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A GERMAN COFFEE-PARTY IN 1862. 251
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XLV.-A GERMAN COFFEE-PARTY IN 1862,
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¦ ¦ ^ It would probably be difficult to ...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
» - By Ms. F. P. Fellows.
On the whole , we rmist pronounce these studies of Shakespeare ' s Prince of Denmark and Moor of Venicetwo of the greatest
dramatic triumphs of the century ; and when , we take into consideration the difficulties with which M . Feehter has had to
contend in grappling- with a _language not his own , a _language moreover from adding of singularl our sincere y arbitrary respect pronunciation for his perseverance , we cannot . to our refr un ain
feigned admiration for his genius . Meanwhile , we wish him a of hear our ty greatest God-speed _jpoet in , his an lo under ving _t and aking truthful 1 which study has of elicifced the "works the
warmest sympathy of our English hearts .
A German Coffee-Party In 1862. 251
A GERMAN COFFEE-PARTY IN 1862 . 251
Xlv.-A German Coffee-Party In 1862,
XLV _.-A GERMAN COFFEE-PARTY IN 1862 ,
¦ ¦ ^ It Would Probably Be Difficult To ...
¦ ¦ _^ It would probably be difficult to select any little bit of life more essentially characteristic or more foreign to English ideas than a
German coffee-party . This connecting link between the invariable one o ' clock dinner and the " Abendsessen" ( that most composite of
, meals !) takes its place about 4 p . m ., when the national siesta is supposed to be concluded . Perhaps I ought rather to say < c begins , "
for usually till afternoon deepens into evening , at about 8 p . m ., it who " drags are its apt slow to fancy length it possible along . " to have Rather too tediou much even s to Eng of a lish good peop thing le ,
but not so to the Germans , and however considerable the length , to , which the coffee-party sometimes extends , it must be allowed , in its
justification , that it acts as scapegoat for other entertainments , more common in England , which yet , perhaps , in their greater expense
and display , confer pleasure and amusement less real than this in its homely simplicity . Dinner parties are almost unknown to the
middle class of Germany , and this useful little meal supplies the place of most of our social gatheringsballs aloneas regards
the _larger towns , excepted . , , Having been invited to a coffee-party at the house of a friend ,
I took my place in time to see the guests assemble . About 4 p . m . the company began to arrive " en grande toilette" as I was
informed , though the chief indication , of the fact consisted , in an extra display of lace and ribbons at odd cornersdress as a Fine
, Art having as yet but " loomed dimly on the national mind /' as Lewes says of carpets ! Each visitor brought a little bag or
basket containing the inevitable knitting' or its substitute , — for German tongues and fingers , to be each in perfection , must
be busy in unison , —and in the case of the _dowag-ers , or more venerable spinsters , the same , or a larger receptacle , yielded up a
cap or turban of some sort , except indeed when the , owner had arrived in that decorationprotected only hy an umbrella in lieu of
, a bonnet .
_T 2
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Dec. 1, 1862, page 251, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01121862/page/35/
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