MISTAKES AS TO THE COST OF LIVING IN ENGLAND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XI, Issue 58, 1 March 1876, Page 4

MISTAKES AS TO THE COST OF LIVING IN ENGLAND.

The London correspondent of the Sydney Morning Herald writes : — "Australians on a visit to England are apt to complain of London as a most expensive residence, suited only for, men of large independent fortunes, or for successful professional men who make;their incomes there. This view, though very general, is ooly relatively or partially true. Our thriving colo r nists, when they take a well-earned holiday, have no notion of doing things iii' worse style here than they did in Australia. They take handsome apartments in a first-class hotel, hire good horses. and a well-appointed carriage, rush in cabs to every corner of London, with a noble disregard of time and space ; strive pluckily to see everything Worth seeing, and hear every, thing worth hearing ; and in the course of these efforts circulate the Queen's pictures witb exemplary loyally. Seen from their point ot view, London is the dearest of places. But residents in the great Metropolis, who know how to make the most of a small fixed incomo, can tell ;a very dillereut story. To steady bachelors, quiet spiuters, or married couples without children and without*, the heavier ' encumbrance ' of showy tastes, London is a marvel of Cheapness. Comfortable lodgings, furnished or unfurnished, aie easily to be obtained at a moderate figure, even in the beat neighborhoods. Tho actual cost .of Hyiugi is very small to people who entertain none but intimate friends and.a re not troubled about keeping up appearances. Coals and butchers' meat ate'tne two dear items, but with good management a little of each goes a long way,' modern grates being formed for economy both for fuel and eatables. Fish. is abundant, and costs little unless you iadppt the fashionable fallacy that what i-s dearest must behest. Wive and beer are wonderfully cheapened within the last twenty years. Groceries ,of eTer^'MndJ fc'eginnwg with the in-

dispeusable tea and sugar, have so fallen in price ihat one may be luxurious iv their enjoyment without extravagance. Clothing for sensible men and for such women as can forego the dear delight of astonishing, and are content wilh what is convenient and becoming, has ceased to be costly. And to quit details, a visit to the Civil Service Co-operative Stores in Long Acre will convince the candid inquirer how many of the comforts and elegancies of life are within reach of the Londoner whom the fashionable standard of income would rate as a pauper. Socially, again, the multiplication of great fortuues is beginning to re-act in favor of those who neither are nor wish to aeem rich. Great wealth is bo common that it ceases to be a distinction,, and the man who, like St. Patrick in the song, "is a gentleman, and comes of dacent people," will now find fair play for his social gifts; will be accepted in the best society for what he is, not wbat he has. Add to these considerations the glorious freedom of public parks and gardens, the vicinity of great scientific and literary centres, the easy and often gratituous access to a hundred places of instruction and amusement, and it no longer appears strange that London, even in November, should present irresistible attractions to a yearly increasing multitude. The climate may be as odious as M. Tame would have it; yet even this has its better side. The million fires take off the chill of winter, besides presenting a continual change of air. A distinguished Scotch member, whom nothing but a feeble physique has excluded from the foremost rank of British statesmen, used to say, that a London fog was as good us a greycoat? Without going this length I can understand tbat he found it contrast agreeably with the penetrating chill of a Scotch mist. The foreign trees aod shrubs which now flourish in Hyde Park, attest the mildness of tbe atmosphere. But I am not going in for a eulogy of London; its very attractiveness intensifies its character as a grand yet awful phenomenon. Only I am amazed to find how easily I reconcile myself to living there, in spite of my love for the country.