he Crystal Palace, do you think that that was
an appropriate instance to put, considering the working man pays for his
own, and is not ashamed to enjoy his own for his own money?--I have
never examined the causes of the feeling; it did not appear to me to be
a matter of great importance what was the state of feeling in foreign
countries. I felt that it depended upon so many circumstances, that I
thought it would be a waste of time to trace it.

166. _Sir Robert Peel._ You stated that abroad the working classes were
much better dressed?--Yes.

Do you think so?--Yes.

Surely they cannot be better dressed than they are in England, for you
hardly know a working man here from an aristocrat?--It is precisely
because I do know working men on a Sunday and every other day of the
week from an aristocrat that I like their dress better in France; it is
the ordinary dress belonging to their position, and it expresses
momentarily what they are; it is the blue blouse which hangs freely
over their frames, keeping them sufficiently protected from cold and
dust; but here it is a shirt open at the collar, very dirty, very much
torn, with ragged hair, and a ragged coat, and altogether a dress of
misery.

You think that they are better dressed abroad because they wear a
blouse?--Because they wear a costume appropriate to their work.

Are you aware that they make it an invariable custom to leave off the
blouse on Sundays and on holidays, and that after they have finished
their work they take off their blouse?--I am not familiar, nor do I
profess to be familiar, with the customs of the Continent; I am only
stating my impressions; but I like especially their habit of wearing a
national costume. I believe the national costume of work in Switzerland
to be at the root of what prosperity Switzerland yet is retaining. I
think, for instance, although it may sound rather singular to say so,
that the pride which the women take in their clean chemise sleeves, is
one of the healthiest things in Switzerland, and that it is operative in
every way on the health of the mind and the body, their keeping their
costume pure, fresh, and beautiful.

You stated that the working classes were better dressed abroad than in
England?--As far as I know, that is certainly the fact.

Still their better dress consists of a blouse, which they take off when
they have finished their work?--I bow to your better knowledge of the
matter.

_Chairman._ Are you aware that