The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1897-02-20

Brasses Is Contains.
Less than an hopr and a half from
| London is the quiet little station at
Stole street, named, / suppose, in honor
of a Roman road and trodden by travel
ers as they approach the manifold glo-
ries of Gotham.
Gotham, the Kentish Gotham, il one
Of those places in which Kent is 80
rich, favored alike by nature and art
and historical association. For what is
called park scenery it has few superiors
III England. The church has memorials
of its fourteenth century lords as fresh
as when they felt the last touch Of the
worknan's tools, while the ID opposite
is redoleut with the memories OF Charles
Dickens, and the rudy cid E~lizabethau
hal! is one of the stateliest homes in
Englaud-a real home, constantly lived
i'll.
To see Gotham in its glory one must
of course visit it IN summer 1t is hard
" fair to 70 there, as l did, Oh a weep
ing autumn day, though it was full Of q
charm Of its OWL. III the first place, the
season prec!uded ny approaching Cob
nam i'll 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.
It had recently been plowed. So, pass
ing first an ole kentish black and white
house to the left and then a fine red
brick Georgian mansion described by
him as q farm} to tie right, l strobe up
the main street of Gotham village to
where a putative leather bottle swings
III front of the inn which Dickens i'm
mortalized in "Pickwick." The leather
bottle, which. proudly labeled "Ecce
Signun," swings over d sign Of Dick
ems Mr.. Pickwlck standing on a chair
With his hands under his coattails. is, as
matter of fact, made Of cast iron and a
weighs no less than 40 pounds, the real
bottle being kept on the top of the clock
i'll the bar parlor, guarded by an uncer-
tain looking monkey and a dog. 1t is
shaped like a barrel, with q combined
stopper and handle en- one side, and has
a large hole cut cut just below the han.
Ole. the reason Of this being that when
1T was dug out Of a field hard BY it
weighed 50 heavy that the finder hacked
a hole to see what was in it. He was re-
wardcd by finding money, which was
probably exactly what lie wanted to find.
Tho 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 tho Dickens room
certainly look old enough.
The Dickens room is the pride of mine
host and brings Gotham visits from a
host CT theatrical people, who certainly
would never visit it fer the sake of its
lords, ancient or modern, ard 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, and over the
mantelpiece hung . pretty theatrical
portrait of Miss Mary Anderson, with
her hands tied together in some charac-
ter which I did not reccgnize-her me-
MeLiO VI q N-GlG mere.
The walls are hung with prints Of
various characters and scenes in Dickens
books, Dickens programmes, sketches,
and what not, among them being The
Graphic's picture Of the Empty
Chair, (which made Luke Fildes' name.
and Dickens last letter Tin autograph).
dated Juno s, 1870. in reply to d Non
contormlst minister named Matcham, a
letter about Edwin Drood,' and with
a pathetic and particular interest, be-
cause Dickens in this last letter Of his
life avows that he had always cherished
Chrlstlanlty-eyen written q book TO
bring It home to his children, though he
had not proclaimed his belief from the
house top. Jingle, Sidney Carton, the I
devoted, and PecksnifF are among the
more prominent characters on the walls.
All around the room there are rows Of
old fashioned chairs, the place Of honor
being occupied by the Dickens chair-a
fat topped article of the variety known
to old furniture dealers as "The Wind
sor."
Whatever the claims Of the Leather
Bottel' to fourteenth century honors.
there Is no doubt Ct the antiquity of the
church, though the age Of the exterior,
except the towers, is obliteratcd with !
racing OF fi1ts. Two gigantic fints, one
OF them at least 4 feet by 2, lie on the
grass below. The interior of the church,
once ruined with plaster and whitewash.
is now carefully restored and highly
interesting. First in Importance, Of
course, come its monumental brasses,
some 50 Ct them, not erected, but laid
down on the chancel floor to the honor