A NIGHT IN AN OLD ENGLISH 



ROADSIDE INN, AND WHAT 



I SAW THERE. 



AN OLD UNUSED "MQRLAND" INN SIGN. 



BY LODIAN LODIAN, c. e., Paris, France. 



(Original for this Journal.) 



In an out of the way part of England, where the postman is un- 

 known, and letters are brought by the first chance wayfarer or neigh- 

 bor to the small group of cottages in a sequestered nook in the hills, a 

 small inn without a sign is to be met with, wher x e once spirits were 

 made and sold in uncertain quantities; but as the supervisor of excise 

 had been ignored officially, the spirit business was stopped suddenly, 

 when the matter was officially investigated much to the chagrin of 

 the mild looking landlord and small farmer, who saw to the business, 

 as well as his crops. 



He sometimes explained in confidence how it came about, and said 

 that he told the justices that his great-grandfather before him this 

 he was certain about had sold to and treated friends to little drops of 

 spirits, before there was any law and fuss about the matter. 



It was the law that was the bother, not his spirits; and that he 

 had a sign ready t^ put up, painted by George Morland, the best he 

 ever painted. A collector of Morland's celebrities, on the bench, 

 wanted to know what the painting was like. 



"I might be fined for having a sign not put up,'' he answered. "I 

 do not know if I am safe a mentioning of it. What is the law, gentle- 

 men on that pointy" he added. 



The clerk was appealed to. That opinion was decisive: That he 

 might, or might not. carry on business on licensed premises, with or 

 without an inn-sign. This profound judgment did not convince any 

 one about the construction of the act of Parliament, and the unlicensed 

 inn-keeper said that he would never put up his Morland sign 'till he 

 knew for certain. 



He paid the fine inflicted upon him, and suggested that the judges 

 might let the amount of fine go towards a spirit license he meant to 

 apply for. Of course this suggestion was not entertained by the 

 bench. 



As a favor he showed me his "George Morland" picture and said 

 it was printed from life. There was Farmer Darnell's horsestall, his 

 .grey mare with the weather-girth to the saddle, just as it was used 



