Some lowing of cattle and much calling of
birds alone disturbed the stillness, and even the
little hamlet, which clustered at the gates, appeared
to hold its breath in awe of its great neighbour, like
a troop of children who should have strayed into a
king's anteroom.
The Carthew Arms, the small, but very comfortable inn,
was a mere appendage and outpost of the family whose
name it bore. Engraved portraits of bygone Carthews
adorned the walls; Fielding Carthew, Recorder of the
City of London; Major-General John Carthew in uniform,
commanding some military operations; the Right
Honourable Bailley Carthew, Member of Parliament for
Stallbridge, standing by a table and brandishing a
document; Singleton Carthew, Esquire, represented in
the foreground of a herd of cattle--doubtless at the
desire of his tenantry, who had made him a compliment
of this work of art; and the Venerable Archdeacon
Carthew, D.D., LL.D., A.M., laying his hand on the head
of a little child in a manner highly frigid and
ridiculous. So far as my memory serves me, there were
no other pictures in this exclusive hostelry; and I was
not surprised to learn that the landlord was an ex-
butler, the landlady an ex-lady's-maid, from the great
house; and that the bar-parlour was a sort of
perquisite of former servants.
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