Milford chronicle., 1896-02-14
-C0BHAM OF lllCKENS.
a VILLAGE iMMoRTAijze IN TIE
oPlcKwicK PAi'Ees@


IA the Pride Of mime Hust Ct the ''Leath-
e. nottei--An Antique Church and the
Brasses It Contains.
Less than an honr and bali from
London is the quiet little station at
Stole street, named, suppose, in honor
of a Roman road and trodden by trayei-
efs as they approach the manifold glo-
ries Of Gotham.
Gotham. the Kentish Gotham, is one
If those places in which Kent is so
rich. favored alike by nature and art
and historical association. For what IS
called mark scenery it has few superiors
in England. The church has memorials
Of its fourteenth century lords as fresh
As when they felt the last touch Of the
workman's tools, while the inn opposite
is redolent with the memories Of Charles
Dickens, and the ruddy old Elizabethan
hall is one Of the stateliest homes IN
Englapd-a real home, constantly lived
in.
4 To see Gotham in its glory one must
/ Of course visit it in summer. It is hard
lv fair to 20 there, as l did, On a weep
ing autumn day, though it was full Of
charm of its own. In the first place. the
season precluded my approaching Cob /
ham in the orthodox way-from the
back Of the ancient buildings which
form the new college, The boy who acts
as porter at the station did not recon- (
mend the short cut for a very wet day
Il had recently been plowed. So, pass
ing first an old Kentish black and white
house to the lett and then iine red ,
brick Georgian mansion described by
him as a FARM to the right, I strobe up
the main street of Gotham village to
where a putatiye leather bottle swings /
in front Of the inn which Dickens i'm /
mortalized in "Pickwick. " The leather (
bottle, which, proudly labeled Ecce I
Signum, swings over sign Of Dick (
ems Mr. Pickwick standing on chair .
with his hands under his coattails, is, as
matter Of fact. made OF cast iron and
weighs no less than 40 pounds, the real
bottle being kept ON the top of the clock
in the bar parlor, guarded by an uncer-
tain looking monkey and a dog. 1t is
shaped like a barrel, with a combined
stopper and handle on one side, and has
a large hole cut out just below the han
die. the reason Of this being that when
it was dug out of a field hard by it
weighed so heavy that the finder hacked
a hole to see what was in it. He was re-
warded by finding money, which was
probably exactly what he wanted to find.
The inn claims to be as old as the
chancel Of the church opposite, which
would make it fourteenth century. Even
the aspect of the much repaired exterior
does not make this impossible, and the
rough, worm eaten, dark oak beams in
the low ceiling of the Dickens room
certainly look old enough
The Dickens room is the pride Of mine
host and brings Gotham visits from a
host Of theatrical people, who certainly
would never visit it for the sake Of its
lords, ancient or modern, and their hall
and church and college. In the visitors
book / read such names as W. S. Penley
and J. L. Toole, the latter accompanied
by Mr. Clement Scott, ana over the
hung a pretty theatrical
portrait Of Miss Mary Anderson, with
her hands tied together in some charac-
Ter which I did not recognize-her me-
mento Of a visit here.
The walls are hung with prints Of
various characters and scenes in Dickens
books, Dickens programmes, sketches,
md what not, among them being The
5raphics picture of the Empty
Chair which made Luke Fildes name, !
nd Dickens last letter lin autograph),
lated June s, 1870, III reply to Non
.onformist minister named MatchRm,
etter about Edwin brood, and with
pathetic and particular interest, be-
ause Dickens in this last letter Of his q
ife avows that he had always cherished
Jhristianity-even written a book to
ring it home to his children, though he {
lad not proclaimed his belief from the y
Iouse top. Jingle, Sidney Carton, the j
evoted, and Pecksniff are among the t
more prominent characters on the walls.
III around the room there are rows of q
Id fashioned chairs, the place Of homer b
eing occupied by the Dickens chair-a z
lat topped article Of the variety known
o old furniture dealers as 1.-THE Wind
o.. "
Whatever the claims Of the Leather 4
lottel" to fourteenth century honors, 81
lere is no doubt Of the antiquity Of the o.
nurch, though the age Of the exterior, G,
kept the tower Is, is obliterated with CT
icing Of fiints. Two gigantic flints, one al
them at least feet by ?, lie ON the y
rass below. The interior OF the church, y
nee ruined with plaster and whitewaEh, n
now carefully restored and highly ii
First in importance, Of q
purse, come its monumental brasses, di
)me 80 of them, not erected, but laid fe
own on the chancel floor to the honor pi
the lords and ladies Of Gotham and u
10 masters Of their college These sea
asses have no superiors in England, M
Id 60 as far back as the beginning of be-
10 fourteenth century. Not line is co
,literated in these craven images Of the or
nights and danes - the one in full
NOR, the other in the height Of fashion. av
-adition says that in Cromwell's time on
ey were saved from the heavy band of VI VI
e spoiler by being first whitewashed or.
escape notice, and then covered with IN
ep litter for the stabling of my lord fol
otectOr's horses. / think that they an
ust have been further saved by wooden too
iors being laid over the flags on which SIX
ey rest for a few odd centuries. Lon s 81
u Queen. -. ~,
The Woods In Late Fail.
Tho border Of the woods wore a sleepy
* Of oontentment, as if there all were Be