is absent. She is, I hope, well," &c. To appreciate as they deserve these wayside courtesies, you should see the relentless English we come in contact with, who, like ghosts, never "speak till they are spoken to."
A few days since, as we were issuing from our lodgings, a very gentlemanly German stopped us, begging our pardons, and saying, "English, I believe?" and then added, that as we appeared to be strangers in quest of lodgings, as he bad just been, he would take the liberty to give as the addresses of two or three that had been recommended to him. This was truly a Samaritan—a German kindness. The hotel-keepers, that important class to travellers, often blend with the accurate performance of the duties of "mine host" the kindness of a friend. Their civility, freedom, and gentlemanliness remind me of my friend Cozzens and others, the best specimens of their fraternity at home. The landlord often sits at the table with his guests, and, with his own country people, converses on terms of apparent equality.[1]
The same self-respect blends with the civility of the shopkeeper. He is very happy to serve and suit you, but, if he cannot, be is ready to direct you elsewhere. Shopmen have repeatedly, unasked, sent
- ↑ This opinion may appear to have been formed on a very slight acquaintance with the country. It was afterward amply confirmed in Germany and Switzerland, where the manners are essentially the same.
