A Foreign View of England in 1725 - 29order this book
C. De Saussure
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De Saussure was a young French Protestant from Switzerland who wrote a series of letters to his family while living in England during the period I 725-1 P9 These letters were admired by Voltaire. among others, which led to their eventual publication. [he present book is a newly typeset version of the I902 edition. It is a comprehensive account of life in England in the late 1720s. and represents a sociological description of a country on the verge of industrialisation. In addition to an account of London, its suburbs, and the Hertfordshire countryside. De Saussure described the manners and customs of the English at this time, including family life. leisure pastimes, sports, religion, the law and government. The book is particularly valuable in giving details of contemporary domestic life, including hygiene both within and outside the home.

From Chapter 7:

"Englishmen are mighty swearers, and I consider this as another of their defects. Not only the common people have this unfortunate habit, but also officers, and what are termed "beaux," swear when they are youths to give themselves airs, and continue afterwards from habit. I have found many people very interested in money matters, and one might use the celebrated phrase, Point d'argent, point de Suisses, as much with regard to them as to my own countrymen. If you frequent fashionable houses, the "wines," or what we call in Switzerland Trinkgeld, that one is expected to give to the servants is a considerable expense. If you wish to pay your respects to a nobleman and to visit him, you must give his porter money from time to time, else his master will never be at home for you. If you take a meal with a person of rank, you must give every one of the five or six footmen a coin when leaving. They will be ranged in file in the hall, and the least you can give them is one shilling each, and should you fail to do this, you will be treated insolently the next time. My Lord Southwell stopped me one day in the park, and reproached me most amicably with my having let some time pass before going to his house to take soup with him. "In truth, my lord," I answered, "I am not rich enough to take soup with you often." His lordship understood my meaning and smiled. This is an abuse that noblemen and gentlemen have vainly endeavoured to abolish.