of the family, he took occasion to notice the fat coachman; to pat the
sleek carriage horses, and, above all, to say a civil word to my
lady's gentlewoman, the prim, sour-looking vestal in the chariot.

I had no more of his company for the rest of the morning. He was swept
off in the vortex that followed in the wake of this lady. Once indeed
he paused for a moment, as he was hurrying on some errand of the good
lady's, to let me know that this was Lady Lillycraft, a sister of the
Squire's, of large fortune, which the captain would inherit, and that
her estate lay in one of the best sporting counties in all England.




FAMILY SERVANTS.

Verily old servants are the vouchers of worthy housekeeping. They
are like rats in a mansion, or mites in a cheese, bespeaking the
antiquity and fatness of their abode.


In my casual anecdotes of the Hall, I may often he tempted to dwell on
circumstances of a trite and ordinary nature, from their appearing to
me illustrative of genuine national character. It seems to be the
study of the Squire to adhere, as much as possible, to what he
considers the old landmarks of English manners. His servants all
understand his ways, and for the most part have been accustomed to
them from infancy; so that, upon the whole, his household presents one
of the few tolerable specimens that can now be met with, of the
establishment of an English country gentleman of the old school.