The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-05-12
Country Squire
 of England Was
 Interesting Parsonage

The modern mode of life is rapidly robbing England of one of the most interesting and picturesque of its hu- man types-the rural squire. The old fashioned country gentleman who served as a model for his American cousins in the early days of the United States and Canada was a brawny, stalwart type of man, but it is increasingly evident that he is not fitted to survive under modern con ditions of life. One of the most in 'teresting pen pictures of the country squire of Metric England was writ ten by Francis Grose, the antiquarian. Although Grose died 124 years ago to- day, May 12, 1791, he lived to lament the passing of the country squires he had known in his youth.
 The 'sgentIeman farmer of that period, according to Grose. t'com- n1onIy appeared in plain drabf or plush coat, large silver buttons, 8 jockey cap, and rarely without boots.
 His travels never exceeded the dis tance of the county town, and that only at assize and session time, or to attend an election. Once a week he commonly dined at the next mar
 ket town with the attorneys and jus
 ices. This man went to church regu-
 Iarly, read the weekly journal, set
 tied the disputes between the parish officers at the vestry, and afterwards
 adjourned to the neighboring ale
 house, where he usually got drunk
 for the good of his country. He was
 commonly followed by a couple of greyh ounds and a pointer, and an nounced his arrival by smacking his
 whip, or giving the view-l1a1loo. His
 drink was generally ale,l except at Christmas, the fifth of November, or some other gala days, when he would l make a bowl of strong brandy punch,
 garnished with a toast and nutmeg A journey to London was, by one of these men, reckoned as great an un- | dertaking as is at present a. voyage to the East Indies, and undertaken with scarcely less precaution and preparation.
 s'T1e mansion of one of these l squires was of plaster striped with
 timber, or of red brick. large case l mented bow windows, a porch with seats inr it, and over it a study; the caves of the house we'll inhabited by l with hollyhocks. Near the gate a horse block for convenience in mount ing.
 .sThe hall was furnished with
 f1itches' of bacon. and the mahtel-
 piece with guns and fishing rods, ac- companied by the broad-sword, parti- san and dagger,yborne by his ances- tors in the civil wars. The vacank I spaces were occupied by stags, horns.
 In his window lay Bakers Chronicle, iF7O&0 S4BOOtAt GOT A4aTLJTSs &IlaH1V1 \ on l lApparitfcns, Quincey' Dispensatory, 1 the Complete Justice, and a book of
 farriery.
 The best parIor, which was never liopeneds but on particular occasions, l was furnished with Turk-worked l chain, and hung round with portraits I of his ancestors; the men in the char lacter of shepherds, with their crooks; l dressed in full suits and huge full l bottomed perukes; others fn com I plete armor or buff coats playing on l l the bass viol CT Iute. The females
 likewise as shepherde desses, with the l lamb and crook, all habited in high
 Heads and flowing robes.''
 l The mode of living of the country squire of England exercised a pro- found influence on the English colon l ists in America, and many elderly I people on this side of the Atlantic can remember a, time when the rural squire of Britain had his counterpart l here. The tradition of the country squire is dying, and his ways are not \ our ways, but for all that he deserves T to be remembered and his honely Virtues perpetuafed.