THE RESIDENTS 103 



surrounding encampments crowd to it for the nightly 

 supplies of their companies, and when occasionally an 

 adult envoy tries to take away as much as he can con- 

 veniently carry in his person. We should be sorry to 

 stake the character of English ale on the taps they 

 draw at a place like the " Fighting Cocks." There may 

 be chemicals that come cheaper than inferior hops even 

 when you are brewing in the middle of the hop dis- 

 tricts ; and at all events " The Cocks/' being a 

 " brewers' house," is a convenient channel for dis- 

 posing of the brewers' failures. When a man is 

 smoking rancid tobacco, and muddling himself in his 

 cups, his palate is even less fastidious than usual ; but 

 his stomach and his stamina must suffer all the same, 

 however strong they may have been made by nature. 



Appeals have frequently been made to the Squire on 

 the subject of local public-house reform, but always 

 unsuccessfully. Were he witness himself to any act 

 that was overtly discreditable, he would speak his mind 

 freely enough, and soon put abuse down by the strong 

 hand. But whenever he rides down the High Street, 

 disorder is hushed before the sound of his horse-hoofs ; 

 and he is known to hold tale-bearing in abomination, 

 while he notoriously carries his Conservative instincts 

 to an extreme. Possibly because he is an aristocrat to 

 the backbone, he shows extreme consideration for the 

 sensibilities of his dependents ; he detests meddling in 

 their affairs save in the way of kindness, and would 

 never rob a poor man of his beer because he suspects 

 that the beer is bad. If the poor man does not like the 



