n to "empty slops;" and above all what a national propensity there
is to brush a man's clothes and polish his boots, whensoever and
wheresoever the clothes and boots can be seized without the man.[160]
This was what Dickens good-humouredly laughs at.

"Rockingham Castle: Friday, thirtieth of November, 1849. Picture to
yourself, my dear F, a large old castle, approached by an ancient keep,
portcullis, &c, &c, filled with company, waited on by six-and-twenty
servants; the slops (and wine-glasses) continually being emptied; and my
clothes (with myself in them) always being carried off to all sorts of
places; and you will have a faint idea of the mansion in which I am at
present staying. I should have written to you yesterday, but for having
had a very busy day. Among the guests is a Miss B, sister of the
Honourable Miss B (of Salem, Mass.), whom we once met at the house of
our distinguished literary countryman Colonel Landor. This lady is
renowned as an amateur actress, so last night we got up in the great
hall some scenes from the _School for Scandal_; the scene with the
lunatic on the wall, from the _Nicholas Nickleby_ of Major-General the
Hon. C. Dickens (Richmond, Va.); some conjuring; and then finished off
with country-dances; of which we had two admirably good ones, quite new
to me, though really old. Getting the words, and making the
preparations, occupied (as you may believe) the whole day; and it was
three o'clock before I got to bed. It was an excellent entertainment,
and we were all uncommonly merry. . . . I had a very polite letter from our
enterprising countryman Major Bentley[161] (of Lexington, Ky.), which I
shall show you when I come home. We leave here this afternoon, and I
shall expect you according to appointment, at a quarter past ten A.M.
to-morrow. Of all the country-houses and estates I have yet seen in
England, I think this is by far the best. Everything undertaken
eventuates in a most magnificent hospitality; and you will be pleased to
hear that our celebrated fellow citizen General Boxall (Pittsburg,
Penn.) is engaged in handing down to posterity the face of the owner of
the mansion and of his youthful son and daughter. At a future time it
will be my duty to report on the turnips, mangel-wurzel, ploughs, and
live stock; and for the present I will only say that I regard it as a
fortunate circumstance for the neighbouring community that this
patrimony should have fallen to my spirited and enlightened