Morning journal and courier., 1884-11-18
English Servants.


 The oldest of MT. Mannering's servants, if not the most important, is Sp1interbar, the coachman. For three generations, grand father, father and son, the Splinterbars have lived under the squires of Durlestone, and, in spite of some shortcomings, have given them honest and hearty service. The grand father drove the four grays, and though, af- ter the approved fashion of his time, he more than once found himself in ditch af- ter an evenings carouse, he made it his boast that he was never drunk on the same night as his master, and that neither the squire nor the squire's horses were one jot the worse for his occasional deviation from the strict rule of sobriety. In the next generation the father not only drove the four grays-which it has been point of family pride to main tain-but when the storms of the French revolution and the suspension of cash pay ments made men hardly know where to hope or what to fear, he buried for his master in corner of the stables thousand pounds, as a secret hoard against possible emergencies. And now the son, who is some few years MT. Mannering's senior, gray-headed as he IS, still drives the four-in-hand, superintends every detail of stable management, and sees that carriages and horses are turned out as smartly as the best coachman in London could discharge the task. His labors are not unappreciated, for if MT. Mannering has a weakness it is for his stables, and no man has quicker eye to detect Q strap wrong, Q carriage panel iIl-painted or 8 speek of dust on the harness. MT. Mannering's butler is but few years younger than his coachman. He, too, was born and bred in Durlestone, was MT. Mannering's servant at college, travelled with him afterward, is not much of f'scholar," as the country people say, but brews the best ale in the country, sees that the mahogany dining table and the handsome old silver on it are polished like looking glass, is considered as an old friend of the family, and is heart and soul devoted to the service of the squire. When, few years since, one of MT. Mannering's nephews, Q good-hearted but foolish youth, had involved himself and his family in some troubles, which am not free to explain more partlcu- larly, old Holdworthy was immediately con- suited, and by his shrewdness and devotion succeeded in releasing the young man from the fascinations of the Circe by whom he had been bewitehed, and in settling once and for all serious domestic difficulty. Hold worthy is now growing old; he is rather short of breath and he is sometimes, it is said, somewhat sharp upon the younger ser wants; but he has lost none of his shrewd- ness, and he steadily believes that there is no one in the round world equal to his master. The housekeeper, Mrs. Booklet, holds no in considerable position in the house. She is past seventy, but still vigorous and hearty except as regards her eyesight, which, she complains, is failing her. She is, however, able to read her large text Bible of an even ing, and to keep very close eye upon the younger maids. She divides her leisure be- tween the care of the poor, the disposition of the furniture, and the making of preserves; the latter of which occupation lies so close to her heart that it is said that when, some ten or fifteen years ago, there was fire at the hall, her first thought was for her confec- tioneries, and her second for the family DOT traits.