illing the place in the economy of the London Sunday and week-end
which Richmond occupied in times when travelling was more difficult.
These changes are inevitable. The "Ship" at Greenwich has gone, and
Cabinet Ministers can no longer dine there. The convalescent home,
which was the undoing of certain Poplar Guardians, is housed in an
hotel as famous as the "Ship," in its days once the resort of Pitt and
his bosom friends. Indeed, a pathetic history might be written of the
famous hostelries of the past.

Not far from Marlborough is Devizes, formerly a great coaching centre,
and full of inns, of which the most noted is the "Bear," still a
thriving hostel, once the home of the great artist Sir Thomas
Lawrence, whose father was the landlord.

[Illustration: Courtyard of the George Inn, Norton St. Philip
Somerset]

It is impossible within one chapter to record all the old inns of
England, we have still a vast number left unchronicled, but perhaps a
sufficient number of examples has been given of this important feature
of vanishing England. Some of these are old and crumbling, and may die
of old age. Others will fall a prey to licensing committees. Some have
been left high and dry, deserted by the stream of guests that flowed
to them in the old coaching days. Motor-cars have resuscitated some
and brought prosperity and life to the old guest-haunted chambers. We
cannot dwell on the curious signs that greet us as we travel along the
old highways, or strive to interpret their origin and meaning. We are
rather fond in Berkshire of the "Five Alls," the interpretation of
which is cryptic. The Five Alls are, if I remember right--

"I rule all" [the king].
"I pray for all" [the bishop].
"I plead for all" [the barrister].
"I fight for all" [the soldier].
"I pay for all" [the farmer].

One of the most humorous inn signs is "The Man Loaded with Mischief,"
which is found about a mile from Cambridge, on the Madingley road. The
original Mischief was designed by Hogarth for a public-house in Oxford
Street. It is needless to say that the signboard, and even the name,
have long ago disappeared from the busy London thoroughfare, but the
quaint device must have been extensively copied by country
sign-painters. There is a "Mischief" at Wallingford, and a "Load of
Mischief" at Norwich, and another at Blewbury. The inn on the
Madingley road exhibits the sign in its original form. Though the
colours