e her plenty of air." He liked fresh air
himself. Mrs. Latter said in proof of this that the curtains were always
blowing about the open windows at Gad's Hill Place.

When her sister Jane died, the funeral took place at Higham Church, and
was very quiet, there being no show, only a little black pall trimmed
with white placed over the coffin, which was carried by young men to the
grave. Dickens afterwards commended what had been done, saying: "It
showed good sense," and adding--"Not like an army of black beetles."

It will be remembered that in _Great Expectations_ and elsewhere the
ostentation, mummery, and extravagance of the "undertaking ceremony" are
severely criticised. The same feeling, and a desire for funeral reform,
no doubt prompted Dickens to insert the following clause in his Will:--

"I emphatically direct that I be buried in an inexpensive,
unostentatious, and strictly private manner; that no public announcement
be made of the time or place of my burial; that at the utmost not more
than three plain mourning-coaches be employed; and that those who attend
my funeral wear no scarf, cloak, black bow, long hatband, or other such
revolting absurdity."

Mrs. Latter then told us the story of the two men with performing
bears:--

It appears that soon after Dickens came to Gad's Hill a lot of labourers
from Strood--some thirty or forty in number--had been for an outing in
breaks to Cobham to a "bean-feast," or something of the kind, and some
of them had got "rather fresh." On the return journey they stopped at
the Falstaff, and at the time two men, who were foreigners, were there
with performing bears, a very large one and a smaller one. The labourers
began to lark with the bears, teased them, and made them savage,
"becalled" the two men to whom they belonged, and a regular row
followed. The owners of the bears became exasperated, and were
proceeding to unmuzzle the animals, when Dickens (hearing the noise)
came out of his gate holding one of his St. Bernard dogs by a chain. He
told Mrs. Latter's father to take the bears up a back lane, said a few
words to the crowd, and remonstrated with the Strood men on their
conduct. The effect was magical; the whole affair was stilled in a
minute or two.

* * * * *

On a subsequent occasion we called upon the Rev. John Joseph Marsham of
Overblow, near Shorne. This venerable clergyman, a bachelor, and in his
eighty-fifth year, is totally bli