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+Project Gutenberg's A Week's Tramp in Dickens-Land, by William R. Hughes
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: A Week's Tramp in Dickens-Land
+
+Author: William R. Hughes
+
+Illustrator: F. G. Kitton
+
+Release Date: February 25, 2010 [EBook #31394]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WEEK'S TRAMP IN DICKENS-LAND ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chris Curnow, Emmy and the Online Distributed
+Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
+produced from images generously made available by The
+Internet Archive)
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+A WEEK'S TRAMP
+
+IN
+
+DICKENS-LAND
+
+[Illustration: The Marshes, Cooling.]
+
+
+
+
+A WEEK'S TRAMP
+
+IN
+
+DICKENS-LAND
+
+TOGETHER WITH
+
+=Personal Reminiscences of the 'Inimitable Boz'=
+
+THEREIN COLLECTED.
+
+BY
+
+WILLIAM R. HUGHES, F.L.S.
+
+ _WITH MORE THAN A HUNDRED
+ ILLUSTRATIONS BY F. G. KITTON
+ AND OTHER ARTISTS._
+
+ LONDON: CHAPMAN & HALL, LIMITED.
+ BOSTON: ESTES AND LAURIAT.
+ 1891.
+
+
+
+
+ RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,
+ LONDON & BUNGAY.
+
+
+
+
+ [_All Rights reserved._]
+
+
+
+
+
+ TO
+
+ MY WIFE AND DAUGHTERS,
+
+ EMILY AND EDITH,
+
+ I DEDICATE
+
+ THIS RECORD OF "A WEEK'S TRAMP,"
+
+ TO REMIND THEM OF
+
+ THE MANY PLEASANT READINGS FROM DICKENS
+
+ WE HAVE ENJOYED TOGETHER
+
+ AT HOME.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+"'I should like to show you a series of eight articles, Sir, that have
+appeared in the Eatanswill Gazette. I think I may venture to say that
+you would not be long in establishing your opinions on a firm and solid
+basis, Sir.'
+
+"'I dare say I should turn very blue long before I got to the end of
+them,' responded Bob.
+
+"Mr. Pott looked dubiously at Bob Sawyer for some seconds, and turning
+to Mr. Pickwick said:--
+
+"'You have seen the literary articles which have appeared at intervals
+in the Eatanswill Gazette in the course of the last three months, and
+which have excited such general--I may say such universal--attention and
+admiration?'
+
+"'Why,' replied Mr. Pickwick, slightly embarrassed by the question, 'the
+fact is, I have been so much engaged in other ways, that I really have
+not had an opportunity of perusing them.'
+
+"'You should do so, Sir,' said Pott with a severe countenance.
+
+"'I will,' said Mr. Pickwick.
+
+"'They appeared in the form of a copious review of a work on Chinese
+metaphysics, Sir,' said Pott.
+
+"'Oh,' observed Mr. Pickwick--'from your pen I hope?'
+
+"'From the pen of my critic, Sir,' rejoined Pott with dignity.
+
+"'An abstruse subject I should conceive,' said Mr. Pickwick.
+
+"'Very, Sir,' responded Pott, looking intensely sage. 'He _crammed_ for
+it, to use a technical but expressive term; he read up for the subject,
+at my desire, in the _Encyclopædia Britannica_.'
+
+"'Indeed!' said Mr. Pickwick; 'I was not aware that that valuable work
+contained any information respecting Chinese metaphysics.'
+
+"'He read, Sir,' rejoined Mr. Pott, laying his hand on Mr. Pickwick's
+knee, and looking round with a smile of intellectual superiority, 'he
+read for metaphysics under the letter M, and for China under the letter
+C; and combined his information, Sir!'
+
+"Mr. Pott's features assumed so much additional grandeur at the
+recollection of the power and research displayed in the learned
+effusions in question, that some minutes elapsed before Mr. Pickwick
+felt emboldened to renew the conversation."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The above perennial extract from the immortal _Pickwick Papers_ suggests
+to some extent the nature of the contents of this Volume. It is the
+record of a pilgrimage made by two enthusiastic Dickensians during the
+late summer of 1888, together with "combined information,"--not indeed
+"crammed" from the ninth edition just completed of the valuable work
+above referred to, but gathered mostly from original sources,--respecting
+the places visited, the characters alluded to in some of the novels,
+personal reminiscences of their Author, appropriate passages from his
+works (for which acknowledgments are due to Messrs. Chapman and Hall),
+and some little mention of the thoughts developed by the associations of
+"Dickens-Land."
+
+Although the pilgrimage only extended to a week, and every spot referred
+to (save one) was actually visited during that time, it is but right to
+state that on three subsequent occasions the author has gone over the
+greater part of the same ground--once in the early winter, when the blue
+clematis and the aster had given place to the yellow jasmine and the
+chrysanthemum; once in the early spring, when those had been succeeded
+by the almond-blossom and the crocus; and again in the following year,
+when the beautiful county of Kent was rehabilitated in summer clothing,
+thus enabling him to verify observations, to correct possible errors
+arising from first impressions, and to gain new experiences.
+
+As our head-quarters were at Rochester, and most of the city and other
+parts were taken at odd times, it has not been found practicable to
+preserve in consecutive chapters a perfect sequence of the records of
+each day's tramp, although they appear in fairly chronological order
+throughout the work. "A preliminary tramp in London" will possibly be
+dull to those familiar with the great Metropolis, but it may be useful
+to foreign tramps in "Dickens-Land."
+
+Availing myself of the privilege adopted by most travellers at home and
+abroad, I have made occasional references to the weather. This is
+perhaps excusable when it is remembered that the year 1888 was a very
+remarkable one in that respect, so much so indeed, that the writer of a
+leading article in _The Times_ of January 18th, 1889, in commenting on
+Mr. G. J. Symons' report of the British rainfall of the previous year,
+remarked that "seldom within living memory had there been a twelve-month
+with more unpleasantness in it and less of genial sunshine." We were
+specially favoured, however, in getting more "sunshine" than
+"unpleasantness," thus adding to the enjoyment of our never-to-be-forgotten
+tramp.
+
+Upwards of three years have elapsed since this book was commenced, and
+the limited holiday leisure of a hard-working official life has
+necessarily prevented its completion for such a lengthened period, that
+it has come to be pleasantly referred to by my many Dickensian friends
+as the "Dictionary," in allusion to the important work of that nature
+contemplated by Dr. Strong, respecting which (says David Copperfield)
+"Adams, our head-boy, who had a turn for mathematics, had made a
+calculation, I was informed, of the time this Dictionary would take in
+completing, on the Doctor's plan, and at the Doctor's rate of going. He
+considered that it might be done in one thousand six hundred and
+forty-nine years, counting from the Doctor's last, or sixty-second,
+birthday."
+
+My hearty and sincere acknowledgments are due to the publishers, Messrs.
+Chapman and Hall, not only for the very handsome manner in which they
+have allowed my book to be got up as regards print, paper, and execution
+(to follow the model of their Victoria Edition of _Pickwick_ is indeed
+an honour to me), but especially for their great liberality in the
+matter of the Illustrations, which number more than a hundred. These
+were selected in conference by Mr. Fred Chapman, Mr. Kitton, and myself,
+and include about fifty original drawings by Mr. Kitton, from sketches
+specially made by him for this work. Of the remainder, six are from
+Forster's _Life of Dickens_, fifteen from Langton's _Childhood and Youth
+of Charles Dickens_, seven from _Charles Dickens by Pen and Pencil_, ten
+from the Jubilee Edition of _Pickwick_, and five from Rimmer's _About
+England with Dickens_. A few interesting fac-similes of handwriting,
+etc., have also been introduced. Surely such an eclectic series of
+Dickens Illustrations has never before been presented in one volume.
+
+To Messrs. Chapman and Hall, Mr. Robert Langton, F.R.H.S., Messrs. Frank
+T. Sabin and John F. Dexter, Messrs. Macmillan and Co., and Messrs.
+Chatto and Windus (the proprietors of the above-mentioned works), the
+author's acknowledgments are also due, and are hereby tendered. Mr.
+Stephen T. Aveling has kindly supplied an illustration of Restoration
+House as it appeared in Dickens's time, and Mr. William Ball, J.P.,
+generously commissioned a local artist to make a sketch of the Marshes,
+which forms the frontispiece to the book, and gives a good idea of the
+"long stretches of flat lands" on the Kent and Essex coasts.
+
+To those friends whom we then met for the first time, and from whom we
+subsequently received help, the author's most cordial acknowledgments
+are due, and are also tendered, for kind information and assistance.
+They are a goodly number, and include Mr. A. A. Arnold, Mr. Stephen T.
+Aveling, Mr. William Ball, J.P., Mr. James Baird, Mr. Charles Bird,
+F.G.S., Major and Mrs. Budden, Mr. W. J. Budden, Mr. R. L. Cobb, Mr. J.
+Couchman, The Misses Drage, Mrs. Easedown, Mr. Franklin Homan, Mr. James
+Hulkes, J.P., and Mrs. Hulkes, Mr. Apsley Kennette, Mrs. Latter, Mr. J.
+Lawrence, Mr. C. D. Levy, Mr. B. Lillie, Mr. J. E. Littlewood, Mr. J. N.
+Malleson, Rev. J. J. Marsham, M.A., Mrs. Masters, Mr. Miles, Mr. W.
+Millen, Mr. Geo. Payne, F.S.A., Mr. William Pearce, Mr. George Robinson,
+Mr. T. B. Rosseter, F.R.M.S., Dr. Sheppard, Mr. Henry Smetham, Dr.
+Steele, M.R.C.S., Mr. William Syms, Mrs. Taylor, Miss Taylor, Mr. W. S.
+Trood, Major Trousdell, Rev. Robert Whiston, M.A., Mr. W. T. Wildish,
+Mr. Humphrey Wood, Mr. C. K. Worsfold, and Mrs. Henry Wright. The late
+Mr. Roach Smith, F.S.A., took much interest in my work and gave valuable
+assistance. Mr. Luke Fildes, R.A., and Mrs. Lynn Linton generously
+contributed very interesting information. The Right Honourable the Earl
+of Darnley, Mr. Henry Fielding Dickens, Mr. W. P. Frith, R.A., and Lady
+Head, also kindly answered enquiries.
+
+Miss Hogarth has at my request very kindly consented to the publication
+of the original letters of the Novelist--about a dozen--now printed for
+the first time.
+
+My sincere thanks are due to Mr. E. W. Badger, F.R.H.S., the friend of
+many years, for valuable help.
+
+To my old friend and fellow-tramp, Mr. F. G. Kitton, with whose memory
+this delightful excursion will ever be pleasantly connected, my warmest
+thanks are due for reading proofs and for much kind help in many ways.
+"He wos werry good to me, he wos." As Pip wrote to another "Jo," "WOT
+LARX" we did have.
+
+Last, but not least, my cordial thanks are due to Mr. Charles Dickens
+for much kind information and valuable criticism.
+
+So long as readers continue to be, so long will our great English
+trilogy of cognate authors, Shakespeare, Scott, and Dickens, continue to
+be read. Indeed as regards Dickens, a writer in _Blackwood_, June, 1871
+(and _Blackwood_ was not always a sympathetic critic), said:--"We may
+apply to him, without doubt, the surest test to which the maker can be
+subject: were all his books swept by some intellectual catastrophe out
+of the world, there would still exist in the world some score at least
+of people, with all whose ways and sayings we are more intimately
+acquainted than with those of our brothers and sisters, who would owe to
+him their being. While we live Sam Weller and Dick Swiveller, Mr.
+Pecksniff and Mrs. Gamp, the Micawbers and the Squeerses, can never
+die. . . . They are more real than we are ourselves, and will outlive
+and outlast us, as they have outlived their creator. This is the one
+proof of genius which no critic, not the most carping or dissatisfied,
+can gainsay."
+
+So long also, the author ventures to think, will pilgrimages continue to
+be made to the shrines of Stratford-on-Avon, Abbotsford, and Gad's Hill
+Place, and to their vicinities. The modest aim of this Volume is, that
+it may add a humble unit in helping to keep _his_ memory green, and that
+it may be a useful and acceptable companion to pilgrims, not only of our
+own country, but also from that still "Greater Britain," where "All the
+Year Round" the name of Charles Dickens is almost a dearer "Household
+Word" than it is with us.
+
+ WILLIAM R. HUGHES.
+
+ WOOD HOUSE, HANDSWORTH WOOD,
+ near BIRMINGHAM.
+ _30th September, 1891._
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ CHAP. PAGE
+
+ PREFACE vii
+
+ I. INTRODUCTORY 1
+
+ II. A PRELIMINARY TRAMP IN LONDON 7
+
+ III. ROCHESTER CITY 51
+
+ IV. ROCHESTER CASTLE 98
+
+ V. ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 111
+
+ VI. RICHARD WATTS'S CHARITY, ROCHESTER 142
+
+ VII. AN AFTERNOON AT GAD'S HILL PLACE 161
+
+ VIII. CHARLES DICKENS AND STROOD 211
+
+ IX. CHATHAM:--ST. MARY'S CHURCH, ORDNANCE TERRACE,
+ THE HOUSE ON THE BROOK, THE MITRE HOTEL, AND
+ FORT PITT. LANDPORT:--PORTSEA, HANTS 251
+
+ X. AYLESFORD, TOWN MALLING, AND MAIDSTONE 288
+
+ XI. BROADSTAIRS, MARGATE, AND CANTERBURY 317
+
+ XII. COOLING, CLIFFE, AND HIGHAM 349
+
+ XIII. COBHAM PARK AND HALL, THE LEATHER BOTTLE, SHORNE,
+ CHALK, AND THE DOVER ROAD 376
+
+ XIV. A FINAL TRAMP IN ROCHESTER AND LONDON 405
+
+ INDEX 427
+
+
+
+
+LIST
+
+OF
+
+ILLUSTRATIONS
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+ PAGE
+
+ THE MARSHES, COOLING _Frontispiece_
+ _F. G. Kitton_ (from a Sketch by _E. L. Meadows_)
+
+ HEADPIECE, "HUMOUR" (From two Statuettes of "Mr. Pickwick"
+ and "Sam Weller" in Crown Derby Ware)
+ Engraved by _R. Langton_ xvii
+
+ THE GOLDEN CROSS _Herbert Railton_ 10
+
+ YOUNG DICKENS AT THE BLACKING WAREHOUSE _F. Barnard_ 12
+
+ FOUNTAIN COURT, TEMPLE _C. A. Vanderhoof_ 16
+
+ STAPLE INN, HOLBORN " " 21
+
+ BARNARD'S INN _Herbert Railton_ 23
+
+ DICKENS'S HOUSE, FURNIVAL'S INN " " 25
+
+ NO. 48, DOUGHTY STREET _J. Grego_ 28
+
+ TAVISTOCK HOUSE, TAVISTOCK SQUARE _J. Liddell_ 30
+
+ NO. 141, BAYHAM STREET _F. G. Kitton_ 37
+
+ NO. 1, DEVONSHIRE TERRACE _D. Maclise, R.A._ 40
+
+ FAC-SIMILE OF LETTER, CHARLES DICKENS 43
+
+ APOTHEOSIS OF "GRIP" THE RAVEN _D. Maclise, R.A._ 45
+
+ "MY MAGNIFICENT ORDER AT THE PUBLIC HOUSE" _Phiz_ 49
+
+ BULL INN, ROCHESTER--"GOOD HOUSE, NICE BEDS" _Herbert Railton_ 56
+
+ STAIRCASE AT "THE BULL" _F. G. Kitton_ 58
+
+ THE "ELEVATED DEN" IN THE BALL-ROOM, "BULL INN" _F. G. Kitton_ 61
+
+ OLD ROCHESTER BRIDGE _Herbert Railton_ 68
+
+ THE GUILDHALL, ROCHESTER _F. G. Kitton_ 71
+
+ THE "MOON-FACED" CLOCK IN HIGH STREET " " 72
+
+ IN HIGH STREET, ROCHESTER " " 73
+
+ EASTGATE HOUSE, ROCHESTER " " 74
+
+ MR. SAPSEA'S HOUSE, ROCHESTER " " 76
+
+ MR. SAPSEA'S FATHER (After sketch by _H. Wickham_) 77
+
+ RESTORATION HOUSE, ROCHESTER _F. G. Kitton_ 79
+
+ OLD ROCHESTER THEATRE, STAR HILL _W. Hull_ 84
+
+ THE CASTLE FROM ROCHESTER BRIDGE _F. G. Kitton_ 99
+
+ THE KEEP OF ROCHESTER CASTLE _Herbert Railton_ 101
+
+ INTERIOR OF ROCHESTER CASTLE _F. G. Kitton_ 105
+
+ ROCHESTER CASTLE AND THE MEDWAY " " 109
+
+ ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL " " 112
+
+ ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL, INTERIOR " " 115
+
+ THE CRYPT, ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL _Phiz_ 118
+
+ MINOR CANON ROW, ROCHESTER _F. G. Kitton_ 123
+
+ COLLEGE GATE (OR "CHERTSEY'S" GATE), ROCHESTER " " 125
+
+ PRIOR'S GATE, ROCHESTER " " 126
+
+ DEANERY GATE, ROCHESTER " " 128
+
+ THE VINES AND RESTORATION HOUSE, ROCHESTER " " 131
+
+ RESTORATION HOUSE, AS IT APPEARED IN DICKENS'S TIME
+ (Engraved from a Drawing by an Amateur) 133
+
+ ST. NICHOLAS' BURYING-GROUND _F. G. Kitton_ 136
+
+ MEMORIAL BRASS IN ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL 138
+
+ THE "SIX POOR TRAVELLERS" _F. G. Kitton_ 143
+
+ RICHARD WATTS'S ALMSHOUSES, ROCHESTER " " 149
+
+ FAC-SIMILES OF SIGNATURES OF CHARLES DICKENS AND MARK LEMON 151
+
+ THE "SIX POOR TRAVELLERS" FROM THE REAR _F. G. Kitton_ 153
+
+ A DORMITORY IN THE "SIX POOR TRAVELLERS": GALLERY LEADING
+ TO THE DORMITORIES _F. G. Kitton_ 154
+
+ SATIS HOUSE (From a Photograph) 156
+
+ WATTS'S MONUMENT IN ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL _R. Langton_ 157
+
+ ROCHESTER FROM STROOD HILL _C. Marshall_ 162
+
+ THE "SIR JOHN FALSTAFF" INN, GAD'S HILL _F. G. Kitton_ 164
+
+ GAD'S HILL PLACE " " 166
+
+ "THE EMPTY CHAIR." GAD'S HILL, NINTH OF JUNE, 1870
+ _F. G. Kitton_ (from the Drawing by _S. L. Fildes, R.A._) 170
+
+ COUNTERFEIT BOOK-BACKS ON STUDY DOOR _R. Langton_ 172
+
+ GAD'S HILL PLACE FROM THE REAR _J. Liddell_ 177
+
+ "THE GRAVE OF DICK, THE BEST OF BIRDS" _F. G. Kitton_ 178
+
+ THE WELL AT GAD'S HILL PLACE " " 181
+
+ THE PORCH, GAD'S HILL PLACE _J. Liddell_ 183
+
+ THE CEDARS, GAD'S HILL _E. Hull_ 185
+
+ VIEW FROM THE ROOF OF DICKENS'S HOUSE, GAD'S HILL _F. G. Kitton_ 189
+
+ FAC-SIMILES OF _GAD'S HILL GAZETTE_ AND FINAL NOTICE 199-203
+
+ TEMPLE FARM, STROOD _F. G. Kitton_ 213
+
+ AT TEMPLE FARM, STROOD " " 214
+
+ CRYPT, TEMPLE FARM " " 215
+
+ THE "CRISPIN AND CRISPIANUS," STROOD " " 218
+
+ OLD QUARRY HOUSE, STROOD " " 236
+
+ FRINDSBURY CHURCH " " 239
+
+ ROCHESTER FROM STROOD PIER " " 245
+
+ ST. MARY'S CHURCH, CHATHAM _W. Dadson_ 256
+
+ NO. 11, ORDNANCE TERRACE, CHATHAM _E. Hull_ 259
+
+ THE HOUSE ON THE BROOK, CHATHAM " 260
+
+ GILES'S SCHOOL, CHATHAM " 261
+
+ MITRE INN, CHATHAM " 263
+
+ NAVY-PAY OFFICE, CHATHAM " 275
+
+ FORT PITT, CHATHAM _Herbert Railton_ 277
+
+ BIRTHPLACE OF CHARLES DICKENS, PORTSEA (From a Photograph) 281
+
+ ST. MARY'S CHURCH, PORTSEA _R. Langton_ 285
+
+ AYLESFORD _F. G. Kitton_ 289
+
+ AYLESFORD BRIDGE " " 291
+
+ THE HIGH STREET, TOWN MALLING _Herbert Railton_ 293
+
+ COB TREE HALL _F. G. Kitton_ 297
+
+ CRICKET GROUND, TOWN MALLING " " 302
+
+ THE MEDWAY AT MAIDSTONE " " 307
+
+ CHILLINGTON MANOR HOUSE, MAIDSTONE " " 310
+
+ KIT'S COTY HOUSE " " 312
+
+ KIT'S COTY HOUSE AND "BLUE BELL" " " 315
+ (From the Painting by Gegan)
+ HOP-PICKING IN KENT _F. G. Kitton_ 319
+
+ "BLEAK HOUSE," BROADSTAIRS " " 328
+
+ OLD LOOK-OUT HOUSE, BROADSTAIRS " " 332
+
+ THE "FALSTAFF," WESTGATE, CANTERBURY " " 335
+
+ THE "DANE JOHN" FROM THE CITY WALL, CANTERBURY " " 337
+
+ BELL HARRY TOWER, CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL " " 339
+
+ SCENE OF THE MARTYRDOM, CANTERBURY CATHEDRAL " " 341
+
+ "BITS" OF OLD CANTERBURY _C. A. Vanderhoof_ 342
+
+ "THE LITTLE INN," CANTERBURY _F. G. Kitton_ 345
+
+ GRAVES OF THE COMPORT FAMILY, COOLING CHURCHYARD " " 353
+
+ COOLING CHURCH _C. A. Vanderhoof_ 355
+
+ GATEWAY, COOLING CASTLE _F. G. Kitton_ 359
+
+ CLIFFE CHURCH " " 361
+
+ COBHAM HALL _Herbert Railton_ 381
+
+ DICKENS'S CHÂLET, NOW IN COBHAM PARK _J. Liddell_ 384
+
+ THE "LEATHER BOTTLE," COBHAM _F. G. Kitton_ 387
+
+ THE OLD PARLOUR OF THE "LEATHER BOTTLE" _E. Hull_ 389
+
+ COBHAM CHURCH _Herbert Railton_ 390
+
+ SHORNE CHURCH _F. G. Kitton_ 392
+
+ CURIOUS OLD FIGURE OVER THE PORCH, CHALK CHURCH _F. G. Kitton_ 394
+
+ "THERE'S MILESTONES ON THE DOVER ROAD" " " 400
+
+ DOORWAY, ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL " " 407
+
+ FAC-SIMILES OF CHARLES DICKENS'S HANDWRITING 1837, 1850,
+ 1854, 1870 418-20
+
+ THE GRAVE IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY _F. G. Kitton_ 425
+
+ TAILPIECE, "PATHOS" (From two Plaques of the "Old Man"
+ and "Little Nell" in Wedgwood Ware) Engraved by _R. Langton_ xx
+
+[Illustration]
+
+[Illustration]
+
+
+
+
+A WEEK'S TRAMP
+
+IN
+
+DICKENS-LAND.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+ "So wishing you well in the way you go, we now
+ conclude with the observation, that perhaps you'll
+ go it."--_Our Mutual Friend._
+
+
+AMONG the many interesting books that have been published relating to
+Charles Dickens since his death, more than twenty years ago (it seems
+but yesterday to some of his admirers), there are at least half a dozen
+that describe the "country" peopled by the deathless characters created
+by his genius.
+
+Probably the pioneer in this class of literature was that comprehensive
+work, _Dickens's London, or London in the Works of Charles Dickens_, by
+my friend, that thorough Dickensian, Mr. T. Edgar Pemberton, 1876; this
+was followed by a very readable volume, _In Kent with Charles Dickens_,
+by Thomas Frost, 1880; then came a dainty tome from Boston, U.S.A.,
+entitled, _A Pickwickian Pilgrimage_, by John R. G. Hassard, 1881.
+Afterwards appeared _The Childhood and Youth of Charles Dickens_, by
+Robert Langton, 1883, beautifully illustrated by the late William Hull
+of Manchester, the author, and others--a work developed from the
+_brochure_ by the same author, _Charles Dickens and Rochester_, 1880,
+which has passed through five editions. Next to Forster's _Life of
+Dickens_, Mr. Robert Langton's larger work undoubtedly ranks--especially
+from the richness of the illustrations--as a very valuable original
+contribution to the biography of the great novelist. Another handsome
+volume, containing the illustrations to a series of papers in
+_Scribner's Monthly_--written by B. E. Martin--entitled _About England
+with Dickens_, came from the pen of Mr. Alfred Rimmer, 1883, and
+included additional illustrations drawn by the author, C. A. Vanderhoof,
+and others. Yet another little _brochure_ recently appeared, called
+_London Rambles en zigzag with Charles Dickens_, by Robert Allbut, 1886.
+Lastly, there was published in the Christmas Number of _Scribner's
+Magazine_, 1887, an article, "In Dickens-Land," by Edward Percy Whipple,
+in which this veteran and appreciative critic of the eminent English
+writer's works points out that, "In addition to the practical life that
+men and women lead, constantly vexed as it is by obstructive facts,
+there is an interior life which they _imagine_, in which facts smoothly
+give way to sentiments, ideas, and aspirations. Dickens has, in short,
+discovered and colonized one of the waste districts of 'Imagination,'
+which we may call 'Dickens-Land,' or 'Dickens-Ville,' . . . better known
+than such geographical countries as Canada and Australia, . . . and
+confirming us in the belief of the _reality_ of a population which has
+no _actual_ existence."
+
+It must not be assumed that the above list exhausts the literature on
+the subject of "Dickens-Land," many references to which are made in such
+high-class works as Augustus J. C. Hare's _Walks in London_, and
+Lawrence Hutton's _Literary Landmarks of London_.
+
+Since the above was written, a very interesting and prettily illustrated
+article has appeared in the _English Illustrated Magazine_ for October,
+1888, entitled "Charles Dickens and Southwark," by Mr. J. Ashby-Sterry,
+who is second to none as an enthusiastic admirer and loyal student of
+Dickens. There is also a paper in _Longman's Magazine_ for the same
+month, by the delightful essayist A. K. H. B., called "That Longest
+Day," in which there are several allusions to Dickens and
+"Dickens-Land." It, however, lacks the freshness of his earlier
+writings. Surely he must have lost his old love for Dickens, or things
+must have gone wrong at the Ecclesiastical Conference which took place
+at Gravesend on "That Longest Day." Altogether it is pitched in a minor
+key.
+
+None of these contributions (with the exception of Mr. Langton's book),
+interesting as they are, and indispensable to the collector, attempt in
+any way to give personal reminiscences of Charles Dickens from friends
+or others, nor do they in any way help to throw light on his everyday
+life at home, beyond what was known before.
+
+The circumstances narrated in this work do not concern the imaginary
+"Dickens-Land" of Mr. Whipple, but refer to the actual country in which
+the imaginary characters played their parts, and to that still more
+interesting actual country in which Dickens lived long and loved
+most--the county of Kent.
+
+On Friday, 24th August, 1888, two friends met in London--one of them,
+the writer of these lines, a Dickens collector of some years'
+experience; the other, Mr. F. G. Kitton, author of that sumptuous work,
+_Charles Dickens by Pen and Pencil_; both ardent admirers of "the
+inimitable 'Boz,'" and lovers of nature and art.
+
+We were a sort of self-constituted roving commission, to carry into
+effect a long-projected intention to make a week's tramp in
+"Dickens-Land," for purposes of health and recreation; to visit Gad's
+Hill, Rochester, Chatham, and neighbouring classical ground; to go over
+and verify some of the most important localities rendered famous in the
+novels; to identify, if possible, doubtful spots; and to glean, under
+whatever circumstances naturally developed in the progress of our tramp,
+additions in any form to the many interesting memorials already
+published, and still ever growing, relating to the renowned novelist.
+The idea of recording our reminiscences was not a primary consideration.
+It grew out of our experiences, generating a desire for others to become
+acquainted with the results of our enjoyable peregrinations; and the
+labour therein involved has been somewhat of the kind described by Lewis
+Morris:--
+
+ "For this of old is sure,
+ That change of toil is toil's sufficient cure."
+
+We mixed with representatives of the classes of domestics, labourers,
+artizans, traders, professional men, and scientists. Many of those whom
+we met were advanced in years,--several were octogenarians,--and there
+is no doubt that we have been the means of placing on record here and
+there an interesting item from the past generation (mostly told in the
+exact words of the narrators) that might otherwise have perished. This
+is a special feature of this work, which makes it different from all
+the preceding. In every instance we were received with very great
+kindness, courtesy, and attention. The replies to our questions were
+frank and generous, and in several cases permission was accorded us to
+make copies of original documents not hitherto made public.
+
+Considering that almost every inch of ground connected with Dickens has
+been so thoroughly explored, we were, on the whole, quite satisfied with
+our excursion: "the results were equal to the appliances."
+
+By a coincidence, the month which we selected (August) was Dickens's
+favourite month, if we may judge from the opening sentences of the
+sixteenth chapter of _Pickwick_:--
+
+ "There is no month in the whole year, in which
+ nature wears a more beautiful appearance than in
+ the month of August. Spring has many beauties, and
+ May is a fresh and blooming month, but the charms
+ of this time of year are enhanced by their
+ contrast with the winter season. August has no
+ such advantage. It comes when we remember nothing
+ but clear skies, green fields, and sweet-smelling
+ flowers--when the recollection of snow, and ice,
+ and bleak winds, has faded from our minds as
+ completely as they have disappeared from the
+ earth,--and yet what a pleasant time it is.
+ Orchards and cornfields ring with the hum of
+ labour; trees bend beneath the thick clusters of
+ rich fruit which bow their branches to the ground;
+ and the corn, piled in graceful sheaves, or waving
+ in every light breath that sweeps above it, as if
+ it wooed the sickle, tinges the landscape with a
+ golden hue. A mellow softness appears to hang over
+ the whole earth; the influence of the season seems
+ to extend itself to the very wagon, whose slow
+ motion across the well-reaped field, is
+ perceptible only to the eye, but strikes with no
+ harsh sound upon the ear."
+
+By another coincidence, the day which we selected to commence our tramp
+was Friday--the day upon which most of the important incidents of
+Dickens's life happened, as appears from frequent references in
+Forster's _Life_ to the subject.
+
+Provided with a selection of books inseparably connected with the
+subject of our tour, including, of course, copies of _Pickwick_, _Great
+Expectations_, _Edwin Drood_, _The Uncommercial Traveller_, Bevan's
+_Tourist's Guide to Kent_, one or two local Handbooks, one of Bacon's
+useful cycling maps, with a sketch map of the geology of the district
+(which greatly helped us to understand many of its picturesque effects,
+and was kindly furnished by Professor Lapworth, LL.D., F.R.S., of the
+Mason College, Birmingham), and with a pocket aneroid barometer, which
+every traveller should possess himself with if he wishes to make
+convenient arrangements as regards weather, we make a preliminary tramp
+in London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+A PRELIMINARY TRAMP IN LONDON.
+
+ "We Britons had at that time particularly settled
+ that it was treasonable to doubt our having and
+ our being the best of everything: otherwise, while
+ I was scared by the immensity of London, I think I
+ might have had some faint doubts whether it was
+ not rather ugly, crooked, narrow, and
+ dirty."--_Great Expectations._
+
+
+SOME sixty or seventy years must have elapsed since Dickens (through the
+mouthpiece of Pip, as above) recorded his first impressions of London;
+and although he lived in it many years, and in after life he loved to
+study its people in every stratum of society and every phase of their
+existence, it seems doubtful, apart from these studies, whether he ever
+really liked London itself, for in the _Uncommercial Traveller_, on "The
+Boiled Beef of New England," in describing London as it existed
+subsequently, he contrasts it unfavourably in some respects, not only
+with such continental cities as Paris, Bordeaux, Frankfort, Milan,
+Geneva, and Rome, but also with such British cities as Edinburgh,
+Aberdeen, Exeter, and Liverpool, with such American cities as New York,
+Boston, and Philadelphia, and with "a bright little town like Bury St.
+Edmunds." Nevertheless, it is indubitable that his writings, beyond
+those of any other author, have done wonders to popularize our
+knowledge of London,--more particularly the London of the latter half of
+the last and the first half of the present century,--and that those
+writings have given it a hold on our affections which it might not
+otherwise have acquired. In almost all his works we are introduced to a
+fresh spot in the Metropolis, perhaps previously known to us, but to
+which the fidelity of his descriptions and the reality of the characters
+peopling it, certainly give a historical value never before understood
+or appreciated. In _The Life of Charles Dickens_, written by his devoted
+friend, John Forster, may be found a corroboration of this view:--
+
+"There seemed," says this biographer, "to be not much to add to our
+knowledge of London until his books came upon us, but each in this
+respect outstripped the other in its marvels. In _Nickleby_, the old
+city reappears under every aspect; and whether warmth and light are
+playing over what is good and cheerful in it, or the veil is uplifted
+from its darker scenes, it is at all times our privilege to see and feel
+it as it absolutely is. Its interior hidden life becomes familiar as its
+commonest outward forms, and we discover that we hardly knew anything of
+the places we supposed that we knew the best."
+
+What Scott did for Edinburgh and the Trossachs, Dickens did for London
+and the county of Kent. His fascination for the London streets has been
+dwelt on by many an author. Mr. Frank T. Marzials says in his
+interesting _Life of Charles Dickens_:--
+
+"London remained the walking-ground of his heart. As he liked best to
+walk in London, so he liked best to walk at night. The darkness of the
+great city had a strange fascination for him. He never grew tired of
+it."
+
+Mr. Sala records that he had been encountered "in the oddest places and
+in the most inclement weather: in Ratcliff Highway, on Haverstock Hill,
+on Camberwell Green, in Gray's Inn Lane, in the Wandsworth Road, at
+Hammersmith Broadway, in Norton Folgate, and at Kensal New Town. A
+hansom whirled you by the 'Bell and Horns' at Brompton, and there was
+Charles Dickens striding as with seven-leagued boots, seemingly in the
+direction of North End, Fulham. The Metropolitan Railway disgorged you
+at Lisson Grove, and you met Charles Dickens plodding sturdily towards
+the 'Yorkshire Stingo.' He was to be met rapidly skirting the grim brick
+wall of the prison in Coldbath Fields, or trudging along the Seven
+Sisters' Road at Holloway, or bearing under a steady press of sail
+through Highgate Archway, or pursuing the even tenor of his way up the
+Vauxhall Bridge Road."
+
+That his feelings were intensely sympathetic with all classes of
+humanity there is amply evidenced in the following lines, written so far
+back as 1841, which Master Humphrey, "from his clock side in the chimney
+corner," speaks in the last page before the opening of _Barnaby
+Rudge_:--
+
+ "Heart of London, there is a moral in thy every
+ stroke! as I look on at thy indomitable working,
+ which neither death, nor press of life, nor grief,
+ nor gladness out of doors will influence one jot,
+ I seem to hear a voice within thee which sinks
+ into my heart, bidding me, as I elbow my way among
+ the crowd, have some thought for the meanest
+ wretch that passes, and, being a man, to turn away
+ with scorn and pride from none that bear the human
+ shape."
+
+On a sultry day, such as this of Friday, the 24th August, 1888, with the
+thermometer at nearly 80 degrees in the shade, one needs some enthusiasm
+to undertake a tramp for a few hours over the hot and dusty streets of
+London, that we may glance at a few of the memorable spots that we have
+visited over and over again before. This preliminary tramp is therefore
+necessarily limited to visiting the houses where Dickens lived, from the
+year 1836 until he finally left it in 1860, on disposing of Tavistock
+House, and took up his residence at Gad's Hill Place. In our way we
+shall take a few of the places rendered famous in the novels, but it
+would require a "knowledge of London" as "extensive and peculiar" as
+that of Mr. Weller, and would occupy a week at least, to exhaust the
+interest of all these associations.
+
+[Illustration: The Golden Cross.]
+
+Our temporary quarters are at our favourite "Morley's," in Trafalgar
+Square, one of those old-fashioned, comfortable hotels of the last
+generation, where the guest is still known as "Mr. H.," and not as
+"Number 497." And what is very relevant to our present purpose, Morley's
+revives associations of the hotels, or "Inns," as they were more
+generally called in Charles Dickens's early days. Strolling from
+Morley's eastward along the Strand, to which busy thoroughfare there are
+numerous references in the works of Dickens, we pass on our left the
+Golden Cross Hotel, a great coaching-house half a century ago, from
+whence the Pickwickians and Mr. Jingle started, on the 13th of May,
+1827, by the "Commodore" coach for Rochester. "The low archway," against
+which Mr. Jingle thus prudently cautioned the passengers,--"Heads!
+Heads! Take care of your heads!" with the addition of a very tragic
+reference to the head of a family, was removed in 1851, and the hotel
+has the same appearance now that it presented after that alteration. The
+house was a favourite with David Copperfield, who stayed there with his
+friend Steerforth on his arrival "outside the Canterbury coach;" and it
+was in one of the public rooms here, approached by "a side entrance to
+the stable-yard," that the affecting interview took place with his
+humble friend Mr. Peggotty, as touchingly recorded in the fortieth
+chapter of _David Copperfield_. The two famous "pudding shops" in the
+Strand, so minutely described in connection with David's early days,
+have of course long been removed:--
+
+ "One was in a court close to St. Martin's
+ Church--at the back of the Church,--which is now
+ removed altogether. The pudding at that shop was
+ made of currants, and was rather a special
+ pudding, but was dear, two pennyworth not being
+ larger than a pennyworth of more ordinary pudding.
+ A good shop for the latter was in the
+ Strand,--somewhere in that part which has been
+ rebuilt since. It was a stout pale pudding, heavy
+ and flabby, and with great flat raisins in it,
+ stuck in whole at wide distances apart. It came up
+ hot at about my time every day, and many a day did
+ I dine off it."
+
+[Illustration: Young Dickens at the Blacking Warehouse.]
+
+Nearly opposite the Golden Cross Hotel is Craven Street, where (says Mr.
+Allbut), at No. 39, Mr. Brownlow in _Oliver Twist_ resided after
+removing from Pentonville, and where the villain Monks was confronted,
+and made a full confession of his guilt.
+
+"Ruminating on the strange mutability of human affairs," after the
+manner of Mr. Pickwick, we call to mind, on the same side of the way,
+Hungerford Stairs, Market, and Bridge, all well remembered in the days
+of our youth, but now swept away to make room for the commodious railway
+terminus at Charing Cross. Here poor David Copperfield "served as a
+labouring hind," and acquired his grim experience with poverty in
+Murdstone and Grinby's (_alias_ Lamert's) Blacking Warehouse. Hungerford
+Suspension Bridge many years ago was removed to Clifton, and we never
+pass by it on the Great Western line without recalling recollections of
+poor David's sorrows.
+
+Next in order comes Buckingham Street, at the end house of which, on the
+east side (No. 15), lived Mrs. Crupp, who let apartments to David
+Copperfield in happier days. Here he had his "first dissipation," and
+entertained Steerforth and his two friends, Mrs. Crupp imposing on him
+frightfully as regards the dinner; "the handy young man" and the "young
+gal" being equally troublesome as regards the waiting. The description
+of "my set of chambers" in _David Copperfield_ seems to point to the
+possibility of Dickens having resided here, but there is no evidence to
+prove it. At Osborn's Hotel, now the Adelphi, in John Street, Mr. Wardle
+and his daughter Emily stayed on their visit to London, after Mr.
+Pickwick was released from the Fleet Prison.
+
+Durham Street, a little further to the right, leads to the "dark
+arches," which had attractions for David Copperfield, who "was fond of
+wandering about the Adelphi, because it was a mysterious place with
+those dark arches." He says:--"I see myself emerging one evening from
+out of these arches, on a little public-house, close to the river, with
+a space before it, where some coal-heavers were dancing." Nearly
+opposite is the Adelphi Theatre, notable as having been the stage
+whereon most of the dramas founded on Dickens's works were first
+produced, from _Nicholas Nickleby_ in 1838, in which Mrs. Keeley, John
+Webster, and O. Smith took part, down to 1867, when _No Thoroughfare_
+was performed, "the only story," says Mr. Forster, "Dickens himself ever
+helped to dramatize," and which was rendered with such fine effect by
+Fechter, Benjamin Webster, Mrs. Alfred Mellon, and other important
+actors. He certainly assisted in Madame Celeste's production of _A Tale
+of Two Cities_, even if he had no actual part in the writing of the
+piece.
+
+Mr. Allbut thinks that the residence of Miss La Creevy, the good-natured
+miniature painter (whose prototype was Miss Barrow, Dickens's aunt on
+his mother's side) in _Nicholas Nickleby_, was probably at No. 111,
+Strand. It was "a private door about half-way down that crowded
+thoroughfare."
+
+We proceed onwards, passing Wellington Street North, where at No. 16,
+the office of the famous _Household Words_ formerly stood; _All the Year
+Round_, its successor, conducted by Mr. Charles Dickens, the novelist's
+eldest son, now being at No. 26 in the same street.
+
+A little further on, on the same side of the way, and almost facing
+Somerset House, at No. 332, was the office of the once celebrated
+_Morning Chronicle_, on the staff of which Dickens in early life worked
+as a reporter. The _Chronicle_ was a great power in its day, when Mr.
+John Black ("Dear old Black!" Dickens calls him, "my first hearty
+out-and-out appreciator, . . . with never-forgotten compliments . . .
+coming in the broadest of Scotch from the broadest of hearts I ever
+knew,") was editor, and Mr. J. Campbell, afterwards Lord Chief-Justice
+Campbell, its chief literary critic. The _Chronicle_ died in 1862.
+
+The west corner of Arundel Street (No. 186, Strand, where now stand the
+extensive premises of Messrs. W. H. Smith and Son) was formerly the
+office of Messrs. Chapman and Hall, the publishers of almost all the
+original works of Charles Dickens. After 1850 the firm removed to 193,
+Piccadilly, their present house being at 11, Henrietta Street, Covent
+Garden. They own the copyright, and publish all Dickens's works; and
+they estimate that two million copies of _Pickwick_[1] have been sold in
+England alone, exclusive of the almost innumerable popular editions,
+from one penny upwards, published by other firms, the copyright of this
+work having expired. The penny edition was sold by hundreds of thousands
+in the streets of London some years ago.
+
+This statement will probably be surprising to the remarkable class of
+readers thus described by that staunch admirer of Dickens, Mr. Andrew
+Lang, in "Phiz," one of his charming _Lost Leaders_. He says:--
+
+"It is a singular and gloomy feature in the character of young ladies
+and gentlemen of a particular type, that they have ceased to care for
+Dickens, as they have ceased to care for Scott. They say they cannot
+read Dickens. When Mr. Pickwick's adventures are presented to the modern
+maid, she behaves like the Cambridge freshman. 'Euclide viso, cohorruit
+et evasit.' When he was shown Euclid he evinced dismay, and sneaked off.
+Even so do most young people act when they are expected to read
+_Nicholas Nickleby_ and _Martin Chuzzlewit_. They call these
+master-pieces 'too gutterly gutter'; they cannot sympathize with this
+honest humour and conscious pathos. Consequently the innumerable
+references to Sam Weller, and Mrs. Gamp, and Mr. Pecksniff, and Mr.
+Winkle, which fill our ephemeral literature, are written for these
+persons in an unknown tongue. The number of people who could take a good
+pass in Mr. Calverley's _Pickwick_ Examination Paper is said to be
+diminishing. Pathetic questions are sometimes put. Are we not too much
+cultivated? Can this fastidiousness be anything but a casual passing
+phase of taste? Are all people over thirty who cling to their Dickens
+and their Scott old fogies? Are we wrong in preferring them to _Bootles'
+Baby_, and _The Quick or the Dead_, and the novels of M. Paul Bourget?"
+
+[Illustration: Fountain Court, Temple.]
+
+But this by the way. Turning down Essex Street, we visit the Temple,
+celebrated in several of Dickens's novels--_Barnaby Rudge_, _A Tale of
+Two Cities_, _Great Expectations_, and _Our Mutual Friend_,--but in none
+more graphically than in _Martin Chuzzlewit_, in which is described the
+fountain in Fountain Court, where Ruth Pinch goes to meet her lover,
+"coming briskly up, with the best little laugh upon her face that ever
+played in opposition to the fountain; and beat it all to nothing." And
+when John Westlock came at last, "merrily the fountain leaped and
+danced, and merrily the smiling dimples twinkled and expanded more and
+more, until they broke into a laugh against the basin's rim, and
+vanished." As we saw the fountain on the bright August morning of our
+tramp, the few shrubs, flowers, and ferns planted round it gave it quite
+a rural effect, and we wished long life to the solitary specimen of
+eucalyptus, whose glaucous-green leaves and tender shoots seemed
+ill-fitted to bear the nipping frosts of our variable climate.
+
+Coming out of the Temple by Middle Temple Lane, we pass on our left
+Child's Bank, the "Tellson's Bank" of _A Tale of Two Cities_, "which was
+an old-fashioned place even in the year 1780," but was replaced in 1878
+by the handsome building suitable to its imposing neighbours, the Law
+Courts. Temple Bar, which adjoined the Old Bank, and was one of the
+relics of Dickens's London, has passed away, having since been
+re-erected on "Theobalds," near Waltham Cross.
+
+"A walk down Fleet Street"--one of Dr. Johnson's enjoyments--leads us to
+Whitefriars Street, on the east side of which, at No. 67, is the office
+of _The Daily News_, edited by Dickens from 21 Jany. to 9 Feby., 1846,
+and for which he wrote the original prospectus, and subsequently, in a
+series of letters descriptive of his Italian travel, his delightful
+_Pictures from Italy_. St. Dunstan's Church in Fleet Street is supposed
+to have been that immortalized in _The Chimes_.
+
+It was in this street many years before (in the year 1833, when he was
+only twenty-one), as recorded in Forster's _Life_, that Dickens
+describes himself as dropping his first literary sketch, _Mrs. Joseph
+Porter over the Way_, "stealthily one evening at twilight, with fear and
+trembling, into a dark letter-box in a dark office up a dark court in
+Fleet Street; and he has told his agitation when it appeared in all the
+glory of print:--'On which occasion I walked down to Westminster Hall,
+and turned into it for half an hour, because my eyes were so dimmed with
+joy and pride, that they could not bear the street, and were not fit to
+be seen there.'" The "dark court" referred to was no doubt Johnson's
+Court, as the printers of the _Monthly Magazine_, Messrs. Baylis and
+Leighton, had their offices here. This contribution appeared in the
+January number 1834 of this magazine, published by Messrs. Cochrane and
+Macrone of 11 Waterloo Place.
+
+Turning up Chancery Lane, also celebrated in many of Charles Dickens's
+novels, we leave on our left Bell Yard, where lodged the ruined suitor
+in Chancery, poor Gridley, "the man from Shropshire" in _Bleak House_,
+but the yard has, through part of it being required for the New Law
+Courts and other modern improvements, almost lost its identity.
+
+On our right is Old Serjeant's Inn, which leads into Clifford's Inn,
+where the conference took place between John Rokesmith and Mr. Boffin,
+when the former, to the latter's amazement, said:--"If you would try me
+as your Secretary." The place is thus referred to in the eighth chapter
+of _Our Mutual Friend_:--
+
+ "Not very well knowing how to get rid of this
+ applicant, and feeling the more embarrassed
+ because his manner and appearance claimed a
+ delicacy in which the worthy Mr. Boffin feared he
+ himself might be deficient, that gentleman glanced
+ into the mouldy little plantation or cat preserve,
+ of Clifford's Inn, as it was that day, in search
+ of a suggestion. Sparrows were there, dry-rot and
+ wet-rot were there, but it was not otherwise a
+ suggestive spot."
+
+Symond's Inn, described as "a little, pale, wall-eyed, woebegone inn,
+like a large dust-bin of two compartments and a sifter,"--where Mr.
+Vholes had his chambers, and where Ada Clare came to live after her
+marriage, there tending lovingly the blighted life of the suitor in
+Jarndyce and Jarndyce, poor Richard Carstone,--exists no more. It
+formerly stood on the site of Nos. 25, 26, and 27, now handsome suites
+of offices.
+
+Lincoln's Inn, a little higher up on the opposite side of the way,
+claims our attention, in the Hall of which was formerly the Lord High
+Chancellor's Court, wherein the wire-drawn Chancery suit of Jarndyce and
+Jarndyce in _Bleak House_ dragged its course wearily along. The offices
+of Messrs. Kenge and Carboy, of Old Square, Solicitors in the famous
+suit, were visited by Esther Summerson, who says:--"We passed into
+sudden quietude, under an old gallery, and drove on through a silent
+square, until we came to an old nook in a corner, where there was an
+entrance up a steep broad flight of stairs like an entrance to a
+church." Mr. Serjeant Snubbin, Mr. Pickwick's counsel in the notorious
+cause of Bardell _v._ Pickwick, also had his chambers in this square. We
+then enter Lincoln's Inn Fields, and pay a visit to No. 58, on the
+furthest or west side near Portsmouth Street. This ancient mansion was
+the residence of Dickens's friend and biographer, John Forster, before
+he went to live at Palace Gate. It is minutely described in the tenth
+chapter of _Bleak House_ as the residence of Mr. Tulkinghorn, "a large
+house, formerly a house of state, . . . let off in sets of chambers now;
+and in those shrunken fragments of its greatness lawyers lie like
+maggots in nuts." The "foreshortened allegory in the person of one
+impossible Roman upside down," who afterwards points to the "new
+meaning" (_i. e._ the murder of Mr. Tulkinghorn) has, it is to be
+regretted, since been whitewashed. On the 30th November, 1844, here
+Dickens read _The Chimes_ to a few intimate friends, an event
+immortalized by Maclise's pencil, and, as appreciative of the feelings
+of the audience, Forster alludes "to the grave attention of Carlyle, the
+eager interest of Stanfield and Maclise, the keen look of poor Laman
+Blanchard, Fox's rapt solemnity, Jerrold's skyward gaze, and the tears
+of Harness and Dyce."
+
+That celebrated tavern called the "Magpie and Stump," referred to in the
+twenty-first chapter of _Pickwick_,--where that hero spent an
+interesting evening on the invitation of Lowten (Mr. Perker's clerk),
+and heard "the old man's tale about the queer client,"--is supposed to
+have been "The old George the IVth" in Clare Market, close by. Retracing
+our steps through Bishop's Court (where lived Krook the marine-store
+dealer, and in whose house lodged poor Miss Flite and Captain Hawdon,
+_alias_ Nemo) into Chancery Lane, we arrive at the point from whence we
+diverged, and turn into Cursitor Street. Like other places adjacent,
+this street has been subjected to "improvements," and it is scarcely
+possible to trace "Coavinses," so well known to Mr. Harold Skimpole, or
+indeed the place of business and residence of Mr. Snagsby, the
+good-natured law stationer, and his jealous "little woman." It will be
+remembered that it was here the Reverend Mr. Chadband more than once
+"improved a tough subject":--"toe your advantage, toe your profit, toe
+your gain, toe your welfare, toe your enrichment,"--and refreshed his
+own. Thackeray was partial to this neighbourhood, and Rawdon Crawley had
+some painful experiences in Cursitor Street.
+
+[Illustration: Staple Inn, Holborn.]
+
+Bearing round by Southampton Buildings, we reach Staple Inn,--behind the
+most ancient part of Holborn,--originally a hostelry of the merchants of
+the Wool-staple, who were removed to Westminster by Richard II. in 1378.
+At No. 10 in the first court, opposite the pleasant little garden and
+picturesque hall, resided the "angular" but kindly Mr. Grewgious,
+attended by his "gloomy" clerk, Mr. Bazzard, and on the front of the
+house over the door still remains the tablet with the mysterious
+initials:--
+
+ P.
+
+ J. T.
+
+ 1747.
+
+but our enquiries fail to discover their meaning. Dickens humorously
+suggests "Perhaps John Thomas," "Perhaps Joe Tyler," and under hilarious
+circumstances, "Pretty Jolly too," and "Possibly jabbered thus!" They
+are understood to be the initials of the treasurer of the Inn at the
+date above-mentioned. It is interesting to state that the Inn has been
+most appropriately restored by the enterprising Prudential Assurance
+Company, who have recently purchased it; and on the seat in the centre
+of the second Court (facing Holborn), under the plane trees which adorn
+it, were resting a few wayfarers, who seemed to enjoy this thoughtful
+provision made by the present owners. We can picture in one of the
+rooms on the first floor of P. J. T.'s house (very memorable to the
+writer of these lines, some brief part of his early life having been
+passed there), the conference described in the twentieth chapter of
+_Edwin Drood_, between Mr. Grewgious and his charming ward,--so aptly
+pourtrayed by Mr. Luke Fildes in his beautiful drawing, "Mr. Grewgious
+experiences a new sensation,"--as well as all the other scenes which
+took place here.
+
+[Illustration: Barnard's Inn]
+
+Turning into Holborn through the Archway of Staple Inn, and stopping for
+a minute to admire the fine effect of the recently restored
+fourteenth-century old-timbered houses of the Inn which face that
+thoroughfare, a few steps lower down take us to Barnard's Inn, where Pip
+in _Great Expectations_ lodged with his friend Herbert Pocket when he
+came to London. Dickens calls it, "the dingiest collection of shabby
+buildings ever squeezed together in a rank corner as a club for
+tom-cats." Simple-minded Joe Gargery, who visited Pip here, persisted
+for a time in calling it an "hotel," and after his visit thus recorded
+his impressions of the place:--
+
+ "The present may be a werry good inn, and I
+ believe its character do stand i; but I wouldn't
+ keep a pig in it myself--not in the case that I
+ wished him to fatten wholesome and to eat with a
+ meller flavour on him."
+
+A few plane trees--the glory of all squares and open spaces in London,
+where they thrive so luxuriantly--give a rural appearance to this
+crowded place, while the sparrows tenanting them enjoy the sunbeams
+passing through the scanty branches.
+
+Our next halting-place, Furnival's Inn, is one of profound interest to
+all pious pilgrims in "Dickens-Land," for there the genius of the young
+author was first recognized, not only by the novel-reading world, but
+also by his contemporaries in literature. Thackeray generously spoke of
+him as "the young man who came and took his place calmly at the head of
+the whole tribe, and who has kept it."
+
+[Illustration: Dickens House by Furnival's Inn]
+
+Furnival's Inn in Holborn, which stands midway between Barnard's Inn and
+Staple Inn on the opposite side of the way, is famous as having been the
+residence of Charles Dickens in his bachelor days, when a reporter for
+the _Morning Chronicle_. He removed here from his father's lodgings at
+No. 18, Bentinck Street, and had chambers, first the "three pair back"
+(rather gloomy rooms) of No. 13 from Christmas 1834 until Christmas
+1835, when he removed to the "three pair floor south" (bright little
+rooms) of No. 15, the house on the right-hand side of the square having
+Ionic ornamentations, which he occupied from 1835 until his removal to
+No. 48, Doughty Street, in March 1837. The brass-bound iron rail still
+remains, and the sixty stone steps which lead from the ground-floor to
+the top of each house are no doubt the same over which the eager feet
+of the youthful "Boz" often trod. He was married from Furnival's Inn on
+2nd April, 1836, to Catherine, eldest daughter of Mr. George Hogarth,
+his old colleague on the _Morning Chronicle_, the wedding taking place
+at St. Luke's Church, Chelsea, and doubtless lived here in his early
+matrimonial days much in the same way probably as Tommy Traddles did, as
+described in _David Copperfield_. Here the _Sketches by Boz_ were
+written, and most of the numbers of the immortal _Pickwick Papers_, as
+also the lesser works: _Sunday under Three Heads_, _The Strange
+Gentleman_, and _The Village Coquettes_. The quietude of this retired
+spot in the midst of a busy thoroughfare, and its accessibility to the
+_Chronicle_ offices in the Strand, must have been very attractive to the
+young author. His eldest son, the present Mr. Charles Dickens, was born
+here on the 6th January, 1837.
+
+It was in Furnival's Inn, probably in the year 1836, that Thackeray paid
+a visit to Dickens, and thus described the meeting:--
+
+"I can remember, when Mr. Dickens was a very young man, and had
+commenced delighting the world with some charming humorous works in
+covers which were coloured light green and came out once a month, that
+this young man wanted an artist to illustrate his writings; and I
+remember walking up to his chambers in Furnival's Inn, with two or three
+drawings in my hand, which, strange to say, he did not find suitable."
+
+How wonderfully interesting these "two or three drawings" would be now
+if they could be discovered! Of the score or so of "Extra Illustrations"
+to _Pickwick_ which have appeared, surely these (if they were such)
+which Dickens "did not find suitable," combining as they did the genius
+of Dickens and Thackeray, whatever their merits or defects may have
+been, would be most highly prized.
+
+John Westlock, in _Martin Chuzzlewit_, had apartments in Furnival's Inn,
+and was there visited by Tom Pinch. Wood's Hotel occupies a large
+portion of the square, and is mentioned in _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_
+as having been the Inn where Mr. Grewgious took rooms for his charming
+ward Rosa Bud, from whence he ordered for her refreshment, soon after
+her arrival at Staple Inn to escape Jasper's importunities, "a nice
+jumble of all meals," to which it is to be feared she did not do
+justice, and where "at the hotel door he afterwards confided her to the
+Unlimited head chamber-maid."
+
+The Society of Arts have considerately put up on the house No. 15 one of
+their neat terra-cotta memorial tablets with the following
+inscription:--
+
+ CHARLES
+ DICKENS,
+ =Novelist=,
+ Lived here.
+ B. 1812,
+ D. 1870.
+
+We proceed along Holborn, and go up Kingsgate Street, where "Poll
+Sweedlepipe, Barber and Bird Fancier," lived, "next door but one to the
+celebrated mutton-pie shop, and directly opposite the original
+cats'-meat warehouse." The immortal Sairey Gamp lodged on the first
+floor, where doubtless she helped herself from the "chimley-piece"
+whenever she felt "dispoged." Here also the quarrel took place between
+that old lady and her friend Betsey Prig anent that mythical personage,
+"Mrs. Harris." We pass through Red Lion Square and up Bedford Row, and
+after proceeding along Theobald's Road for a short distance, turn up
+John Street, which leads into Doughty Street, where, at No. 48, Charles
+Dickens lived from 1837 to 1839. The house, situated on the east side of
+the street, has twelve rooms, is single-fronted, three-storied, and not
+unlike No. 2, Ordnance Terrace, Chatham. A tiny little room on the
+ground-floor, with a bolt inside in addition to the usual fastening, is
+pointed out as having been the novelist's study. It has an outlook into
+a garden, but of late years this has been much reduced in size. A bill
+in the front window announces "Apartments to let," and they look very
+comfortable. Doughty Street, now a somewhat noisy thoroughfare, must
+have been in Charles Dickens's time a quiet, retired spot. A large pair
+of iron gates reach across the street, guarded by a gate-keeper in
+livery. "It was," says Mr. Marzials in his _Life of Dickens_, "while
+living at Doughty Street that he seems, in great measure, to have formed
+those habits of work and relaxation which every artist fashions so as to
+suit his own special needs and idiosyncrasies. His favourite time for
+work was the morning between the hours of breakfast and lunch; . . . he
+was essentially a day worker and not a night worker. . . . And for
+relaxation and sedative when he had thoroughly worn himself with mental
+toil, he would have recourse to the hardest bodily exercise. . . . At
+first riding seems to have contented him, . . . but soon walking took
+the place of riding, and he became an indefatigable pedestrian. He would
+think nothing of a walk of twenty or thirty miles, and that not merely
+in the vigorous hey-day of youth, but afterwards to the very last. . . ."
+
+[Illustration: No. 48, Doughty Street, Mecklenburgh Square.
+
+_Dickens's Residence_ 1837-9.]
+
+It was at Doughty Street that he experienced a bereavement which
+darkened his life for many years, and to which Forster thus alludes:--
+
+"His wife's next younger sister Mary, who lived with them, and by
+sweetness of nature even more than by graces of person had made herself
+the ideal of his life, died with a terrible suddenness that for a time
+completely bore him down. His grief and suffering were intense, and
+affected him . . . through many after years." _Pickwick_ was temporarily
+suspended, and he sought change of scene at Hampstead. Forster visited
+him there, and to him he opened his heart. He says:--"I left him as much
+his friend, and as entirely in his confidence, as if I had known him for
+years."
+
+[Illustration: Tavistock House, Tavistock Square.
+
+_Dickens's Residence_ 1851-60.]
+
+Some time afterwards, we find him inviting Forster "to join him at 11
+A.M. in a fifteen-mile ride out and ditto in, lunch on the road, with a
+six o'clock dinner in Doughty Street."
+
+Charles Dickens's residence in Doughty Street was but of short
+duration--from 1837 to 1840 only; but there he completed _Pickwick_, and
+wrote _Oliver Twist_, _Memoirs of Grimaldi_, _Sketches of Young
+Gentlemen_, _Sketches of Young Couples_, and _The Life and Adventures of
+Nicholas Nickleby_. His eldest daughter Mary was born here.
+
+In proper sequence we ought to proceed to Dickens's third London
+residence, No. 1, Devonshire Terrace, but it will be more convenient to
+take his fourth residence on our way. We therefore retrace our steps
+into Theobald's Road, pass through Red Lion and Bloomsbury Squares, and
+along Great Russell Street as far as the British Museum, where Dickens
+is still remembered as "a reader" (merely remarking that it of course
+contains a splendid collection of the original impressions of the
+novelist's works, and "Dickensiana," as is evidenced by the
+comprehensive Bibliography furnished by Mr. John P. Anderson, one of the
+librarians, to Mr. Marzials' _Life of Dickens_), which we leave on our
+left, and turn up Montague Street, go along Upper Montague Street,
+Woburn Square, Gordon Square, and reach Tavistock Square, at the upper
+end of which, on the east side, Gordon Place leads us into a retired
+spot cut off as it were from communication with the rest of this quiet
+neighbourhood. Three houses adjoin each other--handsome commodious
+houses, having stone porticos at entrance--and in the first of these,
+Tavistock House, Dickens lived from 1851 until 1860, with intervals at
+Gad's Hill Place. This beautiful house, which has eighteen rooms in it,
+is now the Jews' College. The drawing-room on the first floor still
+contains a dais at one end, and it is said that at a recent public
+meeting held here, three hundred and fifty people were accommodated in
+it, which serves to show what ample quarters Dickens had to entertain
+his friends.
+
+Hans Christian Andersen, who visited Dickens here in 1857, thus
+describes this fine mansion:--
+
+"In Tavistock Square stands Tavistock House. This and the strip of
+garden in front are shut out from the thoroughfare by an iron railing. A
+large garden with a grass-plat and high trees stretches behind the
+house, and gives it a countrified look, in the midst of this coal and
+gas steaming London. In the passage from street to garden hung pictures
+and engravings. Here stood a marble bust of Dickens, so like him, so
+youthful and handsome; and over a bedroom door were inserted the
+bas-reliefs of Night and Day, after Thorwaldsen. On the first floor was
+a rich library, with a fireplace and a writing-table, looking out on the
+garden; and here it was that in winter Dickens and his friends acted
+plays to the satisfaction of all parties. The kitchen was underground,
+and at the top of the house were the bedrooms."
+
+It appears that Andersen was wrong about the plays being acted in the
+"rich library," as I am informed by Mr. Charles Dickens that "the stage
+was in the school-room at the back of the ground-floor, with a platform
+built outside the window for scenic purposes."
+
+With reference to the private theatricals (or "plays," as Andersen calls
+them, including _The Frozen Deep_, by Wilkie Collins, in which Dickens,
+the author, Mark Lemon, and others performed, and for which in the
+matter of the scenery "the priceless help of Stanfield had again been
+secured"), on a temporary difficulty arising as to the arrangements,
+Dickens applied to Mr. Cooke of Astley's, "who drove up in an open
+phaeton drawn by two white ponies with black spots all over them
+(evidently stencilled), who came in at the gate with a little jolt and a
+rattle exactly as they come into the ring when they draw anything, and
+went round and round the centre bed (lilacs and evergreens) of the front
+court, apparently looking for the clown. A multitude of boys, who felt
+them to be no common ponies, rushed up in a breathless state--twined
+themselves like ivy about the railings, and were only deterred from
+storming the enclosure by the Inimitable's eye." Mr. Cooke was not,
+however, able to render any assistance.
+
+Mrs. Arthur Ryland of The Linthurst, near Bromsgrove, Worcestershire,
+who was present at Tavistock House on the occasion of the performance of
+_The Frozen Deep_, informs me that when Dickens returned to the
+drawing-room after the play was over, the constrained expression of face
+which he had assumed in presenting the character of Richard Wardour
+remained for some time afterwards, so strongly did he seem to realize
+the presentment. The other plays performed were _Tom Thumb_, 1854, and
+_The Lighthouse_ and _Fortunus_, 1855.
+
+The following copy of a play-bill--in my collection--of one of these
+performances is certainly worth preserving in a permanent form, for the
+double reason that it is extremely rare, and contains one of Dickens's
+few poetical contributions, _The Song of the Wreck_, which was written
+specially for the occasion.
+
+ The smallest Theatre in the World!
+
+ TAVISTOCK HOUSE.
+
+ _Lessee and Manager_ -- -- -- MR. CRUMMLES.
+
+ On Tuesday evening, June 19th, 1855, will be presented, at exactly
+ eight o'clock,
+ An entirely New and Original
+ Domestic Melo-drama, in Two Acts, by Mr. Wilkie Collins,
+ now first performed, called
+
+ THE LIGHTHOUSE.
+
+ The Scenery painted by Mr. Stanfield, R.A.
+
+ Aaron Gurnock, the head Light-keeper MR. CRUMMLES.
+
+ Martin Gurnock, his son; the second
+ Light-keeper MR. WILKIE COLLINS.
+
+ Jacob Dale, the third Light-keeper MR. MARK LEMON.
+
+ Samuel Furley, a Pilot MR. AUGUSTUS EGG, A.R.A.
+
+ The Relief of Light-keepers, by MR. CHARLES DICKENS, JUNIOR,
+ MR. EDWARD HOGARTH,
+ MR. ALFRED AINGER, and
+ MR. WILLIAM WEBSTER.
+
+ The Shipwrecked Lady MISS HOGARTH.
+
+ Phoebe MISS DICKENS,
+ Who will sing a new Ballad, the music by Mr. Linley, the words
+ by Mr. Crummles, entitled
+
+
+THE SONG OF THE WRECK.
+
+I.
+
+ "The wind blew high, the waters raved,
+ A Ship drove on the land,
+ A hundred human creatures saved,
+ Kneeled down upon the sand.
+ Three-score were drowned, three-score were thrown
+ Upon the black rocks wild;
+ And thus among them left alone,
+ They found one helpless child.
+
+II.
+
+ A Seaman rough, to shipwreck bred,
+ Stood out from all the rest,
+ And gently laid the lonely head
+ Upon his honest breast.
+ And trav'ling o'er the Desert wide,
+ It was a solemn joy,
+ To see them, ever side by side,
+ The sailor and the boy.
+
+III.
+
+ In famine, sickness, hunger, thirst,
+ The two were still but one,
+ Until the strong man drooped the first,
+ And felt his labours done.
+ Then to a trusty friend he spake:
+ 'Across this Desert wide,
+ O take the poor boy for my sake!'
+ And kissed the child, and died.
+
+IV.
+
+ Toiling along in weary plight,
+ Through heavy jungle-mire,
+ These two came later every night
+ To warm them at the fire,
+ Until the Captain said one day:
+ 'O seaman good and kind,
+ To save thyself now come away
+ And leave the boy behind!'
+
+V.
+
+ The child was slumb'ring near the blaze:
+ 'O Captain let him rest
+ Until it sinks, when GOD'S own ways
+ Shall teach us what is best!'
+ They watched the whiten'd ashey heap,
+ They touched the child in vain,
+ They did not leave him there asleep,
+ He never woke again."
+
+
+ Half an hour for Refreshment.
+
+ To conclude with
+ The Guild Amateur Company's Farce, in one act, by Mr. Crummles
+ and Mr. Mark Lemon;
+
+ MR. NIGHTINGALE'S DIARY.
+
+ Mr. Nightingale MR. FRANK STONE, A.R.A.
+
+ Mr. Gabblewig, of the Middle Temple }
+ Charley Bit, a Boots }
+ Mr. Poulter, a Pedestrian and cold }
+ water drinker } MR. CRUMMLES.
+ Captain Blower, an invalid }
+ A Respectable Female }
+ A Deaf Sexton }
+
+ Tip, Mr. Gabblewig's Tiger } MR AUGUSTUS EGG, A.R.A.
+ Christopher, a Charity Boy }
+
+ Slap, Professionally Mr. Flormiville, }
+ a country actor }
+ Mr. Tickle, Inventor of the Celebrated }
+ Compounds } MR. MARK LEMON.
+ A Virtuous Young Person in the }
+ confidence of Maria }
+
+ Lithers, Landlord of the Water-lily MR. WILKIE COLLINS.
+
+ Rosina, Mr. Nightingale's niece MISS KATE DICKENS.
+
+ Susan her Maid MISS HOGARTH.
+
+ Composer and Director of the music, MR. FRANCESCO BERGER, who
+ will preside at the pianoforte.
+
+ Costume makers, MESSRS. NATHAN of Titchbourne Street, Haymarket.
+
+ Perruquier, MR. WILSON, of the Strand.
+
+ Machinery and Properties by MR. IRELAND, of the Theatre Royal,
+ Adelphi.
+
+ _Doors open at half-past seven. Carriages may be ordered at a quarter
+ past eleven._
+
+It was from Tavistock House that Dickens received this startling message
+from a confidential servant:--
+
+"The gas-fitter says, sir, that he can't alter the fitting of your gas
+in your bedroom without taking up almost the ole of your bedroom floor,
+and pulling your room to pieces. He says of course you can have it done
+if you wish, and he'll do it for you and make a good job of it, but he
+would have to destroy your room first, and go entirely under the
+jistes."
+
+The same female, in allusion to Dickens's wardrobe, also said, "Well,
+sir, your clothes is all shabby, and your boots is all burst."
+
+[Illustration: No. 141, Bayham Street, Camden Town,
+
+_where the Dickens Family lived in 1823_.]
+
+Among the important works of Charles Dickens which were wholly or partly
+written at Tavistock House are:--_Bleak House_, _A Child's History of
+England_, _Hard Times_, _Little Dorrit_, _A Tale of Two Cities_, _The
+Uncommercial Traveller_, and _Great Expectations_. _All the Year Round_
+was also determined upon while he lived here, and the first number was
+dated 30th April, 1859.
+
+Tavistock House is the nearest point to Camden Town, interesting as
+being the place where, in 1823, at No. 16 (now No. 141) Bayham Street,
+the Dickens family resided for a short time[2] on leaving Chatham. There
+is an exquisite sketch of the humble little house by Mr. Kitton in his
+_Charles Dickens by Pen and Pencil_, and it is spoken of as being "in
+one of the then poorest parts of the London suburbs." We therefore
+proceed along Gordon Square, and reach Gower Street. At No. 147, Gower
+Street, formerly No. 4, Gower Street North, on the west side, was once
+the elder Mr. Dickens's establishment. The house, now occupied by Mr.
+Müller, an artificial human eye-maker ("human eyes warious," says Mr.
+Venus), has six rooms, with kitchens in basement. The rooms are rather
+small, each front room having two windows, which in the case of the
+first floor reach from floor to ceiling. It seems to be a comfortable
+house, but has no garden. There is an old-fashioned brass knocker on the
+front door, probably the original one, and there is a dancing academy
+next door. (Query, Mr. Turveydrop's?) The family of the novelist, which
+had removed from Bayham Street, were at this time (1823) in such
+indifferent circumstances that poor Mrs. Dickens had to exert herself
+in adding to the finances by trying to teach, and a school was opened
+for young children at this house, which was decorated with a brass-plate
+on the door, lettered MRS. DICKENS'S ESTABLISHMENT, a faint description
+of which occurs in the fourth chapter of _Our Mutual Friend_, and of its
+abrupt removal "for the interests of all parties." These facts, and also
+that of young Charles Dickens's own efforts to obtain pupils for his
+mother, are alluded to in a letter written by Dickens to Forster in
+later life:--
+
+"I left, at a great many other doors, a great many circulars calling
+attention to the merits of the establishment. Yet nobody ever came to
+school, nor do I ever recollect that anybody ever proposed to come, or
+that the least preparation was made to receive anybody. But I know that
+we got on very badly with the butcher and baker; that very often we had
+not too much for dinner; and that at last my father was arrested."
+
+This period, subsequently most graphically described in _David
+Copperfield_ as the "blacking bottle period," was the darkest in young
+Charles's existence; but happier times and brighter prospects soon came
+to drown the recollections of that bitter experience.
+
+[Illustration: No. 1, Devonshire Terrace, Regent's Park.--_Dickens's
+Residence_ 1839-50.]
+
+Walking up Euston Road from Gower Street, we see St. Pancras Church (not
+the old church of "Saint Pancridge" in the Fields, by the bye, situated
+in the St. Pancras Road, where Mr. Jerry Cruncher and two friends went
+"fishing" on a memorable night, as recorded in _A Tale of Two Cities_,
+when their proceedings, and especially those of his "honoured parent,"
+were watched by young Jerry), and proceed westward along the Marylebone
+Road, called the New Road in Dickens's time, past Park Crescent,
+Regent's Park, and do not stop until we reach No. 1, Devonshire
+Terrace. This commodious double-fronted house, in which Dickens resided
+from 1839 to 1850, is entered at the side, and the front looks into the
+Marylebone Road. Maclise's beautiful sketch of the house (made in 1840),
+as given in Forster's _Life_, shows the windows of the lower and first
+floor rooms as largely bowed, while over the top flat of one of the
+former is a protective iron-work covering, thus allowing the children to
+come out of their nursery on the third floor freely to enjoy the air and
+watch the passers-by. In the sketch Maclise has characteristically put
+in a shuttlecock just over the wall, as though the little ones were
+playing in the garden. Forster calls it "a handsome house with a garden
+of considerable size, shut out from the New Road by a brick wall, facing
+the York Gate into Regent's Park;" and Dickens himself admitted it to be
+"a house of great promise (and great premium), undeniable situation, and
+excessive splendour." That he loved it well is shown by the passage in a
+letter which he addressed to Forster, "in full view of Genoa's perfect
+bay," when about to commence _The Chimes_ (1844); he says:--"Never did I
+stagger so upon a threshold before. I seem as if I had plucked myself
+out of my proper soil when I left Devonshire Terrace, and could take
+root no more until I return to it. . . . Did I tell you how many
+fountains we have here? No matter. If they played nectar, they wouldn't
+please me half so well as the West Middlesex water-works at Devonshire
+Terrace."
+
+Mr. Jonathan Clark, who resides here, kindly shows us over the house,
+which contains thirteen rooms. The polished mahogany doors in the hall,
+and the chaste Italian marble mantel-pieces in the principal rooms, are
+said to have been put up by the novelist. On the ground floor, the
+smaller room to the eastward of the house, with window facing north and
+looking into the pleasant garden where the plane trees and turf are
+beautifully green, is pointed out as having been his study.
+
+Mr. Benjamin Lillie, of 70, High Street, Marylebone, plumber and
+painter, remembers Mr. Dickens coming to Devonshire Terrace. He did a
+good deal of work for him while he lived there, and afterwards, when he
+removed to Tavistock House, including the fitting up of the library
+shelves and the curious counterfeit book-backs, made to conceal the
+backs of the doors. He also removed the furniture to Tavistock House,
+and subsequently to Gad's Hill Place. He spoke of the interest which Mr.
+Dickens used to take in the work generally, and said he would stand for
+hours with his back to the fire looking at the workmen. In the summer
+time he used to lie on the lawn with his pocket-handkerchief over his
+face, and when thoughts occurred to him, he would go into his study, and
+after making notes, would resume his position on the lawn. On the next
+page we give an illustration of the courteous and precise manner--not
+without a touch of humour--in which he issued his orders.
+
+Here it was that Dickens's favourite ravens were kept, in a stable on
+the south side of the garden, one of which died in 1841, it was supposed
+from the effects of paint, or owing to "a malicious butcher," who had
+been heard to say that he "would do for him." His death is described by
+Dickens in a long passage which thus concludes:--
+
+ "On the clock striking twelve he appeared slightly
+ agitated, but he soon recovered, walked twice or
+ thrice along the coach-house, stopped to bark,
+ staggered, exclaimed, '_Holloa, old girl!_' (his
+ favourite expression), and died."
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ 3 Hanover Terrace
+ Friday Tenth May, 1861.
+
+Mr. Lillie
+
+Please make the alteration in the two windows in Wellington Street,
+agreeably to the estimate you have sent me, and to have the work
+completed with all convenient speed. Be so good as to be careful that
+the bottom sashes are capable of being easily raised and the top sashes
+of being easily let down----
+
+ Faithfully yours
+ Charles Dickens]
+
+In an interesting letter addressed to Mr. Angus Fletcher, recently in
+the possession of Mr. Arthur Hailstone of Manchester, Dickens further
+describes the event:--"Suspectful of a butcher who had been heard to
+threaten, I had the body opened. There were no traces of poison, and it
+appeared he died of influenza. He has left considerable property,
+chiefly in cheese and halfpence, buried in different parts of the
+garden. The new raven (I have a new one, but he is comparatively of weak
+intellect) administered to his effects, and turns up something every
+day. The last piece of _bijouterie_ was a hammer of considerable size,
+supposed to have been stolen from a vindictive carpenter, who had been
+heard to speak darkly of vengeance down the mews."
+
+Maclise on hearing the news sent to Forster a letter, and a pen-and-ink
+sketch, being the famous "Apotheosis." The second raven died in 1845,
+probably from "having indulged the same illicit taste for putty and
+paint, which had been fatal to his predecessor." Dickens says:--
+
+ "Voracity killed him, as it did Scott's; he died
+ unexpectedly by the kitchen fire. He kept his eye
+ to the last upon the meat as it roasted, and
+ suddenly turned over on his back with a sepulchral
+ cry of '_Cuckoo!_'"
+
+These ravens were of course the two "great originals" of which Grip in
+_Barnaby Rudge_ was the "compound." There was a third raven at Gad's
+Hill, but he "gave no evidence of ever cultivating his mind." The
+novelist's remarkable partiality for ravens called forth at the time the
+preposterous rumour that "Dickens had gone raving (raven) mad."
+
+Here Longfellow visited Dickens in 1841, and thus referred to his
+visit:--"I write this from Dickens's study, the focus from which so many
+luminous things have radiated. The raven croaks in the garden, and the
+ceaseless roar of London fills my ears."
+
+[Illustration: Apotheosis of "Grip" the Raven. Drawn by D. Maclise,
+R.A.]
+
+Dickens lived longer at Devonshire Terrace than he did at any other of
+his London homes, and a great deal of his best work was done here,
+including _Master Humphrey's Clock_ (I. _The Old Curiosity Shop_, II.
+_Barnaby Rudge_), _American Notes_, _Martin Chuzzlewit_, _A Christmas
+Carol_, _The Cricket on the Hearth_, _Dombey and Son_, _The Haunted
+Man_, and _David Copperfield_. _The Battle of Life_ was written at
+Geneva in 1846. All these were published from his twenty-eighth to his
+thirty-eighth year; and _Household Words_, his famous weekly popular
+serial of varied high-class literature, was determined upon here, the
+first number being issued on 30th March, 1850.
+
+From Devonshire Terrace we pass along High Street, and turn into
+Devonshire Street, which leads into Harley Street, minutely described in
+_Little Dorrit_ as the street wherein resided the great financier and
+"master-spirit" Mr. Merdle, who entertained "Bar, Bishop, and the
+Barnacle family" at the "Patriotic conference" recorded in the same
+work, in his noble mansion there, and he subsequently perishes "in the
+warm baths, in the neighbouring street"--as one may say--in the
+luxuriant style in which he had always lived.
+
+Harley Street leads us into Oxford Street, and a pleasant ride outside
+an omnibus--which, as everybody knows, is the best way of seeing
+London--takes us to Hyde Park Place, a row of tall stately houses facing
+Hyde Park. Here at No. 5, (formerly Mr. Milner Gibson's town residence)
+Charles Dickens temporarily resided during the winter months of 1869,
+and occasionally until May 1870, during his readings at St. James's
+Hall, and while he was engaged on _Edwin Drood_, part of which was
+written here; this being illustrative of Dickens's power of
+concentrating his thoughts even near the rattle of a public
+thoroughfare. In a letter addressed to Mr. James T. Fields from this
+house, under date of 14th January, 1870, he says:--"We live here
+(opposite the Marble Arch) in a charming house until the 1st of June,
+and then return to Gad's. . . . I have a large room here with three fine
+windows over-looking the park--unsurpassable for airiness and
+cheerfulness."
+
+A similar public conveyance takes us back to Morley's by way of Regent
+Street, about the middle of which, on the west side, is New Burlington
+Street, containing, at No. 8, the well-known publishing office of
+Messrs. Richard Bentley and Son, whose once celebrated magazine,
+_Bentley's Miscellany_, Dickens edited for a period of two years and two
+months, terminating, 1838, on his resignation of the editorship to Mr.
+W. Harrison Ainsworth; and we also pass lower down, at the bottom of
+Waterloo Place, that most select of clubs, "The Athenæum," at the corner
+of Pall Mall, of which Dickens was elected a member in 1838, and from
+which, on the 20th May, 1870, he wrote his last letter to his son, Mr.
+Alfred Tennyson Dickens, in Australia; and a tenderly loving letter it
+is, indicating the harmonious relations between father and son. It
+expresses the hope that the two (Alfred and "Plorn") "may become
+proprietors," and "aspire to the first positions in the colony without
+casting off the old connection," and thus concludes:--"From Mr. Bear I
+had the best accounts of you. I told him that they did not surprise me,
+for I had unbounded faith in you. For which take my love and blessing."
+Sad to say, a note to this (the last in the series of published letters)
+states:--"This letter did not reach Australia until after these two sons
+of Charles Dickens had heard, by telegraph, the news of their father's
+death."[3]
+
+At Morley's we refresh ourselves with Mr. Sam Weller's idea of a nice
+little dinner, consisting of "pair of fowls and a weal cutlet; French
+beans, taturs, tart and tidiness;" and then depart for Victoria Station,
+to take train by the London, Chatham and Dover Railway to Rochester.
+
+The weather forecast issued by that most valuable institution, the
+Meteorological Office (established since Mr. Pickwick's days, in which
+doubtless as a scientist and traveller he would have taken great
+interest), was verified to the letter, and we had "thunder locally." On
+our way down Parliament Street, we pass Inigo Jones's once splendid
+Whitehall--now looking very insignificant as compared with its grand
+neighbours the Government Offices opposite--remembering Mr. Jingle's
+joke about Whitehall, which seems to have been Dickens's first thought
+of "King Charles's head":--"Looking at Whitehall, Sir--fine
+place--little window--somebody else's head off there, eh, Sir?--he
+didn't keep a sharp look out enough either--eh, Sir, eh?"
+
+We also pass "The Red Lion," No. 48, Parliament Street, "at the corner
+of the very short street leading into Cannon Row," where David
+Copperfield ordered a glass of the very best ale--"The Genuine Stunning
+with a good head to it"--at twopence half-penny the glass, but the
+landlord hesitated to draw it, and gave him a glass of some which he
+suspected was _not_ the "genuine stunning"; and the landlady coming into
+the bar returned his money, and gave him a "kiss that was half-admiring
+and half-compassionate, but all womanly and good [he says], I'm sure."
+
+[Illustration: "My magnificent order at the Public House" (_vide_
+"_David Copperfield_").]
+
+The Horse-Guards' clock is the last noteworthy object, and reminds us
+that Mark Tapley noticed the time there, on the occasion of his last
+meeting with Mary Graham in St. James's Park, before starting for
+America. It also reminds us of Mr. Micawber's maxim, "Procrastination is
+the thief of time--collar him;"--a few minutes afterwards we are
+comfortably seated in the train, and can defy the storm, which overtakes
+us precisely in the manner described in _The Old Curiosity Shop_:--
+
+ "It had been gradually getting overcast, and now
+ the sky was dark and lowering, save where the
+ glory of the departing sun piled up masses of gold
+ and burning fire, decaying embers of which gleamed
+ here and there through the black veil, and shone
+ redly down upon the earth. The wind began to moan
+ in hollow murmurs, as the sun went down, carrying
+ glad day elsewhere; and a train of dull clouds
+ coming up against it menaced thunder and
+ lightning. Large drops of rain soon began to fall,
+ and, as the storm clouds came sailing onward,
+ others supplied the void they left behind, and
+ spread over all the sky. Then was heard the low
+ rumbling of distant thunder, then the lightning
+ quivered, and then the darkness of an hour seemed
+ to have gathered in an instant."
+
+We pass Dulwich,--where Mr. Snodgrass and Emily Wardle were married,--a
+fact that recalls kindly recollections of Mr. Pickwick and his
+retirement there, as recorded in the closing pages of the _Pickwick
+Papers_, where he is described as "employing his leisure hours in
+arranging the memoranda which he afterwards presented to the secretary
+of the once famous club, or in hearing Sam Weller read aloud, with such
+remarks as suggested themselves to his mind, which never failed to
+afford Mr. Pickwick great amusement." He is subsequently described as
+"somewhat infirm now, but he retains all his former juvenility of
+spirit, and may still be frequently seen contemplating the pictures in
+the Dulwich Gallery, or enjoying a walk about the pleasant neighbourhood
+on a fine day."
+
+Although it is but a short distance--under thirty miles--to Rochester,
+the journey seems tedious, as the "iron-horse" does not keep pace with
+the pleasurable feelings of eager expectation afloat in our minds on
+this our first visit to "Dickens-Land"; it is therefore with joyful
+steps that we leave the train, and, the storm having passed away, find
+ourselves in the cool of the summer evening on the platform of Strood
+and Rochester Bridge Station.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] In _The History of Pickwick_, a handsome octavo volume of nearly 400
+pages, just published (1891), Mr. Percy Fitzgerald, the author, who is
+one of the few surviving friends of Charles Dickens, mentions the
+interesting fact that there are 360 characters, 70 episodes, and 22
+inns, described in this wonderful book, written when the author was only
+twenty-four.
+
+[2] Forster (I. 14) infers that the family removed to London in 1821,
+but Mr. Langton considers (_Childhood and Youth of Charles Dickens_,
+1883, pp. 62-3), from the fact of the birth of Dickens's brother Alfred
+having been registered at Chatham on 3rd April, 1822, and from the
+further fact of there being no record of Mr. John Dickens's recall
+throughout this year to Somerset House, that the family did not remove
+to London until the winter of 1822-3, and I agree with Mr. Langton. Mr.
+Kitton in _Charles Dickens by Pen and Pencil_, 1890, also recognizes
+this period as the date of the removal of the Dickens family to London.
+
+[3] Mr. Edward Bulwer Lytton Dickens, a son of the great Novelist, is a
+member of the New South Wales Parliament, having been elected in March
+1889. "He stood as a Protectionist for the representation of Wilcannia,
+an extensive pastoral district in the western portion of the colony. His
+father, it will be remembered, was an ardent Free Trader, and could not
+be prevailed upon to enter the British Parliament on any terms, and
+occasionally said some severe things of our Legislative Assembly. His
+two sons, Alfred Tennyson and Edward Bulwer Lytton, emigrated to
+Australia some years ago, and became successful pastoralists."--_Yorkshire
+Daily Post_, March 1889. A subsequent account states that Mr. Edward
+Bulwer Lytton Dickens is about to retire, having been, he remarks, "out
+of pocket, out of brains, out of health, and out of temper, by the
+pursuit of political glory."--_Pall Mall Gazette_, March 1891. I am
+since informed that Alfred is not a pastoralist, but in business, and
+that Edward has not retired up to date.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+ROCHESTER CITY.
+
+ "The silent High Street of Rochester is full of
+ gables, with old beams and timbers carved into
+ strange faces. It is oddly garnished with a queer
+ old clock that projects over the pavement out of a
+ grave red brick building, as if Time carried on
+ business there, and hung out his sign."--_The
+ Seven Poor Travellers._
+
+ "The town was glad with morning light."--_The Old
+ Curiosity Shop._
+
+
+MUDFOG, Our Town, Dullborough, the Market Town, and Cloisterham were the
+varied names that Charles Dickens bestowed upon the "ancient city" of
+Rochester. Every reader of his works knows how well he loved it in early
+youth, and how he returned to it with increased affection during the
+years of his ripened wisdom. Among the first pages of the first chapter
+of Forster's _Life_ we find references to it:--"That childhood
+exaggerates what it sees, too, has he not tenderly told? How he thought
+that the Rochester High-street must be at least as wide as Regent Street
+which he afterwards discovered to be little better than a lane; how the
+public clock in it, supposed to be the finest clock in the world, turned
+out to be as moon-faced and weak a clock as a man's eyes ever saw; and
+how in its Town Hall, which had appeared to him once so glorious a
+structure that he had set it up in his mind as the model from which the
+genie of the Lamp built the palace for Aladdin, he had painfully to
+recognize a mere mean little heap of bricks, like a chapel gone
+demented. Yet, not so painfully either when second thoughts wisely came.
+'Ah! who was I, [he says] that I should quarrel with the town for being
+changed to me, when I myself had come back, so changed, to it? All my
+early readings and early imaginations dated from this place, and I took
+them away so full of innocent construction and guileless belief, and I
+brought them back so worn and torn, so much the wiser and so much the
+worse!'"
+
+It would occupy too much space in this narrative to adequately give even
+a brief historical sketch of the City of Rochester, which is twenty-nine
+miles from London, situated on the river Medway, and stands on the chalk
+on the margin of the London basin; but we think lovers of Dickens will
+not object to a recapitulation of a few of the most noteworthy
+circumstances which have happened here, and which are not touched upon
+in the chapters relating to the Castle and Cathedral.
+
+According to the eminent local antiquary, Mr. Roach Smith, F.S.A., the
+name of the city has been thus evolved:--"The ceastre or chester is a
+Saxon affix to the Romano-British (DU)RO. The first two letters being
+dropped in sound, it became Duro or Dro, and then ROchester, and it was
+the Roman station Durobrovis." The ancient Britons called it "Dur-brif,"
+and the Saxons "Hrofe-ceastre"--Horf's castle, of which appellation some
+people think Rochester is a corruption.
+
+Rochester is a place of great antiquity, and so far back as A.D. 600 it
+seems to have been a walled city. Remains of the mediæval Wall exist in
+very perfect condition, at the back of the Eagle Inn in High Street, and
+in other parts of the city. In 676 Rochester was plundered by Ethelred,
+King of Mercia; and in 884 the Danes sailed up the Medway and besieged
+it, but were effectually repulsed by King Alfred. About 930, when three
+Mints were established there by Athelstan, it had grown to be one of the
+principal ports of the kingdom. William the Conqueror gave the town to
+his half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux. Fires in 1130 and 1137 nearly
+destroyed it.
+
+Not a few royal and distinguished personages have visited Rochester on
+various occasions, among others Henry VIII., who came there in 1522,
+accompanied by the Emperor Charles V. Queen Elizabeth came in 1573, when
+she stayed five days, and attended the Cathedral service on Sunday. She
+came again in 1583, with the Duke of Anjou, and showed him her "mighty
+ships of war lying at Chatham." King James I. also visited the city in
+1604 and 1606. On the latter occasion His Majesty, who was accompanied
+by Christian IV., King of Denmark, attended the Cathedral, and
+afterwards inspected the Navy. Charles II. paid it a visit just before
+the restoration in 1660, and again subsequently. It is believed that on
+both occasions he stayed at Restoration House (the "Satis House" of
+_Great Expectations_) hereafter referred to. Mr. Richard Head presented
+His Majesty with a silver ewer and basin on the occasion of the
+restoration. James II. came down to the quiet old city December 19th,
+1688, and sojourned with Sir Richard Head for a week at a house (now No.
+46 High Street), from whence he ignominiously escaped to France by a
+smack moored off Sheerness. Mr. Stephen T. Aveling mentioned to us that
+"it is curious that Charles the Second 'came to his own' in Rochester,
+and that James the Second 'skedaddled' from the same city."[4] Her
+Majesty when Princess Victoria stayed at the Bull Inn in 1836 for a
+night with her mother, the Duchess of Kent, on their way from Dover to
+London. It was a very tempestuous night, some of the balustrades of
+Rochester Bridge having been blown into the river, and the Royal
+Princess was advised not to attempt to cross the bridge.
+
+"On the last day of June 1667 (says Mr. W. Brenchley Rye in his pleasant
+_Visits to Rochester_), Mr. Samuel Pepys, after examining the defences
+at Chatham shortly after the disastrous expedition by the Dutch up the
+Medway, walked into Rochester Cathedral, but he had no mind to stay to
+the service, . . . 'afterwards strolled into the fields, a fine walk,
+and there saw Sir F. Clarke's house (Restoration House), which is a
+pretty seat, and into the Cherry Garden, and here met with a young,
+plain, silly shopkeeper and his wife, a pretty young woman, and I did
+kiss her!'" David Garrick was living at Rochester in 1737, for the
+purpose of receiving instruction in mathematics, etc., from Mr. Colson.
+In 1742, Hogarth visited the city, in that celebrated peregrination with
+his four friends, and played hop-scotch in the courtyard of the
+Guildhall. Dr. Johnson came here in 1783, and "returned to London by
+water in a common boat, landing at Billingsgate."
+
+The city formerly possessed many ancient charters and privileges
+granted to the citizens, but these were superseded by the Municipal
+Corporations Act of 1835.
+
+The Guildhall, "marked by a gilt ship aloft,"--"where the mayor and
+corporation assemble together in solemn council for the public
+weal,"--is "a substantial and very suitable structure of brick,
+supported by stone columns in the Doric order," and was erected in 1687.
+It has several fine portraits by Sir Godfrey Kneller and other eminent
+painters, including those of King William III., Queen Anne, Sir
+Cloudesley Shovell, Richard Watts, M.P., and others. The Corporation
+also possess many interesting and valuable city regalia, namely, a large
+silver-gilt mace (1661), silver loving-cup (1719), silver oar and
+silver-gilt ornaments (typical of the Admiralty jurisdiction of the
+Corporation) (1748), two small maces of silver (1767), sword (1871--the
+Mayor being Constable of the Castle), and chain and badges of gold and
+enamel (1875), the last-mentioned commemorating many historical
+incidents connected with the city.
+
+Emerging from the railway station of the London, Chatham and Dover
+Company at Strood, a drive of a few minutes (over the bridge) brings us
+to the first object of our pilgrimage, the "Bull Inn,"--we beg pardon,
+the "Royal Victoria and Bull Hotel,"--in High Street, Rochester, which
+was visited by Mr. Pickwick, Mr. Tupman, Mr. Snodgrass, Mr. Winkle, and
+their newly-made friend, Mr. Jingle, on the 13th May, 1827. Our cabman
+is so satisfied with his fare ("only a bob's worth"), that he does not,
+as one of his predecessors did, on a very remarkable occasion, "fling
+the money on the pavement, and request in figurative terms to be allowed
+the pleasure of fighting us for the amount," which circumstance we take
+to be an improving sign of the times.
+
+Changed in name, but not in condition, it seems scarcely possible that
+we stand under the gateway of the charming old inn that we have known
+from our boyhood, when first we read our _Pickwick_, what time the two
+green leaves of _Martin Chuzzlewit_ were putting forth monthly, and when
+the name of Charles Dickens, although familiar, had not become the
+"household word" to us, and to the world, that it is now.
+
+[Illustration: Bull Inn Rochester Good house Nice beds. vide Pickwick.]
+
+We look round for evidence--"Good house, nice beds"--"(vide _Pickwick_)"
+appear on the two sign-boards fixed on either side of the entrance-gate.
+Only then are we quite sure our driver has not made a mistake and taken
+us to "Wright's next door," which every reader of _Pickwick_ knows, on
+the authority of Mr. Jingle, "was dear--very dear--half a crown in the
+bill if you look at the waiter--charge you more if you dine out at a
+friend's than they would if you dined in the coffee-room--rum
+fellows--very."
+
+Haunches of venison, saddles of mutton, ribs of beef, York hams, fowls
+and ducks, hang over our heads in the capacious covered gateway; cold
+viands are seen in a glass cupboard opposite, and silently promise that
+some good fare, like that which regaled Mr. Pickwick and his friends, is
+still to be found at the Bull. In the distance is seen the large
+old-fashioned coach-yard, surrounded by odd buildings, which on market
+days (Tuesdays) is crowded with all sorts of vehicles ancient and
+modern. On our right is the kitchen, "brilliant with glowing coals and
+rows of shining copper lying well open to view."
+
+By the kindness of Mr. Richard Prall, the town-clerk, beds have been
+secured for us, and the landlord meets us at the door with a hearty
+welcome. We are conducted to our rooms on the second floor looking
+front, on reaching which a strange feeling takes possession of us.
+Surely we have been here before? Not a bit of it! But the bedrooms are
+nevertheless familiar to us; we see it all in a minute--the writer's
+apartment is Mr. Tupman's, and his friend's is Mr. Winkle's!
+
+"Winkle's bedroom is inside mine," said Mr. Tupman, after that
+delightful dinner of "soles, broiled fowl, and mushrooms," in the
+private sitting-room at the Bull, when all the other Pickwickians had,
+"after the cosy couple of hours succeeding dinner, more or less
+succumbed to the somniferous influence which the wine had exerted over
+them," and he and Mr. Jingle alone remained wakeful, and were discussing
+the idea of attending the forthcoming ball in the evening.
+
+It is an unexpected and pleasant coincidence that we are located in
+these two rooms, and altogether a good omen for our tramp generally.
+They are numbered 13 and 19, and the reason why the numbers are not
+consecutive is because 19 (Mr. Winkle's room) is also approached by a
+back staircase. Mr. Pickwick's room, as befitted his years and his
+dignity as G.C.M.P.C., is a larger room, and is number 17. They are all
+comfortable chambers, with "nice beds."
+
+[Illustration: Staircase at "The Bull"]
+
+The principal staircase of the Bull, which is almost wide enough to
+drive a carriage and four up it, remains exactly as it was in Mr.
+Pickwick's days, as described by Dickens and delineated by Seymour. We
+could almost fancy we witnessed the memorable scene depicted in the
+illustration, where the irascible Dr. Slammer confronts the
+imperturbable Jingle. The staircase has on its walls a large number of
+pictures and engravings, some curious and valuable, a few of which are
+of purely local interest. A series of oil paintings represent the
+costumes of all nations. There is a copy of "The Empty Chair," from the
+drawing of Mr. Luke Fildes, R.A., and also one of the scarce proof
+lithographs of "Dickens as Captain Bobadil," after the painting by C. R.
+Leslie, R.A.
+
+Mr. Lawrence informed us that some years ago "The Owl Club" held its
+meetings at the Bull--a social club, reminding us strongly of one of the
+early papers in _Bentley's Miscellany_, illustrated by George
+Cruikshank, entitled the "Harmonious Owls," which has recently been
+reprinted in the collection called _Old Miscellany Days_, in which
+paper, by the bye, are several names from Dickens.
+
+In one of the cheerful private sitting-rooms, of which there are many,
+we find a portrait of Dickens that is new to us. Never have we seen one
+that so vividly reproduced the novelist as one of us saw him, and heard
+him read, in the Town Hall at Birmingham, on the 10th of May, 1866. It
+is a vignette photograph by Watkins, coloured by Mr. J. Hopper, a local
+artist, representing the face of the novelist in full, wearing afternoon
+dress--black coat, and white shirt-front, with gold studs--the attitude
+being perfectly natural and unconstrained, and a pleasant calm upon the
+otherwise firm features. The high forehead is surmounted by the
+well-remembered single curl of brown hair, the sole survival of those
+profuse locks which grace Maclise's beautiful portrait. The bright blue
+eyes, with the light reflected on the pupils like diamonds, seem to
+follow one in every direction. The lines, of course, are marked, but not
+too strongly; and the faint hectic flush which was apparent in later
+years--notably when we saw him again in Birmingham in 1869--shows signs
+of development. The beard hides the neck, and the white collar is
+conspicuous. Altogether it is one of the most successful portraits we
+remember to have seen. As witness of its popularity locally, we may
+mention that we saw copies of it at Major Budden's at Gad's Hill, at the
+Mitre Hotel, Chatham, and at the Leather Bottle Inn, Cobham. We are also
+informed that Mr. Henry Irving gave a good sum for a copy, in the spring
+of last year. Mr. Lawrence, our host, by good fortune, happening to
+possess a duplicate, kindly allows us the opportunity of purchasing it
+("portable property" as Mr. Wemmick remarks), as an addition to our
+Dickens collection which it adorns. "Beautiful!" "Splendid!" "Dickens to
+the life!" are the comments of friends to whom we show it, who
+personally knew, or remembered, the original.
+
+Here is the ball-room, entered from the first-floor landing of the
+principal staircase, and the card-room adjoining, precisely as it was in
+Mr. Pickwick's days:--
+
+ "It was a long room with crimson-covered benches,
+ and wax candles in glass chandeliers. The
+ musicians were confined in an elevated den, and
+ quadrilles were being systematically got through
+ by two or three sets of dancers. Two card-tables
+ were made up in the adjoining card-room, and two
+ pair of old ladies, and a corresponding number of
+ old gentlemen, were executing whist therein."
+
+A very little stretch of the imagination carries us back sixty years,
+and, _presto!_ the ball-room stands before us, with the wax candles
+lighted, and the room filled with the _élite_ of Chatham and Rochester
+society, who, acting on the principle of "that general benevolence which
+was one of the leading features of the Pickwickian theory," had given
+their support to that "ball for the benefit of a charity," then being
+held there, and which was attended by Mr. Tracy Tupman, in his new
+dress-coat with the P. C. button and bust of Mr. Pickwick in the centre,
+and by Mr. Jingle, in the borrowed garments of the same nature belonging
+to Mr. Winkle.
+
+"P. C.," said the stranger.--"Queer set out--old fellow's likeness and
+'P. C.'--What does 'P. C.' stand for? 'Peculiar Coat,' eh?" Imagine the
+"rising indignation" and impatience of Mr. Tupman, as with "great
+importance" he explains the mystic device!
+
+[Illustration: The "Elevated Den" in the Ball Room: ("Bull" Inn)]
+
+Everybody remembers how, declining the usual introduction, the two
+entered the ball-room _incog._, as "Gentlemen from London--distinguished
+foreigners--anything;" how Mr. Jingle said in reply to Mr. Tupman's
+remark, "Wait a minute--fun presently--nobs not come yet--queer
+place--Dock-yard people of upper rank don't know Dock-yard people of
+lower rank--Dock-yard people of lower rank don't know small
+gentry--small gentry don't know tradespeople--Commissioner don't know
+anybody."
+
+The "man at the door,"--the local M.C.,--announces the arrivals.
+
+"Sir Thomas Clubber, Lady Clubber, and the Miss Clubbers!"
+"Commissioner--head of the yard--great man--remarkably great man,"
+whispers the stranger in Mr. Tupman's ear.
+
+"Colonel Bulder, Mrs. Colonel Bulder, and Miss Bulder," are announced.
+"Head of the garrison," says Mr. Jingle. "They exchanged snuff-boxes
+[how old-fashioned it appears to us who don't take snuff], and looked
+very much like a pair of Alexander Selkirks--Monarchs of all they
+surveyed."
+
+More arrivals are announced, and dancing begins in earnest; but the most
+interesting one to us is Dr. Slammer--"a little fat man, with a ring of
+upright black hair round his head, and an extensive bald plain on the
+top of it--Dr. Slammer, surgeon to the 97th, who is agreeable to
+everybody, especially to the Widow Budger.--'Lots of money--old
+girl--pompous doctor--not a bad idea--good fun,' says the stranger.
+'I'll dance with her--cut out the doctor--here goes.'" Then comes the
+flirtation, the dancing, the negus and biscuits, the coquetting, the
+leading of Mrs. Budger to her carriage. The volcano bursts with terrific
+energy. . . .
+
+"'You--you're a shuffler, sir,' gasps the furious doctor, 'a poltroon--a
+coward--a liar--a--a--will nothing induce you to give me your card,
+sir?'" and in the morning comes the challenge to the duel. It all passes
+before our delighted mental vision, as we picture the circumstances
+recorded in the beloved _Pickwick_ of our youth upwards.
+
+Here also is the bar, just opposite the coffee-room, where the "Tickets
+for the Ball" were purchased by Mr. Tupman for himself and Mr. Jingle at
+"half a guinea each" (Mr. Jingle having won the toss), and where Dr.
+Slammer's friend subsequently made inquiry for "the owner of the coat,
+who arrived here, with three gentlemen, yesterday afternoon." We find it
+to be a very cosy and comfortable bar-room too, wherein we subsequently
+enjoy many a social pipe and pleasant chat with its friendly
+frequenters, reminding us of the old tavern-life as described in Dr.
+Johnson's days.
+
+The coffee-room of the Bull, in which we take our supper, remains
+unaltered since the days of the Pickwickians. It is on the left-hand
+side as we enter the hotel from the covered gateway--not very large, but
+warm and comfortable, with three windows looking into the High Street.
+Many scenes in the novels have taken place in this memorable
+apartment--in fact, it is quite historical, from a Dickensian point of
+view.
+
+Here it was that the challenge to the duel from Dr. Slammer to Mr.
+Winkle was delivered; and, when Mr. Winkle appeared, in response to the
+call of the boots, that "a gentleman in the coffee-room" wanted to see
+him, and would not detain him a moment, but would take no denial, "an
+old woman and a couple of waiters were cleaning the coffee-room, and an
+officer in undress uniform was looking out of the window." Here also the
+Pickwickians assembled on that eventful morning when the party set out,
+three in a chaise and one on horseback, for Dingley Dell, and
+encountered such dire mishaps. "Mr. Pickwick had made his preliminary
+arrangements, and was looking over the coffee-room blinds at the
+passengers in the High Street, when the waiter entered, and announced
+that the chaise was ready--an announcement which the vehicle itself
+confirmed, by forthwith appearing before the coffee-room blinds
+aforesaid." Subsequently, as they prepare to start, "'Wo-o!' cried Mr.
+Pickwick, as the tall quadruped evinced a decided inclination to back
+into the coffee-room window."
+
+It is highly probable that the descriptions of "the little town of Great
+Winglebury," and "the Winglebury Arms," in "The Great Winglebury Duel"
+of the _Sketches by Boz_, one of the earliest works of the novelist,
+refer to the city of Rochester and the Bull Inn, for they fit in very
+well in many respects, although it _is_ stated therein that "the little
+town of Great Winglebury is exactly forty-two miles and three-quarters
+from Hyde Park Corner."
+
+The Blue Boar mentioned in _Great Expectations_--one of the most
+original, touching, and dramatic of Dickens's novels--is indubitably the
+Bull Hotel. Although there is an inn in High Street, Rochester, called
+the Blue Boar, its description does not at all correspond with the text.
+We find several instances like this, where, probably for purposes of
+concealment, the real identity of places and persons is masked.
+
+Our first introduction to the Blue Boar is on the occasion of Pip's
+being bound apprentice to Joe Gargery, the premium for whom was paid out
+of the twenty-five guineas given to Pip by Miss Havisham. Pip's sister
+"became so excited by the twenty-five guineas, that nothing would serve
+but we must have a dinner out of that windfall at the Blue Boar, and
+that Pumblechook must go over in his chaise cart, and bring the Hubbles
+and Mr. Wopsle." The dinner is duly disposed of, and although poor Pip
+was frequently enjoined to "enjoy himself," he certainly failed to do
+so on this occasion. "Among the festivities indulged in rather late in
+the evening," says Pip, "Mr. Wopsle gave us _Collins's Ode_, and 'threw
+his blood-stain'd sword in thunder down,' with such effect, that a
+waiter came in and said 'The Commercials underneath sent up their
+compliments, and it wasn't the Tumblers' Arms!'" from which we gather
+that the said dinner took place in a private sitting-room (No. 3) over
+the commercial room, on the opposite side of the gateway to the
+coffee-room.
+
+It will be remembered that on Pip's attaining "the second stage of his
+expectations," Pumblechook had grown very obsequious and fawning to
+him--pressed him to take refreshment, as who should say, "But, my dear
+young friend, you must be hungry, you must be exhausted. Be seated. Here
+is a chicken had round from the Boar, here is a tongue had round from
+the Boar, here's one or two little things had round from the Boar that I
+hope you may not despise. 'But do I,' said Mr. Pumblechook, getting up
+again the moment after he had sat down, 'see afore me him as I ever
+sported with in his times of happy infancy? And may I--_may_ I--?' This
+'May I?' meant might he shake hands? I consented, and he was fervent,
+and then sat down again."
+
+Returning to the coffee-room, we discover it was the identical apartment
+in which the unexpected and very peculiar meeting took place between Pip
+and "the spider," Bentley Drummle, "the sulky and red-looking young man,
+of a heavy order of architecture," both "Finches of the Grove," and
+rivals for the hand of Estella. Each stands shoulder to shoulder against
+the fire-place, and, but for Pip's forbearance, an explosion must have
+taken place.
+
+Through the same coffee-room windows, poor Pip looks under the reverses
+of his great expectations in consequence of the discovery and subsequent
+death of his patron. The "servile Pumblechook," who appears here
+uninvited, again changes his manner and conduct, becoming ostentatiously
+compassionate and forgiving, as he had been meanly servile in the time
+of Pip's new prosperity, thus:--"'Young man, I am sorry to see you
+brought low, but what else could be expected! what else could be
+expected! . . . This is him . . . as I have rode in my shay-cart; this
+is him as I have seen brought up by hand; this is him untoe the sister
+of which I was uncle by marriage, as her name was Georgiana M'ria from
+her own mother, let him deny it if he can.' . . ."
+
+Dickens takes leave of the Blue Boar, in the last chapter of the work,
+in these words:--
+
+ "The tidings of my high fortunes having had a
+ heavy fall, had got down to my native place and
+ its neighbourhood, before I got there. I found the
+ Blue Boar in possession of the intelligence, and I
+ found that it made a great change in the Boar's
+ demeanour. Whereas the Boar had cultivated my good
+ opinion with warm assiduity when I was coming into
+ property, the Boar was exceedingly cool on the
+ subject now that I was going out of property.
+
+ "It was evening when I arrived, much fatigued by
+ the journey I had so often made so easily. The
+ Boar could not put me into my usual bedroom, which
+ was engaged,--probably by some one who had
+ expectations,--and could only assign me a very
+ indifferent chamber among the pigeons and
+ post-chaises up the yard. But, I had as sound a
+ sleep in that lodging as in the most superior
+ accommodation the Boar could have given me, and
+ the quality of my dreams was about the same as in
+ the best bedroom."
+
+The visitors' book in the coffee-room, at the Bull--we never shall call
+it "The Royal Victoria and Bull Hotel"--abounds with complimentary
+remarks on the hospitable treatment received by its guests; and there
+are several poetical effusions, inspired by the classic nature of
+"Dickens-Land." One of these, under date of the 18th September, 1887, is
+worth recording:--
+
+ "The man who knows his Dickens as he should,
+ Enjoys a double pleasure in this place;
+ He loves to walk its ancient streets, and trace
+ The scenes where Dickens' characters have stood.
+ He reads _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_
+ In Jasper's Gatehouse, and, with Tope as guide,
+ Explores the old cathedral, Durdles' pride;
+ Descends into the Crypt, and even would
+ Ascend the Tower by moonlight, thence to see
+ Fair Cloisterham reposing at his feet,
+ And passing out, he almost hopes to meet
+ Crisparkle and the white-haired Datchery.
+ The gifted writer 'sleeps among our best
+ And noblest' in our Minster of the West;
+ Yet still he lives in this, his favourite scene,
+ Which for all time shall keep his memory green."
+
+[Illustration: Old Rochester Bridge]
+
+We follow Mr. Pickwick's example as regards early rising, and, taking a
+turn before breakfast, find ourselves on Rochester Bridge. Nature has
+not much changed since the memorable visit of that "truly great man,"
+who in the original announcement of _The Pickwick Papers_ is stated with
+his companions to have "fearlessly crossed the turbid Medway in an open
+boat;" but the march of civilization has effaced the old bridge, and lo!
+three bridges stand in the place thereof. The beautiful stone structure
+(temp. Edward III.) which Mr. Pickwick leant over, having become
+unsuitable, was blown up by the Royal Engineers in 1856, and a handsome
+iron bridge erected in its place. The débris was removed by Mr. J. H.
+Ball, the contractor, who presented Dickens with one of the balustrades,
+others having been utilized to form the coping of the embankment of the
+esplanade under the castle walls. The iron bridge was built by Messrs.
+Fox and Henderson, the foundations being laid in 1850. The machinery
+constituting "the swing-bridge or open ship canal (fifty feet wide) at
+the Strood end is very beautiful; the entire weight to be moved is two
+hundred tons, yet the bridge is readily swung by two men at a capstan."
+So says one of the Guide Books, but as a matter of fact we find that it
+is not now used! The other two bridges (useful, but certainly not
+ornamental) belong to the respective railway companies which have
+systems through Rochester, and absolutely shut out every prospect below
+stream. What _would_ Mr. Pickwick say, if his spirit ever visited the
+ancient city? Nevertheless, we realize for the first time, with all its
+freshness and beauty (although perhaps a little marred by the smoke of
+the lime-kilns, and by the "Medway coal trade," in which it will be
+remembered Mr. Micawber was temporarily interested, and which "he came
+down to see"), the charm of the prospect which Dickens describes, and
+which Mr. Pickwick saw, in the opening of the fifth chapter of the
+immortal _Posthumous Papers_:--
+
+ "Bright and pleasant was the sky, balmy the air,
+ and beautiful the appearance of every object
+ around, as Mr. Pickwick leant over the balustrades
+ of Rochester Bridge, contemplating nature, and
+ waiting for breakfast. The scene was indeed one,
+ which might well have charmed a far less
+ reflective mind, than that to which it was
+ presented.
+
+ "On the left of the spectator lay the ruined wall,
+ broken in many places, and in some, overhanging
+ the narrow beach below in rude and heavy masses.
+ Huge knots of sea-weed hung upon the jagged and
+ pointed stones, trembling in every breath of wind;
+ and the green ivy clung mournfully round the dark
+ and ruined battlements. Behind it rose the ancient
+ castle, its towers roofless, and its massive walls
+ crumbling away, but telling us proudly of its old
+ might and strength, as when, seven hundred years
+ ago, it rang with the clash of arms, or resounded
+ with the noise of feasting and revelry. On either
+ side, the banks of the Medway, covered with
+ corn-fields and pastures, with here and there a
+ windmill, or a distant church, stretched away as
+ far as the eye could see, presenting a rich and
+ varied landscape, rendered more beautiful by the
+ changing shadows which passed swiftly across it,
+ as the thin and half-formed clouds skimmed away in
+ the light of the morning sun. The river,
+ reflecting the clear blue of the sky, glistened
+ and sparkled as it flowed noiselessly on; and the
+ oars of the fishermen dipped into the water with a
+ clear and liquid sound, as their heavy but
+ picturesque boats glided slowly down the stream."
+
+It was over the same old bridge that poor Pip was pursued by that
+"unlimited miscreant" Trabb's boy in the days of his "great
+expectations." He says:--
+
+ "Words cannot state the amount of aggravation and
+ injury wreaked upon me by Trabb's boy, when,
+ passing abreast of me, he pulled up his
+ shirt-collar, twined his side hair, stuck an arm
+ akimbo, and smirked extravagantly by, wriggling
+ his elbows and body, and drawling to his
+ attendants: 'Don't know yah; don't know yah, 'pon
+ my soul, don't know yah!' The disgrace [continues
+ Pip] attendant on his immediately afterwards
+ taking to crowing and pursuing me across the
+ bridge with crows, as from an exceedingly dejected
+ fowl who had known me when I was a blacksmith,
+ culminated the disgrace with which I left the
+ town, and was, so to speak, ejected by it into the
+ open country."
+
+There is generally a stiff breeze blowing on the bridge, and the fact
+may probably have suggested to the artist the positions of the
+characters in the river scene, one of the plates of _Edwin Drood_, where
+Mr. Crisparkle is holding his hat on with much tenacity. One other
+reference to the bridge occurs in the _Seven Poor Travellers_, where
+Richard Doubledick, in the year 1799, "limped over the bridge here with
+half a shoe to his dusty foot on his way to Chatham."
+
+After a Pickwickian breakfast in the coffee-room of "broiled ham, eggs,
+tea, coffee, and sundries," we take a stroll up the High Street. We do
+not know what the feelings of other pilgrims in "Dickens-Land" may have
+been on the occasion of a first visit, but we are quite sure that to us
+it is a perfect revelation to ramble along this quaint street of "the
+ancient city," returning by way of Star Hill through the Vines, all
+crowded with associations of Charles Dickens. _Pickwick_, _Great
+Expectations_, _Edwin Drood_, and many of the minor works of the eminent
+novelist, had never before appeared so clear to us--they acquire new
+significance. The air is full of Dickens. At every corner, and almost at
+the door of every house, we half expect to be met by one or other of
+the characters who will claim acquaintance with us as their friends or
+admirers. We are simply delighted, and never tire of repeating our
+experience in the pleasant summer days of our week's tramp in
+"Dickens-Land."
+
+[Illustration: The Guildhall: Rochester]
+
+[Illustration: The "Moonfaced" Clock in High Street]
+
+[Illustration: In High Street: Rochester]
+
+[Illustration: Eastgate House]
+
+Starting from the Bull, and walking along the somewhat narrow but
+picturesque street towards Chatham,--"the streets of Cloisterham city
+are little more than one narrow street by which you get into it and get
+out of it: the rest being mostly disappointing yards with pumps in them
+and no thoroughfare--exception made of the Cathedral close, and a paved
+Quaker settlement, in color and general conformation very like a
+Quakeress's bonnet, up in a shady corner,"--we pass in succession the
+Guildhall, the City Clock, Richard Watts's Charity, the College Gate
+(Jasper's Gatehouse), Eastgate House (the Nuns' House), and, nearly
+opposite it, the residence of Mr. Sapsea, which, as we ourselves
+discover, was also the residence of "Uncle Pumblechook." The latter
+buildings are about a quarter of a mile from Rochester Bridge, and are
+splendid examples of sixteenth-century architecture, with carved
+oaken-timbered fronts and gables and latticed bay-windows. Eastgate
+House--the "Nuns' House" of _Edwin Drood_, described as "a venerable
+brick edifice, whose present appellation is doubtless derived from the
+legend of its conventual uses"--is especially beautiful, and its
+"resplendent brass plate on the trim gate" is still so "shining and
+staring." The date, 1591, is on one of the inside beams, and the fine
+old place abounds with quaint cosy rooms with carved oak mantel-pieces,
+and plaster enrichments to the ceilings, as well as mysterious back
+staircases and means of exit by secret passages. Charles II. is said to
+have been entertained here by Colonel Gibbons, the then owner, when he
+visited Chatham and inspected the _Royal George_; but this has been
+recently disputed. For many years during this century, the house has
+been occupied as a Ladies' School, and the old pianos used for practice
+by the pupils are there still, the keys being worn into holes. We wonder
+whether Rosa Bud and Helena Landless ever played on them! Looking round,
+we half expect to witness the famous courting scene in _Edwin Drood_,
+and afterwards "the matronly Tisher to heave in sight, rustling through
+the room like the legendary ghost of a dowager in silken skirts, [with
+her] 'I trust I disturb no one; but there _was_ a paper-knife--Oh,
+thank you, I am sure!'" An excellent local institution, called "The
+Rochester Men's Institute," has its home here. The house has been
+immortalized by Mr. Luke Fildes in one of the illustrations to _Edwin
+Drood_ ("Good-bye, Rosebud, darling!"), where, in the front garden, the
+girls are cordially embracing their charming school-fellow, and Miss
+Twinkleton looks on approvingly, but perhaps regretfully, at the
+possible non-return of some of the young ladies. Mrs. Tisher is saluting
+one of the girls. There is a gate opening into the street, with the lamp
+over it kept in position by an iron bracket, just as it is now, heaps of
+ladies' luggage are scattered about, which the housemaid and the
+coachman are removing to the car outside; and one pretty girl stands in
+the gateway waving a farewell to the others with her handkerchief.
+
+We feel morally certain that Eastgate House is also the prototype of
+Westgate House in the _Pickwick Papers_, although, for the purposes of
+the story, it is therein located at Bury St. Edmund's. The wall
+surrounding the garden is about seven feet high, and a drop from it into
+the garden would be uncommonly suggestive of the scene which took place
+between Sam Weller and his master in the sixteenth chapter, on the
+occasion of the supposed intended elopement of one of the young ladies
+of Miss Tomkins's Establishment--which also had the "name on a brass
+plate on a gate"--with Mr. Charles FitzMarshall, _alias_ Mr. Alfred
+Jingle. The very tree which Mr. Pickwick "considered a very dangerous
+neighbour in a thunderstorm" is there still--a pretty acacia.
+
+[Illustration: Mr. Sapsea's House.]
+
+[Illustration: Mr. Sapsea's Father.]
+
+The house opposite Eastgate House was of course Mr. Sapsea's
+dwelling--"Mr. Sapsea's premises are in the High Street over against
+the Nuns' House. They are of about the period of the Nuns' House,
+irregularly modernized here and there." A carved wooden figure of Mr.
+Sapsea's father in his rostrum as an auctioneer, with hammer poised in
+hand, and a countenance expressive of "Going--going--gone!" was many
+years ago fixed over a house (now the Savings Bank) in St. Margaret's,
+Rochester, and was a regular butt for practical jokes by the young
+officers of the period, although they never succeeded in their attempts
+to pull it down. To us the house appears to be an older building than
+Eastgate House, with much carved oak and timber work about it, and in
+its prime must have been a most delightful residence. The lower part is
+now used as business premises, and from the fact that it contains the
+little drawers of a seedsman's shop, it answers very well to the
+description of Mr. Pumblechook's "eminently convenient and commodious
+premises"--indeed there is not a little in common between the two
+characters. "Mr. Pumblechook's premises in the High Street of the market
+town [says Pip] were of a peppercorny and farinaceous character, as the
+premises of a corn chandler and seedsman should be. It appeared to me
+that he must be a very happy man indeed to have so many little drawers
+in his shop; and I wondered when I peeped into one or two of the lower
+tiers, and saw the tied-up brown paper packets inside, whether the
+flower seeds and bulbs ever wanted of a fine day to break out of those
+jails, and bloom." Part of these premises is used as a dwelling-house,
+and Mr. Apsley Kennette, the courteous assistant town-clerk, to whom we
+were indebted for much kind attention, has apartments on the upper
+floors of the old mansion, the views from which, looking into the
+ancient city, are very pretty. There is a good deal of oak panelling and
+plaster enrichment about the interior, restored by Mr. Kennette, who in
+the course of his renovations found an interesting wall fresco.
+
+He has had painted most appropriately in gilt letters over the
+mantel-piece of his charming old panelled chamber of carved and polished
+oak (with its quaint bay-window looking into the street) the pathetic
+and sombre lines of Dante Gabriel Rossetti:--
+
+ "May not this ancient room thou sitt'st in dwell
+ In separate living souls for joy or pain;
+ Nay, all its corners may be painted plain,
+ Where Heaven shows pictures of some life spent well;
+ And may be stamped a memory all in vain
+ Upon the site of lidless eyes in Hell."
+
+[Illustration: Restoration House.]
+
+The beautiful residence in Maidstone Road, formerly Crow Lane, opposite
+the Vines, called Restoration House, is the "Satis House" of _Great
+Expectations_--"Miss Havisham's up-town." "Everybody for miles round had
+heard of Miss Havisham up-town as an immensely rich and grim lady, who
+lived in a large and dismal house barricaded against robbers, and who
+led a life of seclusion." There is a veritable Satis House as well, on
+the opposite side of the Vines alluded to elsewhere. Restoration House,
+now occupied by Mr. Stephen T. Aveling, is a picturesque old
+Elizabethan structure, partly covered with ivy, having fine oak
+staircases, floors, and wainscoted rooms. Charles II. lodged here in
+1660, and he subsequently presented to his host, Sir Francis Clarke,
+several large tapestries, representing pastoral scenes, which the
+present owner kindly allowed us to see. The tapestry is said to have
+been made at Mortlake. It was the usual present from royalty in those
+days--just as Her present Majesty now gives an Indian shawl to a
+favoured subject. Like many houses of its kind, it contains a secret
+staircase for escape during times of political trouble.
+
+Mr. Aveling very kindly placed at our disposal the manuscript of an
+interesting and "true ghost story" written by him relating to
+Restoration House, which is introduced at the end of this chapter.
+
+Many names in Dickens's novels and tales appear to us as old friends,
+over the shops and elsewhere in Rochester. Looking through the list of
+Mayors of the city from 1654 to 1887, we notice nearly twenty of the
+names as having been given by Dickens to his characters, viz. Robinson,
+Wade, Brooker, Clarke, Harris, Burgess, Head, Weller, Baily, Gordon,
+Parsons, Pordage, Sparks, Simmons, Batten, Saunders, Thomson, Edwards,
+and Budden. The name of Jasper also occurs as a tradesman several times
+in the city, but we are informed that this is a recent introduction. In
+the Cathedral burying-ground occur the names of Fanny Dorr_ett_ and
+Richard Pordage. Dartle, we were informed, is an old Rochester name.
+
+The population of the "four towns" of Rochester, Strood, Chatham, and
+New Brompton, at the census of 1891, was upwards of 85,000. The
+principal industries of Rochester are lime and cement making, "the
+Medway coal trade," and boat and barge building.
+
+Rochester is very well off for educational institutions. In addition to
+the Board schools, there is the King's (or Cathedral) Grammar School
+founded by Henry VIII., a handsome building in the Vines. The tuition
+fee commences at £15 per annum for boys under 12, and there is a
+reduction made when there are brothers. There are two or three annual
+competitive Scholarships tenable for a period of years, and there are
+also two Exhibitions of £60 a year to University College, Oxford. There
+is also Sir J. Williamson's Mathematical School in the High Street,
+founded in 1701, having an income of £1500 a year from endowments, and
+the teaching, which has a wide range, includes physical science. The
+fees are very small, commencing at about £5 per annum, and there are
+foundation Scholarships and "Aveling Scholarships" to the value of £20
+per annum.
+
+In addition to the famous Richard Watts's Charity, which is described in
+another chapter, the city possesses several other important charities,
+viz.:--St. Catherine's Charity on Star Hill, founded by Simon Potyn in
+1316, which provides residences for sixteen aged females, with stipends
+varying from £24 to £28 each; St. Bartholomew's Hospital in New Road,
+which was founded in 1078 by Bishop Gundulph for the benefit of lepers
+returning from the Crusades (the present Hospital was erected in 1858,
+and is supported by voluntary contributions); Sir John Hawkins's
+Hospital for decayed seamen in Chatham, founded in 1592, and provides
+for twelve inmates with their wives; and Sir John Hayward's Charity on
+the Common, founded in 1651, which provides an asylum for twelve poor
+and aged females, parishioners of St. Nicholas.
+
+Not least noteworthy among the numerous objects of interest in the
+"ancient city" are the beautiful gardens belonging to several of the
+houses in the High Street, particularly those of Mr. Syms and Mr.
+Wildish. The fresh green turf, the profusion of flowers, and the rich
+growth of foliage and fruit, quite surprise and delight the stranger.
+Mr. Stephen T. Aveling's garden is a marvel of beauty to be seen in a
+town. "The Cloisterham gardens blush with ripening fruit."
+
+Some of the old-fashioned cries of street hawkers, as "hot rolls,"
+"herrings," "watercresses," and the like, similar to those in the London
+of Charles Dickens's early days, still survive at Rochester, and are
+very noticeable and quaint in the quiet morning.
+
+As illustrative of the many changes which have been brought about by
+steam, even in the quiet old city of Rochester, Mr. Syms called
+attention to the fact that fifty years ago he could count twenty-eight
+windmills on the surrounding heights, but now there are scarcely a dozen
+to be seen.
+
+In Rochester we heard frequent mention of "Gavelkind," one of the
+ancient customs of Kent, whereby the lands do not descend to the eldest
+son alone, but to the whole number of male children equally. Lambarde,
+the eminent lawyer and antiquary (born 1536), author of _A Perambulation
+of Kent_,[5] says:--"I gather by _Cornelius Tacitus_, and others, that
+the ancient Germans, (whose Offspring we be) suffered their lands to
+descend, not to their eldest Sonne alone, but to the whole number of
+their male Children: and I finde in the 75th Chapter of _Canutus_ Law (a
+King of this Realm before the Conquest), that after the death of the
+Father, his Heires should divide both his goods, and his lands amongst
+them. Now, for as much as all the next of the kinred did this inherit
+together, I conjecture, that therefore the land was called, either
+_Gavelkyn_ in meaning, _Give all kyn_, because it was given to all the
+next in one line of kinred, or _Give all kynd_, that is, to all the male
+Children: for _kynd_ in Dutch signifieth yet a male Childe." The learned
+historian suggests a second possible origin of this curious custom from
+the writ called "Gavelles," to recover "the rent and service arising out
+of these lands."
+
+The remarkable custom of "Borough English," whereby the youngest son
+inherits the lands, also survives in some parts of the county of Kent.
+
+Mr. Robert Langton has done good service by giving in his delightful
+book, _The Childhood and Youth of Charles Dickens_, an illustration by
+Mr. W. Hull, of the old Rochester Theatre, which formerly stood at the
+foot of Star Hill, and in which Jingle and Dismal Jemmy--"rum
+fellow--does the heavy business--no actor--strange man--all sorts of
+miseries--dismal Jemmy, we call him on the circuit"--were to play on the
+morrow after the duel. It exists no more, for the Conservative
+Association has its club-house and rooms on the site of the building.
+The theatre is referred to in _Edwin Drood:_--"Even its drooping and
+despondent little theatre has its poor strip of garden, receiving the
+foul fiend, when he ducks from its stage into the infernal regions,
+among scarlet beans or oyster-shells, according to the season of the
+year." And again in _The Uncommercial Traveller_, on "Dullborough
+Town," when the beginning of the end had appeared:--
+
+[Illustration: Old Rochester Theatre, Star Hill.]
+
+ "It was To Let, and hopelessly so, for its old
+ purposes; and there had been no entertainment
+ within its walls for a long time, except a
+ Panorama; and even that had been announced as
+ 'pleasingly instructive,' and I knew too well the
+ fatal meaning and the leaden import of those
+ terrible expressions. No, there was no comfort in
+ the Theatre. It was mysteriously gone, like my own
+ youth. Unlike my own youth, it might be coming
+ back some day; but there was little promise of
+ it."
+
+We did not stay at the Bull during the whole of our visit, comfortable
+lodgings in Victoria Street having been secured for us by the courtesy
+of Mr. Prall, the landlady of which, from her kindness and consideration
+for our comfort, we are pleased to recognize as a veritable "Mrs.
+Lirriper."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Among many reminiscences of Charles Dickens obtained at Rochester, the
+following are the most noteworthy:--
+
+We had an interesting chat with Mr. Franklin Homan, Auctioneer,
+Cabinet-maker, and Upholsterer of High Street, Rochester. Our informant
+did a good deal of work for Charles Dickens at Gad's Hill Place, and
+remarked "he was one of the nicest customers I ever met in my life--so
+thoroughly precise and methodical. If anything had to be done, he knew
+exactly what he wanted, and gave his instructions accordingly. He
+expected every one who served him to be equally exact and punctual."
+
+The novelist wrote to Mr. Homan from America respecting the furnishing
+of two bedrooms, describing in detail how he wished them fitted up--one
+was maple, the other white with a red stripe. These rooms are referred
+to in another chapter. The curtains separating them from the
+dressing-rooms were ordered to be of Indian pattern chintz. When Dickens
+came home and saw them complete, he said, "It strikes me as if the room
+was about to have its hair cut,--but it's my fault, it must be altered;"
+so crimson damask curtains were substituted.
+
+In the little billiard-room near the dining-room was a one-sided couch
+standing by the window, which did not seem to please the master of Gad's
+Hill Place. He said to Mr. Homan one day, "Whenever I see that couch, it
+makes me think the window is squinting." The result was that Mr. Homan
+had to make a window-seat instead.
+
+On one occasion, when our informant was waiting in the dining-room for
+some orders from Miss Hogarth, he saw Dickens walking in the garden with
+a lady, to whom he was telling the story of how as a boy he longed to
+live in Gad's Hill Place, and determined to purchase it whenever he had
+an opportunity.
+
+Mr. Homan mentioned that the act drop painted by Clarkson Stanfield,
+R.A., for _The Lighthouse_ and the scene from _The Frozen Deep_, painted
+by the same artist, which adorned the hall at Gad's Hill Place, and
+which fetched such enormous sums at the sale, were technically the
+property of the purchaser of Tavistock House, but he said, "Perhaps you
+would like to have them, Mr. Dickens," and so they continued to be the
+property of the novelist.
+
+The valuation for Probate was made by Mr. Homan, and he subsequently
+sold for the executors the furniture and other domestic effects at Gad's
+Hill Place. The art collection was sold by Messrs. Christie, Manson, and
+Woods. There was a very fine cellar of wine, which included some magnums
+of port of rare vintage. Mr. Homan purchased a few bottles, and gave one
+to a friend, Dr. Tamplin of London, who had been kind to his daughter.
+At a dinner-party some time afterwards at the Doctor's, a connoisseur
+being present, the magnum in question was placed on the table, the
+guests being unaware from whence it came. Reference was made to the
+choice quality of the wine. "Yes," said the connoisseur, "it _is_
+good--very fine. I never tasted the like before, except once at Gad's
+Hill Place."
+
+Mr. Homan recollects seeing among the plate two oak cases which were not
+sold, containing the silver figures for dining-table emblematic of
+spring, summer, and autumn. These were the presents of a Liverpool
+admirer who wished to remain anonymous. The incident is alluded to in
+Forster's _Life_, the correspondent being described as "a self-raised
+man, attributing his prosperous career to what Dickens's writings had
+taught him at its outset of the wisdom of kindness and sympathy for
+others, and asking pardon for the liberty he took in hoping that he
+might be permitted to offer some acknowledgment of what not only had
+cheered and stimulated him through all his life, but had contributed so
+much to the success of it." The letter enclosed £500, but Dickens
+declined this, intimating to the writer that if he pleased to send him
+any small memorial in another form, he would be glad to receive it.
+
+The funeral was conducted by Mr. Homan, who mentioned that Dickens's
+instructions in his Will were implicitly followed, as regards privacy
+and unostentation. It was an anxious time to him, in consequence of the
+changes which were made in the arrangements, the interment being first
+suggested to take place at St. Nicholas's Cemetery, then at Shorne, then
+at Rochester Cathedral, and finally at Westminster Abbey. The mourners,
+together with the remains, travelled early in the morning by South
+Eastern Railway from Higham Station to Charing Cross, where a
+procession, consisting of three mourning-coaches and a hearse, was
+quietly formed. There was neither show nor public demonstration of any
+kind. On reaching Westminster Abbey, about half-past nine o'clock, the
+procession was met by Dean Stanley in the Cloisters, who performed the
+funeral service. A journalist being by accident in the Abbey at the time
+of the funeral, Mr. Homan remarked that he became almost frantic when he
+heard who had just been buried, at having missed such an opportunity.
+
+Mr. Homan possesses several souvenirs of Gad's Hill Place, presented to
+him by the family, including Charles Dickens's walking-stick, and
+photographs of the interior and exterior of the house and the châlet.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We were courteously received by the Rev. Robert Whiston, M.A., who
+resides at the Old Palace, a beautiful seventeenth-century house,
+abounding with oak panelling and carving, on Boley Hill, bequeathed in
+1674, by Mr. Richard Head, after the death of his wife, to the then
+Bishop of Rochester and his successors, who were "to hold the same so
+long as the church was governed by Protestant Bishops." This residence
+was sold by permission of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners, together
+with the mansion at Brinley, in order to help to pay for the new palace
+of Danbury in Essex.
+
+Mr. Whiston was a friend of Charles Dickens, and is one of the oldest
+inhabitants of Rochester. He was formerly Head-Master of the Cathedral
+Grammar, or King's, School of Henry VIII., an office which he resigned
+in 1877. Many years previously, Mr. Whiston published _Cathedral Trusts
+and their Fulfilment_, which ran through several editions, and was
+immediately followed by his dismissal from his mastership, on the ground
+that he had published "false, scandalous, and libellous" statements, and
+had libelled "the Chapter of Rochester and other Chapters, and also the
+Bishop." Much litigation followed--appeals to the Court of Chancery,
+the Court of Queen's Bench, and Doctors' Commons, which resulted in his
+replacement in office; and then a second dismissal, followed by his
+pleading his own cause for five days at Doctors' Commons against eminent
+counsel, and after three years of litigation he was fully reinstated in
+his office. The result at Rochester, for which Mr. Whiston contended,
+was "an increase of £19 for each of the twenty scholars, and of £35 for
+each of the four students, a total of £520 a year, and the restoration
+of the six bedesmen of the Cathedral, with £14 13_s._ 4_d._ a year each,
+who had disappeared since 1810, making altogether £608 a year." Reforms
+were effected at other cathedrals, and handsome testimonials--one from
+Australia--were presented to Mr. Whiston.
+
+A characteristic paper, entitled "The History of a certain Grammar
+School," in No. 72 of _Household Words_, dated 9th August, 1851, gives a
+sketch of Mr. Whiston's labours, and of the reforms which he effected.
+He is thus referred to:--
+
+"But the Reverend Adolphus Hardhead was not merely a scholar and a
+schoolmaster. He had fought his way against disadvantages, had gained a
+moderate independence by the fruits of early exertions and constant but
+by no means sordid economy; and, while disinterested enough to
+undervalue abundance, was too wise not to know the value of money. He
+was an undoubted financialist, and never gave a farthing without doing
+real good, because he always ascertained the purpose and probable effect
+of his charity beforehand. While he cautiously shunned the idle and
+undeserving, he would work like a slave, with and for those who would
+work for themselves; and he would smooth the way for those who had in
+the first instance been their own pioneers, and would help a man who
+had once been successful, to attain a yet greater success."
+
+Anthony Trollope, in _The Warden_, also thus refers to this
+gentleman:--"The struggles of Mr. Whiston have met with sympathy and
+support. Men are beginning to say that these things must be looked
+into."
+
+_Punch_ has also immortalized Mr. Whiston, for in the issue of 29th
+January, 1853, there is a burlesque account with designs of "A stained
+glass window for Rochester Cathedral." The design is divided into
+compartments; each containing a representation in the mediæval fashion
+of a "Fytte" in "Ye Gestes of Maister Whyston ye Confessour."
+
+Mr. Whiston had dined at Gad's Hill several times, and said that nothing
+could be more charming than Dickens's powers as a host. Some years after
+his death, by a fortunate circumstance, a large parcel of letters,
+written by the novelist, came into the hands of Mr. Whiston, who had the
+pleasure of handing them to Miss Hogarth and Miss Dickens, by whom they
+were published in the collection of letters of Charles Dickens.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Thomas Millen of Rochester informed us that he knew Charles Dickens. His
+(Millen's) father was a hop-farmer, and about the years 1864-5 lived at
+Bridgewood House, on the main road from Rochester to Maidstone. One
+afternoon in the autumn, Dickens, accompanied by Miss Hogarth and his
+daughters, Mary and Kate, drove along the road, and stopped to admire a
+pear tree which was covered with ripe fruit. Millen happened to be in
+the garden at the time, and while noticing the carriage, Dickens spoke
+to him, and referred to the very fine fruit. Millen said, "Will you
+have some, sir?" to which Dickens replied, "Thank you, you are very
+good, I will." He gave him some pears and some roses. Dickens then said,
+"You have not the pleasure of knowing me, and I have not the pleasure of
+knowing you. I am Charles Dickens; and when you pass Gad's Hill, I shall
+take it as a favour if you will look in and see my place." Millen
+replied, "I feel it to be a great honour to speak to you, sir. I have
+read most of your works, and I think _David Copperfield_ is the
+master-piece. I hope to avail myself of your kind invitation some day."
+Dickens laughed, wished Millen "Good-day," and the carriage drove on
+towards Maidstone.
+
+"Some little time after," said Millen, "I was going to visit an uncle at
+Gravesend, and drove over with a one-horse trap by way of Gad's Hill. As
+I came near the place, I saw Mr. Dickens in the road. He said, 'So you
+are here,' and I mentioned where I was going. He took me in, and we went
+through the tunnel, and by the cedars, to the châlet, which stood in the
+shrubbery in front of the house. He showed me his work there--a
+manuscript on the table, and also some proofs. They were part of _Our
+Mutual Friend_, which was then appearing in monthly numbers; and on that
+morning a proof of one of the illustrations had arrived from Mr. Marcus
+Stone. It was the one in which 'Miss Wren fixes her idea.' I was then
+about sixteen or seventeen, and Dickens said, 'You are setting out in
+life; mind _you_ always fix your idea.' He asked me what I was going to
+be, and I said a farmer. He said, 'Better be that than an author or
+poet;' and after I had had two glasses of wine, he bade me 'good-bye.'"
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We were kindly favoured with an interview by the Misses Drage, of No. 1
+Minor Canon Row, daughters of the late Rev. W. H. Drage, who was Curate
+of St. Mary's Church, Chatham, from 1820 to 1828, and lived during that
+time in apartments at No. 3 Ordnance Terrace, next door to the Dickens
+family. Afterwards their father was Vicar of St. Margaret's, Rochester,
+for many years, and resided in their present home. About the year 1850,
+the Vicar, being interested in the daughter of one of his parishioners,
+whom he was anxious to get admitted into a public institution in
+London--a penitentiary or something of the kind--wrote to Miss (now the
+Baroness) Burdett Coutts, who was a patroness or founder, or who
+occupied some position of influence in connection therewith. In answer
+to the reverend gentleman's application, a letter was received from
+Charles Dickens, then residing at Devonshire Terrace, who appeared to be
+associated with Miss Burdett Coutts in the management of the
+institution, proposing to call at Minor Canon Row on a certain day and
+hour. The letter then concluded with these remarkable words:--"I trust
+to my childish remembrance for putting your initials correctly."
+
+The letter was properly addressed "The Rev. _W. H._ Drage," and it is
+interesting to record this circumstance as showing Dickens's habitual
+precision and excellent memory. The future novelist was about eleven
+years old when he left Chatham (1823), consequently a period of
+twenty-seven years or more must have elapsed since he knew his father's
+neighbour as Curate there; yet, notwithstanding the multiplicity and
+diversity of his occupations during the interim, his recollection after
+this long period was perfectly accurate.
+
+It is scarcely necessary to add that the interview took place (probably
+Dickens came down from London specially), and that the Vicar obtained
+admission for his _protégée_. The younger Miss Drage, who was in the
+room at the time of Dickens's visit, particularly noticed what a
+beautiful head the novelist's was, and in her enthusiasm she made a
+rough sketch of it while he was talking to her father.
+
+In conversation with the present Mr. Charles Dickens on a subsequent
+occasion regarding this circumstance, he informed me that there was an
+institution of the kind referred to, "A Home," at Shepherd's Bush, in
+which his father took much interest. Forster also says in the _Life_
+that this Home "largely and regularly occupied his time for several
+years."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We heard from a trustworthy authority, _Y. Z._, at Rochester, some
+particulars respecting an interesting custom at Gad's Hill Place. On New
+Year's Eve there was always a dinner-party with friends, and a dance,
+and games afterwards. Some of the games were called "Buzz," "Crambo,"
+"Spanish Merchant," etc. Claret-cup and other refreshments were
+introduced later, and at twelve o'clock all the servants came into the
+entrance-hall. Charles Dickens then went in, shook hands with them all
+round, wished them a Happy New Year ("A happy new year, God bless us
+all"), and gave each half-a-sovereign. This custom was maintained for
+many years, until a man-servant--who used to travel with
+Dickens--disgracefully betrayed his trust,--robbed his master, in
+fact,--when it was discontinued, and the name of the man who had thus
+disgraced himself was never allowed to be mentioned at Gad's Hill.
+
+The same authority spoke of the long walks that Dickens regularly took
+after breakfast--usually six miles,--but he gave these up after the
+railway accident at Staplehurst, which, it will be remembered,
+occurred, on the "fatal anniversary," the 9th June, 1865. During one of
+these walks, he fell in with a man driving a cart loaded with manure,
+and had a long chat with him, the sort of thing he frequently did (said
+our informant) in order to become acquainted with the brogue and
+feelings of the working people. When Dickens went on his way, one of the
+man's fellow-labourers said to him, "Do you know that that was Charles
+Dickens who spoke to you?" "I don't know who it was," replied the man,
+"but he was a d----d good fellow, for he gave me a shilling."
+
+Our informant also referred to a conversation between Dickens and some
+of his friends at Gad's Hill, respecting the unhappy marriages of
+actors. Twenty such marriages were instanced, and out of these only two
+turned out happily. He said that Charles Dickens at home was a quiet,
+unassuming man. He remembers on one occasion his saying, in relation to
+a war which was then going on, "What must the feelings of a soldier be,
+when alone and dying on the battle-field, and leaving his wife and
+children far away for ever?"
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+A TRUE GHOST STORY RELATING TO MISS HAVISHAM'S HOUSE.
+
+ "I live in an old red-brick mansion, nearly
+ covered with ivy--one of those picturesque
+ dwellings with high-pitched roofs and ornamental
+ gables, which were scattered broadcast over
+ England in the days of good Queen Bess. Every
+ stranger looking at it exclaims, 'That house must
+ have a history and a ghost!' Many a story has been
+ told of the ghost which has from time to time been
+ seen, or said to have been seen, within its walls;
+ and many a servant has, from fear, refused service
+ in this so-called haunted house.
+
+ "On the 28th May, one thousand six hundred and
+ sixty, Charles the Second sojourned and slept
+ here. This being the eve of 'The Restoration,' a
+ new name was given to the then old house, which
+ name it has since retained. Charles, having
+ knighted the owner (Sir Francis Clarke), departed
+ early the next morning for London.
+
+ "There are secret passages _in_ the house, and,
+ under ground, _from_ the house. From the room in
+ which the king slept, a secret passage through one
+ of the lower panels of the wainscot, leads to
+ various parts of the house. This passage is so
+ well concealed that I occupied the house some
+ years before it was discovered. I had occasion to
+ make a plan of the house, and the inside and
+ outside not agreeing, disclosed the space occupied
+ by the unexplored passage. The jackdaws had
+ forestalled me in my discovery, and had had
+ undisturbed possession for two centuries, having
+ got access through a hole under the eaves of the
+ roof. They had deposited _several bushels_ of
+ sticks. They had not been the only tenants, as
+ skeletons and mummies of birds, etc., were also
+ found.
+
+ "I came into possession of this old house in
+ December 1875, and on the 27th of April, 1876,
+ slept in it for the first time. At ten o'clock on
+ that night, my family retired to rest; having some
+ letters to write, I sat up later. At a quarter to
+ twelve, I was startled by a loud noise--a sort of
+ rumbling sound, which appeared to proceed from the
+ hall. I left my writing and went to the hall, and
+ found that the noise proceeded from the staircase,
+ but I could see nothing unusual.
+
+ "The staircase is one of those so often described
+ as being 'wide enough to drive a carriage and pair
+ up,' with massive oak posts and balustrades. The
+ walls are covered with tapestry, given to the
+ house by 'The Merry Monarch,' after his visit. An
+ oak chest or two, and some high-backed chairs on
+ the landings, picture to one a suitable habitation
+ for a ghost. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I had
+ no belief in ghosts, and commenced an
+ investigation of this extraordinary noise.
+
+ "Could it be rats, or mice, or owls? No; the noise
+ was ten times louder than could possibly proceed
+ from these creatures; besides, I knew there were
+ no rats in the house. The clever builder of the
+ house had filled all the space between the
+ ceilings and floors with silver sand, which
+ rendered it impossible for a rat or mouse to make
+ passages. To prick a hole in a ceiling is to have
+ a continuous stream of sand run down, as from an
+ hour-glass.
+
+ "The noise was repeated, but much louder (two
+ drum-sticks upon a large drum would not have made
+ more noise), and I was able to localize it, still
+ I could see nothing. I thought some one had fallen
+ on the stairs, and I shouted 'Who is there?' A
+ reply came 'Hush!'--first softly, and then very
+ loud--too loud for a human voice. As no person was
+ visible, I was puzzled, and went up-stairs by a
+ back staircase, and ascertained that none of my
+ family had left their bedrooms, and that certainly
+ no trick was being played me.
+
+ "The same rumbling, rolling sound was repeated;
+ and as I stood on the top of the great staircase,
+ I felt a little uncomfortable, but not frightened.
+ The noise seemed to proceed from a large carved
+ oak coffer or chest (as old as the house), which
+ stood on a landing, about half-way up the stairs.
+ I approached the chest, and from it appeared to
+ come again the word 'Hush!' Could it be the wind
+ whistling through a crack? No; it was far too loud
+ for any such explanation. I opened the lid of the
+ chest and found it empty. Again the noise, now
+ from _under_ the chest. I was just strong enough
+ to move the chest; I turned it over and slid it
+ down the stairs on to the next landing. Again the
+ noise, and again the 'Hush!' which now appeared to
+ come from the floor where the coffer had stood.
+
+ "I felt I would rather have had some one with me
+ to assist in my investigation, and to join me in
+ making the acquaintance of the ghost; but,
+ although my sensations were probably the most
+ uncomfortable I ever experienced, I was
+ determined, if possible, to unearth the mystery.
+
+ "The light was imperfect, and I went to another
+ part of the house for a candle to enable me to
+ examine the floor. In my absence the noise was
+ repeated louder than ever, and not unlike distant
+ thunder. On my return, I was saluted with 'Hush!'
+ which I felt convinced came from a voice
+ immediately under the floor. By the light of the
+ candle I examined the dark oak boards, and
+ discovered what appeared to be a trap door about
+ two feet six inches square. The floor at some time
+ had been varnished, and the cracks, or joints of
+ the trap, had been filled and sealed with the
+ varnish. I now hoped I had found the habitation of
+ my troublesome and noisy guest. I procured a
+ chisel and cut the varnished joint, and found that
+ there was a trap door, as I supposed. By the aid
+ of a long screwdriver I was able to move the door,
+ but at that moment a repetition of the noise,
+ immediately under me, made me hesitate for a
+ moment to try and raise it. With feelings better
+ imagined than described, I raised the lid, and
+ looked into a dark chasm. All was still, and I
+ heard the cathedral bell tolling the hour of
+ midnight. A long African spear was in the corner
+ near me, and I struck this into the opening. I
+ tied a string to the candlestick to lower it into
+ the opening, but at this moment I was startled,
+ and was for the first time nervous, or I may say,
+ frightened; but this had better remain for another
+ chapter.
+
+ "So far I have not in the smallest degree
+ exaggerated or overdrawn any one of the matters I
+ have recounted. Every word has been written with
+ the greatest care to truth and accuracy.
+
+ "S. T. A."
+
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+To cut our ghost story short, without adding another chapter, Mr.
+Aveling, on looking into the dark chasm by the meagre light of the
+lowered candle, beheld, to his amazement, the reflection of his own face
+in the water of a large cistern underneath the staircase, the house
+having formerly been supplied from the "large brewery" a short distance
+off. The unearthly noise was no doubt caused by air in the pipes,
+through which the water rushed when suddenly turned on by the brewers,
+who were working late at night. In _Great Expectations_ it is stated
+that:--"The brewery buildings had a little lane of communication with
+it" [the courtyard of Satis House], "and the wooden gates of that lane
+stood open" [at the time of Pip's first visit, when Estella showed him
+over the premises], "and all the brewery beyond stood open, away to the
+high enclosing wall; and all was empty and disused. The cold wind seemed
+to blow colder there, than outside the gate; and it made a shrill noise
+in howling in and out at the open sides of the brewery, like the noise
+of wind in the rigging of a ship at sea."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[4] Mr. Aveling subsequently informed me that the vessel in which the
+king took his departure continued to be used in the Royal Navy for many
+years as a lighter--its name being altered to the "Royal Escape."
+Afterwards it was used as a watch-vessel in the Coastguard service at
+Chatham, and was eventually broken up at Sheerness Dockyard so recently
+as 1876.
+
+[5] "A Perambulation of Kent: Conteining the Description, Hystorie, and
+Customes of that Shire. Written in the yeere 1570 by William Lambarde of
+Lincoln's Inne Gent."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+ROCHESTER CASTLE.
+
+ "I took up my hat, and went out, climbed to the
+ top of the old Castle, and looked over the windy
+ hills that slope down to the Medway."--_The Seven
+ Poor Travellers._
+
+
+TO the lover of Dickens, both the Castle and Cathedral of Rochester
+appeal with almost equal interest. The Castle, however, which stands on
+an eminence on the right bank of the river Medway, close to the bridge,
+claims prior attention, and a few lines must therefore be devoted to an
+epitome of its history in the ante-Pickwickian days.
+
+Tradition says that the first castle was erected by command of Julius
+Cæsar, when Cassivelaunus was Governor of Britain, "in order to awe the
+Britons." It was called the "Castle of the Medway," or "the Kentishmen's
+Castle," and it seems, with other antagonisms, to have awed the
+unfortunate Britons pretty effectively, for it lasted until decay and
+dissolution came to it and to them, as to all things. It was replaced by
+a new castle built by Hrofe (509), which in its turn succumbed to the
+ravages of time.
+
+[Illustration: The Castle from Rochester Bridge]
+
+Gundulph, Bishop of Rochester (1077), whose name still survives here and
+there in connection with charities and in other ways in the "ancient
+city," appears to be entitled to the credit of having commenced to build
+the present massive square Tower or Keep, the surviving portion of a
+magnificent whole, sometimes called "Gundulph's Tower," "towards which
+he was to expend the sum of sixty pounds," and this structure ranks as
+one of the most perfect examples of Norman architecture in existence.
+Other authorities ascribe the erection to Odo, Bishop of Bayeux and Earl
+of Kent, half-brother to William the Conqueror, who is described by
+Hasted as "a turbulent and ambitious prelate, who aimed at nothing less
+than the popedom." Later, in the reign of William Rufus, it was
+accounted "the strongest and most important castle of England." It was
+so important that Lambarde, in _A Perambulation of Kent_, says:--"It was
+much in the eie of such as were authors of troubles following within
+the realme, so that from time to time it had a part almost in every
+Tragedie."
+
+Mr. Robert Collins, in his compact and useful _Visitors' Handbook of
+Rochester and Neighbourhood_, quoting from another ancient historian,
+says that "In 1264, King Henry III. [who in 1251 held a grand tournament
+in the Castle] 'commanded that the Shyriffe of Kent do set aboute to
+finish and complete the great Tower which Gundulph had left imperfect.'"
+About 1463, Edward IV. repaired part of the Castle, after which it was
+allowed to fall into decay. The instructions to the "shyriffe" were no
+doubt necessary; for although £60 would probably go a great way in the
+time of Bishop Gundulph, the modern æsthetic builder would do very
+little indeed for that sum, towards the erection of such an impregnable
+fortress as Rochester Castle, the walls of which vary from eight to
+thirteen feet in thickness, whatever his progenitor may have done in
+1077.
+
+The Keep--the last resort of the garrison when all the outworks were
+taken--is considered so beautiful that it is selected, under the article
+"Castle" in the last edition of the _Encyclopædia Britannica_, as an
+illustration of Norman architecture, showing "an embattled parapet often
+admitting of chambers and staircases being constructed," and showing
+also "embattled turrets carried one story higher than the parapet."
+There is also a fine woodcut of the Castle at p. 198 of vol. v. of that
+work.
+
+The Keep is seventy feet square and a hundred feet high, built of the
+native Kentish ragstone and Caen stone; and the adamantine mortar or
+cement used in its construction was made with sand, evidently procured
+at the seaside some distance from Rochester, for it contains remains of
+cardium, pecten, solen, and other marine shells, which would not be
+found in river sand. Mr. Roach Smith suggested that probably the sand
+may have been procured from "Cockle-shell Hard," near Sheerness. He
+called our attention to the fact that in Norman mortar sand is
+predominant, and in Roman mortar lime or chalk.
+
+[Illustration: Rochester Castle]
+
+The roof and the chambers are gone,--the Keep remains as a mere
+shell,--and where bishops, kings, and barons came and went, flocks of
+the common domestic pigeon, in countless numbers, fly about and make
+their home and multiply. One almost regrets the freedom which these
+graceful birds possess, although to grudge freedom to a pigeon is like
+grudging sunshine to a flower. But though the damage to the walls is
+really trifling, as they will stand for centuries to come, still the
+litter and mess which the birds naturally make is considerable and
+unsightly, and decidedly out of keeping in such a magnificent ruin. The
+pigeons exhibit what takes place when a species becomes dominant to the
+exclusion of other species, as witness the pest of the rabbits in New
+Zealand. With profound respect to his Worship the Mayor and the
+Corporation of Rochester, to whom the Castle and grounds now belong, the
+writer of these lines, as a naturalist, ventures to suggest that the
+Castle should be left to the jackdaws, its natural and doubtless its
+original tenants, which, although of higher organization, have been
+driven out by superior numbers in the "struggle for existence," and for
+whom it is a much more appropriate habitat in keeping with all
+traditions; and further, that the said pigeons be forthwith made into
+pies for the use and behoof of the deserving poor of the ancient city of
+Rochester.
+
+Mention has been made of the fact that the Castle and grounds are the
+property of the Corporation of Rochester. They were acquired by purchase
+in 1883 from the Earl of Jersey for £8,000, and the occasion was
+celebrated by great civic rejoicings.[6] The Corporation are not only to
+be congratulated on the wisdom of their purchase ("a thing of beauty is
+a joy for ever"), but also on the excellent manner in which the grounds
+are maintained--pigeons excepted. The gardens, with closely-cut lawns,
+abound with euonymus, laurustinus, bay, and other evergreens, together
+with many choice flowers. The single red, or Deptford pink (_Dianthus
+Armeria_), grows wild on the walls of the Castle. There is a tasteful
+statuette of her Majesty, under a Gothic canopy, near the entrance,
+which records her Jubilee in 1887. The inscriptions on three of the four
+corners are appropriately chosen from Lord Tennyson's _Carmen
+Sæculare_:--
+
+ To commemorate the
+
+ =Jubilee of Queen Victoria=,
+
+ 1887.
+
+ L. LEVY, MAYOR.
+
+ "Fifty years of ever-broadening commerce!"
+
+ "Fifty years of ever-brightening science!"
+
+ "Fifty years of ever-widening empire!"
+
+There is free admission to the grounds through a handsome modern Norman
+gateway, but a trifling charge of a few pence is made for permission to
+enter the Keep, which has convenient steps ascending to the top. From
+the summit of the Keep, there are magnificent views of the valley of the
+river Medway, the adjacent hills, Rochester, Chatham, and the vicinity.
+The Cathedral, Jasper's Gatehouse, and Restoration House, are also
+noteworthy objects to the lover of Dickens. As Mr. Philips Bevan says,
+and as we verified, the views inside at midday, when the sun is
+streaming down, are "very peculiar and beautiful."
+
+Dickens's first and last great works are both associated with the
+Castle, and it is referred to in several other of his writings. We can
+fancy, more than sixty years ago, the eager and enthusiastic
+Pickwickians, in company with their newly-made acquaintance, Mr. Alfred
+Jingle, seated outside the four-horse coach,--the "Commodore," driven
+possibly by "Old Chumley,"--dashing over old Rochester Bridge, to "the
+lively notes of the guard's key-bugle," when the sight of the Castle
+first broke upon them.
+
+ "'Magnificent ruin!' said Mr. Augustus Snodgrass,
+ with all the poetic fervour that distinguished
+ him, when they came in sight of the fine old
+ Castle.
+
+ "'What a study for an antiquarian!' were the very
+ words which fell from Mr. Pickwick's mouth, as he
+ applied his telescope to his eye.
+
+ "'Ah, fine place!' said the stranger, 'glorious
+ pile--frowning walls--tottering arches--dark
+ nooks--crumbling staircases--'"
+
+Little did poor Mr. Winkle think that within twenty-four hours _his_
+feeling of admiration for Rochester Castle would be turned into
+astonishment, for does not the chronicle say that "if the upper tower of
+Rochester Castle had suddenly walked from its foundation and stationed
+itself opposite the coffee-room window [of the Bull Hotel], Mr. Winkle's
+surprise would have been as nothing compared with the perfect
+astonishment with which he had heard this address" (referring of course
+to the insult to Dr. Slammer, and the challenge in the matter of the
+duel).
+
+It was on the occasion of "a visit to the Castle" very soon afterwards
+that Mr. Winkle confided in, and sought the good offices of, his friend
+Mr. Snodgrass, in the "affair of honour" which was to take place at
+"sunset, in a lonely field beyond Fort Pitt." Poor fellow! how eagerly
+he tried, under a mask of the most perfect candour, and how miserably
+he failed, to arouse the energies of his friend to avert the impending
+catastrophe.
+
+[Illustration: INTERIOR OF ROCHESTER CASTLE]
+
+ "'Snodgrass,' he said, stopping suddenly, 'do
+ _not_ let me be baulked in this matter--do _not_
+ give information to the local authorities--do
+ _not_ obtain the assistance of several peace
+ officers to take either me or Doctor Slammer of
+ the 97th Regiment, at present quartered in Chatham
+ Barracks, into custody, and thus prevent this
+ duel;--I say, do _not_.'
+
+ "Mr. Snodgrass seized his friend's hand as he
+ enthusiastically replied, 'Not for worlds!'
+
+ "A thrill passed over Mr. Winkle's frame, as the
+ conviction that he had nothing to hope from his
+ friend's fears, and that he was destined to become
+ an animated target, rushed forcibly upon him."
+
+The state of the case having been formally explained to Mr. Snodgrass,
+they make arrangements, hire "a case of satisfaction pistols, with the
+satisfactory accompaniments of powder, ball, and caps," and "the two
+friends returned to their inn." The next ground which they traversed
+together to pursue the subject was at Fort Pitt. We will follow them
+presently.
+
+In _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_ there is no direct reference to the
+Castle itself, but the engraving of it, with the Cathedral in the
+background, after the pretty sketch by Mr. Luke Fildes, R.A., will ever
+be associated with that beautiful fragment.
+
+Another reference is contained in the preface to _Nicholas Nickleby_,
+where Dickens says:--"I cannot call to mind now how I came to hear about
+Yorkshire schools when I was a not very robust child, sitting in
+by-places near Rochester Castle, with a head full of 'Partridge,'
+'Strap,' 'Tom Pipes,' and 'Sancho Panza.'"
+
+A sympathetic notice of the Castle is also contained in the _Seven Poor
+Travellers_. It begins:--
+
+ "Sooth to say, he [Time] did an active stroke of
+ work in Rochester in the old days of the Romans,
+ and the Saxons, and the Normans, and down to the
+ times of King John, when the rugged Castle--I will
+ not undertake to say how many hundreds of years
+ old then--was abandoned to the centuries of
+ weather which have so defaced the dark apertures
+ in its walls, that the ruin looks as if the rooks
+ and daws had picked its eyes out."
+
+And this, the most touching reference of all, occurs in "One Man in a
+Dockyard," contributed by Dickens[7] to _Household Words_ in 1851:--
+
+ "There was Rochester Castle, to begin with. I
+ surveyed the massive ruin from the Bridge, and
+ thought what a brief little practical joke I
+ seemed to be, in comparison with its solidity,
+ stature, strength, and length of life. I went
+ inside; and, standing in the solemn shadow of its
+ walls, looking up at the blue sky, its only
+ remaining roof, (to the disturbance of the crows
+ and jackdaws who garrison the venerable fortress
+ now,) calculated how much wall of that thickness
+ I, or any other man, could build in his whole
+ life,--say from eight years old to eighty,--and
+ what a ridiculous result would be produced. I
+ climbed the rugged staircase, stopping now and
+ then to peep at great holes where the rafters and
+ floors were once,--bare as toothless gums now,--or
+ to enjoy glimpses of the Medway through dreary
+ apertures like sockets without eyes; and, looking
+ from the Castle ramparts on the Old Cathedral, and
+ on the crumbling remains of the old Priory, and on
+ the row of staid old red-brick houses where the
+ Cathedral dignitaries live, and on the shrunken
+ fragments of one of the old City gates, and on the
+ old trees with their high tops below me, felt
+ quite apologetic to the scene in general for my
+ own juvenility and insignificance. One of the
+ river boatmen had told me on the bridge, (as
+ country folks do tell of such places,) that in the
+ old times, when those buildings were in progress,
+ a labourer's wages 'were a penny a day, and enough
+ too.' Even as a solitary penny was to their whole
+ cost, it appeared to me, was the utmost strength
+ and exertion of one man towards the labour of
+ their erection."
+
+Dickens always took his friends to the Keep of Rochester Castle. He
+naturally considered it as one of the sights of the old city. It was
+equally attractive to his friends, for a curious adventure is recorded
+in Forster's _Life_, in connection with a visit which the poet
+Longfellow made there in 1842, and which he recollected a quarter of a
+century afterwards, and recounted to Forster during a second visit,
+together with a curious experience in the slums of London with Dickens.
+The first of these adventures is thus described by Forster:--"One of
+them was a day at Rochester, when, met by one of those prohibitions
+which are the wonder of visitors and the shame of Englishmen, we
+overleapt gates and barriers, and setting at defiance repeated threats
+of all the terrors of law, coarsely expressed to us by the custodian of
+the place, explored minutely the castle ruins." Happily such a
+circumstance could not now take place, for, by the present excellent
+regulations of the Corporation of the city of Rochester, every visitor
+can explore the Castle and grounds to his heart's content.
+
+On arriving at either railway station, Strood or Rochester Bridge, the
+Castle is the first object to claim attention. Our attention is
+constantly directed to it during our stay in the pleasant city; it is a
+landmark when we are on the tramp; and it is the last object to fade
+from our view as we regretfully take our departure.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+My fellow-tramp favours me with the following note:--
+
+
+THE DEDICATION OF ROCHESTER CASTLE TO THE PUBLIC.
+
+"I well remember the day of public rejoicing in the picturesque city of
+Rochester, on the occasion of the ceremony of formally presenting the
+old Castle and grounds to the inhabitants. I had received instructions
+from the manager of the _Graphic_ newspaper to make sketches of the
+principal incidents in connection with the day's proceedings, and I
+reached my destination just in time to obtain from the authorities some
+idea of the nature of those proceedings. With this object in view, I
+made my way through the surging crowd to the Guildhall, where, in one of
+the Corporation rooms, I found a large assembly of local magnates in
+official attire, including the Mayor, who was vainly endeavouring to
+properly adjust his sword, an operation in which I had the honour of
+assisting, much to his Worship's satisfaction, I hope.
+
+[Illustration: Rochester Castle and the Medway]
+
+"The streets of Rochester were thronged with excited people, and the
+houses were gaily decked with flags and bunting. When everything was
+ready, an imposing procession was formed, and proceeded to the Castle
+grounds, preceded by a military band; on arriving there, an address was
+read from the pagoda to an attentive audience, the subsequent
+proceedings being enlivened by musical strains.
+
+"It had been announced that, in the evening, the old Keep would be
+illuminated by the electric light, and I made a point of being present
+to witness the unusual sight. The night was very dark, and the ivy-clad
+ruin could barely be distinguished; presently, a burst of music from the
+band was immediately followed by a remarkably strong beam of light,
+which shot into the darkness with such effect as to fairly startle those
+present. Then it rested on the grey walls of the huge pile, bathing in
+brightness the massive stones and clinging ivy, the respective colours
+of each being vividly apparent. But the most striking feature was yet to
+come. The hundreds of pigeons which inhabited the nooks and crannies of
+the old Keep, being considerably alarmed by this sudden illumination of
+their domain, flew with one accord round and round their ancient
+tenement, now in the full blaze of light, now lost in the inky darkness
+beyond, and fluttering about in a state of the utmost bewilderment.
+Methinks even Mr. Pickwick, had he been present in the flesh, would have
+been equally amazed at this remarkable spectacle."
+
+ F. G. K.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[6] Mr. Kitton was, by an interesting coincidence, present at the
+ceremony above referred to, and he has kindly given his impressions
+thereon, which appear at the end of this chapter.
+
+[7] This was a joint article; the description of the works of the
+dockyard being by R. H. Horne, and that of the fortifications and
+country around by Charles Dickens.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL.
+
+ "That same afternoon, the massive grey square
+ tower of an old Cathedral rises before the sight
+ of a jaded traveller. The bells are going for
+ daily Vesper Service, and he must needs attend it,
+ one would say, from his haste to reach the open
+ Cathedral door. The choir are getting on their
+ sullied white robes, in a hurry, when he arrives
+ among them, gets on his own robe, and falls into
+ the procession filing in to Service. Then, the
+ Sacristan locks the iron-barred gates that divide
+ the Sanctuary from the Chancel, and all of the
+ procession having scuttled into their places, hide
+ their faces; and then the intoned words, 'WHEN THE
+ WICKED MAN--' rise among the groins of arches and
+ beams of roof, awakening muttered
+ thunder."--_Edwin Drood._
+
+
+THE readers of Dickens are first introduced to Rochester Cathedral, in
+the early pages of the immortal _Pickwick Papers_, by that audacious
+_raconteur_, Mr. Alfred Jingle:--
+
+ "Old Cathedral too--earthy smell--pilgrims' feet
+ worn away the old steps--little Saxon
+ doors--confessionals like money-takers' boxes at
+ theatres--queer customers those monks--Popes, and
+ Lord Treasurers, and all sorts of old fellows,
+ with great red faces, and broken noses, turning up
+ every day--buff jerkins
+ too--matchlocks--sarcophagus--fine place--old
+ legends too--strange stories: capital."
+
+But it was through the medium of _Edwin Drood_, and under the masked
+name of Cloisterham, that all the novel-reading world beyond the
+"ancient city" first recognized Rochester Cathedral--and indeed the
+ancient city too--as having been elevated to a degree of interest and
+importance far beyond that imparted to it by its own venerable history
+and ecclesiastical associations, numerous and varied as they are. The
+early portion of the story introduces us to Cloisterham in imperishable
+language:--
+
+[Illustration: Rochester Cathedral]
+
+ "An ancient city Cloisterham, and no meet
+ dwelling-place for any one with hankerings after
+ the noisy world. . . . A drowsy city Cloisterham,
+ whose inhabitants seem to suppose, with an
+ inconsistency more strange than rare, that all its
+ changes lie behind it, and that there are no more
+ to come. . . . In a word, a city of another and a
+ bygone time is Cloisterham, with its hoarse
+ cathedral bell, its hoarse rooks hovering about
+ the cathedral tower, its hoarser and less distinct
+ rooks in the stalls far beneath. . . ."
+
+The particulars in this chapter mainly relate to _The Mystery of Edwin
+Drood_, which Longfellow thought "certainly one of Dickens's most
+beautiful works, if not the most beautiful of all," but a few words may
+not be inappropriate respecting some of the principal events connected
+with the Cathedral. It was founded[8] A.D. 604, by Ethelbert, King of
+Kent, and the first bishop of the See (Bishop Justus) was ordained by
+Augustine, the Archbishop of the Britons. The See of Rochester is
+therefore, with the exception of Canterbury, at once the most ancient
+and also the smallest in England.
+
+The Cathedral, as well as the city, suffered from the attacks of
+Ethelred, King of Mercia, and in 1075, "when Arnot, a monk of Bec, came
+to the See, it was in a most deplorable condition." Bishop Gundulph, who
+succeeded him, and by whose efforts the Castle was erected, replaced the
+old English church by a Norman one (1080), and made other improvements.
+The Cathedral suffered from fire in 1138 and 1179. Its great north
+transept was built in 1235, and the great south transept in 1240. In
+1423, the parish altar of St. Nicholas, in the nave, was removed to a
+new Church for the citizens on the north side of the Cathedral. In 1470,
+the great west window was inserted. The Norman west front has a richly
+sculptured door of five receding arches, containing figures of the
+Saviour and the twelve apostles, and statues of Henry I. and his Queen,
+Matilda. There are monuments in the Cathedral to St. William of Perth, a
+baker of that town, who was murdered near here by his servant, on his
+way to the Holy Land (1201), and was canonized, to Bishop Gundulph,
+Bishop John de Sheppey, Bishop de Merton (the founder of Merton College,
+Oxford), and to many others.
+
+According to Mr. Phillips Bevan, "the chapter-house is remarkable for
+its magnificent Decorated Door (about 1344), of which there is a
+fac-simile at the Crystal Palace. The figures represent the Christian
+and the Jewish Churches, surrounded by Fathers and Angels. The figure at
+the top is the pure soul for whom the angels are supposed to be
+praying."
+
+Various alterations and additions have been made from time to time, the
+last of which appears to be the central tower, which is terribly mean
+and inappropriate, and altogether out of place with the ancient
+surroundings. It was built by Cottingham in 1825.
+
+We pass, at various times, several pleasant hours in the Cathedral and
+its precincts, admiring the beautiful Norman work, and recalling most
+delightful memories of Charles Dickens and his associations therewith.
+
+[Illustration: Rochester Cathedral Interior]
+
+Among the many friends we made at Rochester, was Mr. Syms, the
+respected Manager of the Gas Company, and an old resident in the city.
+To this gentleman we are indebted for several reminiscences of Dickens
+and his works. He fancies that _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_ owed its
+origin to the following strange local event that happened many years
+ago. A well-to-do person, a bachelor (who lived somewhere near the site
+of the present Savings Bank in High St., Rochester, Chatham end), was
+the guardian and trustee of a nephew (a minor), who was the inheritor of
+a large property. Business, pleasure, or a desire to seek health, took
+the nephew to the West Indies, from whence he returned somewhat
+unexpectedly. After his return he suddenly disappeared, and was supposed
+to have gone another voyage, but no one ever saw or heard of him again,
+and the matter was soon forgotten. When, however, certain excavations
+were being made for some improvements or additions to the Bank, the
+skeleton of a young man was discovered; and local tradition couples the
+circumstance with the probability of the murder of the nephew by the
+uncle.
+
+Mr. Syms thought that the "Crozier," which is probably a set off to the
+"Mitre," the orthodox hotel where Mr. Datchery put up with his
+"portmanteau," was probably the city coffee-house, an old hotel of the
+coaching days, which stood on the site now occupied by the London County
+Bank. "It was a hotel of a most retiring disposition," and "business was
+chronically slack at the 'Crozier,'" which probably accounts for its
+dissolution. Another suggestion is that the "Crozier" may have been "The
+Old Crown," a fifteenth-century house, which was pulled down in 1864. He
+could not identify the "Tilted Wagon," the "cool establishment on the
+top of a hill."
+
+It is generally admitted that "Mr. Thomas Sapsea, Auctioneer, &c.," was
+a compound of two originals well known in Rochester--a Mr. B. and a Mr.
+F., who had many of the characteristics of the quondam Mayor of
+Cloisterham. Mr. Sapsea's house is the fine old timbered building
+opposite Eastgate House, which has been previously alluded to.
+
+The "Travellers' Twopenny" of _Edwin Drood_, where Deputy, _alias_
+Winks, lodged, Mr. Syms thought to have been a cheap lodging-house well
+known in that locality, which stood at the junction of Frog Alley and
+Crow Lane, originally called "The Duck," and subsequently "Kitt's
+Lodging-house." But, like less interesting and more important relics of
+the past, this has disappeared, to make way for modern improvements. It
+had been partly burnt down before. To satisfy ourselves, we go over the
+ground, which is near Mr. Franklin Homan's furniture establishment.
+
+We are reminded, in reference to _Edwin Drood_, that the chief tenor
+singer never heads the procession of choristers. That place of honour
+belongs to the smaller boys of the choir. An enquiry from us, as to what
+was the opinion of the townsfolk generally respecting Dickens, elicited
+the reply that they thought him at times "rather masterful."
+
+We are most attentively shown over the Cathedral and its surroundings by
+Mr. Miles, the venerable verger. This faithful and devoted official, who
+began at the bottom of the ladder as a choir boy in the sacred edifice
+at the commencement of the present century, is much respected, and has
+recently celebrated his golden wedding. Few can therefore be more
+closely identified with the growth and development of its current
+history. Pleasant and instructive it is to hear him recount the many
+celebrated incidents which have marked its progress, and to see the
+beautiful memorials of past munificence or affection erected by friends
+or relatives, which he lovingly points out. It is in no perfunctory
+spirit, or as mere matter of routine, that he performs his office: we
+really feel that he takes a deep interest in his task, which makes it a
+privilege to walk under his guidance through the historic building, and
+into its famous crypt, so especially associated with Jasper and Durdles.
+
+[Illustration: The Crypt, Rochester Cathedral.]
+
+We enter "by a small side door, . . . descend the rugged steps, and are
+down in the crypt." It is very spacious, and vaulted with stone. Even by
+daylight, here and there, "the heavy pillars which support the roof
+engender masses of black shade, but between them there are lanes of
+light," and we walk "up and down these lanes," being strangely reminded
+of Durdles as we notice fragments of old broken stone ornaments
+carefully laid out on boards in several places. Formerly there were
+altars to St. Mary and St. Catherine in the crypt or undercroft, but Mr.
+Wildish's local guide-book says:--"They seem not to have been much
+frequented; consequently these saints were not very profitable to the
+priests."
+
+We "go up the winding staircase of the great tower, toilsomely turning
+and turning, and lowering [our] heads to avoid the stairs above, or the
+rough stone pivot around which they twist." About ninety steps bring us
+on to the roof of the Cathedral over the choir, and then, keeping along
+a passage by the parapet, we reach the belfry, and from thence go on by
+ladder to the bell-chamber, which contains six bells--dark--very--long
+ladders--trap-doors--very heavy--almost extinguish us when lowering
+them--more ladders from bell-chamber to roof of tower. The parapet of
+the tower is very high; we can just see over it when standing on a
+narrow ledge near the top-coping of the leaded roof. There are a number
+of curious carved heads on the pinnacles of the tower, and the parapet,
+to our surprise, appears to be about the same height as the top of the
+Castle Keep. A panoramic view of Cloisterham presents itself to our view
+(alas! not by moonlight, as in the story), "its ruined habitations and
+sanctuaries of the dead at the tower's base; its moss-softened,
+red-tiled roofs and red-brick houses of the living, clustered beyond."
+
+We are anxious to go round the triforium, but there is no passage
+through the arches; it was closed, we are told, at the time of the
+restoration, about fifteen years ago, when the walls of the Cathedral
+were pinned for safety. The verger, on being asked, said he did not call
+to mind that Dickens ever went round the triforium or ascended the
+tower. If this is so, then much of the wonderful description of that
+"unaccountable sort of expedition," in the twelfth chapter of _Edwin
+Drood_, must have been written from imagination.
+
+As it is Sunday, and as the summer is nearly over, Mr. Miles, with a
+feeling akin to that which George Eliot has expressed regarding
+imperfect work:--
+
+ "but God be praised,
+ Antonio Stradivari has an eye
+ That winces at false work and loves the true,"--
+
+apologetically explains that one-half the choir are absent on leave, and
+perhaps we shall not have the musical portion of the service conducted
+with that degree of efficiency which, as visitors, we may have expected.
+Nevertheless we attend the afternoon service; and Mendelssohn's glorious
+anthem, "If with all your hearts," appeals to us with enhanced effect,
+from the exquisite rendering of it by the gifted pure tenor who takes
+the solo, followed by the delicate harmonies of the choir, as the sound
+waves carry them upwards through and around the arches, and from the
+sublime emotions called into being by the impassioned appeal of the
+Hebrew prophet.
+
+We study "the fantastic carvings on the under brackets of the stall
+seats," and examine the lectern described as "the big brass eagle
+holding the sacred books upon his wings," and in imagination can almost
+call up the last scene described in _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_, where
+Her Royal Highness, the Princess Puffer, "grins," and "shakes both fists
+at the leader of the choir," and "Deputy peeps, sharp-eyed, through the
+bars, and stares astounded from the threatener to the threatened."
+
+Upon being interrogated as to whether he knew Charles Dickens, our guide
+immediately answers with a smile--"Knew him! yes. He came here very
+often, and I knew him very well. The fact is, they want to make me out
+to be 'Tope.'" And indeed there appears to be such a relevancy in the
+association, that we frequently find ourselves addressing him as "Mr.
+Tope," at which he good-humouredly laughs. He further states that
+Dickens was frequently in Rochester, and especially so when writing
+_Edwin Drood_, and appeared to be studying the Cathedral and its
+surroundings very attentively.
+
+The next question we put is:--"Was there ever such a person as Durdles?"
+to which he replies, "Of course there was,--a drunken old German
+stonemason, about thirty years ago, who was always prowling about the
+Cathedral trying to pick up little bits of broken stone ornaments,
+carved heads, crockets, finials, and such like, which he carried about
+in a cotton handkerchief, and which may have suggested to Dickens the
+idea of the 'slouching' Durdles and his inseparable dinner bundle. He
+used to work for a certain Squire N----." His earnings mostly went to
+"The Fortune of War,"--now called "The Life-Boat,"--the inn where he
+lodged.
+
+Mr. Miles does not remember the prototypes of any other "cathedraly"
+characters--Crisparkle and the rest--but he quite agrees with the
+general opinion previously referred to as to the origin of Mr. Sapsea.
+He considers "Deputy" (the imp-like satellite of Durdles and the
+"Kinfreederel") to be decidedly a street Arab, the type of which is more
+common in London than in Rochester. He thinks that the fact of the rooms
+over the gatehouse having once been occupied by an organ-blower of the
+Cathedral may have prompted Dickens to make it the residence of the
+choir-master. He also throws out the suggestion that the discovery in
+1825 of the effigy of Bishop John de Sheppey, who died in 1360, may
+possibly have given rise to the idea of the "old 'uns" in the crypt, the
+frequent object of Durdles's search, _e.g._ "Durdles come upon the old
+chap (in reference to a buried magnate of ancient time and high degree)
+by striking right into the coffin with his pick. The old chap gave
+Durdles a look with his open eyes as much as to say, 'Is your name
+Durdles? Why, my man, I've been waiting for you a Devil of a time!' and
+then he turned to powder. With a two-foot rule always in his pocket, and
+a mason's hammer all but always in his hand, Durdles goes continually
+sounding and tapping all about and about the Cathedral; and whenever he
+says to Tope, 'Tope, here's another old 'un in here!' Tope announces it
+to the Dean as an established discovery."
+
+[Illustration: Minor Canon Row: Rochester]
+
+On the south side of the Cathedral is the curious little terrace of
+old-fashioned houses, about seven in number, called "Minor Canon
+Row"--"a wonderfully quaint row of red-brick tenements" (Dickens's name
+for it is "Minor Canon Corner"),--chiefly occupied by the officers and
+others attached to the Cathedral. Here it was that Mr. Crisparkle dwelt
+with his mother, and where the little party was held (after the dinner
+at which Mr. Luke Honeythunder, with his "Curse your souls and
+bodies--come here and be blessed" philanthropy, was present, and caused
+"a most doleful breakdown"), which included Miss Twinkleton, the
+Landlesses, Rosa Bud, and Edwin Drood, as shown in the illustration, "At
+the Piano." The Reverend Septimus Crisparkle's mother, who is the
+hostess (and celebrated for her wonderful closet with stores of pickles,
+jams, biscuits, and cordials), is beautifully described in the story:--
+
+ "What is prettier than an old lady--except a young
+ lady--when her eyes are bright, when her figure is
+ trim and compact, when her face is cheerful and
+ calm, when her dress is as the dress of a china
+ shepherdess: so dainty in its colours, so
+ individually assorted to herself, so neatly
+ moulded on her? Nothing is prettier, thought the
+ good Minor Canon frequently, when taking his seat
+ at table opposite his long-widowed mother. Her
+ thought at such times may be condensed into the
+ two words that oftenest did duty together in all
+ her conversations: 'My Sept.'"
+
+The backs of the houses have very pretty gardens, and, as evidence of
+the pleasant and healthy atmosphere of the locality, we notice beautiful
+specimens of the ilex, arbutus, euonymus, and fig, the last-named being
+in fruit. The wall-rue (_Asplenium ruta-muraria_) is found hereabout.
+There, too, is a Virginia creeper, but we do not observe one growing on
+the Cathedral walls, as described in _Edwin Drood_. Jackdaws fly about
+the tower, but there are no rooks, as also stated. Near Minor Canon Row,
+to the right of Boley Hill (or "Bully Hill," as it is sometimes called),
+is the "paved Quaker settlement," a sedate row of about a dozen houses
+"up in a shady corner."
+
+"Jasper's Gatehouse" of the work above mentioned is certainly an object
+of great interest to the lover of Dickens, as many of the remarkable
+scenes in _Edwin Drood_ took place there. It is briefly described as "an
+old stone gatehouse crossing the Close, with an arched thoroughfare
+passing beneath it. Through its latticed window, a fire shines out upon
+the fast-darkening scene, involving in shadow the pendent masses of ivy
+and creeper covering the building's front." There are _three_ Gatehouses
+near the Cathedral, a fact which proves somewhat embarrassing to those
+anxious to identify the original of that so carefully described in the
+story. A short description of these may not be uninteresting.
+
+[Illustration: College Gate--(or Chertsey's Gate) Rochester.]
+
+[Illustration: Prior's Gate: Rochester]
+
+(A) "College Yard Gate," "Cemetery Gate," and "Chertsey's Gate," are the
+respective names of what we know as "Jasper's Gatehouse." It is a
+picturesque stone structure, weather-boarded above the massive archway,
+and abuts on the High Street about a hundred yards north of the
+Cathedral. Some of the old houses near have recently been demolished,
+with the result that the Gatehouse now stands out in bold relief against
+the main thoroughfare of the city. No "pendent masses of ivy" or
+"creeper" cover it. The Gate was named "Chertsey" after Edward Chertsey,
+a gentleman who lived and owned property near in the time of Edward IV.,
+and the Cathedral authorities still continue to use the old name,
+"Chertsey's Gate." The place was recently the residence of the
+under-porter of the Cathedral, and is now occupied by poor people. There
+are four rooms, two below and two above.
+
+(B) "Prior's Gate" is a castellated stone structure partly covered with
+ivy, standing about a hundred yards south of the Cathedral, and is not
+now utilized in any way. There is only one room, approached by a winding
+staircase or "postern stair." The Gate was formerly used as a school for
+choristers, until the new building of the Choir School was opened in
+Minor Canon Row about three years ago.
+
+(C) The "Deanery Gatehouse" is the name of a quaint and very cosy old
+house, having ten rooms, some of which, together with the staircase, are
+beautifully panelled; its position is a little higher up to the eastward
+of the College Yard Gate, and adjoining the Cathedral, while a gateway
+passage under it leads to the Deanery. The house was formerly the
+official residence of the Hon. and Reverend Canon Hotham, who was
+appointed a Canon in residence in 1808, and lived here at intervals
+until about 1850, when the Canonry was suppressed. Of all the
+Gatehouses, this is the only one suitable for the residence of a person
+in Jasper's position, who was enabled to offer befitting hospitality to
+his nephew and Neville Landless. Formerly there was an entrance into the
+Cathedral from this house, which is now occupied by Mr. Day and his
+family, who kindly allowed us to inspect it. We were informed that
+locally it is sometimes called "Jasper's Gatehouse." The interior of the
+drawing-room on the upper floor presents a very strong resemblance to
+Mr. Luke Fildes's illustration, "On dangerous ground." Accordingly, to
+settle the question of identity, I wrote to Mr. Fildes, whose
+interesting and courteous reply to my inquiries is conclusive. Before
+giving it, however, I may mention that my fellow-tramp, Mr. Kitton,
+suggested, more particularly with reference to another illustration in
+_Edwin Drood_, viz., "Durdles cautions Mr. Sapsea against boasting,"
+that, for the purposes of the story, the Prior's Gate is placed where
+the College Yard Gate actually stands.
+
+[Illustration: Deanery Gate. Rochester]
+
+
+ "11, MELBURY ROAD, KENSINGTON, W.
+ "_25th October, 1890._
+
+ "DEAR SIR,
+
+ "The background of the drawing of 'Durdles
+ cautioning Sapsea,' I believe I sketched from what
+ you call A., _i. e._ The College Gate. I am almost
+ certain it was not taken from B., the Prior's.
+
+ "The room in the drawing, 'On dangerous ground,'
+ is imaginary.
+
+ "I do not believe I entered any of the Gatehouses.
+
+ "The resemblance you see in the drawing to the
+ room in the Deanery Gatehouse (C.), might not be
+ gained by actual observation of the _interior_.
+
+ "In many instances an artist can well judge what
+ the interior may be from studying the _outside_. I
+ only throw this out to show that the artist may
+ not have seen a thing even when a strong
+ resemblance occurs. I am sorry to leave any doubt
+ on the subject, though personally I feel none.
+
+ "You see I never felt the necessity or propriety
+ of being locally accurate to Rochester or its
+ buildings. Dickens, of course, meant Rochester;
+ yet, at the same time, he chose to be obscure on
+ that point, and I took my cue from him. I always
+ thought it was one of his most artistic pieces of
+ work; the vague, dreamy description of the
+ Cathedral in the opening chapter of the book. So
+ definite in one sense, yet so locally vague.
+
+ "Very faithfully yours,
+ "LUKE FILDES.
+
+ "W. R. HUGHES, ESQ."
+
+
+
+The College Yard Gate (A) must therefore be regarded as the typical
+Jasper's Gatehouse, but, with the usual novelist's license, some points
+in all three Gatehouses have been utilized for effect. So we can imagine
+the three friends in succession going up the "postern stair;" and,
+further on in the story, we can picture that mysterious "single buffer,
+Dick Datchery, living on his means," as a lodger in the "venerable
+architectural and inconvenient" official dwelling of Mr. Tope, minutely
+described in the eighteenth chapter of _Edwin Drood_, as "communicating
+by an upper stair with Mr. Jasper's," watching the unsuspecting Jasper
+as he goes to and from the Cathedral.
+
+Chapters twelve, fourteen, and twenty-three refer to Jasper's Gatehouse,
+and its proximity to the busy hum of human life, in very vivid terms,
+especially chapter twelve:--
+
+ "Among these secluded nooks there is little stir
+ or movement after dark. There is little enough in
+ the high tide of the day, but there is next to
+ none at night. Besides that, the cheerfully
+ frequented High Street lies nearly parallel to the
+ spot (the old Cathedral rising between the two),
+ and is the natural channel in which the
+ Cloisterham traffic flows, a certain awful hush
+ pervades the ancient pile, the cloisters, and the
+ churchyard after dark, which not many people care
+ to encounter. . . . One might fancy that the tide
+ of life was stemmed by Mr. Jasper's own Gatehouse.
+ The murmur of the tide is heard beyond; but no
+ wave passes the archway, over which his lamp burns
+ red behind the curtain, as if the building were a
+ Lighthouse. . . .
+
+ "The red light burns steadily all the evening in
+ the Lighthouse on the margin of the tide of busy
+ life. Softened sounds and hum of traffic pass it,
+ and flow on irregularly into the lonely precincts;
+ but very little else goes by save violent rushes
+ of wind. It comes on to blow a boisterous gale. . . .
+ John Jasper's lamp is kindled, and his Lighthouse
+ is shining, when Mr. Datchery returns alone
+ towards it. As mariners on a dangerous voyage,
+ approaching an iron-bound coast, may look along
+ the beams of the warning light to the haven lying
+ beyond it that may never be reached, so Mr.
+ Datchery's wistful gaze is directed to this beacon
+ and beyond. . . ."
+
+The sensation of calm in passing suddenly out of the busy High Street of
+Rochester into the subdued precincts of the Cathedral, as above
+described, is very marked and peculiar, and must be experienced to be
+realized.
+
+Among the many interesting ancient buildings in "the lonely precincts"
+may be mentioned the old Episcopal Palace of the Bishops of Rochester.
+My friend Mr. George Payne, F.S.A., Hon. Sec. of the Kent Archæological
+Society, who now lives there, writes me that:--"it is impossible to say
+when it was first built, but it was rebuilt _circa_ 1200, the Palace
+which preceded it having been destroyed by fire. Bishop Fisher was
+appointed to the See in 1504, and mainly resided at Rochester. The
+learned prelate here entertained the great Erasmus in 1516, and Cardinal
+Wolsey in 1527. In 1534 Bishop Fisher left Rochester never to return,
+being beheaded on Tower Hill, June 22nd, 1535. The front of the Palace
+has been coated with rough plaster work dusted over with broken tile,
+but the rear walls are in their original state, being wholly composed of
+rag, tufa, and here and there Roman tiles. The cellars are of the most
+massive construction, and many of the rooms are panelled."
+
+[Illustration: The Vines and Restoration House]
+
+The Monks' Vineyard of _Edwin Drood_ exists as "The Vines," and is one
+of the "lungs" of Rochester, belonging to the Dean and Chapter, by whom
+it is liberally leased to the Corporation for a nominal consideration.
+It was a vineyard, or garden, in the days of the monks, and is now a
+fine open space, planted with trees, and has good walks and well-trimmed
+lawns and borders. Remains of the wall of the city, or abbey, previous
+to the Cathedral, constitute the northern boundary of "The Vines." There
+are commodious seats for the public, and it was doubtless on one of
+these, as represented in the illustration entitled "Under the Trees,"
+that Edwin Drood and Rosa sat, during that memorable discussion of their
+position and prospects, which began so childlike and ended so sadly.
+"'Can't you see a happy Future?' For certain, neither of them sees a
+happy Present, as the gate opens and closes, and one goes in and the
+other goes away." A fine clump of old elms (seven in number), called
+"The Seven Sisters," stands at the east end of the Vines, nearly
+opposite Restoration House, and it was under these trees that the
+conversation took place.
+
+So curiously exact at times does the description fit in with the places,
+that we notice opposite Eastgate House the "Lumps of Delight Shop," to
+which it will be remembered that after the discussion Rosa Bud directed
+Edwin Drood to take her.
+
+Dickens's last visit to Rochester was on Monday, 6th June, 1870, when he
+walked over from Gad's Hill Place with his dogs; and he appears to have
+been noticed by several persons in the Vines, and particularly by Mr.
+John Sweet, as he stood leaning against the wooden palings near
+Restoration House, contemplating the beautiful old Manor House. These
+palings have since been removed, and an iron fence substituted. The
+object of this visit subsequently became apparent, when it was found
+that, in those pages of _Edwin Drood_ written a few hours before his
+death, Datchery and the Princess Puffer held that memorable conference
+there. "They have arrived at the entrance to the Monks' Vineyard; an
+appropriate remembrance, presenting an exemplary model for imitation, is
+revived in the woman's mind by the sight of the place," in allusion of
+course to a present of "three shillings and sixpence" which Edwin Drood
+gave her Royal Highness on a previous occasion to buy opium.
+
+[Illustration: Restoration House, Rochester, as it appeared in Dickens's
+time. (From a sketch by an Amateur.)]
+
+The extensive promenade called the Esplanade (where in 1889 we saw the
+Regatta in which, after a series of annual defeats, Rochester maintained
+its supremacy), on the east side of the river Medway, under the Castle
+walls, pleasantly approached from the Cathedral Close, is memorable as
+having been the spot described in the thirteenth chapter where Edwin and
+Rosa met for the last time, and mutually agreed to terminate their
+unfortunate and ill-assorted engagement.
+
+ "They walked on by the river. They began to speak
+ of their separate plans. He would quicken his
+ departure from England, and she would remain where
+ she was, at least as long as Helena remained. The
+ poor dear girls should have their disappointment
+ broken to them gently, and, as the first
+ preliminary, Miss Twinkleton should be confided in
+ by Rosa, even in advance of the reappearance of
+ Mr. Grewgious. It should be made clear in all
+ quarters that she and Edwin were the best of
+ friends. There had never been so serene an
+ understanding between them since they were first
+ affianced."
+
+We are anxious to identify Cloisterham Weir, frequently mentioned in
+_Edwin Drood_, but more particularly as being the place where Minor
+Canon Crisparkle found Edwin's watch and shirt-pin. The Weir, we are
+told in the novel, "is full two miles above the spot to which the young
+men [Edwin and Neville] had repaired [presumably the Esplanade] to
+watch the storm." There is, however, no Weir nearer than Allington, at
+which place the tide of the Medway stops, and Allington is a
+considerable distance from Rochester, probably seven or eight miles. How
+well the good Minor Canon's propensity for "perpetually pitching himself
+headforemost into all the deep water in the surrounding country," and
+his "pilgrimages to Cloisterham Weir in the cold rimy mornings," are
+brought into requisition to enable him to obtain the watch and pin.
+
+ "He threw off his clothes, he plunged into the icy
+ water, and swam for the spot--a corner of the
+ Weir--where something glistened which did not move
+ and come over with the glistening water drops, but
+ remained stationary. . . . He brought the watch to
+ the bank, swam to the Weir again, climbed it, and
+ dived off. He knew every hole and corner of all
+ the depths, and dived and dived and dived, until
+ he could bear the cold no more. His notion was
+ that he would find the body; he only found a
+ shirt-pin sticking in some mud and ooze."
+
+Our failure to identify Cloisterham Weir exhibits another instance
+where, for the purposes of the story, an imaginary place is introduced.
+To Mr. William Ball is due the credit for subsequently suggesting that
+Snodland Brook and Snodland Weir may have possibly been in Dickens's
+mind in originating Cloisterham Weir; so we tramped over to inspect
+them. Near the village, the brook (or river, for it is of respectable
+width) is turbid and shallow, but higher up--a mile or so--we found it
+clearer and deeper, and we heard from some labourers, whom we saw
+regaling themselves by the side of a hayrick, that a local gentleman had
+some years ago been in the habit of bathing in the stream all the year
+round.
+
+[Illustration: St. Nicholas' Burying Ground]
+
+The ancient Church of St. Nicholas (1423) is on the north side of the
+Cathedral. In front of it is a narrow strip of ground, enclosed with
+iron railings, formerly the burial-ground of the Church, but now
+disused, referred to in _Edwin Drood_ as "a fragment of a burial-ground
+in which an unhappy sheep was grazing." In this enclosure, which is
+neatly kept, there are a weeping willow at each end, and in the centre
+an exquisite specimen of the catalpa tree (_Catalpa syringifolia_), the
+floral ornament of the Cathedral precincts. At the time of our visit it
+is in perfect condition, the large cordate bright green leaves, and the
+massive trusses of labiate flowers of white, yellow, and purple colours
+(not unlike those of the _Impatiens noli-me-tangere_ balsam, only
+handsomer) are worth walking miles to see. It is a North American plant,
+and in its native country sometimes grows to a height of forty feet.
+The specimen here described is about twenty feet high, and was planted
+about fifteen years ago.[9]
+
+On the opposite side of the way is the old cemetery of St. Nicholas'
+Church, originally part of the Castle moat, but which was converted to
+its present purpose about half a century ago. This quiet resting-place
+of the dead has intense interest for the lover of Dickens, as it was
+here that he desired to be buried; and his family would certainly have
+carried his wishes into effect, but that the place had been closed for
+years and no further interments were allowed. Pending other arrangements
+at Shorne, an admirable suggestion was made in the _Times_, which
+speedily found favour with the nation in its great affection for him,
+namely, that he should rest in Westminster Abbey; and, the Dean of
+Westminster promptly and wisely responding to the suggestion, it was at
+once carried into effect.
+
+As we pause, and look again and again at the sheltered nook in the old
+cemetery sanctified by his memory, and adorned by rich evergreens and
+other trees, among which the weeping willow and the almond are
+conspicuous, we quite understand and sympathize with Dickens's love for
+such a calm and secluded spot.
+
+The Dean and Chapter of Rochester, it will be recollected, were anxious
+that the great novelist's remains should be placed in or near their
+Cathedral, and that wish might have been gratified, except, as just
+explained, that the public decreed otherwise. However, they sanctioned
+the erection, by the executors, of a brass, which enriches the wall of
+the south transept of the edifice, and which has the following
+inscription:--
+
+[Illustration: CHARLES DICKENS
+
+BORN AT PORTSMOUTH SEVENTH OF FEBRUARY 1812 DIED AT GADSHILL PLACE BY
+ROCHESTER NINTH OF JUNE 1870 BURIED IN WESTMINSTER ABBEY
+
+TO CONNECT HIS MEMORY WITH THE SCENES IN WHICH HIS EARLIEST AND HIS
+LATEST YEARS WERE PASSED AND WITH THE ASSOCIATIONS OF ROCHESTER
+CATHEDRAL AND ITS NEIGHBOURHOOD WHICH EXTENDED OVER ALL HIS LIFE
+
+THIS TABLET WITH THE SANCTION OF THE DEAN AND CHAPTER IS PLACED BY HIS
+EXECUTORS]
+
+The unfinished novel of _Edwin Drood_, which, as we have seen, is so
+inseparably connected with Rochester Cathedral, has been _finished_ by
+at least half a dozen authors, probably to their own satisfaction; but
+it is a hard matter to the reader to struggle through any one of them.
+However, there is a little _brochure_ in this direction which we feel
+may here be appropriately noticed. It is called, _Watched by the Dead: A
+Loving Study of Charles Dickens's half-told Tale_, 1887, and was written
+by R. A. Proctor, F.R.A.S., the Astronomer, whose untimely death from
+fever in America was announced after our return from our week's tramp.
+The author had evidently studied the matter both lovingly and
+attentively, and starts with the assumption that it is an example of
+what he calls "Dickens's favourite theme," which more than any other had
+a fascination for him, and was apparently regarded by him as likely to
+be most potent in its influence on others. It was that of "a wrong-doer
+watched at every turn by one of whom he has no suspicion, for whom he
+even entertains a feeling of contempt," and Mr. Proctor has certainly
+evolved a very suggestive and not improbable conclusion to the story.
+Instances of Dickens's favourite theme are adduced from _Barnaby Rudge_,
+where Haredale, unsuspected, steadily waits and watches for Rudge,
+till, after more than twenty years, "At last! at last!" he cries, as he
+captures his brother's murderer on the very spot where the murder had
+been committed; from _The Old Curiosity Shop_, where Sampson and Sally
+Brass are watched by the Marchioness--their powerless victim as they
+supposed, and by whom their detection is brought about; from _Nicholas
+Nickleby_, where Ralph Nickleby is watched by Brooker; and from _Dombey
+and Son_, where Dombey is watched by Carker, and he in turn is watched
+by good Mrs. Brown and her unhappy daughter. Instances of this kind also
+appear in _David Copperfield_, _Bleak House_, and _Little Dorrit_.
+
+Reasoning from similar data, Mr. Proctor concludes that Jasper was
+watched by Edwin Drood in the person of Datchery, and thus he was to
+have been tracked remorselessly "to his death by the man whom he
+supposed he had slain." The _dénouement_ as regards the other characters
+seems also not improbable. Rosa Bud was to have married Lieutenant
+Tartar, and Crisparkle, Helena Landless. Neville was to have died, but
+not before he had learned to understand the change which Edwin's
+character had undergone. As to Edwin Drood himself, "purified by trial,
+strengthened though saddened by his love for Rosa," Edwin would have
+been one of those characters Dickens loved to draw--a character entirely
+changed from a once careless, almost trivial self, to depth and
+earnestness. "All were to join in changing the ways of dear old
+Grewgious from the sadness and loneliness of the earlier scenes" in the
+story, "to the warmth and light of that kindly domestic life for which,
+angular though he thought himself, his true and genial nature fitted him
+so thoroughly." This attempt to solve _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_ will
+amply repay perusal. It was probably one of the last works of this very
+able and versatile author.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+It is right to state that Mr. Luke Fildes, R.A., the illustrator of _The
+Mystery of Edwin Drood_, with whom we have had the pleasure of an
+interview, entirely rejects this theory. He does not favour the idea
+that Datchery is Edwin Drood; his opinion is that the ingenuous and
+kind-hearted Edwin, had he been living, would never have allowed his
+friend Neville to continue so long under the grave suspicion of murder.
+Nay more: he is convinced that Dickens intended that Edwin Drood should
+be killed by his uncle; and this opinion is supported by the fact of the
+introduction of a "large black scarf of strong close-woven silk," which
+Jasper wears for the first time in the fourteenth chapter of the story,
+and which was likely to have been the means of death, _i. e._ by
+strangulation. Mr. Fildes said that Dickens seemed much surprised when
+he called his attention to this change of dress--very noticeable and
+embarrassing to an artist who had studied the character--and appeared as
+though he had unintentionally disclosed the secret. He further stated
+that it was Dickens's intention to take him to a condemned cell in
+Maidstone or some other gaol, in order "that he might make a drawing,"
+"and," said Dickens, "do something better than Cruikshank;" in allusion,
+of course, to the famous drawing of "Fagin in the condemned cell."
+"Surely this," remarked our informant, "points to our witnessing the
+condemned culprit Jasper in his cell before he met his fate."[10]
+
+Mr. Fildes spoke with enthusiasm of the very great kindness and
+consideration which he received from Dickens, and the pains he took to
+introduce his young friend to the visitors at Gad's Hill, and in London
+at Hyde Park Place, who were his seniors. He was under an engagement to
+visit Dickens,--had his portmanteau packed in fact, almost ready to
+start on his journey--when he saw to his amazement the announcement of
+his death in the newspapers--and it was a very great shock to him. Not
+long afterwards, Mr. Fildes said, the family, with much kind
+thoughtfulness, renewed the invitation to him to stay a few days at
+Gad's Hill Place, and during that time he made the imperishable drawing
+of "The Empty Chair."
+
+Bearing in mind the above circumstances coming from so high an
+authority, a missing link has been supplied, but--_The Mystery of Edwin
+Drood_ is still unsolved!
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[8] It is interesting to record that the foundations of this Church were
+met with for the first time, in restoring the west front of the
+Cathedral, in 1889.
+
+[9] This was written in 1888; on a subsequent visit to Rochester we were
+sorry to find that the frost had made sad havoc with this beautiful
+tree.
+
+[10] Mr. Charles Dickens informs me that Mr. Fildes is right, and that
+Edwin Drood was dead. His (Mr. Dickens's) father told him so himself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+RICHARD WATTS'S CHARITY, ROCHESTER.
+
+ "Strictly speaking, there were only _six_ Poor
+ Travellers; but being a Traveller myself, though
+ an idle one, and being withal as poor as I hope to
+ be, I brought the number up to seven. . . . I, for
+ one, am so divided this night between fact and
+ fiction, that I scarce know which is which."--_The
+ Seven Poor Travellers._
+
+
+THE most unique Charity ever described in fiction, or founded on fact,
+well deserves a few pages to be devoted to a record of its interesting
+history and present position. We therefore occupy a short time in
+examining it on Thursday morning, before our visit to the Marshes.
+
+[Illustration: The "Six Poor Travellers"]
+
+Except for _The Seven Poor Travellers_, which was the title of the
+Christmas Number of _Household Words_ issued in 1854, it is possible
+that few beyond "the ancient city" would ever have heard, or indeed have
+cared to hear, anything about the Worshipful Master Richard Watts or his
+famous Charity; now, as all the world knows, it is a veritable
+"household word" to readers and admirers of Dickens. In the narrative,
+he, as the first Traveller, is supposed to have visited Rochester, and
+passed the evening with the six Poor Travellers, and thus to have made
+the seventh. After hearing the story of the Charity "from the decent
+body of a wholesome matronly presence" (this was Mrs. Cackett, a former
+matron, who is said to have been very much astonished at her appearance
+in the drama of _The Seven Poor Travellers_, which she subsequently
+witnessed at the Rochester Theatre), he obtains permission to treat the
+Travellers to a hot supper. The inn at which the first Traveller stayed
+was doubtless our old acquaintance, the Bull, "where the window of his
+adjoining bedroom looked down into the Inn yard, just where the lights
+of the kitchen redden a massive fragment of the Castle wall." Here was
+brewed the "wassail" contained in the "brown beauty," the "turkey" and
+"beef" roasted, and the "plum-pudding" boiled. As Mr. Robert Langton
+says, "the account of the treat to the poor Travellers is of course
+wholly fictitious, although it is accepted as sober truth by many
+people, both in Rochester and elsewhere."
+
+It is not our purpose to criticize the seven pretty stories which make
+up this Christmas Number, part of the first of which only relates to
+Watts's Charity; but we will venture to affirm that the concluding
+portion of that story, referring to "Richard Doubledick," "who was a
+Poor Traveller with not a farthing in his pocket, and who came limping
+down on foot to this town of Chatham," is one of the most touching
+instances of Christian forgiveness ever recorded, and hardened indeed
+must he be who reads it with dry eyes.
+
+To what extent Dickens himself was affected by this beautiful tale, is
+shown by the following extract from a letter addressed by him, on 22nd
+December, 1854, to the late Mr. Arthur Ryland, formerly Mayor of
+Birmingham, now treasured by his widow, Mrs. Arthur Ryland, who kindly
+allowed a copy to be taken:--
+
+"What you write with so much heartiness of my first Poor Traveller is
+quite delightful to me. The idea of that little story obtained such
+strong possession of me when it came into my head, that it cost me more
+time and tears than most people would consider likely. The response it
+meets with is payment for anything."
+
+It is also interesting to record that many years afterwards Mr. Ryland
+read this story at one of the Christmas gatherings of the Birmingham and
+Midland Institute, and subsequently received from an unknown
+correspondent--Sergeant A----, of the 106th Light Infantry, then
+stationed at Umballa, East Indies, who had noticed an account of the
+reading in a newspaper--a letter under date of 15th July, 1870, asking
+to be favoured with a copy of the story; "for," said the writer, "we
+have just started a Penny Reading Society (if I may call it so), and I'm
+sure that story would be the means of reclaiming many men from their
+vices--I mean drinking and low company." The story was of course sent,
+and Mr. Ryland subsequently communicated the circumstances to the
+present Mr. Charles Dickens, who replied--"I wish my dear father could
+have seen the sergeant's letter; it would have pleased him, I am sure."
+
+As we proceed along the High Street, on the north side towards Chatham,
+a walk of only a few yards from the Bull brings us to a curious Tudor
+stone-built house of two stories, with latticed windows and
+three-pointed gables. Under a lamp in the centre, which is over the
+"quaint old door"--the door-sill itself being (as is usual with some old
+houses) a little below the street, so that we drop by a step or two into
+the entrance-hall--is a tablet containing the following inscription:--
+
+ (CENTRE.)
+ RICHARD WATTS, ESQUIRE,
+ by his Will dated 22nd August, 1579,
+ founded this Charity
+ for Six Poor Travellers,
+ who, not being Rogues or Proctors,
+ May receive gratis for one Night
+ Lodging, Entertainment,
+ and Fourpence each.
+
+"In testimony of his munificence, in honour of his memory, and
+inducement to his example, the Charitable Trustees of this City and
+Borough have caused this stone to be renewed and inscribed, A.D. 1865."
+
+And on the left and right-hand sides respectively of the preceding
+appear smaller tablets, with the following inscriptions:--
+
+ (LEFT.)
+ The Charitable Trustees
+ of this City and
+ Borough appointed
+ by the Lord High
+ Chancellor,
+ 16 December, 1836,
+ are to see
+ this Charity
+ executed.
+
+ (RIGHT.)
+ Pagitt _Arms._[Illustration] Somers
+ Thomas Pagitt,
+ second husband of
+ Mary, Daughter of
+ Thomas Somers
+ of Halstow,
+ Widow of Richard Watts,
+ Deceased A.D. 1599.
+
+We enter the old-fashioned little parlour, or office, on the left-hand
+side, "warm in winter and cool in summer. It has a look of homely
+welcome and soothing rest. It has a remarkably cosy fireside, the very
+blink of which, gleaming out into the street upon a winter's night, is
+enough to warm all Rochester's heart." The matron receives us politely,
+and shows us two large books of foolscap size with ruled columns, one of
+these containing a record of the visitors to the Charity, and the other
+a list of the recipients thereof. A little pleasantry is caused by one
+of us entering his name in the wrong book, but this mistake is promptly
+rectified by the matron, who informs us that we are scarcely objects for
+relief as "Poor Travellers." She then kindly repeats to us the two
+legends respecting the origin of the Charity, the first of which is
+tolerably well known, but the other is less familiar. Before recording
+these, it may be well to give an extract from the will of Master Richard
+Watts (a very curious and lengthy document), which was industriously
+hunted up by the late Mr. Charles Bullard, author of the _Romance of
+Rochester_, and by him contributed to the _Rochester and Chatham
+Journal_, of which it fills a whole column.
+
+The will (dated, as previously stated, August 22nd, 1579) directs,
+_inter alia_, that "First the Alms-house already erected and standing
+beside the Markett Crosse, within the Citty of Rochester aforesaid,
+which Almshouses my Will Purpose and Desire is that there be reedified
+added and provided with such Roomes as be there already provided Six
+Severall Roomes with Chimneys for the Comfort placeing and abideing of
+the Poore within the said Citty, and alsoe to be made apt and convenient
+places therein for Six good Matrices or Flock Bedds and other good and
+sufficient Furniture to harbour or lodge in poore Travellers or
+Wayfareing Men being noe Common Rogues nor Proctors, and they the said
+Wayfareing Men to harbour and lodge therein noe longer than one Night
+unlesse Sickness be the farther Cause thereof and those poore Folkes
+there dwelling shall keepe the House sweete make the Bedds see to the
+Furniture keepe the same sweete and courteously intreate the said poore
+Travellers and to every of the said poore Travellers att their first
+comeing in to have fourpence and they shall warme them at the Fire of
+the Residents within the said House if Need be."
+
+The reason for the exception in the testator's will as regards rogues is
+sufficiently obvious, and therefore all the point of this singular
+bequest lies in the word "Proctors." Who were they? One of the legends
+has it that the obsolete word "Proctors" referred to certain sturdy
+mendicants who swarmed in the south of England, and went about
+extracting money from the charitable public under the pretence of
+collecting "Peter's Pence" for the Pope; or, as the compiler of Murray's
+_Handbook to the County of Kent_ suggests, "were probably the bearers of
+licences to collect alms for hospitals," etc. Possibly the worthy Master
+Richard Watts objected to the levying of this blackmail; or he may in
+his walks have been subjected to the proctors' importunities, and
+consequently in his will rigorously debarred them in all futurity from
+any share in his Charity.
+
+The other legend is that Master Watts, being grievously sick and sore to
+die, sent for his lawyer, who in those days acted as proctor as
+well,--Steerforth in _David Copperfield_ calls the proctor "a monkish
+kind of attorney,"--and bade him prepare his will according to certain
+instructions. The will was made, but not in the manner directed, and
+subsequently, on the testator regaining his health, he discovered the
+fraud which the crafty lawyer or proctor had tried to perpetrate--which
+was, in fact, to make himself the sole legatee. In his just indignation
+he made another will, and in it for ever excluded the fraternity of
+proctors from benefiting thereby. The reader is at liberty to accept
+whichever of the two legends he chooses. It is right to say that Mr.
+Roach Smith utterly rejects the second story. He says proctors were
+simply rogues, although some of them may have been licensed.
+
+The following is a foot-note to Fisher's _History and Antiquities of
+Rochester and its Environs_, MDCCLXXII.
+
+[Illustration: Watts' Almshouses: Rochester]
+
+"It is generally thought that the reason of Mr. Watts's excluding
+proctors from the benefit of the Charity, was that a proctor had been
+employed to make his will, whereby he had given all the estates to
+himself; but I am inclined to believe that the word proctor is derived
+from procurator, who was an itinerant priest, and had dispensations from
+the Pope to absolve the subjects of this realm from the oath of
+allegiance to Queen Elizabeth, in whose reign there were many such
+priests."
+
+When the identity of Miss Adelaide Anne Procter, the gifted author of
+the pure and pathetic _Legends and Lyrics_ (who had been an anonymous
+contributor to _Household Words_ for some time under the _nom de plume_
+of "Mary Berwick"), became known to Charles Dickens, he sent her a
+charming and kindly letter of congratulation and appreciation, dated
+17th December, 1854 (just at the time that the Christmas stories of the
+_Seven Poor Travellers_ were published), which thus concludes:--
+
+"You have given me so much pleasure, and have made me shed so many
+tears, that I can only think of you now in association with the
+sentiment and grace of your verses. Pray accept the blessing and
+forgiveness of Richard Watts, _though I am afraid you come under both
+his conditions of exclusion_."
+
+[Illustration: Signatures: Charles Dickens
+
+Mark Lemon]
+
+We are informed that the original bequest of the testator was only £36
+16_s._ 8_d._ per annum, being the rent of land; but now, owing to the
+improved letting of the land, for building and other purposes, the
+Revenues of the Charity are upwards of £4,000 per annum. The "fourpence"
+of the foundation would be equal to some three shillings and fourpence
+of our money. The trustees, about sixteen in number,--one of whom has
+filled the office for fifty years--have very wisely and prudently
+obtained an extension of their powers; and the Court of Chancery have
+twice (in 1855 and 1886) sanctioned schemes for the administration of
+the funds, which have largely benefited Rochester in many ways. As
+witness of this, there are a series of excellent almshouses on the
+Maidstone Road (which cost about £6,000), with appropriate
+entrance-gates and gardens, endowed for the support and maintenance of
+townsmen and townswomen. We subsequently go into several of the rooms,
+all beautifully clean, and in most cases tastefully decorated by the
+inmates with a few pictures, prints, and flowers, and find that the
+present occupants are ten almsmen and six women. We have a chat with one
+of the almsmen,--a hearty old man, once the beadle of St. Margaret's
+Church,--who rejoices in the name of Peter Weller, and whom we find to
+be well up in his _Pickwick_. There are a resident head-nurse and three
+other resident nurses in the establishment, who occasionally go out to
+nurse the sick in the city. In addition to these almshouses, a handsome
+new hospital has been erected in the New Road, and partly endowed
+(£1,000 a year) out of the funds. Contributions are also made annually
+from the same source towards the support of the Public Baths, and for
+apprenticing deserving lads. Such is the development of this remarkable
+Charity.
+
+The matron calls our attention to many interesting names in the
+Visitors' book. Under date of the 11th May, 1854, are the signatures, in
+good bold writing, of Charles Dickens and Mark Lemon; and in subsequent
+entries, extending over many years, appear the names of Wilkie Collins,
+W. H. Wills, W. G. Wills, Walter Besant, Thomas Adolphus Trollope, J.
+Henry Shorthouse, Augustus J. C. Hare, and other well-known
+_littérateurs_. As usual, there are also numerous names of Americans,
+including those of Miss Mary Anderson and party.
+
+There are many curious remarks recorded in this book, such as an entry
+dated 26th June, 1857, which says:--"Tossed by, and out of the Bull with
+a crumpled horn, as no one would lend me five shillings, therefore
+obliged to solicit the benefit of this excellent charity." There is an
+admirable testimony in Latin, by the late Bishop of Lincoln, Dr.
+Wordsworth, to the usefulness of the institution, which, dated 23rd
+August, 1883, is as follows:--"_Esto perpetua obstantibus Caritatis
+Commissionariis._" His Lordship's remark was probably in allusion to the
+fact that the Charity Commissioners were (as we were afterwards
+informed) inclined, some time ago, to abolish the Charity, but this
+proceeding was stoutly and successfully resisted by the trustees. But
+the most gratifying records which we see in the book consist of several
+entries by recipients of the Charity themselves, who have subsequently
+come again after prosperous times in the capacity of visitors, and thus
+testified to the benefits received. Here is one:--"Having once enjoyed
+the Charity, I wish it a long life."
+
+[Illustration: The "Six Poor Travellers" from the Rear]
+
+[Illustration: A DORMITORY in the "Six Poor Travellers"]
+
+[Illustration: Gallery Leading to the Dormitories]
+
+A clerk has the responsibility of making a careful selection of six from
+the number of applicants, and this appears to be no light task, inasmuch
+as the "prescribed number of Poor Travellers are forthcoming every
+night from year's end to year's end," and sometimes amount to fifty in a
+day. In selecting the persons to be admitted, care is taken that, unless
+under special circumstances, the same person be not admitted for more
+than one night, and in no case for more than two consecutive nights. A
+glance over the register shows that the names include almost all trades
+and occupations; and, as regards the fact of a great many coming from
+Kentish towns, Dartford, Greenwich, Canterbury, Maidstone, etc., we are
+informed, in reply to our enquiry, that this is no criterion of the real
+residence, because the place where the traveller last lodged is always
+entered. The matron told us a story of a clever attempt to obtain
+admission by a Poor Traveller "with a tin whistle and very gentlemanly
+hands," who subsequently turned out to be a reporter from the _Echo_, in
+which paper there afterwards appeared an account of the Charity, called
+_On Tramp by an Amateur_.
+
+We are shown over the premises--scrupulously neat and clean--and observe
+that there are excellent lavatories with foot-pans, and a pair of
+slippers provided for each recipient. We afterwards see the six Poor
+Travellers who have had their supper, and are comfortably smoking their
+pipes in a snug room, and we have a pleasant and interesting chat with
+them. They are much above the condition of ordinary tramps, and are
+lodged in six separate bedrooms, or "dormitories" which open out of a
+gallery at the back part of the building, a very curious structure,
+remaining just as it was in the days of Queen Elizabeth. For supper,
+each man is allowed half a pound of cooked meat, a pound of bread, and
+half-a-pint of porter, and receives fourpence in money on leaving. It is
+right to state that we heard complaints in the city relating to the evil
+effects of a number of poor travellers being attracted to the Charity
+daily, when but a few can obtain relief.
+
+[Illustration: Satis House.]
+
+Respecting the Worshipful Master Richard Watts himself very little is
+known, except that he was appointed by Queen Elizabeth in 1560 to be the
+surveyor and clerk of the works for the building of Upnor Castle; that
+he was paymaster to the Wardens of Rochester Bridge for some years
+previously; that he was recorder of Rochester, and represented the city
+in Parliament from 1563 to 1571, and that he resided at "Satis House,"
+which stood on the site of the modern residence bearing the same name,
+now occupied by Mrs. Booth, a little to the south of the Cathedral, but
+which must not, however, be confounded with the Satis House of _Great
+Expectations_, this latter, as has been previously explained, being
+identical with Restoration House, in Crow Lane. When Queen Elizabeth
+visited Rochester in 1573, Watts had the honour of entertaining Her
+Majesty there, on the last day of her residence in "the ancient city";
+and to his expressions of regret at having no better accommodation to
+offer, the Queen was pleased generously to reply, "Satis," by which name
+the house has ever since been known. Estella, in _Great Expectations_,
+gives another view of the origin of the name. She says:--"Its other
+name was Satis; which is Greek, or Latin, or Hebrew, or all three--or
+all one to me--for enough: but it meant more than it said. It meant,
+when it was given, that whoever had this house, could want nothing else.
+They must have been easily satisfied in those days, I should think."
+Archbishop Longley was born there in 1794.
+
+[Illustration: Watts's Monument in Rochester Cathedral.
+
+_Over the Memorial Brass of Charles Dickens._]
+
+There is a monument to the proctor-hating philanthropist on the wall of
+the south transept of the Cathedral over the brass to Charles Dickens,
+surmounted by a very curious painted marble half-figure effigy with
+flowing beard, of "worthy Master Richard starting out of it, like a
+ship's figurehead." Underneath is the following epitaph:--
+
+ Sacred to the Memory of
+ =Richard Watts, Esq.=,
+ a principal Benefactor to this City,
+ who departed this life Sept. 10, 1579, at
+ his Mansion house on Bully Hill, called SATIS
+ (so named by Q. ELIZABETH of glorious memory),
+ and lies interr'd near this place, as by his Will doth
+ plainly appear. By which Will, dated Aug. 22, and
+ proved Sep. 25, 1579, he founded an Almshouse
+ for the relief of poor people and for the reception
+ of six poor Travelers every night, and for
+ imploying the poor of this City.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ The Mayor and Citizens of this City,
+ in testimony of their Gratitude and his Merit,
+ have erected this Monument, A.D. 1736.
+ RICHARD WATTS, ESQ.,
+ then Mayor.
+
+Over and over again, in the various roads and lanes which we traverse,
+in the county famous for "apples, cherries, hops, and women," we have
+ample opportunities of verifying the experience of Dickens, and indeed
+of many other observers (including David Copperfield, who met numbers of
+"ferocious-looking ruffians"), as to the prevalence of tramps, not all
+of whom appear eligible as recipients of Watts's Charity! Our fraternity
+seems to be ubiquitous, and had we the purse of Fortunatus, it would
+hardly suffice to satisfy their requirements. What a wonderfully
+thoughtful, descriptive, and exhaustive chapter is that on "Tramps" in
+_The Uncommercial Traveller!_ We believe Rochester and Strood Hill must
+have been in Dickens's mind when he penned it. Every species and every
+variety of tramp is herein described,--The surly Tramp, The slinking
+Tramp, The well-spoken young-man Tramp, The John Anderson Tramp, Squire
+Pouncerby's Tramp, The show Tramp, The educated Tramp, The tramping
+Soldier, The tramping Sailor, The Tramp handicraft man, Clock-mending
+Tramps, Harvest Tramps, Hopping Tramps and Spectator Tramps--but perhaps
+the most amusing of all is the following:--
+
+ "The young fellows who trudge along barefoot, five
+ or six together, their boots slung over their
+ shoulders, their shabby bundles under their arms,
+ their sticks newly cut from some roadside wood,
+ are not eminently prepossessing, but are much less
+ objectionable. There is a tramp-fellowship among
+ them. They pick one another up at resting
+ stations, and go on in companies. They always go
+ at a fast swing--though they generally limp
+ too--and there is invariably one of the company
+ who has much ado to keep up with the rest. They
+ generally talk about horses, and any other means
+ of locomotion than walking: or, one of the company
+ relates some recent experiences of the road--which
+ are always disputes and difficulties. As for
+ example. So as I'm a standing at the pump in the
+ market, blest if there don't come up a Beadle, and
+ he ses, 'Mustn't stand here,' he ses. 'Why not?' I
+ ses. 'No beggars allowed in this town,' he ses.
+ 'Who's a beggar?' I ses. 'You are,' he ses. 'Who
+ ever see _me_ beg? Did _you_?' I ses. 'Then you're
+ a tramp,' he ses. 'I'd rather be that than a
+ Beadle,' I ses. (The company express great
+ approval.) 'Would you?' he ses to me. 'Yes, I
+ would,' I ses to him. 'Well,' he ses, 'anyhow, get
+ out of this town.' 'Why, blow your little town!' I
+ ses, 'who wants to be in it? Wot does your dirty
+ little town mean by comin' and stickin' itself in
+ the road to anywhere? Why don't you get a shovel
+ and a barrer, and clear your town out o' people's
+ way?' (The company expressing the highest approval
+ and laughing aloud, they all go down the hill.)"
+
+It is worthy of consideration, and it is probably more than a mere
+coincidence, to observe that some of the reforms which have been
+effected in the management of the now munificent revenues of Richard
+Watts's Charity were instigated as a sequence to the appearance of
+Dickens's imperishable stories, published under the title of _The Seven
+Poor Travellers_. The Rev. Robert Whiston, with whom we chatted on the
+subject, is of opinion that the late Lord Brougham is entitled to the
+credit for reforms in this and other charities.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+AN AFTERNOON AT GAD'S HILL PLACE.
+
+ "It was just large enough, and no more; was as
+ pretty within as it was without, and was perfectly
+ arranged and comfortable."--_Little Dorrit._
+
+ "This has been a happy home. . . . I love
+ it. . . ."--_The Cricket on the Hearth._
+
+
+A NEVER-TO-BE-FORGOTTEN day was Saturday, the twenty-fifth of August,
+1888, a day remarkable, as were many of the closing days of the summer
+of that year, for its bright, sunny, and cheerful nature. The sky was a
+deep blue--usually described as an Italian sky--broken only by a few
+fleecy, cumulus clouds, which served to bring out more clearly the rich
+colour of the background. There was a fine bracing air coming from the
+north-west, for which the county of Kent is famous. Truly an enjoyable
+day for a holiday! and one that Dickens himself would have loved to
+describe. So after a desultory stroll about the streets of Rochester,
+one of many delightful strolls, we make our first outward tramp, and
+that of course to Gad's Hill. By the way, much attention has been
+devoted to the consideration of the derivation of the name, "Gad's
+Hill." It is no doubt a corruption of "God's Hill," of which there are
+two so-called places in the county, and there is also a veritable
+"God's Hill" a little further south, in the Isle of Wight.
+
+[Illustration: Rochester from Strood Hill.]
+
+Crossing Rochester Bridge, we enter the busy town of Strood, pass
+through its long thoroughfare, go up the Dover Road,--which was the
+ancient Roman military road afterwards called Watling Street, until a
+little above Strood it turned slightly to the left, passing through what
+is now Cobham Park,--and leave the windmill on Broomhill to the right.
+The ground rises gently, the chalk formation being exposed here and
+there in disused pits. A portion of the road higher up is cut through
+the Thanet sands, which rest on the chalk. Again and again we stop, and
+turn to admire the winding valley of the Medway. As we get more into the
+country and leave the town behind, we find the roadsides still decked
+with summer flowers, notably the fine dark blue Canterbury bell--the
+nettle-leaved Campanula (_Campanula Trachelium_)--and the exquisite
+light-blue chicory (_Cichorium Intybus_); but the flowers of the latter
+are so evanescent that, when gathered, they fade in an hour or two. This
+beautiful starlike-blossomed plant is abundant in many parts of Kent.
+We pass on the right the pretty high-standing grounds of Mr. Hulkes at
+the "Little Hermitage," and notice the obelisk further to the right on
+still higher land, erected about fifty years ago to the memory of
+Charles Larkin (a name very suggestive of "the eldest Miss Larkins") of
+Rochester,--"a parish orator and borough Hampden"--by his grateful
+fellow-citizens.
+
+A walk of less than three miles brings us to the "Sir John Falstaff"--"a
+delightfully old-fashioned roadside inn of the coaching days, which
+stands on the north side of the road a little below 'Gad's Hill Place,'
+and which no man possessed of a penny was ever known to pass in warm
+weather."
+
+Mr. Kitton relates in _Dickensiana_ the following amusing story of a
+former waiter at the "Falstaff":--
+
+"A few days after Dickens's death, an Englishman, deeply grieved at the
+event, made a sort of pilgrimage to Gad's Hill--to the home of the great
+novelist. He went into the famous 'Sir John Falstaff Inn' near at hand,
+and in the effusiveness of his honest emotions, he could not avoid
+taking the country waiter into his confidence.
+
+"'A great loss this of Mr. Dickens,' said the pilgrim.
+
+"'A very great loss to us, sir,' replied the waiter, shaking his head;
+'he had all his ale sent in from this house!'"
+
+One of the two lime-trees only remains, but the well and bucket--as
+recorded by the _Uncommercial Traveller_ in the chapter on "Tramps"--are
+there still, surrounded by a protective fence.
+
+[Illustration: The "Sir John Falstaff" Inn, Gad's Hill.]
+
+We have but little time to notice the "Falstaff," for our admiring gaze
+is presently fixed on Gad's Hill Place itself, the house in which
+Dickens resided happily--albeit trouble came to him as to most
+men--from the year 1856 till his death in 1870. Everybody knows the
+story of how, as a little boy, he cherished the idea of one day living
+in this house, and how that idea was gratified in after-life. It is from
+the _Uncommercial Traveller_, in the chapter on "Travelling Abroad," and
+the repetition is never stale. He says:--
+
+ "So smooth was the old high road, and so fresh
+ were the horses, and so fast went I, that it was
+ midway between Gravesend and Rochester, and the
+ widening river was bearing the ships, white-sailed
+ or black-smoked, out to sea, when I noticed by the
+ wayside a very queer small boy.
+
+ "'Holloa!' said I to the very queer small boy,
+ 'where do you live?'
+
+ "'At Chatham,' says he.
+
+ "'What do you do there?' says I.
+
+ "'I go to school,' says he.
+
+ "I took him up in a moment, and we went on.
+ Presently, the very queer small boy says, 'This is
+ Gad's Hill we are coming to, where Falstaff went
+ out to rob those travellers, and ran away.'
+
+ "'You know something about Falstaff, eh?' said I.
+
+ "'All about him,' said the very queer small boy.
+ 'I am old (I am nine), and I read all sorts of
+ books. But _do_ let us stop at the top of the
+ hill, and look at the house there, if you please!'
+
+ "'You admire that house?' said I.
+
+ "'Bless you, sir,' said the very queer small boy,
+ 'when I was not more than half as old as nine, it
+ used to be a treat for me to be brought to look at
+ it. And now, I am nine, I come by myself to look
+ at it. And ever since I can recollect, my father,
+ seeing me so fond of it, has often said to me, 'If
+ you were to be very persevering, and were to work
+ hard, you might some day come to live in it.'
+ Though that's impossible!' said the very queer
+ small boy, drawing a low breath, and now staring
+ at the house out of window with all his might.
+
+ "I was rather amazed to be told this by the very
+ queer small boy; for that house happens to be _my_
+ house, and I have reason to believe that what he
+ said was true."
+
+[Illustration: Gadshill Place]
+
+Mrs. Lynn Linton, the celebrated novelist, who resided at Gad's Hill as
+a child, has very kindly given us her personal recollections of it sixty
+years ago, and of the interesting circumstances under which Charles
+Dickens subsequently purchased the property;--which will be found at the
+end of this chapter.
+
+Before seeking permission to enter the grounds of Gad's Hill Place,
+which are surrounded by a high wall, and screened externally by a row of
+well-topped lime-trees, we retrace our steps for a few minutes, in order
+to refresh ourselves with a homely luncheon, and what Mr. Richard
+Swiveller would call a "modest quencher," at the Sir John Falstaff. It
+may be certain that not much time is consumed in this operation. We then
+take a good look at the remarkable house opposite, the object of our
+pilgrimage, which has been made well known by countless photographs and
+engravings. It is a comfortable, but a not very attractive-looking
+red-brick house of two stories, with porch at entrance, partly covered
+with ivy. All the front windows, with the exception of the central ones,
+are bayed, and there are dormer windows in the roof, which is surmounted
+by a bell-turret and vane. What a strange fascination it has for
+admirers of Dickens when seen for the first time! According to Forster,
+in his _Life_ of the novelist, the house was built in 1780 by a
+well-known local character named James Stevens, who rose to a good
+position. He was the father-in-law of the late Professor Henslow, the
+Botanist, of Cambridge. Dickens paid for it the sum of £1,790, and the
+purchase was completed on Friday, 14th March, 1856. The present owner is
+Major Austin F. Budden,[11] of the 12th Kent Artillery Volunteers, who,
+we find, in the course of subsequent conversation, had also done good
+municipal service, having filled the office of Mayor of Rochester for
+two years,--from 1879 to 1881,--and that he was elected at the early age
+of twenty-eight.
+
+We ring the bell at the gate which shuts the house out from view, and
+are promptly answered by a pleasant-speaking housemaid, who takes our
+cards on a salver, and ushers us into the library. We are requested to
+enter our names in the visitors' book, and this is done with alacrity.
+We are under the impression that we shall only be allowed to see the
+hall and study, a privilege allowed to any visitor on presentation of a
+card; but fortunately for us the courteous owner appears, and says that,
+as he has half an hour to spare, he will show us entirely over the
+house. He is better than his word, and we, delighted with the prospect,
+commence our inspection of the late home of the great novelist with
+feelings of singular pleasure, which are altogether a new sensation. Do
+any readers remember, when perusing the Waverley novels in their youth,
+a certain longing (as the height of their ambition, possibly gratified
+in after-life) to see Abbotsford, the home of the "Wizard of the North"?
+_That_ is a feeling akin to the one which possesses us on the present
+occasion, a feeling of veneration almost amounting to awe as we recall,
+and seem to realize, not only the presence of Charles Dickens himself,
+but of the many eminent literary, artistic, and histrionic
+characters--his contemporaries--who assembled here, and shared the
+hospitality of the distinguished owner. "Dickens penetrates here--where
+does not his genial sunshine penetrate?"
+
+Turning over the leaves of the visitors' book, Major Budden calls our
+attention to the signatures of Americans, who constitute by far the
+majority of visitors. Among the more recent appears the name of that
+accomplished actress, Miss Mary Anderson--herself a great admirer of
+Charles Dickens--who came accompanied by a party of friends. We also
+found her name, with the same party, in the visitors' book at Richard
+Watts's Charity in Rochester. Major Budden spoke also of the great
+enthusiasm always exhibited by our American friends in regard to
+Dickens, some of whom had told him more than once that it was the custom
+to instruct their children in a knowledge of his works: they read them,
+in fact, in the schools.
+
+The library, or study, is a very cosy little room, made famous by Mr.
+Luke Fildes's picture of "The Empty Chair." It is situated on the west
+side of the porch, looking to the front, with the shrubbery in the
+distance; and among the most conspicuous objects contained in it are the
+curious counterfeit book-backs devised by Dickens and his friends, and
+arranged as shelves to fit the door of the room. They number nearly
+eighty, and a selection is given below of a few of the quaintest titles,
+viz.:--
+
+The Quarrelly Review. 4 vols.
+
+King Henry the Eighth's Evidences of Christianity. 5 vols.
+
+Noah's Arkitecture. 2 vols.
+
+[Illustration: PG from the Drawing of S. L. Fildes
+
+"The empty chair" Gad's Hill Ninth of June 1870.]
+
+Chickweed.
+
+Groundsel (by the Author of Chickweed).
+
+Cockatoo on Perch.
+
+History of a Short Chancery Suit. 21 vols.
+
+Cats' Lives. 9 vols.
+
+Hansard's Guide to Refreshing Sleep (many volumes).
+
+The Wisdom of our Ancestors--I. Ignorance. II. Superstition. III. The
+Block. IV. The Stake. V. The Rack. VI. Dirt. VII. Disease.
+
+Several of the titles were used for a similar purpose at Tavistock
+House, London--Dickens's former residence.
+
+We cannot help, as we sit down quietly for a few minutes, wondering how
+much of _Little Dorrit_, _Hunted Down_, _A Tale of Two Cities_, _Great
+Expectations_, _The Uncommercial Traveller_, _Our Mutual Friend_, and
+_The Mystery of Edwin Drood_ (which were all issued between 1856 and
+1870) was written in this famous room, to say nothing of those heaps of
+exquisite letters which so helped, cheered, interested, or amused many a
+correspondent, and have delighted the public since.
+
+In the hall, which has the famous parquet floor laid down by Dickens, is
+still hanging the framed illumination, artistically executed by Owen
+Jones, and placed there immediately after Dickens became the "Kentish
+freeholder on his native heath" as he called it. It is as follows:--
+
+ This House,
+ GAD'S HILL PLACE,
+ stands on the summit of Shakespeare's Gad's Hill,
+ ever memorable for its association with
+ Sir John Falstaff, in his noble fancy.
+
+[Illustration: Counterfeit Book-backs on Study Door.]
+
+"But, my lads, my lads, to-morrow morning by four o'clock early at Gad's
+Hill. There are pilgrims going to Canterbury with rich offerings, and
+traders riding to London with fat purses; I have vizards for you all;
+you have horses for yourselves."[12]
+
+From the hall we enter the dining-room, a cheerful apartment looking on
+to the beautiful lawn at the back, which has at the end the arched
+conservatory of lilac-tinted glass at top, in which the novelist took so
+much interest, and where he hung some Chinese lanterns, sent down from
+London the day before his death. We are informed that in this building
+he signed the last cheque which he drew, to pay his subscription to the
+Higham Cricket Club. The door of the dining-room is faced with
+looking-glass, so that it may reflect the contents of the conservatory.
+Among these are two or three New Zealand tree-ferns which Dickens
+himself purchased. In the dining-room Major Budden pointed out the exact
+spot where the fatal seizure from effusion on the brain took place, on
+the afternoon of Wednesday, 8th June, 1870, and where Dickens lay:
+first on the floor to the right of the door on entering, and afterwards
+to the left, when the couch was brought down (by order of Mr. Steele,
+the surgeon of Strood, as we subsequently learned), upon which he
+breathed his last.
+
+The drawing-room faces the front, and, like the dining-room, has been
+lengthened, and opens into the conservatory. In fact, Dickens was always
+improving Gad's Hill Place. There is a memorable reference to the
+conservatory by Forster in the third vol. of the _Life_. He says:--
+
+"This last addition had long been an object of desire with him, though
+he would hardly, even now, have given himself the indulgence but for the
+golden shower from America. He saw it first in a completed state on the
+Sunday before his death, when his youngest daughter was on a visit to
+him.
+
+"'Well, Katey,' he said to her, 'now you see POSITIVELY the last
+improvement at Gad's Hill,' and every one laughed at the joke against
+himself. The success of the new conservatory was unquestionable. It was
+the remark of all around him, that he was certainly, from this last of
+his improvements, drawing more enjoyment than from any of its
+predecessors, when the scene for ever closed!"
+
+This room is a long one, and, in common with all the others, gives us,
+under the auspices of the brilliantly fine day, some idea of the late
+owner's love of light, air, and cheerfulness. That the situation is also
+a healthy and bracing one is confirmed by the fact, that in a letter
+written on board the _Russia_, bound for Liverpool, on the 26th April,
+1868, after his second American tour, he speaks of having made a "Gad's
+Hill breakfast."
+
+Our most considerate cicerone next takes us into several of the
+bedrooms, these being of large size, and having a little dressing-room
+marked off with a partition, head-high, so that no cubic space is lost
+to the main chamber. As illustrative of Charles Dickens's care for the
+comfort of his friends, it is said that in the visitors' bedrooms there
+was always hot water and a little tea-table set out, so that each one
+could at any time make for himself a cup of the beverage "that cheers
+but not inebriates." The views from these rooms are very charming. Mr.
+W. T. Wildish afterwards told us, that during the novelist's life-time,
+Mr. Trood, the landlord of the Sir John Falstaff, once took him over
+Gad's Hill Place, and he was surprised to find Dickens's own bath-room
+covered with cuttings from _Punch_ and other comic papers. I have since
+learned that this was a screen of engravings which had originally been
+given him.
+
+The gardens, both flower and vegetable, are then pointed out--the
+approach thereto from the back lawn being by means of a flight of
+steps--as also the rosary, which occupies a portion of the front lawn to
+the westward. The roses are of course past their best, but the trees
+look very healthy.
+
+In the flower garden we are especially reminded of Dickens's love for
+flowers, the China-asters, single dahlias, and zinnias being of
+exceptional brightness. As to the violets, which are here in abundance,
+both the Neapolitan and Russian varieties, the Major shows us a method
+of cultivating them, first in frames, and then in single rows, so that
+he can get them in bloom for nearly nine months in the year!
+
+Adjoining the lawn and vegetable garden is "the much-coveted meadow,"
+which the master of Gad's Hill obtained by exchange of some land with
+the trustees of Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School at
+Rochester, and in which he planted "a number of limes and chestnuts,
+and other quick-growing trees." Four grass walks meet in the centre of
+the vegetable garden, where there is a fine old mulberry tree.
+
+It is stated in Forster's _Life_ of the novelist (Vol. iii. p. 188) that
+Dickens obtained the meadow by exchange of some land "with the Trustees
+of Watts's Charity." But this is not right. The distinguished historian
+of the Commonwealth, and the faithful friend of the novelist all through
+his life, is so habitually accurate, that it is an exceptional
+circumstance for any one to be able to correct him. However, I am
+indebted to Mr. A. A. Arnold, of Rochester, for the following authentic
+account of the transaction.
+
+Dickens was always anxious to obtain this meadow (which consists of
+about fourteen acres), and, believing that the Trustees of Sir Joseph
+Williamson's Mathematical School at Rochester were not empowered to sell
+their land, he purchased a field at the back of his own shrubbery from
+Mr. Brooker, of Higham, with a view--as appears from the following
+characteristically courteous and business-like letter--to effect an
+exchange.
+
+
+ "GAD'S HILL PLACE,
+ HIGHAM BY ROCHESTER, KENT.
+ _Monday, Thirtieth June, 1862._
+
+ "GENTLEMEN,
+
+ "Reverting to a proposal already made in general
+ terms by my solicitor, Mr. Ouvry, of Lincoln's Inn
+ Fields, to Messrs. Essel and Co., I beg to submit
+ my application to you in detail.
+
+ "It is that you will have the kindness to consider
+ the feasibility of exchanging the field at the
+ back of my property here (marked 404 in the
+ accompanying plan), for the plot of land marked
+ 384 in the said plan.
+
+ [Illustration: Gad's Hill Place from the rear.]
+
+ "I believe it will appear to you, on inquiry, that
+ the land I offer in exchange for the meadow is
+ very advantageously situated, and is of greater
+ extent than the meadow, and would be of greater
+ value to the Institution, whose interests you
+ represent. On the other hand, the acquisition of
+ the meadow as a freehold would render my little
+ property more compact and complete.
+
+ "I have the honor to be, Gentlemen,
+ Your faithful and obedient Servant,
+ CHARLES DICKENS.
+
+ "To the Governors of
+ Sir Joseph Williamson's Free School,
+ Rochester."
+
+The offer fell through at the time; but it was renewed in 1868 in a
+different form, and eventually the field was sold (by permission of the
+Charity Commissioners) to Charles Dickens at an "accommodation"
+price--£2,500--which really exceeded its actual market value.
+
+[Illustration: The Grave of Dick]
+
+But to resume our inspection. The whole of the back of the house,
+looking southward, is covered by a Virginia creeper (_Ampelopsis
+quinquefolia_) of profuse growth, which must be an object of singular
+beauty in the autumn when the crimson tints appear. As it now stands it
+is beautifully green, and there is scarcely more than a leaf or two here
+and there marking autumnal decay. The two famous hawthorn trees were
+blown down in a gale some years ago.
+
+In a quiet corner under a rose-tree (_Gloire de Dijon_), flanked by a
+_Yucca_ in bloom, the bed underneath consisting of deep blue lobelia,
+is a touching little memorial to a favourite canary. This consists of a
+narrow little board, made like a head-stone, and set aslant, on which is
+painted in neat letters the following epitaph:--
+
+ This is
+ the grave of
+ DICK,
+ the best of birds,
+ born
+ AT BROADSTAIRS,
+ _Midsummer_, 1851,
+ died
+ AT GAD'S HILL PLACE,
+ _4th October, 1866_.
+
+No one can doubt who was the author of these simple lines. "Dick," it
+should be said, "was very dear both to Dickens and his eldest daughter,"
+and he has been immortalized in Forster's _Life_. There is a very
+humorous account given of the attacks which the cats in the
+neighbourhood made upon him, and which were frustrated by an organized
+defence. The following is the passage:--
+
+"Soon after the arrival of Dickens and his family at Gad's Hill Place, a
+household war broke out, in which the commander-in-chief was his man
+French, the bulk of the forces engaged being his children, and the
+invaders two cats." Writing to Forster, Dickens says:--"'The only thing
+new in this garden is that war is raging against two particularly
+tigerish and fearful cats (from the mill, I suppose), which are always
+glaring in dark corners after our wonderful little Dick. Keeping the
+house open at all points, it is impossible to shut them out, and they
+hide themselves in the most terrific manner: hanging themselves up
+behind draperies, like bats, and tumbling out in the dead of night with
+frightful caterwaulings. Hereupon French borrows Beaucourt's gun, loads
+the same to the muzzle, discharges it twice in vain, and throws himself
+over with the recoil, exactly like a clown. . . . About four pounds of
+powder and half a ton of shot have been fired off at the cat (and the
+public in general) during the week. The funniest thing is, that
+immediately after I have heard the noble sportsman blazing away at her
+in the garden in front, I look out of my room door into the
+drawing-room, and am pretty sure to see her coming in after the birds,
+in the calmest manner possible, by the back window.'"
+
+Passing on our way the large and well-lighted servants' hall, over which
+is the bachelors' room,--whence in days gone by that rare literary
+serial, _The Gad's Hill Gazette_,[13] issued from a little printing
+press, presented by a friend to the sixth son of the novelist, who
+encouraged his boy's literary tastes,--we next see the stables, as
+usual, like everything else, in excellent order. A small statue of Fame
+blowing her golden trumpet surmounts the bachelors' room, and looks down
+upon us encouragingly.
+
+Our attention is then turned to the well, which is stated to be two
+hundred and seventeen feet deep, in the shed, or pumping-room, over
+which is the Major's mare, "Tell-tale," cheerfully doing her daily
+twenty minutes' task of drawing water, which is pumped up to the cistern
+on the roof for the supply of the house. There is said to be never less
+than twenty feet of water in the well.
+
+[Illustration: The Well at Gad's Hill Place]
+
+It may be interesting to mention that Gad's Hill Place ("the title of my
+estate, sir, my place down in Kent"), which is in the parish of Higham,
+and about twenty-six miles from London, stands on an elevation two
+hundred and fifty feet above mean sea-level. The house itself is built
+on a bed of the Thanet sands. The well is bored right through these
+sands, which Mr. W. H. Whitaker, F.R.S., of H. M. Geological Survey (who
+has kindly given me some valuable information on the subject), states
+"may be about forty feet thick, and the water is drawn up from the bed
+of chalk beneath. This bed is of great thickness, probably six hundred
+or seven hundred feet, and the well simply reaches the level at which
+the chalk is charged with water, _i. e._ something a little higher than
+the level of the neighbouring river." The chalk is exposed on the lower
+bases of Gad's Hill, such as the Railway Station at Higham, the village
+of Chalk, the town of Strood, etc.
+
+There are humorous extracts from letters by Dickens in Forster's _Life_
+respecting the well, which may appropriately be introduced. He says:--
+
+"We are still (6th of July) boring for water here, at the rate of two
+pounds per day for wages. The men seem to like it very much, and to be
+perfectly comfortable." . . . And again, "Here are six men perpetually
+going up and down the well (I know that somebody will be killed), in the
+course of fitting a pump; which is quite a railway terminus--it is so
+iron, and so big. The process is much more like putting Oxford Street
+endwise, and laying gas along it, than anything else. By the time it is
+finished, the cost of this water will be something absolutely frightful.
+But of course it proportionately increases the value of the property,
+and that's my only comfort. . . . Five men have been looking attentively
+at the pump for a week, and (I should hope) may begin to fit it in the
+course of October." The depression caused by the prospect of the
+"absolutely frightful" cost of the water seems to have continued to the
+end of the letter, for it thus concludes:--"The horse has gone lame from
+a sprain, the big dog has run a tenpenny nail into one of his hind feet,
+the bolts have all flown out of the basket carriage, and the gardener
+says all the fruit trees want replacing with new ones."
+
+[Illustration: The Porch, Gad's Hill Place.]
+
+Two of the Major's dogs are chained in the places formerly occupied by
+Dickens's dogs, "Linda" and "Turk." The chains are very long, and allow
+the animals plenty of room for exercise. The space between the two
+permitted a person to walk past without their being able to come near
+him; and, as an instance of Dickens's thoughtful kindliness even to the
+lower animals, two holes were made in the wall so that the dogs could
+get through in hot weather, and lie in the shade of the trees on the
+other side. On the back gate entering into the lane at the side of the
+house was painted, "Beware of the dogs!" This caution appears to have
+been very necessary, for we heard more than once the story of an
+intrusive tramp who trespassed, and going too near the dogs, got sadly
+mauled. Dickens, with characteristic goodness, sent him at once to
+Chatham Hospital, and otherwise healed his wounds.
+
+We are next conducted round the grounds, and have an opportunity of
+examining the front of the house more in detail. The porch is flanked by
+two cosy seats, the pretty little spade-shaped shields, and lateral
+angular ornamental supports on the back of which, we are informed, were
+constructed of pieces of wood from Shakespeare's furniture given to
+Dickens by a friend. A large variegated holly grows on either side of
+the porch, and a semi-circular gravel walk leads to the door. There is a
+closely-cut lawn in front, and opposite the hollies are two fine
+specimens of _Aucuba Japonica_--the so-called variegated laurel.
+
+[Illustration: The Cedars, Gad's Hill.]
+
+It will be remembered that the master of Gad's Hill had a tunnel
+excavated under the Dover Road (which runs through the property), so as
+to approach the "shrubbery" previously referred to, without having to
+cross the open public road. We did not learn who constructed the tunnel,
+but it was designed either by his brother, Mr. Alfred L. Dickens, who
+died at Manchester in 1860, or by his brother-in-law, Mr. Henry Austin.
+The entrance to the tunnel is by a flight of about twenty steps, flanked
+by two beautifully-grown specimens of _Cedrus deodara_, the "deodar,"
+or god-tree of the Himalayas. The tunnel itself is cut through the
+sands, and, being only a little longer than the width of the road, it is
+not at all dark, but very pleasant and cool on a hot day. A
+corresponding flight of steps leads us into the shrubbery, which is shut
+off from the main road by iron railings only. Both ends of the tunnel
+are covered with ivy, which has the effect of partially concealing the
+openings. Readers of Forster's _Life_ will recollect that the Swiss
+châlet presented to Dickens by his friend Fechter the actor, and in
+which he spent his last afternoon, formerly stood in the shrubbery. The
+châlet now stands in the terrace-garden of Cobham Hall.
+
+Before we reach the exact place we have an opportunity of examining the
+two stately cedar trees (_Cedrus Libani_) which are the arboreal gems of
+the place. Major Budden informs us that they are about one hundred and
+twenty-eight years old, and were planted in their present position when
+they had attained about twenty years' growth. Some idea of their
+luxuriance may be formed when it is mentioned that the girth of each
+tree exceeds sixteen feet, and the longest branch of one of them
+measures eighty-four feet in length. In consequence of the habit of
+these trees "fastigiating" at the base, a very numerous series of
+lateral ramifying branches is the result. These branches spread out in
+terraces, and the rich green foliage, covered with exudations of resin,
+seems as though powdered silver had been lightly dusted over it. Each
+tree extends over a circular area of about eighty feet of ground in
+diameter. Under one of the cedars is the grave of "the big and beautiful
+Linda," Dickens's favourite St. Bernard dog. One of the trees has been
+injured, a large branch over-weighted with snow having broken off some
+years ago.
+
+Two or three noble ash trees also grace this spot, running straight up
+in a column some thirty-five feet before shooting out a canopy of
+branches and leaves. There are also a few Scotch firs, the trunks well
+covered with ivy, and a pretty specimen of the variegated sycamore. The
+undergrowth of laurel, laurustinus, briar, privet, holly, etc., is very
+luxuriant here, and the vacant ground is closely covered with the wood
+anemone (_Anemone nemorosa_), which must form a continuous mass of
+pearly white flowers in spring-time.
+
+The ground formerly occupied by the châlet is pointed out to us, its
+site being marked by a bed of rich scarlet nasturtiums. It will be
+recollected that Dickens describes the interior of the building in a
+letter to an American friend, which is thus recorded in Forster's
+_Life_:--
+
+"Divers birds sing here all day, and the nightingales all night. The
+place is lovely and in perfect order. . . . I have put five mirrors in
+the châlet where I write, and they reflect and refract, in all kinds of
+ways, the leaves that are quivering at the windows, and the great fields
+of waving corn, and the sail-dotted river. My room is up among the
+branches of the trees; and the birds and the butterflies fly in and out,
+and the green branches shoot in at the open windows, and the lights and
+shadows of the clouds come and go with the rest of the company. The
+scent of the flowers, and indeed of everything that is growing for miles
+and miles, is most delicious."
+
+But the glory of Gad's Hill Place is reserved for us until the close of
+our visit, when Major Budden very kindly takes us up to the roof, which
+is approached by a commodious flight of steps; and here, on this
+exceptionally fine day, we are privileged to behold a prospect of
+surpassing beauty. Right away to the westward is the great Metropolis,
+its presence being marked by the usual pall of greyish smoke. Opening
+from the town, and becoming wider and wider as the noble river
+approaches its estuary, is the Thames, now conspicuous by numerous
+vessels, showing masts and white and brown sails, and here and there by
+the smoky track of a steamer.
+
+We remember how often the city and the river have been the scene of many
+and many an exploit in Dickens's novels. Northward are the dreary
+marshes, the famous "meshes" of _Great Expectations_, hereafter to be
+noticed. Then far to the eastward runs the valley of the Medway, the
+picturesque city of Rochester thereon being crowned by those conspicuous
+landmarks, its magnificent Castle and ancient Cathedral. In the
+background is the busy town of Chatham, its heights being capped by an
+enormous square and lofty building erected by the sect called
+"Jezreelites," whatever that may be. We were informed that the so-called
+"immortal" leader had just died, and it has since been reported that the
+gloomy building is likely to be converted into a huge jam factory.
+Beyond, and nearly seven miles off, is the high land called "Blue Bell,"
+about three hundred feet above mean sea-level, and all along to the
+south the undulating grounds and beautiful woodland scenery of Cobham
+Park complete the picture.
+
+[Illustration: View from the Roof of Dickens's House at Gad's Hill]
+
+As Major Budden points out in detail these many natural beauties of the
+district, we can quite understand and sympathize with Dickens's love for
+this exquisite spot; and we heartily congratulate the present owner of
+Gad's Hill Place on the charming historical property which he possesses,
+and which, so far as we can perceive (all honour to him), is kept in the
+same excellent condition that characterized it during the novelist's
+lifetime. What is particularly striking about it is at once its
+compactness, completeness, and unpretentiousness.
+
+Descending to the library, whence we started nearly three hours
+previously, we refresh ourselves with a glass of water from the
+celebrated deep well--a draught deliciously cool and clear--which the
+hospitable Major presses us to "dilute" (as Professor Huxley has
+somewhere said) in any way we please, but which we prefer to drink, as
+Dickens himself drank it--pure. Before we rise to leave the spot we have
+so long wished to see, and which we have now gone over to our hearts'
+content, we sadly recall to memory for a moment the "last scene of all
+that ends this strange, eventful history,"--that tragic incident which
+occurred on Thursday, 9th June, 1870, when there was an "empty chair" at
+Gad's Hill Place, and all intelligent English-speaking nations
+experienced a personal sorrow.
+
+And so with many grateful acknowledgments to our kind and courteous
+host, who gives us some nice flowers and cuttings as a parting souvenir,
+we take our leave, having derived from our bright sunny visit to Gad's
+Hill Place that "wave of pleasure" which Mr. Herbert Spencer describes
+as "raising the rate of respiration,--raised respiration being an index
+of raised vital activities in general." In fine, the impression left on
+our minds is such as to induce us to feel that we understand and
+appreciate more of Dickens's old home than any illustration or written
+description of it, however excellent, had hitherto adequately conveyed
+to us. We have seen it for ourselves.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The reminiscences which follow are from Mrs. Lynn Linton and three of
+Charles Dickens's nearest neighbours.
+
+
+GAD'S HILL SIXTY YEARS AGO.
+
+The early love which Charles Dickens felt for Gad's Hill House, and his
+boyish ambition to be one day its owner, had been already anticipated by
+my father. As a boy and young man, my father's heart was set on this
+place; and when my grandfather's death put him in sufficient funds he
+bought it. Being a beneficed clergyman, both of whose livings were in
+the extreme north of England, he could not live in the house; but he
+kept it empty for many years, always hoping to get leave of absence from
+the Bishop for a term long enough to justify the removal of his large
+family from Keswick to Rochester. In 1831 a five years' leave of absence
+was granted; and we all came up by coach to this Mecca of my father's
+love. We were three days and three nights on the road; and I remember
+quite distinctly the square courtyard and outside balcony of the old
+Belle Sauvage Inn, where we put up on our arrival in London. I remember,
+too, the powerful scent of the Portugal laurel and the bay-tree which
+grew on the right-hand side of Gad's Hill House as we entered--brought
+out by the warm damp of the late autumn afternoon. In our time all the
+outhouses had leaden figures on the top. There was a cupola with an
+alarm bell, which one night was rung lustily, to the terror of the whole
+neighbourhood, and the ashamed discovery among ourselves that rats were
+not burglars. In the shrubbery were two large leaden figures of Pomona
+and Vertumnus, standing on each side of the walk leading up to the
+arbour. We had then two arbours--one opposite the house at the end of
+the green walk, and another in a dilapidated state further in the
+shrubbery. They were built of big flint stones, many of which had holes
+in them, where small birds made their nests. I remember in one was a
+tomtit which was quite tame, and used to fly in and out while we were
+watching it. The two cedars, which I believe are still there, were a
+little choked and overshadowed by a large oak-tree, which my father cut
+down. Between seventy and eighty coaches, "vans," and mail-carts passed
+our house during the day, besides private carriages, specially those of
+travellers posting to or from Dover. Regiments, too, often passed on
+their way to Gravesend, where they embarked for India; and ships'
+companies, paid off, rowdy and half-tipsy, made the road really
+dangerous for the time being. We used to lock the two gates when we
+heard them coming, shouting and singing up the hill; and we had to stand
+many a mimic siege from the blue-jackets trying to force their way in.
+Sweet-water grapes grew and ripened in the open air over the wash-house;
+and the back of the house was covered with a singularly fine and
+luscious jargonelle pear. The garden was rich in apples. We had many
+kinds, from the sweet and pulpy nonsuch, to the small tight little
+pearmain and lemon pippin. We had nonpareils, golden pippins, brown and
+golden russets, Ribstone pippins, and what we called a port-wine
+apple--the flesh red, like that of the "blood-oranges." The small
+orchard to the right was as rich in cherry-trees, filberts, and cobnuts.
+In the garden we had a fig-tree, and the mulberry-tree, which is still
+there, was in full bearing in our time. The garden altogether was
+wonderfully prolific in flowers as well as fruits--roses as well as
+strawberries and apples; and the green-house was full of grapes.
+Nightingales sang in the trees near the house, and the shrubbery was
+full of song birds. We had a grand view from the leads, where we used
+sometimes to go, and whence I remember seeing a farmyard fire over at
+Higham--which fire they said had been caused by an incendiary. There was
+a Low Church clergyman in the neighbourhood who might have been Chadband
+or Stiggins. He was fond of some girls we knew, and called them his
+"lambs." He used to put his arm round their waists, and they sat on his
+knees quite naturally. I myself heard him preach at Shorne against the
+institution of pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. He said it was not only
+superstitious but irreligious; as pancakes meant "pan Kakon," all evil.
+This I, then a girl of thirteen or so, heard and remember. When my
+father died his property had to be sold, as he did not make an eldest
+son. Mr. W. H. Wills, the trusty friend of Charles Dickens, and editor
+of _Household Words_ and _All The Year Round_, was also a friend of
+mine. We met at a dinner, and he spoke to me about Gad's Hill, but as if
+he wanted to buy it for himself. He was afraid to mention Charles
+Dickens's name, lest we should ask too much. So he told me afterwards. I
+had been left executrix under my father's will, being then the only
+unmarried daughter; and I took the news to our solicitor and
+co-executor, Mr. Loaden. He wrote to Mr. Wills, and the sale was
+effected. We scored a little triumph over the "ornamental timber." Mr.
+Dickens objected to our price; the case was submitted to an arbitrator,
+and we got more than we originally asked. But there was never one moment
+of pique on either side, nor a drop of bad blood as the consequence. It
+was always a matter for a laugh and a joke between Mr. Wills and myself.
+When we first went to Gad's Hill there was a fish-pond at the back; but
+my father had it filled up, lest one of his adventurous little ones
+should tumble in. Officers used to come up from Chatham to the Falstaff,
+and have pigeon matches in our big field; and one of the sights which
+used to delight our young eyes, was the gallant bearing and gay uniforms
+of the Commandant at Chatham, when he and his staff rode by. We were
+great walkers in those days, and used to ramble over Cobham Park, and
+round by Shorne, and down to the dreary marshes beyond Higham. But this
+was not a favourite walk with us, and we girls never went there alone.
+The banks on the Rochester road--past Davies's Straits--were full of
+sweet violets, white and purple; and the fungi, lichens, flowers, and
+ferns about Shorne and Cobham yet linger in my memory as things of
+rarest beauty. We always thought that the coachman, "Old Chumley," as he
+was called, was old Weller. He was a fine, cheery, trustworthy man; and
+once when my father was in London, he had one of my sisters and
+myself--girls then about fifteen and thirteen--put under his charge to
+be delivered to him at the end of the journey. The dear old fellow took
+as much care of us as if he had been our father himself. I remember my
+brothers gave him a new whip, and he was very fond of us all.
+
+ E. L. L.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+* * * We had at a subsequent visit to Gad's Hill Place, on the
+invitation of our hospitable friends, Major and Mrs. Budden, the
+pleasure of a long and interesting conversation with Mr. James Hulkes,
+J.P., of the Little Hermitage, Frindsbury, a Kentish man, who came to
+live here more than sixty years ago, and who was thus a very near
+neighbour of Charles Dickens during the whole of the time that he
+resided at Gad's Hill Place. We were shown into a delightful room at the
+back of the house, overlooking the shrubberies of the mansion--in the
+distance appearing the high ground on which stands the monument to
+Charles Larkin. The room is a happy combination of part workshop, with a
+fine lathe and assortment of tools fitted round it--part study, with a
+nice collection of books, engravings and pictures (some of hunting
+scenes) on the walls--and part naturalist's den, with cases of stuffed
+birds and animals, guns and fishing-rods--the fragrant odour of tobacco
+breathing friendly welcome to a visitor of smoking proclivities. The
+varied tastes of the owner were sufficiently apparent, and a long chat
+of over two hours seemed to us but a few minutes.
+
+Mr. Hulkes said he just remembered the road from Strood to Gad's Hill
+being cut through the sands down to the chalk. It was for some time
+afterwards called "Davies's Straits," after the Rev. George Davies, the
+then Chairman of the Turnpike Road Board, and the term indicated the
+difficulty and expense of the operation. Before the new road was cut,
+the old highway constituting this part of the Dover Road was very hilly
+and dangerous.
+
+Reverting to the subject of Charles Dickens, our relator remarked, "I
+fear I cannot be of much use to you by giving information about Mr.
+Dickens, as I only knew him as a kind friend, a very genial host, and a
+most charming companion; to the poor he was always kind--a deserving
+beggar never went from his house unrelieved." What indeed could be said
+more! These few simple words, spoken so earnestly after a period of
+nearly twenty years, sufficed to bring before us the lost neighbour
+whose memory was so warmly cherished by his surviving friend.
+
+John Forster, in the _Life_, speaks of Mr. Hulkes as being "one of the
+two nearest country neighbours with whom the [Dickens] family had become
+very intimate," and mentions that both Mr. and Mrs. Hulkes were present
+at the wedding of the novelist's second daughter, Kate, with Mr. Charles
+Alston Collins. Mr. Hulkes spoke of the pleasant parties at Gad's Hill
+Place, at which he met Mr. Forster, Mr. Wilkie Collins, Mr. Percy
+Fitzgerald, Mr. Marcus Stone, Mr. H. F. Chorley, and many others; and
+observed that, on the occasion of charades and private theatricals
+there, Charles Dickens was always in fine form. He showed us an original
+manuscript programme (of which we were allowed to take a copy), written
+on half-a-sheet of foolscap; and from the fact that "_Gads Hill Gazette_
+Printing Office" appears in the corner it would seem that it was printed
+on the occasion for the guests. It is as follows:--
+
+
+ _December 31st, 1863._
+
+ "A night's exploit on Gad's Hill."--_Shakespeare._
+
+ =Her Majesty's Servants=
+ will have the honour of presenting
+ Three Charades!!!
+
+ Each Charade is a word of two syllables, arranged
+ in three Scenes. The first scene is the first
+ syllable; the second is the second syllable; the
+ third scene is the entire word.
+
+ (_At the end of each Charade the audience is
+ respectfully invited to name the word._)
+
+
+
+=Charade 1!=
+
+ Scene I.--The awful end of the Profligate Sailor.
+
+ Scene II.--On the way to foreign parts.
+
+ Scene III.--Miss Belinda Jane and the faithful
+ policeman (Division Q).
+
+
+=Charade 2!!=
+
+ Scene I.--Archery at Castle Doodle.
+
+ Scene II.--Fra Diavolo a Dread Reality.
+
+ Scene III.--The Choice of a too Lowly Youth.
+
+
+=Charade 3!!!=
+
+ Scene I.--The Pathetic History of the Poor Little Sweep.
+
+ Scene II.--Mussulman Barbarity to Christians.
+
+ Scene III.--Merry England.
+
+ _Gad's Hill Gazette_ Printing Office.
+
+The various parts were taken by Dickens and his family, and the entire
+word of the last Charade is supposed to be "May Day."
+
+In connection with charades, Mr. Hulkes alluded to Dickens's remarkable
+facility for "guessing a subject fixed on when he was out of the room,
+in half a dozen questions;" and related the story of how at the young
+people's game of "Yes and No," he found out the proper answer to a
+random question fixed upon by Mr. Charles Collins, one of the company,
+in his absence, which was, "The top-boot of the left leg of the head
+post-boy at Newman's Yard, London." The squire sometimes took a stroll
+with his neighbour, but observed "he was too fast a walker for me--I
+couldn't keep up with him!"
+
+Mr. Hulkes possesses a nearly complete "file" (from 1862 to 1866) of the
+_Gad's Hill Gazette_, to which he was one of the subscribers, and which
+was edited by the novelist's son, Mr. Henry Fielding Dickens, and, as
+before stated, printed at Gad's Hill Place. It chronicled the arrivals
+and departures, the results of cricket matches and billiard games, with
+interesting gossip of events relating to the family and the
+neighbourhood. Occasionally there was a leading article, and now and
+then an acrostic appeared. Among the subscribers were the novelist and
+his family, The Lord Chief Justice, The Dean of Bristol, Lady
+Molesworth, Mrs. Milner Gibson, M. Stone, A. Halliday, J. Hulkes, C.
+Kent, W. H. Wills, H. F. Chorley, Edmund Yates, etc. The number for
+January 20th, 1866, contains a humorous correspondence on the management
+of the journal between "Jabez Skinner" and "Blackbury Jones." Mr. H. F.
+Dickens kindly allows a copy of the number for December 30th, 1865, to
+be reproduced, which is interesting as giving an account of the
+Staplehurst accident, and also the notice issued when the journal was
+discontinued.
+
+
+ THE
+
+ GAD'S HILL GAZETTE
+
+ Edited by H. F. Dickens
+
+ December 30th 1865 Price 2d
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We are very glad to meet our subscribers again after such a long lapse
+of time, and we hope that they will patronise us in the same kind and
+indulgent manner as they did, last season.
+
+In the circulars, we announced that some great improvements were to be
+made in the Gazette-- We are sorry that they cannot appear in this
+number (as our suppliers of type have disappointed us) but we hope that
+next week, we shall be able to publish this journal in quite a different
+form.
+
+Hoping that our subscribers will excuse us this week, we beg to wish
+them all A Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Christmas at Gad's Hill.
+
+During the past week, Gad's Hill has resounded with the sounds of
+festivity and merriment.
+
+ (Continued on the next page)
+
+As is usually the case, the house has been filled with the guests who
+have come to taste of Mr Dickens' hospitality. These consisted of Mr
+Mad, and Master Fechter, Mr & Mrs C. Collins, Mr Mrs and Master C.
+Dickens junr, Mr Morgan (who suddenly appeared on Christmas Day, having
+just returned from America) Mr M. Stone, Mr Chorley and Mr Dickenson.
+
+The latter gentleman has not yet entirely recovered from the effects of
+a most disastrous railway accident in which he was a sufferer, and had
+it not been for the courage and intrepidity of Mr Dickens, he would not
+now be spending his Christmas at Gad's Hill.
+
+A short time before the accident occurred, Mr Dickenson had a dispute
+with a French gentleman about the opening of the window when the former
+offered to change places, if the open window was disagreeable to his
+fellow traveller--this they did.--
+
+Then came the accident, accompanied by all its frightful incidents. The
+French gentleman was killed, Mr Dickenson was stunned and hurled with
+great violence under the debris of a carriage.
+
+Mr Dickens, who was in another compartment, managed to crawl out of the
+window and then, caring little for his own safety, busied himself in
+helping the wounded. Whilst engaged in doing this, he passed by a
+carriage, underneath which he saw a gentleman (Mr Dickenson) lying
+perfectly still, and bleeding from the eyes, ears, nose and mouth.
+
+He was immediately taken to the town of Staplehurst where he so far
+recovered as to be able to return to London, that evening.
+
+Next morning he was suffering from a very severe concussion of the brain
+and was ill for many weeks--But to our subject.
+
+On Christmas Day, Mr, Mrs & Miss Malleson came to dinner. At about 9, an
+ex tempore dance began and was kept up till about 2 o'clock Tuesday
+morning. During the week, billiards has been much resorted to. (See next
+page)
+
+All the visitors are still here, except Mr Fechter and family who left
+on December 26th, and Mr Morgan (who is to return on 31st. Talking of Mr
+Fechter, our readers will be glad to hear that he has made a most
+decided success in his new piece entitled--The Master of Ravenswood--
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+Sporting Intelligence.
+
+Billiards
+
+Of all the matches that have been played during the past week the most
+important was a Great Handicap on Christmas Day, the prize being a
+pewter. Annexed is an account of it.
+
+ Stone Scratch C Dickens jun 20 Harry 30
+ Fechter 5 Dickenson 20 C Dickens 35
+ Morgan 10 Collins 30 Plorn 40
+
+Our space will not allow us to enter into the minute details of this
+match suffice it to say that Mr Dickenson won but that as regards good
+play, he was excelled by Mr Stone (who, however, was so heavily weighted
+that he could not win. Great credit is due to Mr Ch Dickens junr for the
+way in which he handicapped the men.
+
+On Saturday 30th a match is to be played between The Earl of Darnley and
+Mr M Stone.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ Gad's Hill Gazette Office.
+ January--1867.
+
+In a circular issued last August, we announced that a final number of
+the Gad's Hill Gazette was to be published this Xmas. We are grieved
+however to state, that the shortening of the Wimbledon School holidays
+(in which establishment the Editor is a pupil) has rendered this
+impossible.
+
+It is with feelings of the deepest regret that we find ourselves obliged
+to conclude the publication of our Journal in this sudden and unexpected
+manner, but we feel sure that the great indulgence of the Public will
+overlook this, as it has done many other great errors in the Gad's Hill
+Gazette.
+
+In conclusion, we beg to take leave of our Subscribers in our public
+capacity of Editor, thanking them for their kindness in supporting our
+Journal, and wishing them all
+
+ --"A Happy New Year."--
+
+ [Illustration: Signature: A. F. Dickens]
+ (Signed) Sole Editor
+
+Mrs. Hulkes had a number of pleasant recollections of Gad's Hill Place,
+and of Charles Dickens and his family. "As a girl," said this lady, "I
+was an admiring reader of his works, and I longed to see and know the
+author; but little did I think that my high ambition would ever be
+gratified." That a warm friendship existed between his admirer and
+Charles Dickens, who subsequently became her near neighbour, is
+evidenced by the fact that, in reply to her request, he allowed this
+lady the great privilege of reading the catastrophe of that
+exquisitely-pathetic and nobly-altruistic story of _A Tale of Two
+Cities_, some weeks before its publication, as appears from the
+following letter:--
+
+
+ "GAD'S HILL PLACE,
+ "HIGHAM BY ROCHESTER, KENT.
+ "_Sunday evening, Sixteenth Oct., 1857._
+
+ "MY DEAR MRS. HULKES,
+
+ "My daughter has shown me your note, and it has
+ impressed me with the horrible determination to
+ become a new kind of Bluebeard, and lay an awful
+ injunction of secrecy on you for five mortal
+ weeks.
+
+ "Here is the remainder of the _Tale of Two
+ Cities_. Not half-a-dozen of my oldest and most
+ trusty literary friends have seen it. It is a real
+ pleasure to me to entrust you with the
+ catastrophe, and to ask you to keep a grim and
+ inflexible silence on the subject until it is
+ published. When you have read the proofs, will you
+ kindly return them to me?
+
+ "With my regard to Mr. Hulkes,
+
+ "Believe me always,
+ "Faithfully yours,
+ "CHARLES DICKENS.
+
+ "MRS. HULKES."
+
+Mrs. Hulkes said that when Dickens went to Paris in 1863, he jokingly
+said to her, "I am going to Paris; what shall I bring you?" She replied,
+"A good photograph of yourself, as I do not like the one you gave me;
+and I hear the French people are more successful than the English, or
+their climate may help them." And he brought a photograph of himself, of
+which there were only four printed. It now graces Mrs. Hulkes'
+drawing-room, and represents the novelist very life-like in full face,
+head and bust. The photograph was taken by Alphonse Maze, and has been
+exquisitely engraved in Mr. Kitton's _Charles Dickens by Pen and
+Pencil_.
+
+Mrs. Hulkes mentioned a curious and interesting circumstance. On the
+night before the funeral of her friend, Miss Dickens sent down to the
+Little Hermitage to ask if she could kindly give her some roses. Mrs.
+Hulkes cut a quantity from one of the trees in the garden (Lamarque, she
+believes), and the tree never bloomed again, and soon after died. No
+doubt, as she observed, it bled to death from the excessive cutting. It
+was the second case only of the kind in her experience as a rose-grower
+during very many years.
+
+Charles Dickens also took interest in his friend's son (their only
+child, who has since finished his University career), and this gentleman
+prizes as a relic a copy of _A Child's History of England_, which was
+presented to him, with the following inscription written in the
+characteristic blue ink--"Charles Dickens. To his little friend, Cecil
+James Hulkes. Christmas Eve, 1864." In a letter to Miss Hogarth, written
+from New York, on Friday, 3rd January, 1868, he says:--"I have a letter
+from Mrs. Hulkes by this post, wherein the boy encloses a violet, now
+lying on the table before me. Let her know that it arrived safely and
+retaining its colour."
+
+There are many interesting relics of Gad's Hill Place now in the
+possession of the family at the Little Hermitage, notably Charles
+Dickens's seal with his crest, and the initials C. D., his pen-tray, his
+desk, a photograph of the study on 8th June, 1870 (a present from Miss
+Hogarth), the portrait above referred to, an arm-chair, a drawing-room
+settee, a dressing-table, and a library writing-table.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+On another occasion we were favoured with an interview by Mr. J. N.
+Malleson, of Brighton, who formerly resided at the Great Hermitage,
+Higham, and who was a neighbour of Charles Dickens for many years. Mr.
+Malleson came to the Great Hermitage in 1859, and a day or two after
+Christmas Day in that year--having previously been a guest at the
+wedding of Dickens's second daughter Kate, with Mr. Charles Alston
+Collins--he met the novelist, who, stopping to chat pleasantly, asked
+his neighbours where they dined at Christmas? "Oh, Darby and Joan," said
+our informant. Dickens laughingly replied:--"That shall never happen
+again"; and the following year, and every year afterwards, except when
+their friend was in America, Mr. and Mrs. Malleson received and accepted
+invitations to dine at Gad's Hill Place. On the exception in question,
+the family of Dickens dined at the Great Hermitage.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+In the autumn of the year 1889 we had a most interesting chat with Mr.
+William Stocker Trood, at his residence, Spearcehay Farm, Pitminster,
+pleasantly situated in the vale of Taunton, for many years landlord of
+the Sir John Falstaff at Gad's Hill. The first noteworthy circumstance
+to record is that his name is not _Edwin_ Trood, as commonly supposed,
+but William Stocker, as above stated, Stocker being an old family name.
+This fact disposes of the supposition that the former two names, with
+the alteration of a single letter, gave rise in Dickens's mind to the
+designation of the principal character in _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_.
+The name of "Trood" is by the substitution of one letter easily
+converted into Drood, and that word is perhaps more euphonious with
+"Edwin" as prefixed to it; but "William Stocker" is not by any means
+easily converted into "Edwin." The idea that "Edwin Drood" is derived
+from "William Stocker Trood" may therefore be dismissed as a popular
+fallacy. It may be mentioned, however, _en passant_, that Mr. Trood had
+a brother named Edward, who sometimes visited him at the Falstaff, and
+also a son who bore the name of his uncle.
+
+We found our informant to be wonderfully genial, hale and hearty,
+although in his eighty-fifth year. He had a perfect recollection of
+Charles Dickens, and remembered his first coming to Gad's Hill Place.
+Before the house was properly furnished and put in order, both Mr. and
+Mrs. Dickens sometimes slept at the Falstaff; and afterwards, when
+visitors were staying at Gad's Hill Place, and the bedrooms there were
+full, some of them slept at the Inn; in particular, John Forster, Wilkie
+Collins, and Marcus Stone. He said Mr. Dickens was a very nice man to
+speak to, and Mrs. Dickens was a very nice lady. They were always kind
+and pleasant as neighbours, but Mr. Dickens did not talk much. Said Mr.
+Trood:--"When I was at Higham, Mr. Dickens used to say no one could put
+in a word; I had all the talk to myself." The sons were all very
+pleasant; in fact, he liked the family very much indeed.
+
+Mr. Trood sometimes acted as local banker to Charles Dickens, and used
+to cash his cheques for him. Only the day before his death, he cashed a
+cheque for £22, and was subsequently offered £24 for it by an admirer of
+Dickens who desired the autograph; but to his credit it should be
+mentioned that he did not accept the offer.
+
+Our informant next spoke of the wonderful partiality of Dickens to
+cricket; he would stand out all night if he could watch a cricket match.
+The matches were always played in Mr. Dickens's field, and the business
+meetings of the club were held monthly at the Falstaff. Mr. Trood was
+Treasurer of the club. Occasionally there was a dinner.
+
+A circumstance was related which made a profound impression on our
+friend. The family at Gad's Hill Place were very fond of music, and on
+one occasion there were present as visitors two great violinists, one a
+German and the other an Italian, and it was a debated question among the
+listeners outside the gates, where the music could be distinctly heard,
+which played the better. Mr. Trood had just returned from Gravesend in
+the cool of the summer evening, about ten o'clock, and stood in the road
+opposite listening, "spellbound," to the delightful music. Miss Dickens
+played the accompaniments.
+
+Mr. Trood spoke with a lively and appreciative recollection of the
+Christmas sports that were held in a field at the back of Gad's Hill
+Place, and of the good order and nice feeling that prevailed at those
+gatherings, although several thousand people were present. Among the
+games that were played, the wheeling of barrows by blind-folded men
+seemed to tickle him most.
+
+Our octogenarian friend also spoke of the great love of Dickens for
+scarlet geraniums. Hundreds of the "Tom Thumb" variety were planted in
+the beds on the front lawn and in the back garden at Gad's Hill Place.
+
+Soon after the terrible railway accident at Staplehurst, Dickens came
+over to the Falstaff and spoke to Mr. Trood, who congratulated him. Said
+Dickens, "I never thought I should be here again." It is a wonderful
+coincidence to record, that a young gentleman named Dickenson, who
+subsequently became intimate with the novelist, changed places (so as to
+get the benefit of meeting the fresh air) with a French gentleman in the
+same carriage who was killed, and Mr. Dickenson escaped! The accident
+happened on the 9th June, 1865, and Dickens died on the "fatal
+anniversary," 9th June, 1870.
+
+Mr. Trood confirmed his daughter's (Mrs. Latter's) account of the
+_fraças_ with the men and performing bears, given in another chapter,
+adding, "That _was_ a concern."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+The beautiful city of Exeter is not far from Taunton, and we naturally
+avail ourselves of the opportunity of stopping there for a few hours,
+and stroll over to see the village of Alphington. It was here, in the
+year 1839, that Charles Dickens took and furnished Mile End Cottage for
+his father and mother and their youngest son. He thus describes the
+event in a letter to Forster:--"I took a little house for them this
+morning (5th March, 1839), and if they are not pleased with it I shall
+be grievously disappointed. Exactly a mile beyond the city on the
+Plymouth road there are two white cottages: one is theirs, and the
+other belongs to their landlady. I almost forget the number of rooms,
+but there is an excellent parlour with two other rooms on the ground
+floor, there is really a beautiful little room over the parlour which I
+am furnishing as a drawing-room, and there is a splendid garden. The
+paint and paper throughout is new and fresh and cheerful-looking, the
+place is clean beyond all description, and the neighbourhood I suppose
+the most beautiful in this most beautiful of English counties." The
+negotiations with the landlady and the operation of furnishing the house
+are most humorously pourtrayed in the same letter.
+
+The cottage is also described in _Nicholas Nickleby_, which he was
+writing at the time. Mrs. Nickleby, in allusion to her old home, calls
+it "the beautiful little thatched white house one storey high, covered
+all over with ivy and creeping plants, with an exquisite little porch
+with twining honeysuckles and all sorts of things."
+
+Fifty years have passed since the parents of the novelist went to live
+at Alphington, which, notwithstanding the subsequent growth of the city,
+still continues to be a pretty suburb with fine views of the Ide Hills
+to the westward, and Heavitree to the eastward. Our efforts to obtain
+any reminiscences of the Dickens family in the village were quite
+unsuccessful--so long a time had elapsed since their departure--although,
+to oblige us, the vicar of the place kindly made enquiries, and took
+some interest in the matter.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[11] Since this was written, Gad's Hill Place has been purchased by the
+Hon. F. G. Latham. Major Budden has resigned his commission locally, and
+now holds a commission in the Limerick City Artillery Militia. It is
+very pleasant to place on record that in subsequent visits to
+"Dickens-Land" I was always received with friendly kindness by Major and
+Mrs. Budden, whose hospitality I often enjoyed. Their enthusiasm for the
+late owner of Gad's Hill Place, and their willingness to show every part
+of their beautiful residence to any one specially interested, was most
+gratifying to a lover of Dickens. Like the novelist, Mrs. Budden is fond
+of private theatricals, and has published a little book on _Mrs.
+Farley's Wax-Works and How to Use Them_.
+
+[12] It has been suggested that the lines above quoted might give one
+the impression that they are those of Falstaff. This, of course, is not
+the case. They are spoken by Poins, when in company with Falstaff,
+Prince Henry, and others. They occur in Act I. Scene ii. of _King Henry
+IV._, Part 1.
+
+A Note to Charles Knight's Edition of Shakespeare, contained in the
+"Illustrations to Act I." of the same Play, states that Gad's Hill
+appears to have been a place notorious for robbers before the time of
+Shakespeare, for Stevens discovered an entry of the date of 1558 in the
+books of the Stationers' Company, of a ballad entitled, "The Robbery at
+Gad's Hill." And the late Sir Henry Ellis, of the British Museum,
+communicated to Mr. Boswell, Editor of Malone's Shakespeare, a narrative
+in the handwriting of Sir Roger Manwood, Chief Baron of the Exchequer,
+dated 5th July, 1590, which shows that Gad's Hill was at that period the
+resort of a band of well-mounted robbers of more than usual daring, as
+appears from the following extract:--
+
+"In the course of that Michaelmas term, I being at London, many
+robberies were done in the bye-ways at Gad's Hill, on the west part of
+Rochester, and at Chatham, down on the east part of Rochester, by horse
+thieves, with such fat and lusty horses, as were not like hackney horses
+nor far-journeying horses; and one of them sometimes wearing a vizard
+grey beard, he was by common report in the country called 'Justice Grey
+Beard;' and no man durst travel that way without great company."
+
+[13] At an interview with Mr. H. F. Dickens some time afterwards, he
+told me the story of the origin of _The Gad's Hill Gazette_. There was a
+good deal of sand exposed at the back of the house, and the sons of the
+novelist--who like other boys were full of energy,--were fond of playing
+at "burying" each other. Their father naturally feared that this kind of
+play might have some disastrous effects, and develop into burying in
+earnest. So he said one day to his sons, "Why not establish a newspaper,
+if you want a field for your energies?" _The Gad's Hill Gazette_ was the
+result. At first the tiny journal was written on a plain sheet and
+copies made; then a Manifold Writer was used; and afterwards came the
+Printing Press.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+CHARLES DICKENS AND STROOD.
+
+ "So altered was the battle-ground, where thousands
+ upon thousands had been killed in the great
+ fight."--_The Battle of Life._
+
+ "Keep me always at it, I'll keep you always at it,
+ you keep somebody else always at it. There you
+ are, with the Whole Duty of Man in a commercial
+ country."--_Little Dorrit._
+
+
+THE town of Strood,--the Roman _Strata_,--which stands on the left bank
+of the river Medway, has, like the city of Rochester, its interesting
+historical associations. Its Church, dedicated to St. Nicholas, stands
+high on the north side of the London road leading to Gad's Hill, and has
+a brass of T. Glover and his three wives. At one time there was a
+hospital for travellers, founded by Bishop Glanville (_temp._ Richard
+I.), near the Church. The most interesting remains are, however, those
+of the Temple Farm, distant about half a mile south, formerly (_temp._
+Henry II.) the mansion of the Knights Templars of the Teutonic order, to
+whom it, together with the lands thereto belonging, was given by that
+monarch. The gift was confirmed by King John and by Henry III. (1227);
+but the unfortunate brethren of the order did not retain possession more
+than a century, for in the reign of Edward II. they were dispossessed of
+their lands and goods, under pretence of their leading a vicious course
+of life, but in reality to satisfy the avarice of their dispossessors.
+The present building dates from about James I., has one fine room
+overlooking the river, and underneath is a spacious vault called by
+Grose the "Preceptory," excavated out of the chalk, and having fine
+groined stone arches and aisles--the walls are of very great thickness.
+Near Frindsbury Church--in which are three most interesting
+wall-paintings of St. William the Baker of Perth, St. Lawrence, and
+another figure, all three discovered on the jambs of the Norman windows
+only a few years ago--stands the Quarry House, a handsome old red-brick
+mansion, "described as more Jacobean than Elizabethan," built in the
+form of a capital E, each storey slightly receding behind the front
+level of that beneath it, the top tapering into pretty gables, the
+effect being enhanced by heavy buttresses.
+
+There is a dreadful legend of the ancient people of Strood common to
+several other parts of the kingdom, _e.g._ Auster in Dorsetshire, which
+the quaint and diligent Lambarde, quoting from Polydore Virgil,
+evidently regarded as serious, and takes immense pains to confute! It
+relates to St. Thomas à Becket and his contention with King Henry II.,
+whereby he began to be looked upon as the King's enemy, and as such
+began to be "so commonly neglected, contemned, and hated:--
+
+"That when as it happened him upon a time to come to _Stroude_, the
+Inhabitants thereabouts (being desirous to dispite that good Father)
+sticked not to cut the tail from the horse on which he road, binding
+themselves thereby with a perpetuall reproach: for afterward (by the
+will of God) it so happened, that every one which came of that kinred of
+men which plaied that naughty prank, were borne with tails, even as
+brute beasts be."
+
+[Illustration: Temple Farm Strood]
+
+Surely had the credulous historian lived in Darwinian times, he might
+have recorded this as a splendid instance of "degeneration"!
+
+[Illustration: At Temple Farm Strood]
+
+In a lecture delivered here some years ago, the Rev. Canon Scott
+Robertson, Editor of _Archæologia Cantiana_, gave a graphic picture of
+"Strood in the Olden Times." To this we are much indebted for the
+opportunity of giving an abstract of several of the most interesting
+details.
+
+In the thirteenth century Strood and Rochester were the scene of a
+severe struggle between Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, the
+leader of the Barons in their war against Henry III. to resist the
+aggressive encroachments of the King on the liberties of the subject,
+and the supporters of that monarch.
+
+[Illustration: Crypt Temple Farm]
+
+Simon de Montfort, who was a Strood landowner, and possessed of other
+large properties in Kent, took the lead, followed by several other
+nobles, in the siege of Rochester. Their first obstacle was the
+fortified gate-house at the Strood end of Rochester Bridge, and for some
+time their efforts were in vain, till at length, by means of small ships
+filled with inflammable matter, set on fire and driven towards the
+centre of the wooden bridge, causing "actual or expected ignition of the
+timbers," the King's soldiers were dismayed and retreated. The Earl of
+Gloucester simultaneously reached the south end of the city, and the
+Barons took possession thereof, sacking the town, monastery, and
+Cathedral Church. The garrison of the Castle shut themselves up in the
+strong Norman Keep, and held it till relieved by Prince Edward, the
+King's son.
+
+The Castle was subsequently taken by Simon de Montfort after the Battle
+of Lewes (1264), where Henry III. was taken prisoner and brought to
+Rochester, and a Proclamation was issued transferring the custody of the
+Royal Castle to the Barons.
+
+At the Battle of Evesham (1265) Simon de Montfort was slain; and the
+King, on becoming master of the situation, imposed a fine, equivalent to
+about £1,500 of our money, on Strood, because it was the headquarters of
+Simon during his assault on Rochester. The fine caused much ill-feeling
+between the two towns, which lasted until the reign of Edward I. Such
+was Strood in the olden times.
+
+Long years have since passed, and the amenities of an industrial age
+have succeeded to these turmoils. The town of Strood appears to be
+flourishing, and now possesses large engineering works, cement
+manufactories, flour mills, and other extensive industries.
+
+Allusion has been previously made to a very entertaining _brochure_,
+entitled _Charles Dickens and Rochester_, by Mr. Robert Langton, F. R.
+Hist. Soc. of Manchester (himself, we believe, a Rochester man). In it
+there is scarcely any reference to Strood, although the sister-town,
+Chatham, is freely mentioned. Our enquiries at Strood, on the Tuesday
+and subsequently, resulted in the discovery of many most interesting
+memorials of Charles Dickens in connection with that town, enough almost
+to fill a small volume. There was a general impression that Dickens had
+no great liking for Strood, and yet it was a doctor from that town who
+was one of his most intimate friends, and who attended him in his last
+illness; it was a builder in Strood who executed most of the alterations
+and repairs at Gad's Hill Place; it was a Strood contractor who gave him
+the souvenir of old Rochester Bridge; it was at Strood that an eminent
+local scientist lived, who was incidentally, but very importantly,
+associated with him in the movement connected with the Guild of
+Literature and Art; and it was at a quiet roadside inn at Strood that he
+sometimes called to refresh himself after one of those long walks, alone
+or with friends, for which he was famous.
+
+[Illustration: The "Crispin & Crispianus", Strood]
+
+Let us reverse the order of the above, and give a recollection from the
+last-mentioned. The "Crispin and Crispianus" is a very old-fashioned
+inn, which stands on the north side of the London road just out of
+Strood, and was, as we were informed, erected some centuries ago. It is
+a long building, of brick below, with an overhanging upper floor and
+weather-boarded front, surmounted by a single dormer window. The sanded
+floor of the common parlour is, as the saying goes, "as clean as a new
+pin." Round the room is a settle terminating with arms at each side of
+the door, which is opposite the fireplace. Mrs. Masters, the cheerful
+and obliging landlady, who has lived here thirty years, describes
+Dickens to us (as we sit in the seat he used now and then to occupy),
+when on one of his walks, as habited in low shoes not over-well mended,
+loose large check-patterned trousers that sometimes got entangled in the
+shoes when walking, a brown coat thrown open, sometimes without
+waistcoat, a belt instead of braces, a necktie which now and then got
+round towards his ear, and a large-brimmed felt hat, similar to an
+American's, set well at the back of his head. In his hand he carried by
+the middle an umbrella, which he was in the habit of constantly
+swinging, and if he had dogs (a not unfrequent occurrence), he had a
+small whip as well. He walked in the middle of the road at a rapid pace,
+upright, but with his eyes cast down as if in deep thought. When he
+called at the Crispin for refreshment, usually a glass of ale (mild
+sixpenny--bitter ale was not drawn in those days), or a little cold
+brandy and water, he walked straight in, and sat down at the corner of
+the settle on the right-hand side where the arm is, opposite the
+fire-place; he rarely spoke to any one, but looked round as though
+taking in everything at a glance. (In _David Copperfield_ he says, "I
+looked at nothing, that I know of, but I saw everything.") Once he and a
+friend were sheltering there during a thunderstorm (by a coincidence, a
+storm occurs at the time we are here), and while Dickens stood looking
+out of the window he saw opposite a poor woman with a baby, who appeared
+very worn, wet, and travel-stained. She too was sheltering from the
+rain.
+
+"Call her in here," said Dickens. Mrs. Masters obeyed.
+
+"Now," said he, "draw her some brandy."
+
+"How much?" she asked.
+
+"Never mind," he answered, "draw her some."
+
+The landlady drew her four-pennyworth, the quantity generally served.
+
+"Now," said Dickens to the woman, "drink that up," which she did, and
+soon seemed refreshed. Dickens gave her a shilling, and remarked to Mrs.
+Masters that "now she will go on her way rejoicing." The story is a
+trivial one, but the units make the aggregate, and it sufficiently
+indicates his kindness of heart and thoughtfulness for others.
+
+In some of his walks Dickens was accompanied either by his
+sister-in-law, Miss Hogarth, or by friends who were staying at "Gad's"
+(or the "Place," as it was sometimes called). Mrs. Masters, whose
+recollections of Dickens are very vivid, said--"Lor! we never thought
+much about him when he was alive; it was only when his death took place
+that we understood what a great man he was." Alas! it is not the first
+instance that "a prophet is not without honour, save in his own country,
+and in his own house." The news of his death was a great shock to Mrs.
+Masters, who heard of it from Edward, son of Mr. W. S. Trood, the
+landlord of the Sir John Falstaff, as he was bearing the intelligence to
+Rochester within half-an-hour after the event.
+
+In passing we should mention, that the Crispin and Crispianus has been
+immortalized in the chapter on "Tramps," in _The Uncommercial
+Traveller_, where, in reference to the handicrafts of certain tramps,
+Dickens imagines himself to be a travelling clockmaker, and after
+adjusting "t'ould clock" in the keeper's kitchen, "he sees to something
+wrong with the bell of the turret stable clock up at the Hall [Cobham
+Hall]. . . . Our task at length accomplished, we should be taken into an
+enormous servants'-hall, and there regaled with beef and bread, and
+powerful ale. Then, paid freely, we should be at liberty to go, and
+should be told by a pointing helper to keep round over yinder by the
+blasted ash, and so straight through the woods till we should see the
+town-lights right afore us. . . . So should we lie that night at the
+ancient sign of the Crispin and Crispianus [at Strood], and rise early
+next morning to be betimes on tramp again."[14]
+
+We are also indebted to Mrs. Masters for an introduction to our next
+informant, Mr. J. Couchman, master-builder and undertaker of Strood,
+who, though advanced in years and tried by illness, is very free and
+chatty; and from him and his son we obtained some interesting facts. He
+had worked for Charles Dickens at Gad's Hill Place, from the date of his
+going there ("which," says Mr. Couchman, "was on Whitsun Monday, 1856,")
+until the 11th June, 1870, two days after the sad occurrence "which
+eclipsed the gaiety of nations."
+
+From Mr. Couchman's standpoint as a tradesman, it is interesting to
+record his experience of Dickens in his own words. "Mr. Dickens," he
+says, "was always very straightforward, honourable, and kind, and paid
+his bills most regularly. The first work I did for him was to make a
+dog-kennel; I also put up the châlet at Gad's Hill. When it was
+forwarded from London, which was by water, Mr. Fechter [whose name he
+did not at first remember] sent a Frenchman to assist in the erection.
+The châlet consisted of ninety-four pieces, all fitting accurately
+together like a puzzle. The Frenchman did not understand it, and could
+not make out the fitting of the pieces. So I asked Mr. Henry [Mr. Henry
+Fielding Dickens, the novelist's sixth son, the present Recorder of
+Deal] if he understood French. He said 'Yes,' and told me the names of
+the different pieces, and I managed it without the Frenchman, who stayed
+the night, and went away next day." In conversation, we suggest that the
+circumstance of the châlet having been made in Switzerland may have
+embarrassed the Frenchman, he not having been accustomed to that kind of
+work. In his letter to Forster of the 7th June, 1865, Dickens
+says:--"The châlet is going on excellently, though the ornamental part
+is more slowly put together than the substantial. It will really be a
+very pretty thing; and in the summer (supposing it not to be blown away
+in the spring), the upper room will make a charming study. It is much
+higher than we supposed."
+
+Mr. Couchman also took down the châlet after Charles Dickens's death,
+and erected it at the Crystal Palace at Sydenham, where it remained for
+a short time, and was subsequently presented to the Earl of Darnley by
+several members of the Dickens family. His lordship afterwards ordered
+him to fit it up at Cobham Hall, where, as previously stated, it now
+stands. The woods of which it is constructed he believed to be Baltic
+oak and a kind of pine, the lighter parts being of maple or sycamore. We
+saw it subsequently.
+
+Several contracts were entered into by Mr. Couchman with Charles Dickens
+for the extension and modification of Gad's Hill Place, notably during
+the year 1861. We are favoured with a sight of an original specification
+signed by both parties, which is as follows:--
+
+ "Specification of works proposed to be done at
+ Gad's Hill House, Higham, for C. Dickens, Esq.
+
+ "_Bricklayer._--To take off slates and copings and
+ heighten brick walls and chimneys, and build No. 2
+ new chimneys with stock and picking bricks laid in
+ cement. No. 2 chimney bars, to cope gable ends
+ with old stone. No. 2 hearthstones. No. 2 plain
+ stone chimney-pieces. No. 2--2 ft. 6 in. Register
+ stoves. To lath and plaster ceiling, side walls,
+ and partitions with lime and hair two coats, and
+ set to slate the new roof with good countess
+ slates and metal nails.
+
+ "_Carpenter._--To take off roof, to lay floor
+ joist with 7 × 2-1/2 in. yellow battens; to fix
+ roof, ceiling, joist and partitions of good fir
+ timber, 4 ft. × 2 ft.; to use old timber that is
+ sound and fit for use; to close board roof, lead
+ flat and gutters; to lay 1 in. × 9 in. white deal
+ floors, to skirt rooms with 8 in. × 3/4 in. deal;
+ to fix No. 4 pairs of 1-3/4 in. sashes and frames
+ for plate-glass as per order. _All the sashes to
+ have weights and pulleys for opening._ To fix No.
+ 2--6 ft. 6 in. × 2 ft. 6 in. 1-1/2 in., four panel
+ doors, and encase frames with all necessary
+ mouldings; to fix window linings, and 1-1/2 in.
+ square framings and doors for No. 2 dressing-rooms;
+ to fix No. 2, 7 in. rim locks. No. 2 box latches,
+ sash fastenings, sash weights, to fix 4 in. O. G.
+ iron eaves, gutter with cistern heads, and 3 in.
+ iron leading pipes.
+
+ "_Plumber, Glazier, and Painter._--To take up old
+ lead guttering, and lay new gutters and lead flats
+ with 6lb. lead, ridge and flushings with 5lb.
+ lead; to paint all wood and iron-work that
+ requires painting 4 coats in oil, the windows to
+ be glazed with good plate glass; to paper rooms
+ and landings when the walls are dry with paper of
+ the value of 1_s._ 6_d._ per piece, the old lead
+ to be the property of the plumber. _The two
+ cisterns to be carried up and replaced on new
+ roof, the pipes attached to them to be lengthened
+ as required by the alterations; and a water tap to
+ be fitted in each dressing-room._
+
+ "All old materials not used and rubbish to be
+ carted away by the contractor. All the work to be
+ completed in a sound and workman-like manner to
+ the satisfaction of C. Dickens, Esq., for the sum
+ of £241. The roof to be slated and flat covered
+ with lead in one month from commencing the work.
+ The whole to be completed--paper excepted--and all
+ rubbish cleared away by the 30th day of November,
+ 1861.
+
+ "(Signed) J. COUCHMAN,
+ "Builder.
+ "_High Street, Strood_,
+ "_Sep. 10th, 1861._"
+
+Then follows in Dickens's own handwriting:--
+
+ "_The above contract I accept on the stipulated
+ conditions; the specified _time_, in common with
+ all the other conditions, to be strictly
+ observed._
+
+ "(Signed) CHARLES DICKENS.
+
+ "_Gad's Hill Place,_
+ "_Saturday, 21st Sep., 1861._"
+
+What is most interesting to notice in the above specification, is the
+careful way in which Dickens appears to have mastered all the details,
+and the very sensible interlineations given in italics which he made,
+(1) as to the sashes and weights, (2) as to the two cisterns, and
+especially (3) in the final memorandum as to _time_.
+
+It is also worthy of remark, that the work _was_ completed in the
+specified time, the bill duly sent in, and the next day Dickens sent a
+cheque for the amount.
+
+Another contract, amounting to £393, was executed by Mr. Couchman, for
+extensions at Gad's Hill. On its completion, Mr. Dickens paid him by two
+cheques. He went up to London to the Bank (Coutts's in the Strand) to
+cash them. The clerk just looked at the cheques, the signature
+apparently being very familiar to him, and then put the usual
+question--"How will you have it?" to which he replied, "Notes, please."
+
+It appears that, as is frequently the case in large establishments,
+orders were sometimes given by the servants for work which the master
+knew nothing about until the bill was presented; and to prevent this,
+Dickens issued instructions to the tradesmen that they were not to
+execute any work for him without his written authority. The following is
+an illustration of this new arrangement:--
+
+
+ "GAD'S HILL PLACE,
+ "HIGHAM BY ROCHESTER, KENT.
+ "_Thursday, 5th Nov., 1858._
+
+ "MR. COUCHMAN,
+
+ "Please to ease the coach-house doors, and to put
+ up some pegs, agreeably to George Belcher's
+ directions.
+
+ "CHARLES DICKENS."
+
+It should be mentioned that George Belcher was the coachman at the time.
+
+Mr. Couchman recalls an interesting custom that was maintained at Gad's
+Hill. There were a number of tin check plates, marked respectively 3_d._
+and 6_d._ each, which enabled the person to whom they were given to
+obtain an equivalent in refreshment of any kind at the Sir John
+Falstaff. The threepenny checks were for the workmen, and the sixpenny
+ones for the tradesmen. The chief housemaid had the distribution of
+these checks to persons employed in the house, the head-gardener to
+those engaged in the gardens, and the coachman to those in the stables.
+On one occasion, our informant remembers when his men were engaged upon
+some work at Gad's Hill, such checks were given out to them, and that he
+also had one offered to him; but, recollecting that his position as a
+master scarcely entitled him to the privilege, he stated his objections
+to the housemaid, who said in reply that it was a pity to break an old
+custom, he had better have one. "So," says our informant, "I had a
+sixpenny ticket with the others, and obtained my refreshment."
+
+He has in his photographic album a carte-de-visite of Charles Dickens,
+by Watkins. It is the well-known one in which the novelist is
+represented in a sitting position, dressed in a grey suit; and the owner
+considered it a very good likeness. He also showed us a funeral card
+which he thought had been sent to him by the family of Dickens at the
+time of his death, but judging by its contents, this seems impossible.
+It is, however, well worth transcribing:--
+
+ To the Memory of
+ =Charles Dickens=
+ (England's most popular author),
+ who died at his Residence,
+ Higham, near Rochester, Kent,
+ June 9th, 1870.
+ Aged 58 years.
+
+ He was a sympathizer with the poor, suffering, and
+ oppressed; and by his death one of England's
+ greatest writers is lost to the world.
+
+Mr. Couchman confirms the verbal sketch of Dickens as drawn by his
+neighbour, Mrs. Masters, and states that Dickens used to put up his dogs
+("Linda" and "Turk"), "boisterous companions as they always were," in
+the stables whenever he came to see him on business.
+
+Mr. William Ball, J.P., of Hillside, Strood, kindly favoured us with
+many interviews, and generally took great interest in the subject of our
+visit to "Dickens-Land," rendering invaluable assistance in our
+enquiries. This gentleman is the son of Mr. John H. Ball, the well-known
+contractor, who removed old Rochester Bridge; he is also a
+brother-in-law of the late gifted tenor, Mr. Joseph Maas, to whom a
+handsome memorial tablet, consisting of a marble medallion of the
+deceased, over which is a lyre with one of the strings broken, has since
+been erected on the east wall of the south transept of Rochester
+Cathedral. By Mr. Ball's considerate courtesy and that of his daughters,
+we are allowed to see many interesting relics of Charles Dickens and
+Gad's Hill.[15] When Mr. Ball's father removed the old bridge in 1859,
+it will be remembered that he offered to present the novelist with one
+of the balustrades as a souvenir, the offer being gracefully and
+promptly accepted, as the following letter testifies:--
+
+
+ "GAD'S HILL PLACE,
+ "HIGHAM BY ROCHESTER, KENT.
+ "_Thursday, eighth June, 1859._
+
+ "SIR,
+
+ "I feel exceedingly obliged to you for your kind
+ and considerate offer of a remembrance of old
+ Rochester Bridge; that will interest me very much.
+ I accept the relic with many thanks, and with
+ great pleasure.
+
+ "Do me the favor to let it be delivered to a
+ workman who will receive instructions to bring it
+ away, and once again accept my acknowledgments.
+
+ "Yours faithfully,
+ "CHARLES DICKENS.
+
+ "MR. JOHN H. BALL."
+
+
+The present Mr. William Ball, then a young lad, was the bearer of the
+gift, and on being asked by us why he didn't ask to see the great
+novelist, replies, "Yes, I ought to have done so, but I was afraid of
+the dogs!"
+
+The balustrade, which was placed on the back lawn at Gad's Hill, was
+mounted on a square pedestal, on the sides of which were representations
+of the four seasons, and a sun-dial crowned the capital. Something like
+it, but a little modified, appears in one of Mr. Luke Fildes's beautiful
+illustrations to the original edition of _Edwin Drood_, entitled
+"Jasper's Sacrifices." Three more of the balustrades now ornament Mr.
+Ball's garden at Hillside.
+
+Mr. Ball the elder was invited to send in a tender for the construction
+of the tunnel at Gad's Hill previously mentioned, but it was not
+accepted, as appears from a letter addressed to him by Mr. Alfred L.
+Dickens (Charles Dickens's brother), of which we are allowed to take a
+copy:--
+
+
+ "8, RICHMOND TERRACE,
+ "WHITEHALL, S.W.
+ "_August 30th, 1859._
+
+ "DEAR SIR,
+
+ "I am very sorry that absence from home has
+ prevented my replying to your note as to the
+ tender for the Gad's Hill tunnel before.
+
+ "I much regret that the amount of your tender is
+ so much higher than my estimate, that I cannot
+ recommend my brother to accept it.
+
+ "I am,
+ "Dear Sir,
+ "Yours faithfully,
+ "ALFRED L. DICKENS.
+ "MR. BALL."
+
+Among the Dickens relics at Hillside, we are shown by Mr. Ball the
+pretty set of five silver bells presented by his friend Mr. F. Lehmann,
+to the novelist, who always used them when driving out in his basket
+pony-phaeton. They are fastened on to a leather pad, and make a pleasant
+musical sound when shaken. They are of graduated sizes, the largest
+being somewhat smaller than a tennis-ball, and appear to be in the key
+of C: comprising the Tonic, Third, Fifth, Octave, and Octave of the
+Third.
+
+There is also a hall clock with maker's name--"Bennett, Cheapside,
+London." This was the "werry identical" clock respecting which Dickens
+wrote the following characteristically humorous letter to Sir John
+Bennett:--
+
+ "MY DEAR SIR,
+
+ "Since my hall clock was sent to your
+ establishment to be cleaned it has gone (as indeed
+ it always had) perfectly well, but has struck the
+ hours with great reluctance, and after enduring
+ internal agonies of a most distressing nature, it
+ has now ceased striking altogether. Though a happy
+ release for the clock, this is not convenient to
+ the household. If you can send down any
+ confidential person with whom the clock can
+ confer, I think it may have something on its works
+ that it would be glad to make a clean breast of.
+
+ "Faithfully yours,
+ "CHARLES DICKENS."
+
+Included among the relics are a very handsome mahogany fire-screen in
+three folds, of red morocco, with Grecian key-border, a musical
+Canterbury, and a bookcase. But the most interesting object from an art
+point of view is an India proof copy, "before letters," of Sir Edwin
+Landseer's beautiful picture of "King Charles's Spaniels," the original
+of which is said to have been painted for the late Mr. Vernon in two
+days, and is now in the National Gallery. The engraving of the picture
+is by Outram. It has the initials in pencil "E. L.," and a little ticket
+on the frame--"Lot 445," that being the number in the auctioneer's
+catalogue.
+
+The following is the story as recently told by Mr. W. P. Frith, R.A., in
+his most interesting and readable _Autobiography and Reminiscences_,
+1887:--
+
+"His" [Sir Edwin's] "rapidity of execution was extraordinary. In the
+National Gallery there is a picture of Two Spaniels, of what is
+erroneously called the Charles II. breed (the real dog of that time is
+of a different form and breed altogether, as may be seen in pictures of
+the period), the size of life, with appropriate accompaniments, painted
+by him in two days. An empty frame had been sent to the British
+Institution, where it was hung on the wall, waiting for its tenant--a
+picture of a lady with dogs--till Landseer felt the impossibility of
+finishing the picture satisfactorily. Time had passed, till two days
+only remained before the opening of the Exhibition. Something must be
+done; and in the time named those wonderfully life-like little dogs were
+produced."
+
+Mr. Ball has also an interesting photograph of the "Last Lot," some
+bottles of wine, evidently taken on the occasion of the sale at Gad's
+Hill Place after Dickens's death, the auctioneer being represented with
+his hammer raised ready to fall, and a smile upon his face. Among the
+crowd, consisting principally of London and local dealers, may be seen
+two local policemen with peaked caps, and auctioneer's porters in
+shirt-sleeves and aprons. The sale took place in a large tent at the
+back of the house and close to the well, which can be readily seen
+through an opening in the tent.
+
+The next person whom we meet at Strood is Mr. Charles Roach Smith,
+F.S.A., the eminent archæologist, who has achieved a European
+reputation, and from whom we get many interesting particulars relating
+to Dickens. We heard some idle gossip at Rochester to the effect that
+Mr. Roach Smith always felt a little "touchy" about the satire on
+archæology in _Pickwick_, _in re_ "Bill Stumps, his mark." That,
+however, we took _cum grano salis_, because this gentleman, from his
+delightful conversation and frank manner, is evidently above any such
+littleness. He is, however, free to confess, that Dickens had not much
+love for Strood, but infinitely preferred Chatham.
+
+There had been but little personal intercourse between Dickens and Mr.
+Roach Smith, though each respected the other. Our informant says that,
+soon after the novelist came to Gad's Hill Place, Mrs. Dickens called
+and left her husband's card, which he, whether rightly or not, took as
+an intimation that the acquaintance was not to be extended. He spoke
+with all the enthusiasm of a man of science, and rather bitterly too, of
+a certain reading given by Dickens at Chatham to an overflowing house,
+whereas on the same evening a distinguished Professor of Agriculture (a
+Mr. Roberts or Robinson, we believe), who came to instruct the people at
+Ashford (one of the neighbouring towns) by means of a lecture, failed to
+secure an audience, and only got a few pence for admissions. The learned
+Professor subsequently poured forth his troubles to Mr. Roach Smith,
+from whom he obtained sympathy and hospitality. We venture to remind
+our good friend that the public in general much prefer amusement to
+instruction, at which he laughs, and says that in this matter he
+perfectly agrees with us. He expresses his strong opinion as to
+Dickens's reading of the "Murder of Nancy" (_Oliver Twist_), which he
+characterizes as "repulsive and indecent."
+
+The most important communication made to us by Mr. Roach Smith is that
+contained in volume ii. of his recently published _Reminiscences and
+Retrospections, Social and Archæological_, 1886. As this interesting
+work may not be generally accessible, it is as well to quote the passage
+intact. It has reference to the Guild of Literature and Art, for the
+promotion of which Dickens, Lord Lytton, John Forster, Mark Lemon, John
+Leech, and others, gave so much valuable time and energy, in addition to
+liberal pecuniary support. The following is the extract:--
+
+"Of Mr. Dodd I knew much. He was one of my earliest friends when I lived
+in Liverpool Street--I may say, one of my earliest patrons; and the
+intimacy continued up to his death, a few years since. The story of his
+connection with the movement for a dramatic college, and of his rapid
+separation from it, a deposition by order of the projectors and
+directors, forms a curious episode in the history of our friendship; and
+especially so, as I had an important, though unseen, part to sustain.
+
+"In the summer of 1858 I was summoned to Mr. Dodd's residence at the
+City Wharf, New North Road, Hoxton, to give consent to be a trustee,
+with Messrs. Cobden and Bright, for five acres of land, which Mr. Dodd
+was about to give for the building of a dramatic college, which had been
+resolved on at a public meeting, held on the 21st of July in this year,
+in the Princess's Theatre, Mr. Charles Kean acting as chairman. 'I give
+this most freely,' said Mr. Dodd to me, 'for it is to the stage I am
+indebted for my education; to it I owe whatsoever may be good in me.'
+That there was much good in him, thousands can testify; and thousands
+yet to come will be evidence to his benevolence. Of course, I felt
+pleased in being selected to act as a trustee for this gift. I
+conceived, and I suppose I was correct, that Mr. Dodd intended that his
+gift was strictly for a dramatic college, and for no other purpose, then
+or thereafter. Having expressed my willingness and resolution to be
+faithful to the trust, I said, 'I presume, Mr. Dodd, you stipulate for a
+presentation?' He looked rather surprised; and asked his solicitor, who
+sat by him, how they came to overlook this? Both of them directly agreed
+that this simple return should be required.
+
+"I must leave such of my readers as feel inclined, to search in the
+public journals for the correspondence between the directors and Mr.
+Dodd up to the 13th of January, 1859, when, at a meeting held in the
+Adelphi Theatre, Lord Tenterden in the chair, it was stated that Mr.
+Dodd evinced, through his solicitor, a disposition to fence round his
+gift with legal restrictions and stipulations, which apprised the
+committee of coming difficulty; and the meeting unanimously agreed to
+decline Mr. Dodd's offer of land. Previously and subsequently to this,
+Mr. Dodd was most discourteously commented on and attacked in the
+newspapers, the editors of which, however, sided with him. I was told
+that the stipulation for a presentation was the great offence; but I
+should think that the provision made against the improper use of the
+land must have been the real grievance. In the very last letter I
+received from Mr. Dodd, not very long anterior to his death, he says
+that Mark Lemon told him that Charles Dickens had said he had never
+occasion to repent but of two things, one being his conduct to Mr. Dodd.
+That Dickens, Thackeray, and others sincerely believed they were taking
+the best steps for accomplishing their benevolent object, there can be
+no doubt; their judgment, not their heart, was wrong. The scheme was
+based upon a wrong principle, as was shown by its collapse in less than
+twenty years, after the expenditure of very large subscriptions, and the
+patronage of the Queen. Articles in _The Era_ of the 22nd July, 1877,
+leave no doubt, while they clearly reveal the causes of failure."
+
+It may be mentioned that the Mr. Henry Dodd above referred to, appears
+to have been a large city contractor, or something of that kind.
+According to Mr. Roach Smith, what with him led on to fortune was a long
+and heavy fall of snow, which had filled the streets of the city of
+London, and rendered traffic impossible. The city was blocked by snow,
+and there was no remedy at hand. Mr. Dodd boldly undertook a contract to
+remove the mighty obstruction in a given time. This he did thoroughly
+and within the limited number of days. Afterwards he appears to have
+undertaken brick-making and other works on a very large scale. In the
+opinion of Mr. Roach Smith, Mr. Dodd was the origin of the "golden
+dustman" in _Our Mutual Friend_, whom every reader of Dickens remembers
+as Mr. Nicodemus, _alias_ Noddy Boffin.
+
+Speaking of Dickens's readings, our informant relates a conversation
+with Charles Dickens's sixth son, Mr. Henry Fielding Dickens. The former
+gentleman asked the latter whose model he took?
+
+"Oh, my father's," said Mr. Henry Dickens.
+
+"I would not take any man's model," said Mr. Roach Smith, "I would take
+my own." And judging from the perfect intonation and thoroughly musical
+rhythm of his voice, there is no doubt whatever that his model, whoever
+it may have been, was one of very high standard.
+
+We have since learnt that Mr. Roach Smith is the President of the Strood
+Elocution Society, an almost unique institution of its kind. It has been
+established upwards of thirteen years; and at the weekly meetings "the
+various readers are subjected to an exhaustive and salutary criticism by
+the members present." Mr. Roach Smith has always taken immense interest
+in the progress of this Society. Miss Dickens occasionally helped at the
+above meetings.
+
+Mr. Roach Smith kindly favours us with the following extract from the
+third and forthcoming volume of his _Retrospections_ with reference to
+the late Mr. J. H. Ball, of Strood, which may appropriately be here
+introduced:--
+
+"Although I have said that I was the gainer by our acquaintance, yet now
+and then I had a chance of serving him. Soon after the death of the
+great novelist, Charles Dickens, and when people were speculating as to
+what would become of his residence at Gad's Hill, Mr. Ball, wishing to
+purchase it, commissioned me to call on the executrix, Miss Hogarth, and
+offer ten thousand pounds, for which he had written a cheque. I
+accordingly went, and sent in my card. Miss Hogarth, fortunately, could
+not see me; she was hastening to catch the train for London, the
+carriage being at the door, and not a moment to be lost; but she would
+be happy to see me on her return in a day or two. I then wrote to Mr.
+Forster, the other executor; and received a reply that the place was not
+for sale. I kept him ignorant of the sum that Mr. Ball was willing to
+give, and thus saved my friend some thousands of pounds, . . . for the
+house and land were not worth half the money."
+
+[Illustration: Old Quarry House Strood]
+
+After some further conversation with our kind octogenarian friend, who
+insists on showing us hospitality notwithstanding his sufferings from a
+trying illness, we take our departure with many pleasant memories of our
+visit.[16]
+
+We have, after one or two unsuccessful attempts, the good fortune to
+meet with Mr. Stephen Steele, M.R.C.S. and L.S.A., of Bridge House,
+Esplanade, Strood, who was admitted a member of the medical profession
+so far back as the year 1831, and has therefore been in practice nearly
+sixty years. It will be remembered that this experienced surgeon was
+sent for by Miss Hogarth, to see Dickens in his last illness. He is good
+enough to go over and describe to us in graphic and sympathetic language
+the whole of the circumstances attending that sorrowful event.
+Previously to doing so, he gives us some interesting details of his
+recollections of Charles Dickens. Dr. Steele had occupied the onerous
+post of Chairman of the Liberal Association at Rochester for thirty
+years, and believes that in politics Dickens was a Liberal, for he
+frequently prefaced his remarks in conversation with him on any subject
+of passing interest by the expression, "We Liberals, you know--"
+
+[Illustration: Frindsbury Church]
+
+As a matter of fact, Dickens discharged his conscience of his political
+creed in the remarks which followed his address as President of the
+Birmingham and Midland Institute,[17] delivered 27th September, 1869,
+when he said--"My political creed is contained in two articles, and has
+no reference to any party or persons. My faith in the 'people governing'
+is, on the whole, infinitesimal; my faith in the 'people governed' is,
+on the whole, illimitable." At a subsequent visit to Birmingham on the
+6th January, 1870, when giving out the prizes at the Institute, he
+further emphasized his political faith in these words:--"When I was here
+last autumn, I made a short confession of my political faith--or
+perhaps, I should better say, want of faith. It imported that I have
+very little confidence in the people who govern us--please to observe
+'people' with a small 'p,'--but I have very great confidence in the
+People whom they govern--please to observe 'People' with a large 'P.'"
+
+A few days after Charles Dickens's first visit, my friend Mr. Howard S.
+Pearson, Lecturer on English Literature at the Institute, addressed a
+letter to him on the subject of the remarks at the conclusion of his
+Presidential Address, and promptly received in reply the following
+communication, which Mr. Pearson kindly allows me to print, emphasizing
+his (Dickens's) observations:--
+
+ "GAD'S HILL PLACE,
+ "HIGHAM BY ROCHESTER, KENT.
+ "_Wednesday, 6th October, 1869._
+
+ "SIR,
+
+ "You are perfectly right in your construction of
+ my meaning at Birmingham. If a capital P be put to
+ the word People in its second use in the sentence,
+ and not in its first, I should suppose the passage
+ next to impossible to be mistaken, even if it were
+ read without any reference to the whole spirit of
+ my speech and the whole tenor of my writings.
+
+ "Faithfully yours,
+ "CHARLES DICKENS.
+ "H. S. PEARSON, ESQUIRE."
+
+Dr. Steele had dined several times at Gad's Hill Place, and was
+impressed with Dickens's wonderful powers as a host. He never absorbed
+the whole of the conversation to himself, but listened attentively when
+his guests were speaking, and endeavoured, as it were, to draw out any
+friends who were not generally talkative. He liked each one to chat
+about his own hobby in which he took most interest. Our informant was
+also present at Gad's Hill Place at several theatrical entertainments,
+and especially remembers some charades being given. After the
+performance of the latter was over, Dickens walked round among his
+guests in the drawing-room, and enquired if any one could guess the
+"word." Says the doctor, "We never seemed to do so, but there was always
+a hearty laugh when we were told what it was. There was a good deal of
+company at Gad's Hill at Christmas time."
+
+_À propos_ of private theatricals at Gad's Hill Place, Mr. T. Edgar
+Pemberton, in _Charles Dickens and the Stage_, calls attention to the
+fact that "Mr. Clarkson Stanfield's _Lighthouse_ Act drop subsequently
+decorated the walls of Gad's Hill Place; and although it took the
+painter less than a couple of days to execute, fetched a thousand
+guineas at the famous Dickens Sale in 1870." A cloth painted for _The
+Frozen Deep_, which was the next and last of these productions, also had
+a foremost place in the Gad's Hill picture-gallery.
+
+Dr. Steele mentions a conversation once with Dickens about Gad's Hill
+and Shakespeare's description of it. He (the doctor) considers that
+Shakespeare could not have described it so accurately if he had not been
+there, and Dickens agreed with him in this opinion. Possibly he may have
+stayed at the "Plough," which was an inn on the same spot as, or close
+to, the "Falstaff." The place must have been much wooded at that time,
+and Shakespeare might have been there on his way to Dover. A note in
+the _Rochester and Chatham Journal_, 1883, states that "Shakespeare's
+company made a tour in Sussex and Kent in the summer of 1597."
+
+Dr. Steele, in common with his friend Charles Dickens, strongly
+deprecated the action of certain parties in Rochester, by voting at a
+public meeting something to this effect:--"That the Theatre was an
+irreligious kind of institution, and, in the opinion of the meeting, it
+ought to be closed."
+
+The doctor observes that Dickens was not much of a Church-goer. He went
+occasionally to Higham, and used to give the vicar assistance for the
+poor and distressed. Dickens and Miss Hogarth asked Dr. Steele to point
+out objects of charity worthy of relief, and they gave him money for
+distribution.
+
+He remarks that Dickens did not care much about associating with the
+local residents, going out to dinners, &c. Most of the principal people
+of Rochester would have been glad of the honour of his presence as a
+guest, but he rarely accepted invitations, preferring the quietude of
+home.[18]
+
+As regards readings, our informant says he is under the impression that
+Dickens must have had some lessons or hints from some one of experience
+(possibly his friend Fechter, the actor), as he noticed from time to
+time a regular improvement, which was permanently maintained. On the
+subject of the American War, he thinks Dickens's sympathies were
+decidedly with the South. With respect to the American Readings, Dr.
+Steele expresses his opinion that the excitement, fatigue, and worry
+consequent thereon had considerably shortened Dickens's life, if it had
+not pretty well killed him. He considered him a most genial sort of
+man; "he always looked you straight in the face when speaking."
+
+Before referring to the closing chapter in Dickens's life, we have some
+interesting talk respecting Venesection,--_à propos_ of that memorable
+occasion on the ice at Dingley Dell, when "Mr. Benjamin Allen was
+holding a hurried consultation with Mr. Bob Sawyer on the advisability
+of bleeding the company generally, as an improving little bit of
+professional practice,"--and Dr. Steele gives us his opinion thereon,
+and on some points connected with the medical profession. He was a
+student of Guy's and St. Thomas's Hospitals, and was under the
+distinguished physicians Drs. Addison and Elliotson. He considered the
+characters of Bob Sawyer and Ben Allen not at all overdrawn. They were
+good representations of the medical students of those days. He believed
+the practice of Venesection commenced to be general about the year 1811,
+for his father was a medical practitioner before him, and he does not
+remember his (the father's) telling him that he practised it before that
+time. Says our friend, "We used to bleed regularly in my young days, and
+in cases of pneumonia and convulsions we never thought of omitting to
+bleed. We should have considered that to have done so would have been a
+grave instance of irregular practice. And," he adds, "I bleed in cases
+of convulsions now." The doctor did not think well of the change at the
+time, but, speaking generally, he says Venesection had had its turn, and
+has now given place to other treatment.
+
+The events in connection with the fatal illness of Dickens are then
+touchingly related as follows:--
+
+"I was sent for on Wednesday, the eighth of June, 1870, to attend at
+Gad's Hill Place, and arrived about 6.30 p.m. I found Dickens lying on
+the floor of the dining-room in a fit. He was unconscious, and never
+moved. The servants brought a couch down, on which he was placed. I
+applied clysters and other remedies to the patient without effect. Miss
+Hogarth, his sister-in-law, had already sent a telegram (by the same
+messenger on horseback who summoned me) to his old friend and family
+doctor, Mr. Frank Beard, who arrived about midnight. He relieved me in
+attendance at that time, and I came again in the morning. There was
+unhappily no change in the symptoms, and stertorous breathing, which had
+commenced before, now continued. In conversation Miss Hogarth and the
+family expressed themselves perfectly satisfied with the attendance of
+Mr. Beard and myself. I said, 'That may be so, and we are much obliged
+for your kind opinion; but we have a duty to perform, not only to you,
+my dear madam, and the family of Mr. Dickens, but also to the public.
+What will the public say if we allow Charles Dickens to pass away
+without further medical assistance? Our advice is to send for Dr.
+Russell Reynolds.' Mr. Beard first made the suggestion.
+
+"The family reiterated their expression of perfect satisfaction with the
+treatment of Mr. Beard and myself, but immediately gave way, Dr. Russell
+Reynolds was sent for, and came in the course of the day. This eminent
+physician without hesitation pronounced the case to be hopeless. He said
+at once on seeing him, 'He cannot live.' And so it proved. At a little
+past 6 o'clock on Thursday, the 9th of June, 1870, Charles Dickens
+passed quietly away without a word--about twenty-four hours after the
+seizure."
+
+[Illustration: Rochester: from Strood Pier:]
+
+Such is the simple narrative which the kind-hearted octogenarian
+surgeon, whom it is a delightful pleasure to meet and converse with,
+communicates to us, and then cordially wishes us "good-bye."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+There is an annual pleasure fair at Strood, instituted, it is said, so
+far back as the reign of Edward III. It takes place during three days in
+the last week of August, and as it is going on while we are on our
+tramp, we just look in for a few minutes, the more especially as we were
+informed by Mr. William Ball, and others who had seen him, that Dickens
+used to be very fond of going there at times in an appropriate disguise,
+where perhaps he may have seen the prototype of the famous "Doctor
+Marigold." The fair is now held on a large piece of waste ground near
+the Railway Station. There are the usual set-out of booths, "Aunt
+Sallies," shooting-galleries, "Try your weight and strength, gentlemen"
+machines, a theatre, with a tragedy and comedy both performed in about
+an hour, and hot-sausage and gingerbread stalls in abundance. But the
+deafening martial music poured forth from a barrel-organ by means of a
+steam-engine, belonging to the proprietor of a huge "Merry-go-round,"
+and the wet and muddy condition of the ground from the effects of the
+recent thunderstorm, make us glad to get away.
+
+
+A MYSTERIOUS DICKENS-ITEM.
+
+Mr. C. D. Levy, Auctioneer, etc., of Strood, was good enough to lend me
+what at first sight, and indeed for some time afterwards, was supposed
+to be a most unique Dickens-item. It came into his possession in this
+way. At the sale of Charles Dickens's furniture and effects, which took
+place at Gad's Hill in 1870, Mr. Levy was authorized by a customer to
+purchase Dickens's writing-desk, which, however, he was unable to
+secure. In transferring the desk to the purchaser at the time of the
+sale, a few old and torn papers tumbled out, and being considered of no
+value, were disregarded and scattered. One of these scraps was picked up
+by Mr. Levy, and proved on further examination to be a sheet of headed
+note-paper having the stamp of "Gad's Hill Place, Higham by Rochester,
+Kent."--On the first page were a few rough sketches drawn with pen and
+ink, which greatly resembled some of the characters in _The Mystery of
+Edwin Drood_--Durdles, Jasper, and Edwin Drood. At the side was a
+curious row of capital letters looking like a puzzle. On the second and
+third pages were short-hand notes, and on the fourth page a few lines
+written in long-hand, continued on the next page,--wonderfully like
+Charles Dickens's own handwriting,--being the commencement of a speech
+with reference to a cricket match. The sheet of paper had evidently been
+made to do double duty, for after the sketches had been drawn on the
+front page, the sheet was put aside, and when used again was turned
+over, so that what ordinarily would have been page 4 became page 1 for
+the second object. No "Daniel" in Strood or Rochester had ever been able
+to decipher the mysterious hieroglyphics, or make known the
+interpretation thereof, during twenty years, or give any explanation of
+the sketches. But everybody thought that in some way or other they
+related to _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_--and possibly contained a clue
+to the solution of that exquisite fragment. So, as a student and admirer
+of Dickens, Mr. Levy kindly left the matter in my hands to make out what
+I could of it. Reference was accordingly had to several learned pundits
+in the short-hand systems of "Pitman," "Odell," and "Harding," but
+without avail; and eventually Mr. Gurney Archer, of 20, Abingdon Street,
+Westminster (successor to the old-established and eminent firm of
+Messrs. W. B. Gurney and Sons, who have been the short-hand writers to
+the House of Lords from time immemorial), kindly transcribed the
+short-hand notes, which referred to a speech relating to a cricket
+match, a portion of which had already been written out in long-hand, as
+above stated,--but there was not a word in the short-hand about Edwin
+Drood!
+
+So far, one portion of the mystery had been explained--not so the
+sketches, which were still believed to contain the key to _The Mystery
+of Edwin Drood_. As a _dernier ressort_, application was made to the
+fountain-head--to Mr. Luke Fildes, R.A., the famous illustrator of that
+beautiful work. He received me most courteously, scrutinized the
+document closely; we had a long chat about Edwin Drood generally, the
+substance of which has been given in a previous chapter--but he admitted
+that the sketches failed to give any solution of the mystery.
+
+The document was subsequently sent by Mr. Kitton to Mrs. Perugini, who
+at once replied that it had caused some merriment when she saw it again,
+as she remembered it very well. It had been done by her brother, Mr.
+Henry Fielding Dickens, when a young man living at home at Gad's
+Hill--that the short-hand notes referred to his speech at a dinner after
+one of the numerous cricket matches held there, and that the sketches
+were rough portraits of some of the cricketers. The capital letters at
+the side referred to a double acrostic. The heads of the speech had been
+suggested by his father as being desirable to be brought before the
+cricket club, which at that time was in a rather drooping condition.
+
+Now although the original theory about this curious document entirely
+broke down, and not an atom has been added to what was already known
+about _The Mystery of Edwin Drood_, still there is one subject of much
+interest which the document has brought to light. The short-hand is the
+same system, "Gurney's," as that which Charles Dickens wrote as a
+reporter in his early newspaper days--a system not generally used now,
+but which he subsequently taught his son to write. Of the many sheets
+which Dickens covered with notes in days gone by not one remains. But
+there are two manuscripts by Dickens in Gurney's system of short-hand,
+now in the Dyce and Forster collection at South Kensington, which relate
+to some private matters in connection with publishing arrangements. The
+document is certainly interesting from this point of view (_i. e._ the
+system which Dickens used), and from its reference to life at Gad's
+Hill, and especially to cricket, the favourite game mentioned many times
+in this book, in which the novelist took so much interest. Mr. Henry
+Fielding Dickens, with whom I had on another occasion some conversation
+on the subject of this souvenir of his youth at Gad's Hill, remarked
+that many more important issues had hung upon much more slender
+evidence. It was done about the year 1865-6, before he went to college.
+
+At our interview Mr. H. F. Dickens told me the details of the following
+touching incident which happened at one of the cricket matches at Gad's
+Hill. His father was as usual attired in flannels, acting as umpire and
+energetically taking the score of the game, when there came out from
+among the bystanders a tall, grizzled, and sun-burnt Sergeant of the
+Guards. The Sergeant walked straight up to Mr. Dickens, saying, "May I
+look at you, sir?" "Oh, yes!" said the novelist, blushing up to the
+eyes. The Sergeant gazed intently at him for a minute or so, then stood
+at attention, gave the military salute, and said, "God bless you, sir."
+He then walked off and was seen no more. In recounting this anecdote,
+Mr. H. F. Dickens agreed with me that, reading between the lines, one
+can almost fancy some lingering reminiscences similar to those in the
+early experience of Private Richard Doubledick.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[14] Since our tramp in Dickens-Land, Messrs. Winch and Sons have, with
+liberality and good taste, restored the old sign at this historic
+hostelry with which the memory of Charles Dickens is associated. It has
+been suggested that the sign may possibly have had its origin from the
+Battle of Agincourt fought on the day of "Saints Crispin-Crispian," 25th
+October, 1415. Victories in more recent times have been thus
+commemorated on sign-boards, such as the _Vigo_ expedition, and the
+fights at Portobello, Trafalgar, Waterloo, Alma, and elsewhere, and the
+heroes who won them thus celebrated.
+
+The sign, which is very well painted, represents the patron saints of
+the shoe-making fraternity, the holy brothers, Crispin and Crispian, at
+work on their cobbler's bench. The legend runs that it was at Soissons,
+in the year 287, while they were so employed "labouring with their
+hands," that they were seized by the emissaries of the Emperor
+Maximinian, and led away to torture and to death. The sign is understood
+to have been faithfully copied from a well-known work preserved to this
+day, at the church of St. Pantaléon at Troyes.--Abstract of a note in
+the _Rochester and Chatham Journal_, October 5th, 1889.
+
+[15] Enthusiastic admirers of Dickens will doubtless envy me the
+possession of some remarkable memorials of the great writer. My friend
+Mr. Ball is kind enough to present me with a very curious souvenir of
+the novelist: his old garden hat! Mr. Ball's father obtained it from the
+gardener at Gad's Hill Place, to whom it had been given after his
+master's death. The hat is a "grey-bowler," size 7-1/4, maker's name
+"Hillhouse," Bond Street, and is the same hat that he is seen to wear in
+the photograph of him leaning against the entrance-porch, an engraving
+of which appears on page 183. Many hats from Shakespeare and Gesler have
+become historical, and there is no reason why Dickens's should not in
+the future be an equally interesting personal relic. The gift was
+accompanied by a couple of collars belonging to the novelist, with the
+initials "C. D." very neatly marked in red cotton. The collar is
+technically known as a "Persigny," and its size is 16. Last, not least,
+a small bottle of "very rare old Madeira" from Gad's Hill, which calls
+to mind pleasant recollections of "the last bottle of the old Madeira,"
+opened by dear old Sol. Gills in the final chapter of _Dombey and Son_.
+Needless to say, the consumption of the valued contents of Dickens's
+bottle is reserved for a very special and appropriate occasion.
+
+[16] This was written soon after our first visit to Strood at the end of
+August, 1888. Within little more than two years afterwards, on Thursday,
+7th August, 1890, I had the mournful pleasure of being present at the
+funeral of my friend, which took place at Frindsbury Church on that day,
+in the presence of the sorrowing relatives and of a large concourse of
+admirers, both local and from a distance. There were also present many
+representatives of distinguished scientific societies, including Dr.
+John Evans, F.R.S., Treasurer of the Royal Society, and President of the
+Society of Antiquaries.
+
+The kindness which I received from Mr. Roach Smith, to whom I presented
+myself in the first instance as a perfect stranger, and which was
+extended during the period of two years that I was privileged to enjoy
+his friendship, and at times his hospitality, would be ill requited if I
+did not here place on record my humble tribute of appreciation. Born
+about the commencement of the present century at Landguard Manor House,
+near Shanklin, Isle of Wight, after a somewhat diversified education and
+experience, he finally settled in London as a wholesale druggist, from
+which business he retired in 1856, and came to live at Temple Place,
+Strood. The bent of his mind was, however, distinctly in favour of
+archæology, and in this science, which he commenced in the early years
+of his business, his work has been enormous. In the matter of the
+identification of Roman remains he was _facile princeps_, and for many
+years stood without a rival, his investigations and explorations
+extending over England and Europe. His principal works are _Collectanea
+Antiqua_, seven volumes; _Illustrations of Roman London_; _Catalogue of
+London Antiquities_; _Richborough, Reculver, and Lymne_, and numberless
+contributions scattered over the journal of the Society of Antiquaries,
+the _Archæologia Cantiana_, and other publications. He was an
+enthusiastic Shakespearean, the author of the _Rural Life of
+Shakespeare_, and of a little work on _The Scarcity of Home-Grown
+Fruits_. He also published two volumes of _Retrospections: Social and
+Archæological_, and was engaged at his death in completing the third
+volume. He contributed many articles to Dr. William Smith's _Classical
+Dictionaries_, and other similar works.
+
+He was elected a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries so far back as
+1836, and at the time of his death was an Honorary Member or Fellow of
+at least thirty learned societies of a kindred nature in Great Britain
+and on the continent, and had been honoured by his colleagues and
+admirers in having his medal struck on two occasions.
+
+"He was," says one of the highest of living scientists and writers, "one
+of the chief representatives of the _science_ of archæology as
+understood in its broadest and widest sense. He has never been a mere
+collector of remains of ancient art, regarded only as curiosities, but
+has always had in view their use as exponents of the great unwritten
+history--the history of the people--which is not to be obtained from
+other sources; his writings have tended to the same end. Hence he stands
+as one of the foremost amongst those few of the present day who
+understand the science in its best and widest sense, his works being
+referred to as _the_ authority at home and abroad."
+
+Speaking with his friend and companion for many years, Mr. George Payne,
+F.S.A., Hon. Sec. to the Kent Archæological Society, on my last visit,
+about several personal characteristics of our mutual friend, such as his
+persistent energy and his indomitable disposition to stoically resist
+the infirmities of approaching age, and decline any assistance in
+helplessness, and especially as to the _quæstio vexata_, "Bill Stumps,
+his mark," Mr. Payne expressed his opinion, that at the bottom of his
+heart Mr. Roach Smith may probably have had a feeling that Dickens in
+some way (however unintentionally) slighted the science of archæology,
+which he (Mr. Roach Smith) had all his life tried to elevate.
+
+A most distinguished antiquarian, a thoroughly honourable man, a
+versatile and accomplished gentleman, and a kind-hearted and liberal
+friend, the town of Strood, to which he was for so many years endeared,
+will long and deservedly mourn his loss.
+
+[17] It is interesting to place on record here, that the germ of Charles
+Dickens's "Readings," which afterwards developed so marvellously both in
+England and America, originated in Birmingham. On the 27th of December,
+1853, he read his _Christmas Carol_ in the Town Hall in aid of the funds
+of the Institute. On the 29th he read _The Cricket on the Hearth_, and
+on the 30th he repeated the _Carol_ to an audience principally composed
+of working men. The success was overwhelming.
+
+[18] Miss Hogarth informs me that her brother-in-law frequently dined
+out in the neighbourhood, accompanied by his daughter and herself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ CHATHAM:--ST. MARY'S CHURCH, ORDNANCE TERRACE, THE
+ HOUSE ON THE BROOK, THE MITRE HOTEL, AND FORT
+ PITT. LANDPORT:--PORTSEA, HANTS.
+
+ "The home of his infancy, to which his heart had
+ yearned with an intensity of affection not to be
+ described."--_The Pickwick Papers._
+
+ "I believe the power of observation in numbers of
+ very young children to be quite wonderful for its
+ closeness and accuracy. Indeed, I think that most
+ grown men who are remarkable in this respect, may,
+ with greater propriety, be said not to have lost
+ the faculty than to have acquired it; the rather,
+ as I generally observe such men to retain a
+ certain freshness, and gentleness, and capacity of
+ being pleased, which are also an inheritance they
+ have preserved from their childhood."--_David
+ Copperfield._
+
+
+THE naval and military town of Chatham, unlike the Cathedral city of
+Rochester, has, at first sight, few attractions for the lover of
+Dickens. Mr. Phillips Bevan calls it "a dirty, unpleasant town devoted
+to the interests of soldiers, sailors, and marines." We are not disposed
+to agree entirely with him; but we must admit that it has little of the
+picturesque to recommend it--no venerable Castle or Cathedral to attract
+attention, no scenes in the novels of much importance to visit, no
+characters therein of much interest to identify. Mr. Pickwick's own
+description of the four towns of Strood, Rochester, Chatham, and
+Brompton, certainly applies more nearly to Chatham than to the others;
+but things have improved in many ways since the days of that veracious
+chronicler, as we are glad to testify:--
+
+ "The principal productions of these towns," says
+ Mr. Pickwick, "appear to be soldiers, sailors,
+ Jews, chalk, shrimps, officers, and dockyard men.
+ The commodities chiefly exposed for sale in the
+ public streets are marine stores, hard-bake,
+ apples, flat-fish, and oysters. The streets
+ present a lively and animated appearance,
+ occasioned chiefly by the conviviality of the
+ military. . . .
+
+ "The consumption of tobacco in these towns,"
+ continues Mr. Pickwick, "must be very great; and
+ the smell which pervades the streets must be
+ exceedingly delicious to those who are extremely
+ fond of smoking. A superficial traveller might
+ object to the dirt, which is their leading
+ characteristic; but to those who view it as an
+ indication of traffic and commercial prosperity,
+ it is truly gratifying."
+
+And yet for all this, there are circumstances to be noticed of the
+deepest possible interest connected with Chatham, and spots therein to
+be visited, which every pilgrim to "Dickens-Land" must recognize. At
+Chatham,--"my boyhood's home," as he affectionately calls it,--many of
+the earlier years of Charles Dickens (probably from his fourth to his
+eleventh) were passed; here it was "that the most durable of his earlier
+impressions were received; and the associations around him when he died
+were those which at the outset of his life had affected him most
+strongly."
+
+Admirers of the great novelist are much indebted to Mr. Robert Langton,
+F. R. Hist. Soc., for his _Childhood and Youth of Charles Dickens_, a
+book quite indispensable to a tramp in this neighbourhood, the charming
+illustrations by the late Mr. William Hull, the author, and others
+rendering the identification of places perfectly easy. Dickens says, "If
+anybody knows to a nicety where Rochester ends and Chatham begins, it is
+more than I do." "It's of no consequence," as Mr. Toots would say, for
+the High Street is one continuous thoroughfare, but as a matter of fact,
+a narrow street called Boundary Lane on the north side of High Street
+separates the two places.
+
+A few words of recapitulation as to early family history[19] may be
+useful here. John Dickens, who is represented as "a fine portly man,"
+was a Navy pay-clerk, and Elizabeth his wife (_née_ Barrow), who is
+described as "a dear good mother and a fine woman," the parents of the
+future genius, resided in the beginning of this century at 387, Mile End
+Terrace, Commercial Road, Landport, Portsea,[20] "and is so far in
+Portsea as being in the island of that name." Here Charles Dickens was
+born, at twelve o'clock at night, on Friday, 7th February, 1812. He was
+the second child and eldest son of a rather numerous family consisting
+of eight sons and daughters, and was baptized at St. Mary's, Kingston
+(the parish church of Portsea), under the names of Charles John
+Huff_h_am; the last of these is no doubt a misspelling, as the name of
+his grandfather, from whom he took it, was Huffam, but Dickens himself
+scarcely ever used it. In the old family Bible now in possession of Mr.
+Charles Dickens it is Huffam in his father's own handwriting. The
+Dickens family left Mile End Terrace on 24th June, 1812, and went to
+live in Hawke Street, Portsea, from whence, in consequence of a change
+in official duties of the elder Dickens, they removed to Chatham in 1816
+or 1817, and resided there for six or seven years, until they went to
+live in London.
+
+Bearing these circumstances in mind, it is very natural that we should
+determine on an early pilgrimage to Chatham, and Sunday morning sees us
+at the old church--St. Mary's--where Dickens himself must often have
+been taken as a child, and where he saw the marriage of his aunt Fanny
+with James Lamert, a Staff Doctor in the Army,--the Doctor Slammer of
+_Pickwick_,--of whom Mr. Langton says:--"The regimental surgeon's
+kindly manner, and his short odd way of expressing himself, still
+survive in the recollections of a few old people." Dr. Lamert's son
+James, by a former wife, was a great crony of young Charles Dickens,
+taking him to the Rochester theatre, and getting up private theatricals
+in which they both acted.
+
+Surely there is a faint description of those times in the second chapter
+of _David Copperfield_:--
+
+[Illustration: St. Mary's Church, Chatham.]
+
+ "Here is our pew in the church. What a high-backed
+ pew! With a window near it, out of which our house
+ can be seen, and _is_ seen many times during the
+ morning's service by Peggotty, who likes to make
+ herself as sure as she can that it's not being
+ robbed, or is not in flames. But though Peggotty's
+ eye wanders, she is much offended if mine does,
+ and frowns to me, as I stand upon the seat, that I
+ am to look at the clergyman. But I can't always
+ look at him--I know him without that white thing
+ on, and I am afraid of his wondering why I stare
+ so, and perhaps stopping the service to
+ enquire--and what am I to do? It's a dreadful
+ thing to gape, but I must do something. I look at
+ my mother, but _she_ pretends not to see me. I
+ look at a boy in the aisle, and _he_ makes faces
+ at me. I look at the sunlight coming in at the
+ open door through the porch, and there I see a
+ stray sheep--I don't mean a sinner, but
+ mutton--half making up his mind to come into the
+ church. I feel that if I looked at him any longer,
+ I might be tempted to say something out loud; and
+ what would become of me then!"
+
+The church, now undergoing reconstruction, is not a very presentable
+structure, and has little of interest to recommend it, except a brass to
+a famous navigator named Stephen Borough, the discoverer of the northern
+passage to Russia (1584), and a monument to Sir John Cox, who was killed
+in an action with the Dutch (1672). The name of Weller occurs on a
+gravestone near the church door.
+
+We cross the High Street, proceed along Railway Street, formerly Rome
+Lane, pass the Chatham Railway Station (near which is a statue of
+Lieutenant Waghorn, R.N., "pioneer and founder of the Overland Route,"
+born at Chatham, 1800, and died 1850),[21] and find ourselves at
+Ordnance Terrace, a conspicuous row of two-storied houses, prominently
+situated on the higher ground facing us, beyond the Station. In one of
+these houses (No. 11--formerly No. 2) the Dickens family resided from
+1817 to 1821. The present occupier is a Mr. Roberts, who kindly allows
+us to inspect the interior. It has the dining-room on the left-hand side
+of the entrance and the drawing-room on the first floor, and is
+altogether a pleasantly-situated, comfortable, and respectable dwelling.
+No. 11, "the second house in the terrace," is overgrown with a Virginia
+creeper, which, from its possible association with Dickens's earliest
+years, may have induced him to plant the now magnificent one which
+exists at Gad's Hill. "Here it was," says Forster, "that his first
+desire for knowledge, and his greatest passion for reading, were
+awakened by his mother, who taught him the first rudiments, not only of
+English, but also, a little later, of Latin. She taught him regularly
+every day for a long time, and taught him, he was convinced, thoroughly
+well." Mr. Langton also says that "It was during his residence here that
+some of the happiest hours of the childhood of little Charles were
+passed, as his father was in a fairly good position in the Navy Pay
+Office, and they were a most genial, lovable family." Here it was that
+the theatrical entertainments and the genial parties took place, when,
+in addition to his brothers and sisters and his cousin, James Lamert,
+there were also present his friends and neighbours, George Stroughill,
+and Master and Miss Tribe.
+
+Mr. Langton further states that "Ordnance Terrace is known to have
+formed the locality and characters for some of the earlier _Sketches by
+Boz_." "The Old Lady" was a Miss Newnham, who lived at No. 5, and who
+was, by all accounts, very kind to the Dickens children. The "Half-pay
+Captain" was also a near neighbour, and he is supposed to have supplied
+one of the earliest characters to Dickens as a mere child. Some of the
+neighbours at the corner house next door (formerly No. 1) were named
+Stroughill,--pronounced Stro'hill (there was, it will be remembered, a
+_Struggles_ at the famous cricket-match at All-Muggleton)--and the son,
+George, is said to have had some of the characteristics of Steerforth in
+_David Copperfield_. He had a sister named Lucy, probably the "Golden
+Lucy," from her beautiful locks, and who, according to Mr. Langton, "was
+the special favourite and little sweetheart of Charles Dickens." She was
+possibly the prototype of her namesake, in the beautiful story of the
+_Wreck of the Golden Mary_.
+
+[Illustration: No. 11, Ordnance Terrace, Chatham. _Where the Dickens
+Family lived 1817-21._]
+
+About the year 1821 pecuniary embarrassments beset and tormented the
+Dickens family, which were afterwards to be "ascribed in fiction" in the
+histories of the Micawbers and the Dorrits, and the family removed to
+the House on the Brook. In order to follow their steps in perfect
+sequence, we have to return by the way we came from the church, cross
+the High Street, and proceed along Military Road, so as to visit the
+obscure dwelling, No. 18, St. Mary's Place, situated in the valley
+through which a brook, now covered over, flows from the higher lands
+adjacent, into the Medway.
+
+[Illustration: The House on the Brook, Chatham. _Where the Dickens
+Family lived 1821-3._]
+
+The House on the Brook--"plain-looking, whitewashed plaster front, and a
+small garden before and behind"--next door to the former Providence
+(Baptist) Chapel, now the Drill Hall of the Salvation Army, is a very
+humble and unpretentious six-roomed dwelling, and of a style very
+different to the one in Ordnance Terrace. Here the Dickens family lived
+from 1821 to 1823. The Reverend William Giles, the Baptist Minister,
+father of Mr. William Giles, the schoolmaster, formerly officiated at
+the chapel. This was the Mr. Giles who, when Dickens was half-way
+through _Pickwick_, sent him a silver snuff-box, with an admiring
+inscription to the "Inimitable Boz." Dickens went to school at Mr.
+Giles's Academy in Clover Lane (now Clover Street), Chatham, and boys of
+this and neighbouring schools were thus nicknamed:--
+
+ "Baker's Bull-dogs,
+ "Giles's Cats,
+ "New Road Scrubbers,
+ "Troy Town Rats."
+
+[Illustration: Giles's School, Chatham.]
+
+It was in the House on the Brook that he acquired those "readings and
+imaginings" which in "boyish recollections" he describes as having been
+brought away from Chatham:--"My father had left a small collection of
+books in a little room up-stairs, to which I had access (for it adjoined
+my own), and which nobody else in our house ever troubled. From that
+blessed little room _Roderick Random_, _Peregrine Pickle_, _Humphry
+Clinker_, _Tom Jones_, _The Vicar of Wakefield_, _Don Quixote_, _Gil
+Blas_, and _Robinson Crusoe_, came out, a glorious host to keep me
+company. They kept alive my fancy, and my hope of something beyond that
+place and time,--they and the _Arabian Nights_, and the _Tales of the
+Genii_,--and did me no harm; for whatever harm was in some of them was
+not there for me. _I_ knew nothing of it."
+
+It is very probable that his first literary effort, _The Tragedy of
+Misnar, the Sultan of India_, "founded" (says Forster), "and very
+literally founded, no doubt, on the _Tales of the Genii_," was composed
+after perusal of some of the works above referred to, but it is to be
+feared that it was never even rehearsed. The circumstances of the family
+had so changed for the worse, that here were neither juvenile parties
+nor theatrical entertainments.
+
+A view from one of the upper windows of the house in St. Mary's Place
+gives the parish church and churchyard precisely as described in that
+pathetic little story, _A Child's Dream of a Star_. Charles Dickens was
+the child who "strolled about a good deal, and thought of a number of
+things," and his little sister Fanny--or his younger sister Harriet
+Ellen--was doubtless "his constant companion" referred to in the story.
+
+[Illustration: Mitre Inn, Chatham.]
+
+We leave with feelings of respect the humble but famous little tenement,
+its condition now sadly degraded; proceed along the High Street, and
+soon reach "The Mitre Inn and Clarence Hotel," a solid-looking and
+comfortable house of entertainment, at which Lord Nelson and King
+William IV., when Duke of Clarence, frequently stayed, and (what is more
+to our purpose) where we find associations of Charles Dickens. There are
+a beautiful bowling-green and grounds at the back, approached by a
+series of terraces well planted with flowers, and the green is
+surrounded by fine elms which constitute quite an oasis in the desert of
+the somewhat prosaic Chatham. The Mitre is thus immortalized in the
+"Guest's Story" of the _Holly Tree Inn_:--
+
+ "There was an Inn in the Cathedral town where I
+ went to school, which had pleasanter recollections
+ about it than any of these. I took it next. It was
+ the Inn where friends used to put up, and where we
+ used to go to see parents, and to have salmon and
+ fowls, and be tipped. It had an ecclesiastical
+ sign--the 'Mitre'--and a bar that seemed to be the
+ next best thing to a Bishopric, it was so snug. I
+ loved the landlord's youngest daughter to
+ distraction--but let that pass. It was in this Inn
+ that I was cried over by my rosy little sister,
+ because I had acquired a black-eye in a fight. And
+ though she had been, that holly-tree night, for
+ many a long year where all tears are dried, the
+ Mitre softened me yet."
+
+About the year 1820 the landlord of the Mitre was Mr. John Tribe, and
+his family being intimate with the Dickenses, young Charles spent many
+pleasant evenings at the "genial parties" given at this fine old inn.
+Mr. Langton mentions that the late Mr. Alderman William Tribe, son of
+Mr. John Tribe, the former proprietor, perfectly recollected Charles
+Dickens and his sister Fanny coming to the Mitre, and on one occasion
+their being mounted on a dining-table for a stage, and singing what was
+then a popular duet, _i. e._--
+
+ "Long time I've courted you, miss,
+ And now I've come from sea;
+ We'll make no more ado, miss,
+ But quickly married be.
+ Sing Fal-de-ral," &c.
+
+The worthy alderman is also stated to have had in his possession a card
+of invitation to spend the evening at Ordnance Terrace, addressed from
+Master and Miss Dickens to Master and Miss Tribe, which was dated about
+this time.
+
+In consequence of the elder Dickens being recalled from Chatham to
+Somerset House, to comply with official requirements, the family removed
+to London in 1823,[22] "and took up its abode in a house in Bayham
+Street, Camden Town." Dickens thus describes his journey to London in
+"Dullborough Town," one of the sketches in _The Uncommercial
+Traveller_:--
+
+ "As I left Dullborough in the days when there were
+ no railroads in the land, I left it in a
+ stage-coach. Through all the years that have since
+ passed, have I ever lost the smell of the damp
+ straw in which I was packed--like game--and
+ forwarded, carriage paid, to the Cross Keys, Wood
+ Street, Cheapside, London? There was no other
+ inside passenger, and I consumed my sandwiches in
+ solitude and dreariness, and it rained hard all
+ the way, and I thought life sloppier than I had
+ expected to find it. . . ."
+
+Mr. W. T. Wildish, the proprietor of the _Rochester and Chatham
+Journal_, kindly favours us with some interesting information which has
+recently appeared in his journal, relating to Charles Dickens's
+nurse--the Mary Weller of his boyhood (and perhaps the Peggotty as
+well), but known to later generations as Mrs. Mary Gibson of Front Row,
+Ordnance Place, Chatham, who died in the spring of the year 1888, at the
+advanced age of eighty-four. Very touchingly, but unknowingly, did
+Dickens write from Gad's Hill, 24th September, 1857, being unaware that
+she was still living:--
+
+"I feel much as I used to do when I was a small child, a few miles off,
+and somebody--_who_, I wonder, and which way did _she_ go when she
+died?--hummed the evening hymn, and I cried on the pillow--either with
+the remorseful consciousness of having kicked somebody else, or because
+still somebody else had hurt my feelings in the course of the day."
+
+Mrs. Gibson, when Mary Weller (what a host of pleasant recollections
+does the married name of the "pretty housemaid" bring up of the
+Pickwickian days!), lived with the family of Mr. John Dickens, at No.
+11, Ordnance Terrace, Chatham, and afterwards when they moved to the
+House on the Brook. Her recollections were most vivid and interesting.
+According to the testimony of her son, communicated to Mr. Wildish, Mrs.
+Gibson "used to be very fond of talking of the time she passed with the
+Dickens family, and one of her highest satisfactions in her later years
+was to hear Charles Dickens's works read by her son Robert; and while
+listening to the descriptions of characters read to her, his mother
+would detect likenesses unsuspected by other persons whom Dickens must
+have known when a boy; and she also agreed in thinking, with Dickens's
+biographer, that in Mr. Micawber's troubles were related some of the
+experiences of the elder Dickens, who is believed for a time to have
+occupied a debtor's prison. She, however, would never bring herself to
+believe that her hero was himself ever reduced to such great hardships
+as the blacking-bottle period in _David Copperfield_ would suggest if
+taken literally. She used to speak of the future author as always fond
+of reading, and said he was wont to retire to the top room of the House
+on the Brook, and spend what should have been his play-hours in poring
+over his books, or in acting to the furniture of the room the creatures
+that he had read about."
+
+Mr. Langton, who had a personal interview with Mrs. Gibson herself, has
+recorded the fact that she well remembered singing the Evening Hymn to
+the children of John Dickens, and seemed very much surprised at being
+asked such a question. She lived with the family when Dickens's little
+sister, Harriet Ellen, died--a circumstance that no doubt in after years
+inspired the _Child's Dream of a Star_ already referred to. When the
+family removed to London, Mary Weller was pressed to accompany them, but
+was not in a position to accept the offer, in consequence of her promise
+to marry Mr. Thomas Gibson, a shipwright of the Chatham Dockyard, with
+whom she lived happily until his death, in 1886, at the age of
+eighty-two.
+
+Mrs. Gibson modestly declined, on her son Robert's suggestion, to seek
+an introduction to Charles Dickens, when he read some of his works at
+the old Mechanics' Institute at Chatham, fearing that he had forgotten
+her. It is certain, however, that, from the reproduction of her name as
+the pretty housemaid at Mr. Nupkins's at Ipswich, and from the extract
+from the letter above referred to, she had a kindly place in his
+recollections.
+
+Poor David Copperfield, on his way to his aunt's at Dover, stopped at
+Chatham--"footsore and tired," he says, "and eating bread that I had
+bought for supper." He is afraid "because of the vicious looks of the
+trampers;" and even if he could have spared the few pence he possessed
+for a bed at the "one or two little houses" with the notice "lodgings
+for travellers," he would have hardly cared to go in, on account of the
+company he would have been thrown into. And so he says, "I sought no
+shelter, therefore, but the sky; and toiling into Chatham--which, in
+that night's aspect, is a mere dream of chalk, and draw-bridges, and
+mastless ships in a muddy river, roofed like Noah's arks,--crept, at
+last, upon a sort of grass-grown battery overhanging a lane, where a
+sentry was walking to and fro. Here" [he continues] "I lay down near a
+cannon; and, happy in the society of the sentry's footsteps, . . . slept
+soundly until morning." Of course it is not possible for us to identify
+this spot. "Very stiff and sore of foot," he says, "I was in the
+morning, and quite dazed by the beating of drums and marching of troops,
+which seemed to hem me in on every side when I went down towards the
+long narrow street." However, he has to reserve his strength for getting
+to his journey's end, and to this effect he resolves upon selling his
+jacket.
+
+There are plenty of marine-store dealers at Chatham, whom we notice on
+our tramp, but none of them would, we believe, now answer to the
+description of "an ugly old man, with the lower part of his face all
+covered with a stubbly grey beard, in a filthy flannel waistcoat, and
+smelling terribly of rum," such as he who assailed little David, in
+reply to his offer to sell the jacket, with, "Oh, what do you want? Oh,
+my eyes and limbs, what do you want? Oh, my lungs and liver, what do you
+want? Oh--goroo, goroo!" After losing his time, and being rated at and
+frightened by this "dreadful old man to look at," who in every way tries
+to avoid giving him the money asked for,--half-a-crown,--offering him in
+exchange such useless things to a hungry boy as "a fishing-rod, a
+fiddle, a cocked hat, and a flute," the poor lad is obliged to close
+with the offer of a few pence, "with which [he says] I soon refreshed
+myself completely; and, being in better spirits then, limped seven miles
+upon my road."
+
+The Convict Prison at Chatham is said to have been built on a piece of
+ground which, in the middle of the last century, belonged to one Thomas
+Clark, a singular character, who lived on the spot for many years by
+himself in a small cottage, and who used every night, as he went home,
+to sing or shout, "Tom's all alone! Tom's all alone!" This, according to
+the opinion of some, may have given rise to the "Tom all alone's" of
+_Bleak House_, more especially considering the fact that military
+operations were frequently going on at Chatham, which Dickens would
+notice in his early days. The circumstance is thus referred to in the
+novel:--"Twice lately there has been a crash, and a crowd of dust, like
+the springing of a mine, in Tom all alone's, and each time a house has
+fallen."
+
+Mr. George Robinson of Strood directs our attention to the fact that a
+"child's caul," such as that described in the first chapter of _David
+Copperfield_, which he was born with, and which was advertised "at the
+low price of fifteen guineas," would be a likely object to be sought
+after in a sea-faring town like Chatham, in Dickens's early days, when
+the schoolmaster was less abroad than he is now.
+
+In after years, memories of Chatham Dockyard appear in many of the
+sketches in the _Uncommercial Traveller_ and other stories. "One man in
+a Dockyard" describes it as having "a gravity upon its red brick offices
+and houses, a staid pretence of having nothing to do, an avoidance of
+display, which I never saw out of England." "Nurse's Stories" says that
+"nails and copper are shipwrights' sweethearts, and shipwrights will run
+away with them whenever they can." In _Great Expectations_ the refrain,
+"Beat it out, beat it out--old Clem! with a clink for the stout--old
+Clem!" which Pip and his friends sang, is from a song which the
+blacksmiths in the dockyard used to sing in procession on St. Clement's
+Day.
+
+By accident we make the acquaintance of Mr. William James Budden of
+Chatham, who informs us that Charles Dickens was better known there in
+his latter years for his efforts, by readings and otherwise, to place
+the Mechanics' Institute on a sound basis and free from debt.
+
+Dickens, as the _Uncommercial Traveller_, thus describes the Mechanics'
+Institute and its early efforts to succeed:--
+
+ "As the town was placarded with references to the
+ Dullborough Mechanics' Institution, I thought I
+ would go and look at that establishment next.
+ There had been no such thing in the town in my
+ young days, and it occurred to me that its extreme
+ prosperity might have brought adversity upon the
+ Drama. I found the Institution with some
+ difficulty, and should scarcely have known that I
+ had found it if I had judged from its external
+ appearance only; but this was attributable to its
+ never having been finished, and having no front:
+ consequently, it led a modest and retired
+ existence up a stable-yard. It was (as I learnt,
+ on enquiry) a most flourishing Institution, and of
+ the highest benefit to the town: two triumphs
+ which I was glad to understand were not at all
+ impaired by the seeming drawbacks that no
+ mechanics belonged to it, and that it was steeped
+ in debt to the chimney-pots. It had a large room,
+ which was approached by an infirm step-ladder: the
+ builder having declined to construct the intended
+ staircase, without a present payment in cash,
+ which Dullborough (though profoundly appreciative
+ of the Institution) seemed unaccountably bashful
+ about subscribing."
+
+Mr. Budden is of opinion that the origin of the "fat boy" in _Pickwick_
+was Mr. James Budden, late of the Red Lion Inn in Military Road, who
+afterwards acquired a competence, and who had the honour of entertaining
+Dickens at a subsequent period of his life. Mr. Budden is under the
+impression, from local hearsay, that Dingley Dell formerly existed
+somewhere in the neighbourhood of Burham.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We are obligingly favoured with an interview by Mr. John Baird of New
+Brompton, Chairman of the Chatham Waterworks Company, although he is
+suffering from serious indisposition at the time of our visit. This
+gentleman was born in 1810 (two years before Charles Dickens), and
+recollects reading with delight the famous _Sketches by Boz_, as they
+appeared in the _Morning Chronicle_. The most curious coincidence about
+Mr. Baird is, that in stature and facial appearance he is the very
+counterpart of the late Charles Dickens in the flesh--his double, so to
+speak. This remarkable resemblance, our informant says, is "something
+to be proud of, to be mistaken for so great a man, but it was very
+inconvenient at times."
+
+On one occasion, as Mr. Baird was hastening to catch a train at
+Rochester Bridge Station, a stout elderly lady, handsomely dressed,
+supposed to be Dean Scott's wife,--but to whom he was unknown,--bowed
+very politely to him, and in slackening his pace to return the
+compliment, which he naturally did not understand, he very nearly missed
+his train.
+
+Sir Arthur Otway told Mr. Baird that the Rev. Mr. Webster, late Vicar of
+Chatham, had always mistaken him for Charles Dickens.
+
+At one of the Readings given by Dickens on behalf of the Mechanics'
+Institute at Chatham, Mr. Charles Collins, his son-in-law, and his wife
+and her sister being present in the reserved seats in the gallery, Mr.
+Baird noticed that they looked very eagerly at him, and this pointed
+notice naturally made him feel very uncomfortable. Dickens himself,
+accompanied by his son and daughter, once passed our friend in the
+street, and scanned him very closely, and he fancies that Dickens called
+attention to the resemblance.
+
+At the last reading which the novelist gave at Chatham, Mr. Baird being
+present as one of the audience, the policeman at the door mistook him
+for Dickens, and shouted to those in attendance outside, "Mr. Dickens's
+carriage!" It is interesting to add, that after the reading a cordial
+vote of thanks to Dickens was proposed by Mr. H. G. Adams, the
+Naturalist, at one time editor of _The Kentish Coronal_, who recounted
+the well-known story of the novelist's father taking him, when a little
+boy, to see Gad's Hill Place, and of the strong impression it made upon
+his mind.
+
+Our informant had the honour of meeting Dickens at dinner at Mr. James
+Budden's, and states that he was standing against the mantel-piece in
+the drawing-room when the novelist arrived, and that he walked up to him
+and shook hands cordially, without the usual ceremony of introduction.
+Dickens was no doubt too polite to refer to the curious resemblance.
+
+But the most remarkable case remains to be told, illustrating the
+converse of the old proverb--"It is a wise father that knows his own
+child." This is given in Mr. Baird's own words:--
+
+"My daughter, when a little girl about six years old, was with her
+mother and some friends in a railway carriage at Strood station (next
+Rochester), and one of them called the child's attention to a gentleman
+standing on the platform, asking if she knew who he was. With surprised
+delight she at once exclaimed, 'That's my papa!' That same gentleman was
+Mr. Charles Dickens!"
+
+Mr. Baird speaks of the great appreciation which the people of Chatham
+had of Dickens's services at the readings, and says it was very good and
+kind of him to give those services gratuitously. He confirms the general
+opinion as to the origin of the "fat boy," and the "very fussy little
+man" at Fort Pitt, who was the prototype of Dr. Slammer.
+
+It struck us both forcibly that Mr. Baird's appearance at the time of
+our visit was very like the last American photograph of Dickens, taken
+by Gurney in 1867.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Mr. J. E. Littlewood[23] of High Street, Chatham, knew Charles Dickens
+about the year 1845 or 1846 at the Royalty (Miss Kelly's) Theatre in
+Dean Street, Soho, our informant having been in times past a bit of an
+amateur actor, and played Bob Acres in _The Rivals_. He subsequently
+heard Dickens read at the Chatham Mechanics' Institute about 1861, and
+said that the facial display in the trial scene from _Pickwick_ (one of
+the pieces read) was wonderful. He had the honour of dining at the late
+Mr. Budden's in High Street, opposite Military Road, to meet Dickens.
+There was a large company present. In acknowledging the toast of his
+health, which had been proposed at the dinner--either by Sir Arthur
+Otway or Captain Fanshawe--Dickens said he was very pleased to read "in
+memory of the old place," meaning Chatham, but that he might be reading
+"all the year round" for charities.
+
+Mr. Littlewood also heard Dickens say, that "he had passed many happy
+hours in the House on the Brook" looking at "the Lines" opposite. "At
+that time" (said our informant) "the place was more rural--considered a
+decent spot--not so crowded up as now--nor so vulgar--many respectable
+people lived there in Dickens's boyhood. The place has sadly changed
+since for the worse."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Mr. Humphrey Wood, Solicitor, of Chatham, was, about the year 1867,
+local Hon. Secretary to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
+to Animals, and, having applied to Charles Dickens to give a Reading on
+behalf of the Society, received the following polite answer to his
+application. If only a few words had to be said, they were well said and
+to the purpose.
+
+
+ "GAD'S HILL PLACE,
+ "HIGHAM BY ROCHESTER, KENT.
+ "_Thursday, 5th September, 1867._
+
+ "SIR,
+
+ "In reply to your letter, I beg to express my
+ regret that my compliance with the request it
+ communicates to me, is removed from within the
+ bounds of reasonable possibility by the nature of
+ my engagements, present and prospective.
+
+ "Your faithful servant,
+ "CHARLES DICKENS.
+ "HUMPHREY WOOD, ESQ."
+
+Like other towns in Kent, Chatham contains many names which are
+suggestive of some of Dickens's characters, _viz._ Dowler, Whiffen,
+Kimmins, Wyles, Arkcoll, Perse, Winch, Wildish, Hockaday, Mowatt,
+Hunnisett, and others.
+
+It is, of course, scarcely necessary to mention, in passing, that
+Chatham is one of the most important centres of ship-building for the
+Royal Navy; the dockyards--often referred to in Dickens's minor
+works--cover more than seventy acres, and are most interesting. Here, at
+the Navy Pay-Office, the elder Dickens was employed during his residence
+at Chatham.
+
+Fort Pitt next claims our attention. It stands on the high ground above
+the Railway Station at Chatham, just beyond Ordnance Terrace. In Charles
+Dickens's early days, and indeed long after, until the establishment of
+the magnificent Institution at Netley, Fort Pitt was the principal
+military Hospital in England, and was visited by Her Majesty during the
+Crimean War. It is still used as a hospital, and contains about two
+hundred and fifty beds. The interesting museum which previously existed
+there has been removed to Netley.
+
+From Fort Pitt we see the famous "Chatham lines," which constitute the
+elaborate and almost impregnable fortifications of this important
+military and ship-building town. The "lines" were commenced as far back
+as 1758, and stretch from Gillingham to Brompton, a distance of several
+miles, enclosing the peninsula formed by the bend of the river Medway.
+Forster says:--
+
+[Illustration: Navy Pay-Office, Chatham.]
+
+"By Rochester and the Medway to the Chatham lines was a favourite walk
+with Charles Dickens. He would turn out of Rochester High Street through
+the Vines, . . . would pass round by Fort Pitt, and coming back by
+Frindsbury would bring himself by some cross-fields again into the
+high-road."
+
+The Chatham lines are locally understood as referring to a piece of
+ground about three or four hundred yards square, near Fort Pitt, used as
+an exercising-ground for the military.
+
+Chapter IV. of _Pickwick_, "describing a field day and bivouac," refers
+to the Chatham lines as the place where the review was held, on the
+third day of the visit of the Pickwickians to this neighbourhood, and
+which (having been relieved of the company of their quondam friend, Mr.
+Jingle, who had caused at least one of the party so much anxiety) they
+all attended, possibly at Mr. Pickwick's suggestion, as he is stated to
+have been "an enthusiastic admirer of the army." The programme is thus
+referred to:--
+
+ "The whole population of Rochester and the
+ adjoining towns, rose from their beds at an early
+ hour of the following morning, in a state of the
+ utmost bustle and excitement. A grand review was
+ to take place upon the lines. The manoeuvres of
+ half a dozen regiments were to be inspected by the
+ eagle eye of the commander-in-chief; temporary
+ fortifications had been erected, the citadel was
+ to be attacked and taken, and a mine was to be
+ sprung."
+
+The evolutions of this "ceremony of the utmost grandeur and importance"
+proceed. Mr. Pickwick and his two friends (Mr. Tupman "had suddenly
+disappeared, and was nowhere to be found"), who are told to keep back,
+get hustled and pushed by the crowd, and the unoffending Mr. Snodgrass,
+who is in "the very extreme of human torture," is derided and asked
+"vere he vos a shovin' to." Subsequently they get hemmed in by the
+crowd, "are exposed to a galling fire of blank cartridges, and harassed
+by the operations of the military." Mr. Pickwick loses his hat, and not
+only regains that useful article of dress, but finds the lost Mr.
+Tupman, and the Pickwickians make the acquaintance of old Wardle and his
+hospitable family from Dingley Dell, by whom they are heartily
+entertained, and from whom they receive a warm invitation to visit Manor
+Farm on the morrow.
+
+There is a fine view of Chatham and Rochester from the fields round Fort
+Pitt, and on a bright sunny morning the air coming over from the Kentish
+Hills is most refreshing, very different indeed to what it was on a
+certain evening in Mr. Winkle's life, when "a melancholy wind sounded
+through the deserted fields like a giant whistling for his house-dog."
+We ramble about for an hour or more, and in imagination call up the
+pleasant times which Charles Dickens, as a boy, spent here.
+
+[Illustration: Fort Pitt, Chatham.]
+
+Almost every inch of the ground must have been gone over by him. What a
+delightful "playing-field" this and the neighbouring meadows must have
+been to him and his young companions, before the railway and the builder
+took possession of some of the lower portions of the hill which forms
+the base of Fort Pitt. "Here," says Mr. Langton, "is the place where the
+schools of Rochester and Chatham used to meet to settle their
+differences, and to contend in the more friendly rivalry of cricket,"
+and no doubt Dickens frequently played when "Joe Specks" in Dullborough
+"kept wicket." In after life the memory of the past came back to
+Dickens with all its freshness, when he again visited the neighbourhood
+as the _Uncommercial Traveller_ in "Dullborough":--
+
+ "With this tender remembrance upon me" [that of
+ leaving Chatham as a boy], "I was cavalierly
+ shunted back into Dullborough the other day, by
+ train. My ticket had been previously collected,
+ like my taxes, and my shining new portmanteau had
+ had a great plaster stuck upon it, and I had been
+ defied by Act of Parliament to offer an objection
+ to anything that was done to it, or me, under a
+ penalty of not less than forty shillings or more
+ than five pounds, compoundable for a term of
+ imprisonment. When I had sent my disfigured
+ property on to the hotel, I began to look about
+ me; and the first discovery I made, was, that the
+ Station had swallowed up the playing-field.
+
+ "It was gone. The two beautiful hawthorn-trees,
+ the hedge, the turf, and all those buttercups and
+ daisies, had given place to the stoniest of
+ jolting roads; while, beyond the Station, an ugly
+ dark monster of a tunnel kept its jaws open, as if
+ it had swallowed them and were ravenous for more
+ destruction. The coach that had carried me away,
+ was melodiously called Timpson's Blue-eyed Maid,
+ and belonged to Timpson, at the coach-office up
+ street; the locomotive engine that had brought me
+ back was called severely No. 97, and belonged to
+ S.E.R., and was spitting ashes and hot-water over
+ the blighted ground.
+
+ "When I had been let out at the platform-door,
+ like a prisoner whom his turnkey grudgingly
+ released, I looked in again over the low wall, at
+ the scene of departed glories. Here, in the
+ haymaking time, had I been delivered from the
+ dungeons of Seringapatam, an immense pile (of
+ haycock), by my countrymen, the victorious British
+ (boy next door and his two cousins), and had been
+ recognized with ecstasy by my affianced one (Miss
+ Green), who had come all the way from England
+ (second house in the terrace) to ransom me, and
+ marry me."
+
+Fort Pitt must have had considerable attractions in Mr. Pickwick's time,
+as it would appear that it was visited by him and his friends on the
+first day of their arrival at Rochester. Lieutenant Tappleton (Dr.
+Slammer's second), when presenting the challenge for the duel, thus
+speaks to Mr. Winkle in the second chapter of _Pickwick_:--
+
+ "'You know Fort Pitt?'
+
+ "'Yes; I saw it yesterday.'
+
+ "'If you will take the trouble to turn into the
+ field which borders the trench, take the foot-path
+ to the left, when you arrive at an angle of the
+ fortification; and keep straight on till you see
+ me; I will precede you to a secluded place, where
+ the affair can be conducted without fear of
+ interruption.'
+
+ "'_Fear_ of interruption!' thought Mr. Winkle."
+
+Everybody remembers how the meeting took place on Fort Pitt. Mr. Winkle,
+attended by his friend Mr. Snodgrass, as second, is punctuality itself.
+
+ "'We are in excellent time,' said Mr. Snodgrass,
+ as they climbed the fence of the first field; 'the
+ sun is just going down.' Mr. Winkle looked up at
+ the declining orb, and painfully thought of the
+ probability of his 'going down' himself, before
+ long."
+
+Presently the officer appears, "the gentleman in the blue cloak," and
+"slightly beckoning with his hand to the two friends, they follow him
+for a little distance," and after climbing a paling and scaling a hedge,
+enter a secluded field.
+
+Dr. Slammer is already there with his friend Dr. Payne,--Dr. Payne of
+the 43rd, "the man with the camp-stool."
+
+The arrangements proceed, when suddenly a check is experienced.
+
+ "'What's all this?' said Dr. Slammer, as his
+ friend and Mr. Snodgrass came running up.--'That's
+ not the man.'
+
+ "'Not the man!' said Dr. Slammer's second.
+
+ "'Not the man!' said Mr. Snodgrass.
+
+ "'Not the man!' said the gentleman with the
+ camp-stool in his hand.
+
+ "'Certainly not,' replied the little doctor.
+ 'That's not the person who insulted me last
+ night.'
+
+ "'Very extraordinary!' exclaimed the officer.
+
+ "'Very,' said the gentleman with the camp-stool."
+
+Mutual explanations follow, and, notwithstanding the temporary
+dissatisfaction of Dr. Payne, Mr. Winkle comes out like a trump--defends
+the honour of the Pickwick Club and its uniform, and wins the admiration
+of Dr. Slammer.
+
+ "'My dear sir,' said the good-humoured little
+ doctor, advancing with extended hand, 'I honour
+ your gallantry. Permit me to say, Sir, that I
+ highly admire your conduct, and extremely regret
+ having caused you the inconvenience of this
+ meeting, to no purpose.'
+
+ "'I beg you won't mention it, Sir,' said Mr.
+ Winkle.
+
+ "'I shall feel proud of your acquaintance, Sir,'
+ said the little doctor.
+
+ "'It will afford me the greatest pleasure to know
+ you, Sir,' replied Mr. Winkle.
+
+ "Thereupon the doctor and Mr. Winkle shook hands,
+ and then Mr. Winkle and Lieutenant Tappleton (the
+ doctor's second), and then Mr. Winkle and the man
+ with the camp-stool, and finally Mr. Winkle and
+ Mr. Snodgrass: the last-named gentleman in an
+ excess of admiration at the noble conduct of his
+ heroic friend.
+
+ "'I think we may adjourn,' said Lieutenant
+ Tappleton.
+
+ "'Certainly,' added the doctor."
+
+We ourselves also adjourn, taking with us many pleasant memories of
+Chatham and Fort Pitt, and of the period relating to "the childhood and
+youth of Charles Dickens."
+
+[Illustration: BIRTHPLACE OF CHARLES DICKENS,
+
+387 Mile End Terrace, Commercial Road, Landport.]
+
+
+ * * * * *
+
+No tramp in "Dickens-Land" can possibly be complete without a visit to
+the birthplace of the great novelist, and on another occasion we
+therefore devote a day to Portsea, Hants. A fast train from Victoria by
+the London, Brighton, and South Coast Railway takes us to Portsmouth
+Town, the nearest station, which is about half a mile from Commercial
+Road, and a tram-car puts us down at the door. We immediately recognize
+the house from the picture in Mr. Langton's book, but the first
+impression is that the illustration scarcely does justice to it. From
+the picture it appears to us to be a very ordinary house in a row, and
+to be situated rather low in a crowded and not over respectable
+neighbourhood. Nothing of the kind. The house, No. 387, Mile End
+Terrace, Commercial Road, Landport, where the parents of Charles Dickens
+resided before they removed to another part of Portsea, and subsequently
+went to live at Chatham, and where the future genius first saw light,
+was eighty years ago quite in a rural neighbourhood; and in those days
+must have been considered rather a genteel residence for a family of
+moderate means in the middle class. Even now, with the pressure which
+always attends the development of large towns, and their extension on
+the border-land of green country by the frequent conversion of
+dwelling-houses into shops, or the intrusion of shops where
+dwelling-houses are, this residence has escaped and remains unchanged to
+this day.
+
+There is another point of real importance to notice. Mr. Langton,
+referring to this house, says:--"The engraving shows the little
+fore-court or front garden, with the low kitchen window of the house,
+whence the movements of Charles [who is presumably represented in the
+engraving by the figure of a boy about two or three years old, with
+curly locks, dressed in a smart frock, and having a large ball in his
+right hand], attended by his dear little sister Fanny, could be
+overlooked."[24] Very pretty indeed, but alas! I am afraid, purely
+imaginary, considering, as will hereafter appear, that Charles was a
+baby in arms, aged about four months and sixteen days, when his parents
+quitted the house in which he was born.
+
+The house is now, and has been for many years, occupied by Miss Sarah
+Pearce, the surviving daughter of Mr. John Dickens's landlord, her
+sisters, who formerly lived with her, being all dead. It stands high on
+the west side of a good broad road, opposite an old-fashioned villa
+called Angus House, in the midst of well-trimmed grounds, and the
+situation is very open, pleasant, and cheerful. It is red-brick built,
+has a railing in front, and is approached by a little entrance-gate
+opening on to a lawn, whereon there are a few flower-beds; a hedge
+divides the fore-court from the next house,[25] and a few steps guarded
+by a handrail lead to the front door. It is a single-fronted,
+eight-roomed house, having two underground kitchens, two floors above,
+and a single dormer window high up in the sloping red-tiled roof. As is
+usual with old-fashioned houses of this type, the shutters to the lower
+windows are outside. Both the front and back parlours on the ground
+floor are very cheerful, cosy little rooms (in one of them we are glad
+to see a portrait of the novelist), and the view from the back parlour
+looking down into the well-kept garden, which abuts on other gardens, is
+very pretty, marred only by a large gasometer in the distance, which
+could hardly have been erected in young Charles Dickens's earliest days.
+In the garden we notice a lovely specimen of the _Lavatera arborea_, or
+tree-mallow, covered with hundreds of white and purple blossoms. It is a
+rarity to see such a handsome, well-grown tree, standing nearly eight
+feet high, and it is not unlikely, from the luxuriance of its growth,
+that it existed in Charles Dickens's infancy. From the pleasant
+surroundings of the place generally, and from the fact that flowers are
+much grown in the neighbourhood (especially roses), it is more than
+probable that Dickens's love for flowers was early developed by these
+associations. The road leads to Cosham, and to the picturesque old ruin
+of Porchester Castle, a nice walk from the town of Portsmouth, and
+probably often traversed by Dickens, his sister, and his nurse.
+
+Mr. Langton states that "it is said in after years Charles Dickens could
+remember places and things at Portsmouth that he had not seen since he
+was an infant of little more than two years old (he left Portsmouth when
+he was only four or five), and there is no doubt whatever that many of
+the earliest reminiscences of _David Copperfield_ were also tender
+childish memories of his own infancy at this place."
+
+Mr. William Pearce, solicitor of Portsea, son of the former landlord,
+and brother of Miss Sarah Pearce, the present occupant, has been kind
+enough to supply the following interesting information respecting No.
+387, Mile End Terrace:--
+
+"The celebrated novelist was born in the front bedroom of the above
+house, which my sisters many years ago converted into a drawing-room,
+and it is still used as such.
+
+"Mr. John Dickens, the father of the novelist, and his wife came to
+reside in the house directly after they were married. Mr. John Dickens
+rented the house of my father at £35 a-year, from the 24th June, 1808,
+until the 24th June, 1812, when he quitted, and moved into Hawke Street,
+in the town of Portsea. Miss Fanny Dickens, the novelist's sister, was
+the first child born in the house, and then the novelist.
+
+"I was born on the 22nd February, 1814, and have often heard my mother
+say that Mr. Gardner, the surgeon, and Mrs. Purkis, the monthly nurse
+(both of whom attended my mother with me and her six other children),
+attended Mrs. Dickens with her two children, Fanny and Charles, who were
+both born in the above house; besides this, Mrs. Purkis has often called
+on my sisters at the house in question, and alluded to the above
+circumstances.
+
+[Illustration: St. Mary's Church, Portsea.]
+
+"Mr. Cobb (whom I recollect), a fellow-clerk of Mr. John Dickens in the
+pay-office in the Portsmouth Dockyard, rented the same house of my
+father after Mr. John Dickens left, and often alluded to the many happy
+hours he spent in it while Mr. Dickens resided there."
+
+We next visit the site of old Kingston Parish Church,--St. Mary's,
+Portsea--where Charles Dickens was baptized on 4th March, 1812. A very
+handsome and large new church, costing nearly forty thousand pounds, and
+capable of seating over two thousand persons, has been erected, and
+occupies the place of the old church, where the ceremony took place.
+Mr. Langton has given a very pretty little drawing of the old church in
+his book, so that its associations are preserved to lovers of Dickens.
+The old church itself was the second edifice erected on the same spot,
+and thus the present one is the third parish church which has been built
+here. There is a large and crowded burial-ground attached to it; but a
+cursory examination does not disclose any names on the gravestones to
+indicate characters in the novels.
+
+It is right to note here, that the kind people of Portsmouth were
+desirous of inserting a stained-glass window in their beautiful new
+church to the memory of one of their most famous sons (the eminent
+novelist, Mr. Walter Besant, was born at Portsmouth, as also were
+Isambard K. Brunel, the engineer, and Messrs. George and Vicat Cole,
+Royal Academicians), but they were debarred by the conditions of
+Dickens's will, which expressly interdicted anything of the kind. It
+states:--
+
+"I conjure my friends on no account to make me the subject of any
+monument, memorial, or testimonial whatever. I rest my claim to the
+remembrance of my country upon my published works, and to the
+remembrance of my friends upon their experience of me in addition
+thereto."
+
+Before leaving Portsmouth, we just take a hasty glance at the Theatre
+Royal, which remains much as it was during the days of Mr. Vincent
+Crummles and his company, as graphically described in the twenty-second
+and following chapters of _Nicholas Nickleby_. Of that genial manager,
+Mr. T. Edgar Pemberton, in his _Charles Dickens and the Stage_,
+observes:--
+
+"Every line that is written about Mr. Crummles and his followers is
+instinct with good-natured humour, and from the moment when, in the
+road-side inn 'yet twelve miles short of Portsmouth,' the reader comes
+into contact with the kindly old circuit manager, he finds himself in
+the best of good company."
+
+Mr. Rimmer, in his _About England with Dickens_, referring to the
+"Common Hard" at Portsmouth, says that the "people there point out in a
+narrow lane leading to the wharf, the house where Nicholas is supposed
+to have sojourned."
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[19] So far as I am aware, nothing has been done to trace the genealogy
+of the Dickens family, and it may therefore be of interest to place on
+record the title of, and an extract from, a very scarce and curious thin
+quarto volume (pp. 1-28) in my collection. Sir Walter Scott was
+immensely proud of his lineage and historical associations, but it would
+be a wonderful thing if we could trace the descent of Charles Dickens
+from King Edward III.
+
+In the _Rambler in Worcestershire_ (Longmans, 1854), Mr. John Noake, the
+author, in alluding to the parish of Churchill, Worcestershire,
+says:--"The Dickens family of Bobbington were lords of this manor from
+1432 to 1657, and it is said that from this family Mr. Dickens, the
+author, is descended."
+
+ [Title.]
+
+ A
+ POSTHUMOUS POEM
+ of the
+
+ late THOMAS DICKENS, ESQ.,
+
+ Lieut.-Colonel in the First Regiment of Foot Guards,
+ Dedicated, by permission,
+ to his Royal Highness, the Duke of Gloucester,
+ to which is added
+ The genealogy of the Author from King Edward III.;
+ also
+ A few grateful stanzas to the Deity, three months
+ previous to his death, _Sep. 21st, 1789_.
+
+
+ CAMBRIDGE:
+ Printed by J. Archdeacon, Printer to the University.
+ And may be had of the Editor, C. DICKENS, LL.D., near Huntingdon,
+ and of T. PAYNE AND SON, Booksellers, London.
+ MDCCXC.
+
+Above the title is written in ink: "Peter Cowling to Charles Robert
+Dickens, 3rd son to Sam. Trevor Dickens, this 10th August, 1807, and
+from said Chas. R. Dickens to his loved father, on the 16th June, 1832."
+
+ [EXTRACT.]
+
+ Genealogy of the late Thomas Dickens, Esq.
+
+ KING EDWARD III.
+
+ LIONEL, Duke of Clarence his Son
+
+ PHILIPPA, married to EDMUND MORTIMER, Earl of March his Daughter
+
+ ROGER, Earl of March her Son
+
+ ANN, who married RICHARD, Duke of York and Earl of
+ Cambridge his Daughter
+
+ RICHARD, Duke of York her Son
+
+ GEORGE, Duke of Clarence, brother to Edward IV. his Son
+
+ Countess of SALISBURY his Daughter
+
+ Viscount MONTAGUE her Son
+
+ Lady BARRINGTON his Daughter
+
+ Sir Francis BARRINGTON her Son
+
+ Lady MASHAM his Daughter
+
+ William MASHAM, ESQ. her Son
+
+ Sir FRANCIS MASHAM her Son
+
+ JOHANNA MASHAM, who married Counsellor Hildesley his Daughter
+
+ JOHN HILDESLEY, ESQ. her Son
+
+ MARY HILDESLEY, who married the Reverend SAMUEL
+ DICKENS his Daughter
+
+ THOMAS DICKENS, ESQ., the Author her Son
+
+ Opposite GEORGE, Duke of Clarence, is written in ink, "Drown'd in a
+ Butt of Malmsey Madeira," and following THOMAS DICKENS, ESQ., the
+ Author, also written in ink--
+
+ "Lieut.-Gen. Sir SAML. T. DICKENS, K.C.H. his Son
+
+ Capt. SAML. T. DICKENS, R.N. his Son"
+
+ And following the last-mentioned names written in pencil--
+
+ "Admiral SAMUEL TREVOR DICKENS, R.N. my Son"
+
+ Also written in pencil underneath the above--
+
+ "qy. CHARLES DICKENS the Novelist."
+
+
+[20] In a copy--in my collection--of the second edition 8vo of "_The
+History and Antiquities of Rochester and its Environs_, embellished with
+engravings (pp. i-xvii, 1-419), printed and sold by W. Wildash,
+Rochester, 1817," there occurs in the list of subscribers--about four
+hundred in number--the name:--DICKENS MR. JOHN, CHATHAM.
+
+[21] A most interesting paper entitled "The Life and Labours of
+Lieutenant Waghorn," appeared in _Household Words_ (No. 21), August
+17th, 1850.
+
+[22] See Note to Chapter ii. p. 38.
+
+[23] Since this was written, Mr. Littlewood has passed over to the great
+majority. He was found drowned near Chatham Pier in March, 1890.
+
+[24] This was taken from the first edition of Mr. Langton's book,
+published in 1883. In the new edition, 1891--a beautiful volume--this
+passage has been eliminated, but the engraving is untouched.
+
+[25] This house is appropriately named "Highland House," and was also
+the property of John Dickens's landlord, in which the family then and
+for many years after resided. At the time referred to Mr. Pearce owned
+not only the above-mentioned houses, but all the surrounding property.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+AYLESFORD, TOWN MALLING, AND MAIDSTONE.
+
+ "Its river winding down from the mist on the
+ horizon, as though that were its source, and
+ already heaving with a restless knowledge of its
+ approach towards the sea."--_Edwin Drood._
+
+ "Oh, the solemn woods over which the light and
+ shadow travelled swiftly, as if Heavenly wings
+ were sweeping on benignant errands through the
+ summer air; the smooth green slopes, the
+ glittering water, the garden where the flowers
+ were symmetrically arranged in clusters of the
+ richest colours, how beautiful they
+ looked!"--_Bleak House._
+
+
+ANOTHER delightful morning, fine but overcast, favours our tramp in this
+neighbourhood. We are up betimes on Monday, and take the train by the
+South-Eastern Railway from Strood station to Aylesford. It is a distance
+of nearly eight miles between these places; and the intermediate
+stations of any note which we pass on the way are Cuxton (about three
+miles) and Snodland (about two miles further on), which are two large
+villages. As the railway winds, we obtain excellent views of the chalk
+escarpments on the series of hills opposite, these being the result of
+centuries of quarrying. The land on either side of the river is marshy
+and intersected by numerous water-courses. These grounds are locally
+termed "saltings," caused by the overflow of the Medway at certain
+times, and are used as sanitaria for horses which require bracing.
+
+[Illustration: Aylesford]
+
+Cuxton is at the entrance of the valley between the two chalk ranges of
+hills which form the water-parting of the river Medway. As Mr Phillips
+Bevan rightly observes--"this valley is utilized for quarrying and
+lime-burning to such an extent, that it has almost the appearance of a
+northern manufacturing district," but it is a consolation, on the
+authority of Sir A. C. Ramsay, to know that "man cannot permanently
+disfigure nature!"
+
+At Snodland the river becomes narrower, and the scenery of the valley is
+more picturesque. Early British and Roman remains have been found in the
+district, and according to the authority previously quoted--"In one of
+the quarries, which are abundant, Dr. Mantell discovered some of the
+most interesting and rarest chalk fossils with which we are acquainted,
+including the fossil Turtle (_Chelonia Benstedi_)."
+
+Alighting from the train at Aylesford station, we have but a few minutes
+to ramble by the river, the banks of which are brightened by the
+handsome flowers of the purple loosestrife. We notice the charming
+position of the Norman church, which stands on an eminence on the right
+bank of the Medway, overlooking the main street, and is surrounded by
+fine old elm trees--the bells were chiming "Home, sweet home," a name
+very dear to Dickens. The Medway ceases to be a tidal river at Allington
+beyond Aylesford, and one or other of the weirs at Allington or Farleigh
+(further on) may have suggested the idea of "Cloisterham Weir" in _Edwin
+Drood_; but they are too far distant (as shown in Chapter V.) to fit in
+with the story. The ancient stone bridge which spans the Medway at
+Aylesford is seven-arched; a large central one, and three smaller ones
+on either side. One or two of the arches on the left bank are filled up,
+as though the river had silted on that side. Mr. Roach Smith considers
+the bridge to be a very fine specimen of mediæval architecture. It is
+somewhat narrow, but there are large abutments which afford shelter to
+foot passengers.
+
+[Illustration: Aylesford Bridge]
+
+We are much inclined to think that Aylesford Bridge was in the mind of
+Dickens when he makes the Pickwickians cross the Medway, only a wooden
+bridge is mentioned in the text for the purpose perhaps of concealing
+identity. The place is certainly worth visiting, and the approach to it
+by the river is exceedingly picturesque.
+
+Aylesford is supposed to be the place where the great battle between
+Hengist and Vortigern took place. Near to it, at a place called Horsted,
+is the tomb of Horsa, who fell in the battle between the Britons and
+Saxons, A.D. 455. Names of Dickens's characters, Brooks, Joy, etc.,
+occur at Aylesford. There is a very fine quarry here, from whence the
+famous Kentish rag-stone--"a concretionary limestone"--is obtained. It
+forms the base, and is overlaid by the Hassock sands and the river
+drift. In the distance is seen the bold series of chalk rocks
+constituting the ridge of the valley.
+
+Just outside Aylesford we pass Preston Hall, a fine modern Tudor mansion
+standing in very pretty grounds, and belonging to Mr. H. Brassey.
+
+We now resume our tramp towards the principal point of our destination,
+Town Malling,[26] or West Malling, as it is indifferently called (the
+"a" in Malling being pronounced long, as in "calling"). The walk from
+Aylesford lies through the village of Larkview, and is rather pretty,
+but there is nothing remarkable to notice until we approach Town
+Malling. Here it becomes beautifully wooded, especially in the
+neighbourhood of Clare House Park, the Spanish or edible chestnut, with
+its handsome dark green lanceolate serrate leaves, and clumps of Scotch
+firs, with their light red trunks and large cones, the result of healthy
+growth, which would have delighted the heart of Mr. Ruskin, being
+conspicuous. On the road we pass a field sown with maize, a novelty to
+one accustomed to the Midlands. The farmer to whom it belongs says that
+it is a poor crop this year, owing to the excess of wet and late summer,
+but in a good season it gives a fine yield. We are informed that it is
+used in the green state as food for cattle and chickens.
+
+[Illustration: The High St Town Malling]
+
+A pleasant tramp of about three miles brings us to Town Malling, which
+stands on the Kentish rag. The approach to Town Malling is by a
+waterfall, and there are the ruins of the old Nunnery, founded by Bishop
+Gundulph in 1090, in the place. East Malling is a smaller town, and lies
+nearer to Maidstone. Our object in visiting this pretty, old-fashioned
+Kentish country town, is to verify its identity with that of Muggleton
+of the _Pickwick Papers_. Great weight must be attached to the fact
+that the present Mr. Charles Dickens, in his annotated Jubilee Edition
+of the above work, introduces a very pretty woodcut of "High Street,
+Town Malling," with a note to the effect that--
+
+"Muggleton, perhaps, is only to be taken as a fancy sketch of a small
+country town; but it is generally supposed, and probably with sufficient
+accuracy, that, if it is in any degree a portrait of any Kentish town,
+Town Malling, a great place for cricket in Mr. Pickwick's time, sat for
+it."
+
+The reader will remember that when at the hospitable Mr. Wardle's
+residence at Manor Farm in Dingley Dell (by the bye, there is a
+veritable "Manor Farm" at Frindsbury, near Strood, with ponds adjacent,
+which may perhaps have suggested the episode of Mr. Pickwick on the
+ice), an excursion was determined on by the Pickwickians to witness a
+grand cricket match about to be played between the "All Muggleton" and
+the "Dingley Dellers," a conference first took place as to whether the
+invalid, Mr. Tupman, should remain or go with them.
+
+ "'Shall we be justified,' asked Mr. Pickwick, 'in
+ leaving our wounded friend to the care of the
+ ladies?'
+
+ "'You cannot leave me in better hands,' said Mr.
+ Tupman.
+
+ "'Quite impossible,' said Mr. Snodgrass."
+
+The result of the conference was satisfactory.
+
+ "It was therefore settled that Mr. Tupman should
+ be left at home in charge of the females, and that
+ the remainder of the guests under the guidance of
+ Mr. Wardle should proceed to the spot, where was
+ to be held that trial of skill, which had roused
+ all Muggleton from its torpor, and inoculated
+ Dingley Dell with a fever of excitement.
+
+ "As their walk, _which was not above two miles
+ long_,[27] lay through shady lanes and
+ sequestered footpaths, and as their conversation
+ turned upon the delightful scenery by which they
+ were on every side surrounded, Mr. Pickwick was
+ almost inclined to regret the expedition they had
+ used, when he found himself in the main street of
+ the town of Muggleton."
+
+The chronicle of _Pickwick_ then proceeds to state that--
+
+ "Muggleton is a corporate town, with a mayor,
+ burgesses, and freemen; . . . an ancient and loyal
+ borough, mingling a zealous advocacy of Christian
+ principles with a devoted attachment to commercial
+ rights; in demonstration whereof, the mayor,
+ corporation, and other inhabitants, have presented
+ at divers times, no fewer than one thousand four
+ hundred and twenty petitions, against the
+ continuance of negro slavery abroad, and an equal
+ number against any interference with the factory
+ system at home; sixty-eight in favour of the sales
+ of livings in the Church, and eighty-six for
+ abolishing Sunday trading in the streets."
+
+On the occasion of their second visit to Manor Farm to spend Christmas,
+the Pickwickians came by the "Muggleton Telegraph," which stopped at the
+"Blue Lion," and they walked over to Dingley Dell.
+
+Assuming, as has been suggested by Mr. Frost in his _In Kent with
+Charles Dickens_, that Dingley Dell is somewhere on the eastern side of
+the river Medway, within fifteen miles of Rochester,--Mr. William James
+Budden (a gentleman whom we met at Chatham) gave as his opinion that it
+was near Burham,[28]--then it would require a much greater walk than
+that ("which was not above two miles long") to reach Town Malling
+(leaving out of the question the fact that Burham is only about six
+miles from Rochester instead of fifteen miles, as the waiter at the Bull
+told Mr. Pickwick in reply to his enquiry), whereby we reluctantly for
+the time arrive at the conclusion,--as Mr. Frost did before us--that
+Dingley Dell as such near Town Malling cannot be identified.
+
+On another visit to "Dickens-Land" Mr. R. L. Cobb suggested that Cobtree
+Hall, near Aylesford, was the prototype of Dingley Dell. It may have
+been; but except one goes as the crow flies, it is more than two miles
+distant from Town Malling. But as Captain Cuttle would say--we "make a
+note of it."
+
+After all, Dingley Dell is no doubt a type of an English yeoman's
+hospitable home. There are numbers of such in Kent, Warwickshire,
+Worcestershire, Devonshire, and other counties, and the one in question
+may have been seen by Dickens almost anywhere.
+
+There is, at any rate, one objection to Muggleton being Town
+Malling--the latter is not, as mentioned in the text, "a corporate
+town." The neighbouring corporate towns which might be taken for it are
+Faversham, Tunbridge Wells, and Seven Oaks; but, as Mr. Rimmer, in his
+_About England with Dickens_, points out--"These have no feature in
+common with the enterprising borough which had so distinguished itself
+in the matter of petitions." On the other hand, there is _one_ very
+strong reason in favour of Town Malling, and that is its devotion to the
+noble old English game of cricket. So far as we could make out, no town
+in Kent has done better service in this respect. But more of this
+presently.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+[Illustration: Cob Tree Hall]
+
+So many friends recommended us to see Cobtree Hall that, after the
+foregoing was written, we determined to follow their advice, and on a
+subsequent occasion we take the train to Aylesford and walk over, the
+distance being a pleasant stroll of about a mile. We were well repaid.
+The mansion, formerly called Coptray Friars, belonging to the Aylesford
+Friary, is an Elizabethan structure of red brick with stone facings
+prettily covered with creeping plants, standing on an elevated position
+in a beautifully wooded and undulating country overlooking the Medway
+and surrounded by cherry orchards and hop gardens. Major Trousdell was
+so courteous as to show us over the building, which has been altered and
+much enlarged during the last half century. Internally there is
+something to favour the hypothesis of its being the type of Manor Farm,
+Dingley Dell. Such portions of the old building remaining, as the
+kitchen, are highly suggestive of the gathering described in that
+good-humoured Christmas chapter of _Pickwick_ (xxviii.), and there is a
+veritable beam to correspond with Phiz's plate of "Christmas Eve at Mr.
+Wardle's." "The best sitting-room, [described as] a good long,
+dark-panelled room with a high chimney-piece, and a capacious chimney up
+which you could have driven one of the new patent cabs, wheels and all,"
+may still be discerned in the handsome modern dining-room, with carved
+marble mantel-piece of massive size formerly supplied with old-fashioned
+"dogs." The views from the bay-window are very extensive and
+picturesque. The mansion divides the two parishes of Boxley and
+Allington, the initials of which are carved on the beam in the kitchen.
+Externally, there is much more to commend it to our acceptance. Remains
+of a triangular piece of ground, with a few elm-trees, still survive as
+"the rookery," where Mr. Tupman met with his mishap, and to our delight
+there is "the pond," not indeed covered with ice, as on Mr. Pickwick's
+memorable adventure, but crowded with water-lilies on its surface; its
+banks surrounded by the fragrant meadow-sweet and the brilliant
+rose-coloured willow herb. Furthermore we were informed, by Mr. Franklin
+of Maidstone, that the "Red Lion," which formerly stood on the spot now
+occupied by Mercer's Stables, is locally considered to be the original
+of "a little roadside public-house, with two elm-trees, a horse-trough,
+and a sign-post in front;" where the Pickwickians sought assistance
+after the breakdown of the "four-wheeled chaise" which "separated the
+wheels from the body and the bin from the perch," but were inhospitably
+repulsed by the "red-headed man and the tall bony woman," who suggested
+that they had stolen the "immense horse" which had recently played Mr.
+Winkle such pranks. Finally, in a pleasant chat with the Rev. Cyril
+Grant, Vicar of Aylesford, and his curate, the Rev. H. B. Boyd (a son
+of A. K. H. B.), we elicited the fact that Cobtree Hall is locally
+recognized as the original of Manor Farm. Nay more, in Aylesford
+churchyard a tomb was pointed out on the west side with the
+inscription:--"Also to the memory of Mr. W. Spong, late of Cobtree, in
+the Parish of Boxley, who died Nov. 15th, 1839," who is said to have
+been the prototype of the genial and hospitable "old Wardle."
+
+True, neither the distance to Rochester nor to Town Malling fits in with
+the narrative, but this is not material. Dickens, with the usual
+"novelist's licence," found it convenient often-times to take a nucleus
+of fact, and surround it with a halo of fiction, and this may have been
+one of many similar instances. His wonderfully-gifted and ever-facile
+imagination was never at fault.
+
+So on our return journey we console ourselves by reading the following
+description, in chapter vi. of _Pickwick_, of the first gathering of the
+Pickwickians at their host's, one of the most delightful bits in the
+whole book, and "make-believe," as the Marchioness would say, that we
+have actually seen Manor Farm, Dingley Dell.
+
+ "Several guests who were assembled in the old
+ parlour, rose to greet Mr. Pickwick and his
+ friends upon their entrance; and during the
+ performance of the ceremony of introduction, with
+ all due formalities, Mr. Pickwick had leisure to
+ observe the appearance, and speculate upon the
+ characters and pursuits, of the persons by whom he
+ was surrounded--a habit in which he in common with
+ many other great men delighted to indulge.
+
+ "A very old lady, in a lofty cap and faded silk
+ gown,--no less a personage than Mr. Wardle's
+ mother,--occupied the post of honour on the
+ right-hand corner of the chimney-piece; and
+ various certificates of her having been brought up
+ in the way she should go when young, and of her
+ not having departed from it when old, ornamented
+ the walls, in the form of samplers of ancient
+ date, worsted landscapes of equal antiquity, and
+ crimson silk tea-kettle holders of a more modern
+ period. The aunt, the two young ladies, and Mr.
+ Wardle, each vying with the other in paying
+ zealous and unremitting attentions to the old
+ lady, crowded round her easy-chair, one holding
+ her ear-trumpet, another an orange, and a third a
+ smelling-bottle, while a fourth was busily engaged
+ in patting and punching the pillows, which were
+ arranged for her support. On the opposite side sat
+ a bald-headed old gentleman, with a good-humoured
+ benevolent face,--the clergyman of Dingley Dell;
+ and next him sat his wife, a stout, blooming old
+ lady, who looked as if she were well skilled, not
+ only in the art and mystery of manufacturing
+ home-made cordials, greatly to other people's
+ satisfaction, but of tasting them occasionally,
+ very much to her own. A little hard-headed,
+ Ripstone pippin-faced man, was conversing with a
+ fat old gentleman in one corner; and two or three
+ more old gentlemen, and two or three more old
+ ladies, sat bolt upright and motionless on their
+ chairs, staring very hard at Mr. Pickwick and his
+ fellow-voyagers.
+
+ "'Mr. Pickwick, mother,' said Mr. Wardle, at the
+ very top of his voice.
+
+ "'Ah!' said the old lady, shaking her head; 'I
+ can't hear you.'
+
+ "'Mr. Pickwick, grandma!' screamed both the young
+ ladies together.
+
+ "'Ah!' exclaimed the old lady. 'Well; it don't
+ much matter. He don't care for an old 'ooman like
+ me, I dare say.'
+
+ "'I assure you, madam,' said Mr. Pickwick,
+ grasping the old lady's hand, and speaking so loud
+ that the exertion imparted a crimson hue to his
+ benevolent countenance; 'I assure you, ma'am, that
+ nothing delights me more, than to see a lady of
+ your time of life heading so fine a family, and
+ looking so young and well.'
+
+ "'Ah!' said the old lady, after a short pause;
+ 'it's all very fine, I dare say; but I can't hear
+ him.'
+
+ "'Grandma's rather put out now,' said Miss
+ Isabella Wardle, in a low tone; 'but she'll talk
+ to you presently.'
+
+ "Mr. Pickwick nodded his readiness to humour the
+ infirmities of age, and entered into a general
+ conversation with the other members of the
+ circle.
+
+ "'Delightful situation this,' said Mr. Pickwick.
+
+ "'Delightful!' echoed Messrs. Snodgrass, Tupman,
+ and Winkle.
+
+ "'Well, I think it is,' said Mr. Wardle.
+
+ "'There ain't a better spot o' ground in all Kent,
+ sir,' said the hard-headed man with the
+ pippin-face; 'there ain't indeed, sir--I'm sure
+ there ain't, sir,' and the hard-headed man looked
+ triumphantly round, as if he had been very much
+ contradicted by somebody, but had got the better
+ of him at last. 'There ain't a better spot o'
+ ground in all Kent,' said the hard-headed man
+ again after a pause.
+
+ "''Cept Mullins' meadows!' observed the fat man,
+ solemnly.
+
+ "'Mullins' meadows!' ejaculated the other, with
+ profound contempt.
+
+ "'Ah, Mullins' meadows,' repeated the fat man.
+
+ "'Reg'lar good land that,' interposed another fat
+ man.
+
+ "'And so it is, sure-ly,' said a third fat man.
+
+ "'Everybody knows that,' said the corpulent host.
+
+ "The hard-headed man looked dubiously round, but
+ finding himself in a minority, assumed a
+ compassionate air, and said no more.
+
+ "'What are they talking about?' inquired the old
+ lady of one of her grand-daughters, in a very
+ audible voice; for, like many deaf people, she
+ never seemed to calculate on the possibility of
+ other persons hearing what she said herself.
+
+ "'About the land, grandma.'
+
+ "'What about the land? Nothing the matter, is
+ there?'
+
+ "'No, no. Mr. Miller was saying our land was
+ better than Mullins' meadows.'
+
+ "'How should he know anything about it?' inquired
+ the old lady indignantly. 'Miller's a conceited
+ coxcomb, and you may tell him I said so.' Saying
+ which, the old lady, quite unconscious that she
+ had spoken above a whisper, drew herself up, and
+ looked carving-knives at the hard-headed
+ delinquent."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+In the course of our tramp we fall in with "a very queer small boy,"
+rejoicing in the Christian names of "Spencer Ray," upon which we
+congratulate him, and express a hope that he will do honour to the
+noble names which he bears, one being that of the great English
+philosopher, and the other that of the famous English naturalist. This
+boy, who is just such a bright intelligent lad as Dickens himself would
+have been at his age (twelve and a half years), gives us some
+interesting particulars respecting Town Malling and its proclivities for
+cricket, upon which he is very eloquent. It appears that in the year
+1887 the cricketers of Town Malling won eleven matches out of twelve;
+but during this year they have not been so successful. He directed us to
+the cricket-ground, which we visit, and find to be but a few minutes'
+walk from the centre of the town, bearing to the westward. It is a very
+fine field, nearly seven acres in extent, in splendid order, as level as
+a die, and as green as an emerald. It lies well open, and is flanked by
+the western range of hills of the Medway valley.
+
+[Illustration: CRICKET GROUND--TOWN MALLING.]
+
+The marquee into which Mr. Pickwick and his friends were invited, first
+by "one very stout gentleman, whose body and legs looked like half a
+gigantic roll of flannel, elevated on a couple of inflated
+pillow-cases," and then by the irrepressible Jingle with--"This
+way--this way--capital fun--lots of beer--hogsheads; rounds of
+beef--bullocks; mustard--cart-loads; glorious day--down with you--make
+yourself at home--glad to see you--very," has been replaced by a
+handsome pavilion.
+
+There is no cricket-playing going on at the time, but there are several
+cricketers in the field, and from them we learn confirmatory evidence of
+the long existence of the ground in its present condition, and the
+enthusiasm of the inhabitants for the old English game.
+
+Another proof of the long-established love of the people of Town Malling
+for cricket we subsequently find in the fact that the parlour of the
+Swan Hotel, which is an old cricketing house, and probably represents
+the "Blue Lion of Muggleton," has in it many very fine lithographic
+portraits of all the great cricketers of the middle of the nineteenth
+century, including:--Pilch, Lillywhite, Box, Cobbett, Hillyer (a native
+of Town Malling), A. Mynn, Taylor, Langdon, Kynaston, Felix (_Felix on
+the Bat_), Ward, Kingscote, and others. Several of these names will be
+recognized as those of eminent Kentish cricketers. About a quarter of a
+century ago--my friend and colleague Mr. E. Orford Smith (himself a
+Kentish man and a cricketer) informs me that--the Kentish eleven stood
+against all England, and retained their position for some years.
+
+As we stand on the warm day in the centre of the ground, and admire the
+lights and shadows passing over the surrounding scenery, we can almost
+conjure up the scene of the famous contest, when, on the occasion of the
+first innings of the All-Muggleton Club, "Mr. Dumkins and Mr. Podder,
+two of the most renowned members of that most distinguished club,
+walked, bat in hand, to their respective wickets. Mr. Luffey, the
+highest ornament of Dingley Dell, was pitched to bowl against the
+redoubtable Dumkins, and Mr. Struggles was selected to do the same kind
+office for the hitherto unconquered Podder."
+
+Everybody remembers how the game proceeded under circumstances of
+the greatest excitement, in which batters, bowlers, scouts, and
+umpires, all did their best under the encouraging shouts of the
+members:--"Run--run--another.--Now, then, throw her up--up with
+her--stop there--another--no--yes--no--throw her up! throw her up!" Mr.
+Jingle himself being as usual very profuse in his remarks, as--"'Ah,
+ah!--stupid'--'Now, butter-fingers'--'Muff'--'Humbug'--and so forth."
+"In short, when Dumkins was caught out, and Podder stumped out,
+All-Muggleton had notched some fifty-four, while the score of the
+Dingley Dellers was as blank as their faces." So "Dingley Dell gave in,
+and allowed the superior prowess of All-Muggleton," Mr. Jingle again
+expressing his views of the winners:--"'Capital game--well played--some
+strokes admirable,' as both sides crowded into the tent at the
+conclusion of the game."
+
+Yes! We are convinced that Muggleton and Town Malling (except for the
+mayor and corporation) are one. At any rate we feel quite safe in
+assuming that Town Malling was the type from which Muggleton was taken;
+and we confidently recommend all admirers of _Pickwick_ to include that
+pleasant Kentish country-town in their pilgrimage.
+
+Having exhausted, so far as our examination is concerned, the
+cricket-ground, by the kindness of our young friend who acts as guide,
+we see a little more of the town. It consists of a long wide street,
+with a few lateral approaches. The houses are well built, and the
+church, which is partly Norman, and, like most of the village churches
+in Kent, is but a little way from the village, stands on an eminence
+from whence a good view may be obtained. We observe, as indicative of
+the fine air and mild climate of the place, many beautiful specimens of
+magnolia, and wistaria (in second flower) in front of the better class
+of houses. One of these is named "Boley House," and as we are told that
+Sir Joseph Hawley resided near, our memories immediately revert to the
+cognomen of a well-known character in _The Chimes_. Other names in the
+place are suggestive of Dickens's worthies, _e.g._ Rudge, Styles,
+Briggs, Saunders, Brooker, and John Harman. The last-mentioned is the
+second instance in which Dickens has varied a local name by the
+alteration of a single letter. There is also the not uncommon name of
+"Brown," who, it will be remembered, was the maker of the shoes of the
+spinster aunt when she eloped with the faithless Jingle; "in a po-chay
+from the 'Blue Lion' at Muggleton," as one of Mr. Wardle's men said; and
+the discovery of the said shoes led to the identification of the errant
+pair at the "White Hart" in the Borough. After Sam Weller had described
+nearly all the visitors staying in the hotel from an examination of
+their boots:--
+
+ "'Stop a bit,' replied Sam, suddenly recollecting
+ himself. 'Yes; there's a pair of Vellingtons a
+ good deal vorn, and a pair o' lady's shoes, in
+ number five.' 'Country make.'
+
+ "'Any maker's name?'
+
+ "'Brown.'
+
+ "'Where of?'
+
+ "'Muggleton.'
+
+ "'It _is_ them,' exclaimed Wardle. 'By heavens,
+ we've found them.'"
+
+What happened afterwards every reader of _Pickwick_ very well knows.
+
+Near Town Malling there is a curious monument erected to the memory of
+Beadsman, the horse, belonging to Sir Joseph Hawley, which won the Derby
+in 1859, and which was bred in the place. The monument (an exceedingly
+practical one) consists of a useful pump for the supply of water.
+
+[Illustration: The Medway at Maidstone]
+
+After some luncheon at the Boar Inn, we are sorry to terminate our visit
+to this pleasant place; but time flies, and trains, like tides, "wait
+for no man." So we hurry to the railway station, passing on our way a
+fine hop-garden, and take tickets by the London, Chatham, and Dover
+Railway for Maidstone. We have a few minutes to spare, and our notice is
+attracted to a curious group in the waiting-room. It consists of a rural
+policeman, and what afterwards turned out, to be his prisoner, a
+slouching but good-humoured-looking labourer, with a "fur cap" like
+Rogue Riderhood. The officer leans against the mantelpiece, pleasantly
+chatting with his charge, who is seated on the bench, leisurely eating
+some bread and cheese with a large clasp-knife, in the intervals of
+which proceeding he recounts some experiences for the edification of the
+officer and bystanders. These are occasionally received with roars of
+laughter. One of his stories relates to a house-breaker who, being
+"caught in the act" by a policeman, and being asked what he was doing,
+coolly replied, "Attending to my business, of course!" (This must surely
+be taken "in a Pickwickian sense.") After finishing his bread and
+cheese, the charge eats an apple, and then regales himself with
+something from a large bottle. The unconcernedness of the man, whatever
+his offence may be (poaching perhaps), is in painful contrast to the
+careworn and anxious faces of his wife and little daughter (both
+decently dressed), the latter about seven years old, and made too
+familiar with crime at such an age. After we arrive at Maidstone (only a
+few minutes' run by railway), it is a wretched sight to witness the
+leave-taking at the gaol. First the man shakes hands with his wife, all
+his forced humour having left him, and then affectionately kisses the
+little girl, draws a cuff over his eyes, and walks heavily into the gaol
+after the officer. We are glad to notice that he is not degraded as a
+wild beast by being handcuffed. It was an episode that Dickens himself
+perhaps would have witnessed with interest, and possibly stored up for
+future use. What particularly strikes us is the difference in the
+relations between these people and what would be the case under similar
+circumstances in a large town. There is not that feature of hardness,
+that familiarity with crime which breeds contempt, in the rural
+incident. Poor man! let us hope his punishment will soon be finished,
+and that he may return to his family, and not become an old offender;
+but for the present, as Mr. Bagnet says, "discipline must be
+maintained."
+
+Maidstone, the county and assize town of Kent, appears to be a thriving
+and solid-looking place, as there are several paper-mills, saw-mills,
+stone quarries, and other indications of prosperity. There are but few
+historical associations connected with it, as Maidstone "has lived a
+quiet life." Sir Thomas Wyatt's rebellion, and the attack on the town by
+Fairfax in 1648, are among the principal incidents. Dickens frequently
+walked or drove over to this town from Gad's Hill. Many of the names
+which we notice over the shops in the principal street are very
+suggestive of, if not actually used for, some of the characters in his
+novels, _e.g._ Pell, Boozer, Hibling, Fowle, Stuffins, Bunyard, Edmed,
+Gregsbey, Dunmill, and Pobgee.
+
+It has been said that Maidstone possesses a gaol; it also has large
+barracks, and, what is better still, a Museum, Free Library, and Public
+Gardens. Chillington Manor House,--a highly picturesque and
+well-preserved Elizabethan structure, formerly the residence of the
+Cobhams,--contains the Museum and Library. Standing in a quiet nook in
+the Brenchley Gardens, the lines of George Macdonald, quoted in the
+local _Guide Book_, well describe its beauties:--
+
+ "Its windows were aërial and latticed,
+ Lovely and wide and fair,
+ And its chimneys like clustered pillars
+ Stood up in the thin blue air."
+
+The Museum--the new wing of which was built as a memorial of his
+brother, by Mr. Samuel Bentlif--is the property of the Corporation, and
+owes much of its contents to the liberality of Mr. Pretty, the first
+curator, and to the naturalist and traveller, Mr. J. L. Brenchley. It
+contains excellent fine art, archæological, ethnological, natural
+history, and geological collections. Among the last-named, in addition
+to other interesting local specimens, are some fossil remains of the
+mammoth (_Elephas primigenius_) from the drift at Aylesford, obtained by
+its present able curator, Mr. Edward Bartlett, to whom we are indebted
+for a most pleasant ramble through the various rooms. We notice an
+original "Dickens-item" in the shape of a very good carved head of the
+novelist, forming the right top panel of an oak fire-place, the opposite
+side being one of Tennyson, by a local carver named W. Hughes, who was
+formerly employed at Gad's Hill Place. No pilgrim in "Dickens-Land"
+should omit visiting Maidstone and its treasures in Chillington Manor
+House; nor of seeing the splendid view of the Medway from the
+churchyard, looking towards Tovil.
+
+[Illustration: Chillingham Manor House Maidstone]
+
+We are particularly anxious to verify Dickens's experience of the walk
+from Maidstone to Rochester. In a letter to Forster, written soon after
+he came to reside at Gad's Hill Place, he says:--"I have discovered that
+the seven miles between Maidstone and Rochester is one of the most
+beautiful walks in England," and so indeed we find it to be. It is,
+however, a rather long seven miles; so, cheerfully leaving the
+gloomy-looking gaol to our right and proceeding along the raised terrace
+by the side of the turn-pike road, we pass through the little village of
+Sandling, and soon after commence the ascent of the great chalk range of
+hills which form the eastern water-parting of the Medway. The most
+noticeable object before we reach "Upper Bell" is "Kit's Coty (or
+Coity) House," about one and a half miles north-east from Aylesford,
+and not very far from the Bell Inn. According to Mr. Phillips Bevan, the
+peculiar name is derived from the Celtic "Ked," and "Coity" or "Coed"
+(Welsh), and means the Tomb in the Wood. Seymour considers the words a
+corruption of "Catigern's House." Below Kit's Coty House, Mr. Wright,
+the archæologist, found the remains of a Roman villa, with quantities of
+Samian ware, coins, and other articles.
+
+There are many excavations in the chalk above Kit's Coty House,
+apparently for interments; and the whole district appears in remote ages
+to have been a huge cemetery. Tradition states that "the hero Catigern
+was buried here, after the battle fought at Aylesford between Hengist
+and Vortigern."
+
+The Cromlech, which is now included in the provisions of the Ancient
+Monuments Protection Act, 1882, lies under the hillside, a few yards
+from the main road, and is fenced in with iron railings, and beautifully
+surrounded by woods, the yew,[29] said to have been one of the sacred
+trees of the Druids, being conspicuous here and there. That somewhat
+rare plant the juniper is also found in this neighbourhood. The
+"dolmens" which have been "set on end by a vanished people" are four in
+number, and consist of sandstone, three of them, measuring about eight
+feet each, forming the uprights, and the fourth, which is much larger,
+serving as the covering stone.
+
+In a field which we visit, not very far from Kit's Coty House, is
+another group of stones, called the "countless stones." As we pass some
+boys are trying to solve the arithmetical problem, which cannot be
+readily accomplished, as the stones lie intermingled in a very strange
+and irregular manner, and are overgrown with brushwood. The belief that
+these stones cannot be counted is one constantly found connected with
+similar remains, _e.g._ Stonehenge, Avebury, etc. We heard a local story
+of a baker, who once tried to effect the operation by placing a loaf on
+the top of each stone as a kind of check or tally; but a dog running
+away with one of his loaves, upset his calculations.
+
+[Illustration: Kit's Coty House]
+
+Both the "Coty House" and the "countless stones" consist of a silicious
+sandstone of the Eocene period, overlying the chalk, and are identical
+with the "Sarsens," or "Grey Wethers," which occur at the pre-historic
+town of Avebury, and at Stonehenge; the smaller stones of the latter
+are, however, of igneous origin, and "are believed by Mr. Fergusson to
+have been votive offerings." These masses, of what Sir A. C. Ramsay
+calls "tough and intractable silicious stone," have been, he says, "left
+on the ground, after the removal by denudation of other and softer parts
+of the Eocene strata." We subsequently saw several of these "grey
+wethers" in the grounds of Cobham Hall, and we noticed small masses of
+the same stone _in situ_ in Pear Tree Lane, near Gad's Hill Place.
+
+Speaking of Kit's Coty House in his _Short History of the English
+People_, the late Mr. J. R. Green, in describing the English Conquest
+and referring to this neighbourhood, says:--"It was from a steep knoll
+on which the grey weather-beaten stones of this monument are reared that
+the view of their first battle-field would break on the English
+warriors; and a lane which still leads down from it through peaceful
+homesteads would guide them across the ford which has left its name in
+the little village of Aylesford. The Chronicle of the conquering people
+tells nothing of the rush that may have carried the ford, or of the
+fight that went struggling up through the village. It only tells that
+Horsa fell in the moment of victory, and the flint heap of Horsted,
+which has long preserved his name, and was held in after-time to mark
+his grave, is thus the earliest of those monuments of English valour of
+which Westminster is the last and noblest shrine. The victory of
+Aylesford did more than give East Kent to the English; it struck the
+keynote of the whole English conquest of Britain."
+
+Dickens's visits to this locality in his early days may have suggested
+the discovery of the stone with the inscription:--
+
+[Illustration:
+
+ +
+ B I L S T
+ U M
+ P S H I
+ S. M.
+ A R K]
+
+In later life he was fond of bringing his friends here "by a couple of
+postilions in the old red jackets of the old red royal Dover road" to
+enjoy a picnic. Describing a visit here with Longfellow he says:--"It
+was like a holiday ride in England fifty years ago."
+
+Returning to the main road, we reach the high land of Blue Bell--"Upper
+Bell," as it is marked on the Ordnance Map. We are not quite on the
+highest range, but sufficiently high (about three hundred feet) to
+enable us to appreciate the splendid view that presents itself. In the
+valley below winds the Medway, broadening as it approaches
+Rochester.[30] The opposite heights consist of the western range of
+hills, the width of the valley from point to point being about ten
+miles. The "sky-line" of hills running from north to south cannot be
+less than sixty miles, extending to the famous Weald of Kent (weald,
+wald, or wolde, being literally "a wooded region, an open country"); all
+the intervening space of undulating slope and valley (river excepted) is
+filled up by hamlets, grass, root, and cornfields, hop-gardens, orchards
+and woodlands, the whole forming a picture of matchless beauty. No
+wonder Dickens was very fond of this delightful walk; it must be gone
+over to be appreciated.[31]
+
+[Illustration: Kits Coty House and "Blue Bell" From the Painting by
+Gegan]
+
+We tramp on through Boxley and Bridge Woods, down the hill, and pass
+Borstal Convict Prison and Fort Clarence, where there are guns which we
+were informed would carry a ball from this elevated ground right over
+the Thames into the county of Essex (a distance of seven miles); and so
+we get back again to Rochester.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[26] Lambarde says, "Malling, in Saxon Mealing, or Mealuing, that is,
+the Low place flourishing with Meal or Corne, for so it is everywhere
+accepted."
+
+[27] The italics are interpolated.
+
+[28] Burham, although now enshrouded in the smoke of lime-making, was
+probably sixty years ago a delightfully rural spot.
+
+[29] Mr. Roach Smith reminded us that the yew was in times past planted
+for its wood to be used as bows.
+
+[30] Professor Huxley, in his _Physiography_, has estimated that "at the
+present rate of wear and tear, denudation can have lowered the surface
+of the Thames Basin by hardly more than an inch since the Norman
+Conquest; and nearly a million years must elapse before the whole basin
+of the Thames will be worn down to the sea-level"; and Dr. A. Geikie,
+after a series of elaborate calculations, has postulated "as probably a
+fair average, a valley of 1000 feet deep may be excavated in 1,200,000
+years." Taking these estimates as a basis, and allowing for an average
+height of three hundred feet, we roughly arrive at a period of about
+four hundred thousand years as the possible length of time which it has
+taken to form this beautiful valley. Professor Huxley may well say that
+"the geologist has thoughts of time and space to which the ordinary mind
+is a stranger."
+
+[31] Mr. Kitton's illustration (from the painting by Gegan, a local
+artist, executed many years since) gives a good idea of the scenery of
+this beautiful district. It also reproduces the profile of a huge chalk
+cliff not now visible, but which existed about half a century ago,
+having a curious resemblance to the head of a lion, and forming at the
+time a conspicuous landmark to travellers.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+BROADSTAIRS, MARGATE, AND CANTERBURY.
+
+ "We have a fine sea, wholesome for all people;
+ profitable for the body, profitable for the
+ mind."--_Our English Watering-Place._
+
+ "All is going on as it was wont. The waves are
+ hoarse with repetition of their mystery; the dust
+ lies piled upon the shore; the sea-birds soar and
+ hover; the winds and clouds go forth upon their
+ trackless flight; the white arms beckon in the
+ moonlight to the invisible country far
+ away."--_Dombey and Son._
+
+ "A moment, and I occupy my place in the Cathedral,
+ where we all went together every Sunday morning,
+ assembling first at school for that purpose. The
+ earthy smell, the sunless air, the sensation of
+ the world being shut out, the resounding of the
+ organ through the black and white arched galleries
+ and aisles, are wings that take me back and hold
+ me hovering above those days in a half-sleeping
+ and half-waking dream."--_David Copperfield._
+
+
+TAKING advantage of an excursion train (for tramps usually go on the
+cheap), we start early on Wednesday by the South-Eastern Railway from
+Chatham station for Broadstairs. As usual the weather favours us--it is
+a glorious day. Passing the stations of New Brompton, Rainham,
+Newington, and Sittingbourne, we soon get into open country, in the
+midst of hop gardens with their verdant aisles of the fragrant and
+tonic, tendril-like plants reaching in some instances perhaps to several
+hundred yards, and crowned with yellowish-green fruit-masses, which
+have a special charm for those unaccustomed to such scenery. The
+odd-looking "oast-houses,"[32] or drying-houses for the hops, are a
+noticeable feature of the neighbourhood, dotting it about here and there
+in pairs. They are mostly red-brick and cone-shaped, somewhat smaller
+than the familiar glass-houses of the Midland districts, and have a
+wooden cowl, painted white, at the apex for ventilation. We are rather
+too early for the hop-picking, and thus--but for a time only--miss an
+interesting sight. Dickens, in one of his letters to Forster, gives a
+dreary picture of this annual harvest:--
+
+"Hop-picking is going on, and people sleep in the garden, and breathe in
+at the key-hole of the house door. I have been amazed, before this year,
+by the number of miserable lean wretches, hardly able to crawl, who come
+hop-picking. I find it is a superstition that the dust of the
+newly-picked hop, falling freshly into the throat, is a cure for
+consumption. So the poor creatures drag themselves along the roads, and
+sleep under wet hedges, and get cured soon and finally."
+
+On the whole it is said to be a very indifferent season, but many
+plantations look promising. "If," as a grower remarks to us in the
+train, "we could have a little more of this fine weather! There has been
+too much rain, and too little sun this year." The apples also are a poor
+crop.
+
+[Illustration: Hop-picking in Kent]
+
+On a second visit to this pleasant neighbourhood, we see at Mear's Barr
+Farm, near Rainham, the whole process of hop-picking. True, it is not
+executed by that ragamuffinly crowd of strangers which Dickens had in
+his "mind's eye" when he wrote the words just quoted, and which
+usually takes possession of most of the hop-growing districts of Kent
+during the picking season, but by an assemblage of native villagers,
+mostly women, girls, and boys,--neat, clean, and homely,--together with
+a few men who do the heavier part of the work. They are of all ages,
+from the tottering old grandmother, careworn wife, and buxom maiden, to
+the child in perambulator and baby in arms; and in the bright sunlight,
+amid the groves of festooning green columns, form a most orderly,
+varied, and picturesque gathering--a regular picnic in fact, judging
+from the cheerful look on most of the faces, and the merry laugh that is
+occasionally heard.
+
+Mr. Fred Scott, tenant of the farm, of which Lord Hothfield is owner, is
+kind enough to go over the hop-garden with us, and describe all the
+details. When the hops are ripe (_i. e._ when the seeds are hard) and
+ready to be gathered, the pickers swarm on the ground, and a man divides
+the "bine" at the bottom of the "pole" by means of a bill-hook--not
+cutting it too close for fear of bleeding--leaving the root to sprout
+next year, and then draws out the pole, to which is attached the long,
+creeping bine, trailing over at top. If the pole sticks too fast in the
+ground, he eases it by means of a lever, or "hop-dog" (a long, stout
+wooden implement, having a toothed iron projection). "Mind my dog don't
+bite you, sir," says one of the men facetiously, as we step over this
+rough-looking tool. Women then carry the poles to, and lay them across,
+the "bin," a receptacle formed by four upright poles stuck in the ground
+and placed at an angle, supporting a framework from which depends the
+"bin-cloth," made of jute or hemp, holding from ten to twenty bushels of
+green hops, weighing about 1-1/2 lbs. per bushel when dry.
+
+The picking then commences, and nimble fingers of all sizes very soon
+strip the poles of the aromatically-smelling ripe hops, the poles being
+cast aside in heaps, to be afterwards cleared of the old bines and put
+into "stacks" of three hundred each, and used again next season.
+
+The bins, which vary in number according to the size of the hop-garden,
+are placed in rows on the margin of the plantation, and usually have ten
+"hop-hills" (_i. e._ plants) on each side, and are moved inside the
+plantation as the poles are pulled up. Each bin belongs to a "sett" (_i.
+e._ family or companionship), consisting of from five to seven persons,
+and is taken charge of by a "binman." When the bin is full, a "measurer"
+(either the farmer himself or his deputy) takes account of the quantity
+of hops picked, and records it in a book to the credit of each working
+family. Then the green hops are carted off in "pokes" or sacks to the
+"oast-houses" to be dried. For this purpose, anthracite coal and
+charcoal are used in the kiln, a shovelful or two of sulphur being added
+to the fire when the hops are put on. The process of drying takes eleven
+hours, and afterwards the dried hops are packed in pockets which, when
+full, weigh about a hundredweight and a half each, the packing being
+effected by hydraulic pressure. They are then sent to market, the
+earliest arrivals fetching very high prices. As much as £50 per cwt. was
+paid in 1882, but the ordinary price averages from £4 to £8 per cwt.
+
+_Humulus Lupulus_, the hop, belongs to the natural order _Urticaceæ_--a
+plant of rather wide distribution, but said to be absent in
+Scotland--and is a herbaceous, dioecious perennial, usually propagated
+by removal of the young shoots or by cuttings. According to Sowerby, the
+genus is derived from _humus_, the ground, as, unless supported or
+trained, the plant falls to the earth; and the common name "hop" from
+the Saxon _hoppan_, to climb. William King, in his _Art of Cookery_,
+says that "heresy and hops came in together"; while an old popular rhyme
+records that:--
+
+ "Hops, carp, pickerel, and beer,
+ Came into England all in one year."
+
+Tusser in his _Hondreth Good Points of Husbandrie_, published in 1557,
+gives sundry directions for the cultivation of hops, and quaintly
+advocates their use as follows:--
+
+ "The hop for his profit I thus do exalt,
+ It strengtheneth drink, and it savoureth malt;
+ And being well brewed, long kept it will last,
+ And drawing abide--if you draw not too fast."
+
+The hop has many varieties--thirty or more--among which may be mentioned
+prolifics, bramblings, goldings, common goldings, old goldings,
+Canterbury goldings, Meopham goldings, etc. When once planted they last
+for a hundred years, but some growers replace them every ten years or
+sooner.
+
+The principal enemies of the hop are "mould" caused by the fungus
+_Sphærotheca Castagnei_, and several kinds of insects, especially the
+"green fly," _Aphis humuli_, but the high wind is most to be dreaded. It
+tears the hop-bines from the poles and throws the poles down, which in
+falling crush other bines, and thus bruise the hops and prevent their
+growth, besides obstructing the passage of air and sunlight, and causing
+the development of mould or mildew. The remedy for mould is dusting with
+sulphur, and for the green fly, syringing with tobacco or quassia water
+and soap, "Hop-wash," as it is called. Sometimes the lady-bird
+(_Coccinella septempunctata_) is present in sufficient numbers to
+consume the green fly. Very little can be done to obviate the effects of
+the wind, but a protective fence of the wild hop--called a "lee" or
+"loo"--is sometimes put up round very choice plantations.
+
+The hop-poles, the preparation of which constitutes a distinct industry,
+are either of larch, Spanish chestnut, ash, willow, birch, or
+beech--larch or chestnut being preferred. Women clear the poles of the
+bark, and men sharpen them at one end, which is dipped in creosote
+before being used. The ground is cleared, and the poles are stuck in
+against the old plants in February or March.
+
+We are informed that the hop-picking is much looked forward to by the
+villagers with pleasure as the means of supplying them with a little
+purse for clothing, etc., against winter-time. Each family or
+companionship earns from thirty shillings to two pounds per week during
+the season.
+
+We proceed on our excursion, and pass Faversham, which stands in a
+rather picturesque bit of country some way up Faversham Creek, and is
+sheltered on the west by a ridge of wooded hills where the hop country
+ceases, as the railway bends north-easterly for Margate and Ramsgate.
+Whitstable, the next station passed, is famous for the most delicate
+oysters in the market, the fishery of which is regulated by an annual
+court; and it is said that one grower alone sends fifty thousand barrels
+a year to London from this district. We speculate whether these
+delicious molluscs were supplied at that famous supper described in the
+thirty-ninth chapter of _The Old Curiosity Shop_, at which were present
+Kit, his mother, the baby, little Jacob, and Barbara, after the night at
+the play, when Kit told the waiter "to bring three dozen of his
+largest-sized oysters, and to look sharp about it," and fulfilled his
+promise "to let little Jacob know what oysters meant." All along, as the
+railway winds from Whitstable to Margate, glimpses of the sea are
+visible, and vary our excursion pleasantly.
+
+The next noteworthy place we pass is Reculver--the ancient
+Regulbium--which, according to Mr. Phillips Bevan, is "mentioned in the
+Itinerary of Antoninus as being garrisoned by the first cohort of
+Brabantois Belgians. After the Romans, it was occupied by the Saxon
+Ethelbert, who is said to have occupied it as a palace, and to have been
+buried there." "The two picturesque towers" (quoting Bevan again),
+"which form so conspicuous a land and sea mark, are called 'The
+Sisters,' and are in reality modern-built by the Trinity Board in place
+of two erected traditionally by an Abbess of Faversham, who was wrecked
+here with her sister on their way to Broadstairs." The sea is fast
+encroaching on the land here, notwithstanding the erection of a large
+sea-wall and piles.
+
+Passing Margate, we reach Broadstairs, about thirty-seven miles from
+Chatham. Broadstairs, immortalized in _Our English Watering Place_
+(which paper, says Forster, "appeared while I was there, and great was
+the local excitement"), is so inseparably associated with the earlier
+years of Charles Dickens's holiday-life, that it becomes most
+interesting to his admirers. Forster also says, "His later seaside
+holiday, September 1837, was passed at Broadstairs, as were those of
+many subsequent years; and the little watering-place has been made
+memorable by his pleasant sketch of it." At the time of his first visit
+(1837) he was writing a portion of _Pickwick_ (Part 18); in 1838 part of
+_Nicholas Nickleby_; and in 1839 part of _The Old Curiosity Shop_. He
+was also there in 1840, 1841, and 1842, when writing the _American
+Notes_; in 1845 and 1847, when writing _Dombey and Son_; in 1848 and
+1850, when engaged on _David Copperfield_; and in 1851, when he was
+drafting the outlines of _Bleak House_. At the end of November of that
+year, when he had settled himself in his new London abode (Tavistock
+House), the book was begun, "and, as so generally happened with the more
+important incidents of his life, but always accidentally, begun on a
+Friday." After 1851, he returned not again to Broadstairs until 1859,
+when he paid his last visit to the place, and stayed a week there. The
+reason for his forsaking it was that it had become too noisy for him.
+
+Broadstairs stands midway between the North Foreland and Ramsgate, and
+owes its name to the breadth of the sea-gate or "stair," which was
+originally defended by a gate or archway. An archway still survives on
+the road to the sea, and bears on it two inscriptions, (1) "Built by
+George Culenier about 1540"; (2) "Repaired by Sir John Henniker, Bart.,
+1795."
+
+Broadstairs has good sands, precipitous chalk cliffs, and a very fine
+sea-view. The railway station is about a mile from the pier, and the
+town is approached by a well-kept road ("the main street of our
+watering-place. . . . You may know it by its being always stopped up
+with donkey chaises. Whenever you come here and see the harnessed
+donkeys eating clover out of barrows drawn completely across a narrow
+thoroughfare, you may be quite sure you are in our High Street"), with
+villas standing in their own gardens, most of which are brightened by
+summer flowers, notably the blue clematis (_Clematis Jackmani_) and by
+those charming seaside evergreens the _Escallonia_ and the _Euonymus_.
+As we near the sea, the shops become more numerous, and, on the
+right-hand side, we have no difficulty in finding (although we heard it
+had been altered considerably) the house "No. 12, High Street," in which
+Dickens lived when he first visited Broadstairs. It is a plain little
+dwelling of single front, with a small parlour looking into the street,
+and has one story over--just the place that seems suited to the
+financial position of the novelist when he was commencing life. The
+house is now occupied by Mr. Bean, plumber and glazier, whose wife
+courteously shows us over it, and into the back yard and little garden,
+kindly giving us some pears from an old tree growing there, whereon we
+speculate as to whether Dickens himself had ever enjoyed the fruit from
+the same old tree. He appears to have lived in this house during his
+visits in 1837 and 1838. We ask the good lady if she is aware that
+Charles Dickens had formerly stayed in her house, and she replies in the
+negative, so we recommend her to get her husband to put up a tablet
+outside to the effect "Charles Dickens lived here, 1837," in imitation
+of the example of the Society of Arts in Furnival's Inn. There can be no
+doubt as to the identity of the house, for we take the precaution of
+ascertaining that the numbers have not been altered.
+
+Our efforts to discover "Lawn House," where Dickens stayed on his visits
+from 1838 to 1848, are attended with some difficulty. First we are told
+it lay this way, then that, and then the other; a smart villa in a new
+road is pointed out to us as the object of our search, which we at once
+reject, as being too recent. But we are patient and persevering,
+feeling, with Mr. F.'s aunt, that "you can't make a head and brains out
+of a brass knob with nothing in it. You couldn't do it when your Uncle
+George was living; much less when he's dead!" Finally, we appeal to some
+one who looks like the "oldest inhabitant," and obtain something like a
+clue. We are eventually directed to a veritable "Lawn House," which is
+the last house on the left as you approach "Fort House." It must have
+changed in respect of its surroundings since forty years have passed,
+and although there is nothing outside to indicate it as such, it seems
+fair to assume that this was the house described in the _Life_ as "a
+small villa between the hill and the cornfield." The present occupier,
+who has no recollection of Dickens ever having been there, courteously
+allows us to see the hall and dining-room. The house is of course a
+great improvement upon "No 12, High Street."
+
+A few steps from "Lawn House" lead us to the drive approaching "Fort
+House," pleasantly surrounded by a sloping lawn and shrubbery. John
+Forster, alluding to it in the _Life_, says:--
+
+"The residence he most desired there, 'Fort House,' stood prominently at
+the top of a breezy hill on the road to Kingsgate, with a cornfield
+between it and the sea, and this in many subsequent years he always
+occupied."
+
+Alas! the cornfield is no more, but "Fort House," or "Bleak House," as
+it is indifferently termed locally, remains intact. It is the most
+striking object of the place, standing on a cliff overlooking the sea,
+the harbour, and the town (made familiar by several photographs and
+engravings), with its curious verandahs and blinds, as seen in the
+vignette of J. C. Hotten's interesting book, _Charles Dickens: The Story
+of His Life_. An excellent photograph is published in the town, of which
+we are glad to secure a copy.
+
+[Illustration: "Bleak House" Broadstairs]
+
+In the sixth chapter of _Bleak House_ it is called "an old-fashioned
+house with three peaks in the roof in front, and a severe sweep leading
+to the porch." In the same chapter there is a minute account of the
+interior, too lengthy to be quoted; but the description does not
+resemble Fort House. We are kindly permitted by the occupier to see the
+study in which the novelist worked, a privilege long to be remembered.
+This room is approached by "a little staircase of shallow steps" from
+the first floor, as described in _Bleak House_; but it will be borne in
+mind that the "Bleak House" of the novel is placed in Hertfordshire,
+near St. Albans, and _not_ at Broadstairs, although many persons still
+believe that Fort House is the original of the story. From the study we
+have a lovely view of the sea--the balmy breeze of a summer's day
+lightly fanning the waves, and just sufficing to move the delicate
+filamentous foliage of the tamarisk trees now standing in the place
+where the cornfield was. Even at the time we see it, changed as all its
+surroundings are, we can imagine the enjoyment which Dickens had in this
+healthy spot on the North Downs.
+
+In that interesting "book for an idle hour" called _The Shuttlecock
+Papers_, Mr. J. Ashby-Sterry thus sympathetically alludes to "Bleak
+House":--"What a romantic place this is to write in, is it not? What a
+glorious study to work in! Indeed, both from situation and association,
+it would be impossible to find a better place for writing, were it not
+that one feels that so much superb work has been done on this very spot
+by so great an artist, that the mere craftsman is inclined to question
+whether it is worth while for him to write at all."
+
+How well Dickens loved Broadstairs is told in his letter of the 1st
+September, 1843, addressed to Professor Felton, of Cambridge, U. S. A.,
+as follows:--
+
+"This is a little fishing-place; intensely quiet; built on a cliff,
+whereon--in the centre of a tiny semi-circular bay--our house stands;
+the sea rolling and dashing under the windows. Seven miles out are the
+Goodwin Sands (you've heard of the Goodwin Sands?), whence floating
+lights perpetually wink after dark, as if they were carrying on
+intrigues with the servants. Also there is a lighthouse called the North
+Foreland on a hill behind the village, a severe parsonic light, which
+reproves the young and giddy floaters, and stares grimly out upon the
+sea. Under the cliff are rare good sands, where all the children
+assemble every morning and throw up impossible fortifications, which the
+sea throws down again at high-water. Old gentlemen and ancient ladies
+flirt after their own manner in two reading-rooms, and on a great many
+scattered seats in the open air. Other old gentlemen look all day long
+through telescopes and never see anything.
+
+"In a bay-window in a one-pair sits, from nine o'clock to one, a
+gentleman with rather long hair and no neckcloth, who writes and grins
+as if he thought he were very funny indeed. His name is Boz. At one he
+disappears, and presently emerges from a bathing machine, and may be
+seen--a kind of salmon-coloured porpoise--splashing about in the ocean.
+After that he may be seen in another bay-window on the ground-floor,
+eating a strong lunch; after that, walking a dozen miles or so, or lying
+on his back in the sand reading a book. Nobody bothers him unless they
+know he is disposed to be talked to; and I am told he is very
+comfortable indeed. He's as brown as a berry, and they _do_ say is a
+small fortune to the innkeeper who sells beer and cold punch. But this
+is mere rumour. Sometimes he goes up to London (eighty miles or so
+away), and then I'm told there is a sound in Lincoln's Inn Fields at
+night, as of men laughing, together with a clinking of knives and forks,
+and wine-glasses."
+
+And further in a letter to another correspondent recently made public:--
+
+"When you come to London, to assist at Miss Liston's sacrifice, don't
+forget to remind your uncle of our Broadstairs engagement to which I
+hold you bound. A good sea--fresh breezes--fine sands--and pleasant
+walks--with all manner of fishing-boats, lighthouses, piers,
+bathing-machines, are its only attractions, but it's one of the freshest
+little places in the world, consequently the proper place for you."
+
+In the year 1851, in a letter dated 8th September, addressed to Mr.
+Henry Austin, he thus alludes to a wreck which took place at
+Broadstairs:--
+
+"A great to-do here. A steamer lost on the Goodwins yesterday, and our
+men bringing in no end of dead cattle and sheep. I stood supper for them
+last night, to the unbounded gratification of Broadstairs. They came in
+from the wreck very wet and tired, and very much disconcerted by the
+nature of their prize--which, I suppose after all, will have to be
+recommitted to the sea, when the hides and tallow are secured. One
+lean-faced boatman murmured, when they were all ruminating over the
+bodies as they lay on the pier: 'Couldn't sassages be made on it?' but
+retired in confusion shortly afterwards, overwhelmed by the execrations
+of the bystanders."
+
+Dickens got tired of Broadstairs in 1847, for reasons given in the
+following letter to Forster, though he did not forsake it till some
+years after:--
+
+"Vagrant music is getting to that height here, and is so impossible to
+be escaped from, that I fear Broadstairs and I must part company in time
+to come. Unless it pours of rain, I cannot write half an hour without
+the most excruciating organs, fiddles, bells, or glee singers. There is
+a violin of the most torturing kind under the window now (time, ten in
+the morning), and an Italian box of music on the steps--both in full
+blast."
+
+By good luck we fall in with an "old salt," formerly one of the boatmen
+of _Our English Watering Place_ who are therein immortalized by much
+kindly mention, with whom we have a pleasant chat about Charles Dickens.
+Harry Ford (the name of our friend) well remembers the great novelist,
+when in early days he used to come on his annual excursions with his
+family to Broadstairs. "Bless your soul," he says, "I can see 'Old
+Charley,' as we used to call him among ourselves here, a-coming flying
+down from the cliff with a hop, step, and jump, with his hair all flying
+about. He used to sit sometimes on that rail" (pointing to the one
+surrounding the harbour), "with his legs lolling about, and sometimes on
+the seat that you're a-sitting on now" (adjoining the old Look-out
+House opposite the Tartar Frigate Inn), "and he was very fond of talking
+to us fellows and hearing our tales--he was very good-natured, and
+nobody was liked better. And if you'll read" (continues our informant)
+"that story that he wrote and printed about _Our Watering Place_, _I_
+was the man who's mentioned there as mending a little ship for a boy.
+_I_ held that child between my knees. And what's more, sir, _I_ took
+'Old Charley,' on the very last time that he came over to Broadstairs
+(he wasn't living here at the time), round the foreland to Margate, with
+a party of four friends. I took 'em in my boat, the _Irene_," pointing
+to a clinker-built strong boat lying in the harbour, capable of holding
+twenty people. "The wind was easterly--the weather was rather rough, and
+it took me three or four hours to get round. There was a good deal of
+chaffing going on, I can tell you."
+
+[Illustration: Old Look-out House Broadstairs]
+
+Mrs. Long, of Zion Place, Broadstairs, the wife of an old coastguardman,
+who was stationed at the Preventive Station when Dickens lodged at Fort
+House, also remembered the novelist. The coastguard men are also
+immortalized in _Our English Watering Place_, as "a steady, trusty,
+well-conditioned, well-conducted set of men, with no misgiving about
+looking you full in the face, and with a quiet, thorough-going way of
+passing along to their duty at night, carrying huge sou'wester clothing
+in reserve, that is fraught with all good prepossession. They are handy
+fellows--neat about their houses, industrious at gardening, would get on
+with their wives, one thinks, in a desert island--and people it too
+soon."
+
+Mrs. Long says "Mr. Dickens was a very nice sort of gentleman, but he
+didn't like a noise." The windows of Fort House, she reminds us,
+overlooked the coastguard station, and whenever the children playing
+about made more noise than usual, he used to tell her husband gently "to
+take the children away," or "to keep the people quiet." This little
+story fully confirms Dickens's often-expressed feeling of dislike, which
+subsequently grew intolerable, to Broadstairs as a watering-place.
+
+After taking a turn or two on the lively Promenade,--made bright by the
+rich masses of flesh-coloured flowers of the valerian which fringe its
+margin,--to enjoy the sunshine and air, and watch the holiday folks, we
+bid adieu to Broadstairs, and proceed to Margate.
+
+Of Margate there is not much to say. We reach it by an early afternoon
+train of the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway, to get the quickest
+service by the South-Eastern Railway on to Canterbury. Our stay at
+Margate is consequently very limited.
+
+To some minds this popular Cockney watering-place has great attractions;
+its broad sands, its beautiful air, and its boisterous amusements,
+negro-melodies, merry-go-rounds, and the like; but it was a place seldom
+visited by Dickens, although he was so often near it. Only twice in the
+_Life_ is it recorded that he came here; once being in 1844, when he
+wrote to Forster respecting the theatre as follows:--
+
+"'_Nota Bene._--The Margate Theatre is open every evening, and the four
+Patagonians (see Goldsmith's _Essays_) are performing thrice a week at
+Ranelagh.' A visit from me"--Forster goes on to say--"was at this time
+due, to which these were held out as inducements; and there followed
+what it was supposed I could not resist, a transformation into the
+broadest farce of a deep tragedy by a dear friend of ours. 'Now you
+really must come. Seeing only is believing, very often isn't that, and
+even Being the thing falls a long way short of believing it. Mrs.
+Nickleby herself once asked me, as you know, if I really believed there
+ever was such a woman; but there will be no more belief, either in me or
+my descriptions, after what I have to tell of our excellent friend's
+tragedy, if you don't come and have it played again for yourself, 'by
+particular desire.' We saw it last night, and oh! if you had but been
+with us! Young Betty, doing what the mind of man without my help never
+_can_ conceive, with his legs like padded boot-trees wrapped up in faded
+yellow drawers, was the hero. The comic man of the company, enveloped in
+a white sheet, with his head tied with red tape like a brief, and
+greeted with yells of laughter whenever he appeared, was the venerable
+priest. A poor toothless old idiot, at whom the very gallery roared with
+contempt when he was called a tyrant, was the remorseless and aged
+Creon. And Ismene, being arrayed in spangled muslin trousers very loose
+in the legs and very tight in the ankles, such as Fatima would wear in
+_Blue Beard_, was at her appearance immediately called upon for a song!
+After this can you longer--?'"
+
+[Illustration: The "Falstaff": Westgate Canterbury]
+
+He speaks in a letter to Forster, dated September, 1847, of
+"improvements in the Margate Theatre since his memorable first visit."
+It had been managed by a son of the great comedian Dowton, and the piece
+which Dickens then saw was _As You Like It_, "really very well done, and
+a most excellent house." It was Mr. Dowton's benefit, and "he made a
+sensible and modest kind of speech," which impressed Dickens, who thus
+concludes his letter:--"He really seems a most respectable man, and he
+has cleaned out this dusthole of a theatre into something like
+decency."
+
+There is also the following significant mention of Margate in chapter
+nineteen of _Bleak House_:--
+
+"It is the hottest long vacation known for many years. All the young
+clerks are madly in love, and according to their various degrees, pant
+for bliss with the beloved object at Margate, Ramsgate, or Gravesend."
+
+If Broadstairs was noisy, Margate must have been intensely so. We leave
+the crowded holiday-making place without much feeling of regret, and
+passing Ramsgate--of which there is but one mention in the _Life_--on
+our way, reach Canterbury in the afternoon.
+
+We are delighted with this exquisitely beautiful old city, our only
+regret being that our time is very limited, and our means of
+ascertaining places situated in "Dickens-Land" more so.
+
+Taking up our temporary quarters at the "Sir John Falstaff" Hotel, in
+remembrance of its namesake at Gad's Hill, after the refreshment of a
+meal, we commence our tramp through Canterbury, where David Copperfield
+passed some of his happiest days. Of the Falstaff here there is an
+excellent picture in Mr. Rimmer's _About England with Dickens_; a very
+quaint old inn with double front, and bay-windows top and bottom,
+possibly of the sixteenth century, and with a long swinging sign
+extending over the pavement, on which is painted a life-like presentment
+of the portly knight, the pretty ornamental ironwork supporting it
+reminding one of Washington Irving's description in _Bracebridge Hall_,
+"fancifully wrought at top into flourishes and flowers."
+
+[Illustration: The "Dane John" from the City Wall Canterbury]
+
+A few steps further on is the West Gate, "standing between two lofty and
+spacious round towers erected in the river," built by Archbishop
+Sudbury, who was barbarously murdered by Wat Tyler in the reign of
+Richard II., which is the sole remaining one of six gates formerly
+constituting the approaches to the city. From this gate, looking
+eastward, with the river Stour on either side, banked by neatly-trimmed
+private gardens, a beautiful view of the city is obtained. The High
+Street, crowded with gables of the sixteenth century and later timbered
+houses, slightly bends and rises as well, until the perspective seems to
+lose itself in a distant grove of trees, locally called the "Dane John,"
+a corruption of "Donjon." This view, especially when seen on a summer
+afternoon, is most picturesque. The present appearance of the quiet
+street is decidedly unlike that which it presented on that busy
+market-day when Miss Betsey Trotwood drove her nephew along it, for
+David says, "My aunt had a good opportunity of insinuating the grey pony
+among carts, baskets, vegetables, and hucksters' goods. The hair-breadth
+turns and twists we made drew down upon us a variety of speeches from
+the people standing about, which were not always complimentary; but my
+aunt drove on with perfect indifference."
+
+We notice in the windows and in many of the shops an abundance of
+brightly-coloured cut-flowers, a notable feature of the county of Kent;
+but we have little time to spare, and hasten on to the Cathedral
+precincts.
+
+"What a magnificent edifice!" is our first thought on beholding the
+Cathedral, a noble pile so well befitting the Metropolitan See of
+England, from which the Christianity of the Kingdom first flowed. Dating
+from Ethelbert, at the close of the sixth century, three structures have
+successively occupied the site, culminating in the present one, which,
+according to Mr. Phillips Bevan, was erected at different times between
+1070 and 1500; and he goes on to say:--"No wonder that it exhibits so
+many styles and peculiarities of detail, although the two most prominent
+architectural eras are those of 'Transition-Norman' and
+'Perpendicular.'"
+
+The appropriate stone figures in niches of distinguished Royal and
+Ecclesiastical personages associated with the Cathedral (which at the
+suggestion of Dean Alford in 1863 replaced those of the murderers of the
+martyr, Thomas à Becket), from King Ethelbert to Queen Victoria, and
+from Archbishop Lanfranc to Archbishop Longley; the lofty groined arches
+and stately towers, the beautiful carved screen, the noble monuments,
+the splendid choir (a hundred and eighty feet in length) approached by
+many steps, the rich stained-glass windows, all attract our admiring
+attention, and confirm our impression that a modern pilgrimage to
+Canterbury is a thing to be highly appreciated; and on no account would
+we have missed this part of our excursion. The murder of Thomas à
+Becket (1170) took place between the nave and the choir in a transept or
+cross aisle called "The Martyrdom."
+
+[Illustration: Bell Harry Tower: Canterbury Cathedral:]
+
+There is an interesting Sidney Cooper Gallery of Art, and also a Museum
+in the city, the latter containing some rare old Roman Mosaic pavement
+discovered in Burgate Street at a depth of ten feet.
+
+But our object is to identify spots made memorable in _David
+Copperfield_, and we walk round the spacious Cathedral Close and "make
+an effort" (as Mrs. Chick said) in trying to find the simple-minded and
+good Dr. Strong's House. It is described as "a grave building in a
+courtyard, with a learned air about it that seemed very well suited to
+the stray rooks and jackdaws who came down from the Cathedral towers,
+and walked with a clerkly bearing on the grass-plat."
+
+Alas! it is not here, although there are many such houses that
+correspond with it in some particulars. So we try several of the "dear
+old tranquil streets," but fail to discover the identical building.
+
+The next object of our search is Mr. Wickfield's residence, "a very old
+house bulging out over the road; a house with low latticed windows,
+bulging out still further, and beams with carved heads on the ends,
+bulging out too." How strongly the description in many parts tallies
+with the houses in Rochester opposite "Eastgate House"; but here again
+we are baffled, as other modern pilgrims have been before, and we cannot
+associate any particular building with either of the two houses. The
+house in Burgate Street now occupied as offices by Messrs. Plummer and
+Fielding, Diocesan Registrars, who obligingly permit an examination of
+it, is suggested to us as being Mr. Wickfield's house, but, after an
+inspection, on several grounds we are obliged to reject this suggestion.
+
+[Illustration: Scene of the Martyrdom Canterbury Cathedral]
+
+[Illustration: "Bits" of Old Canterbury.]
+
+There was many a "low old-fashioned room, walked straight into from the
+street," which would have served for the "umble" dwelling of Uriah Heep
+and his mother, but none can be pointed out with absolute certainty as
+being the veritable one.
+
+By the kindness of Dr. Sheppard and Mr. T. B. Rosseter, F.R.M.S., we
+are, however, enabled to identify two houses in Canterbury alluded to
+in _David Copperfield_. The "County Inn," where Mr. Dick slept on his
+visits to David "every alternate Wednesday," was no doubt The Royal
+Fountain Hotel in St. Margaret's Street (formerly the Watling Street),
+which is still recognized as such. A passage in the seventeenth chapter
+thus refers to these visits:--
+
+ "Mr. Dick was very partial to ginger-bread. To
+ render his visits the more agreeable, my aunt had
+ instructed me to open a credit for him at a
+ cake-shop, which was hampered with the stipulation
+ that he should not be served with more than one
+ shilling's-worth in the course of any one day.
+ This, and the reference of all his little bills at
+ the County Inn, where he slept, to my aunt before
+ they were paid, induced me to think that Mr. Dick
+ was only allowed to rattle his money, and not to
+ spend it."
+
+The "little Inn" (as recorded in the same chapter) where Mr. Micawber
+"put up" on his first visit to Canterbury, and where he "occupied a
+little room in it partitioned off from the commercial, and strongly
+flavoured with tobacco smoke," is doubtless the "Sun Inn" in Sun Street,
+which is at the opposite corner of the square where the ancient
+"Chequers" in Mercery Lane--the Pilgrim's Inn of Chaucer--stood. It was
+a place of resort from afar, and was altered in the seventeenth century.
+Dr. Sheppard calls attention to the interesting fact that the omnibus
+from Herne Bay stopped at the Sun; and probably, in his visits to
+Broadstairs, Dickens would often run over for a day's trip to
+Canterbury.
+
+On their first visit to the "little Inn," Mr. and Mrs.
+Micawber--notwithstanding their chronic impecuniosity--thus entertained
+David Copperfield:--
+
+ "We had a beautiful little dinner. Quite an
+ elegant dish of fish; the kidney end of a loin of
+ veal roasted; fried sausage-meat; a partridge and
+ a pudding. There was wine, and there was strong
+ ale; and after dinner Mrs. Micawber made us a bowl
+ of hot punch with her own hands."
+
+They spent a jolly evening, and ended with singing _Auld Lang Syne_.
+
+The "little Inn" is again alluded to later in the story, where Mr.
+Micawber announces his full determination to abstain from everything
+until he has exposed the machinations of, and blown to pieces,
+"the--a--detestable serpent--HEEP;" and finally, where David Copperfield
+"assisted at an explosion," and Mr. Micawber is triumphant, and the
+"transcendent and immortal hypocrite and perjurer, HEEP," is forced to
+succumb.
+
+Speaking of the "little Inn" for the last time, David says:--"I looked
+at the old house from the corner of the street. . . . The early sun was
+striking edgewise on its gables and lattice-windows, touching them with
+gold; and some beams of its old peace seemed to touch my heart."
+
+Dr. Sheppard subsequently told us that, when he was beginning to turn
+his attention to the deciphering and utilizing of ancient MSS., he was
+much impressed, when perusing some articles in _Household Words_, or
+some other papers written by Dickens, relating to the neglected state of
+public records, more particularly at Canterbury; and when many years
+after the very records of which he wrote came under his (Dr. Sheppard's)
+care, he was surprised to find the names of Snodgrass, Sam Weller, and
+others therein. The records to which Dr. Sheppard referred were those in
+charge of the Archbishop's Registrar at Canterbury.
+
+If time permits it would be pleasant to go on to Dover,[33] to see "Miss
+Betsey Trotwood's house," but this is impossible; and indeed, all that
+can be said about a tramp in search of "that very neat little cottage
+with cheerful bow windows in front of it, a small square gravelled court
+or garden full of flowers carefully tended, and smelling deliciously,"
+has been well said by Mr. Ashby-Sterry in his delightful little volume,
+_Cucumber Chronicles_.
+
+[Illustration: "The Little Inn" Canterbury]
+
+After much perseverance, and in spite of almost as many difficulties as
+beset poor little David Copperfield himself in his search for his aunt
+(who, as the Dover boatmen told him, "lived in the South Foreland Light,
+and had singed her whiskers by doing so"--"that she was made fast to the
+great buoy outside the harbour, and could only be visited at
+half-tide"--"that she was locked up in Maidstone Jail for
+child-stealing"--and that "she was seen to mount a broom in the last
+high wind and make direct for Calais"), Mr. Ashby-Sterry succeeded,
+although his greatest embarrassment arose from that irrepressible
+nuisance, "Buggins the Builder," who cannot be controlled even in the
+neighbourhood of Dover, so "hugely does he delight to mar those spots
+that have been hallowed by antiquity, seclusion, or the pen of the
+novelist. Hence the abode of Betsey Trotwood is not so pleasant as it
+must have been formerly, for other houses have clustered about the back
+and the front." But Mr. Ashby-Sterry quite satisfied himself as to the
+identity on Dover Heights of the very neat little cottage, and assures
+us that "the house, however, still stands high, the fresh breezes from
+over the sea and across the Down smite it. It still has a view of the
+sea, though perhaps not so uninterrupted as it was in the days of David
+Copperfield." He further states that it is, perhaps, not quite so neat
+as it was in Miss Betsey Trotwood's time, though there are no donkeys
+about. Here are the bow windows, with the room above, where Mr. Dick
+alarmed poor David by nodding and laughing at him on his first arrival.
+The window on the right must have belonged to the neat room "with the
+drugget-covered carpet," and the old-fashioned furniture brightly
+polished, where might be found "the cat, the kettle-holder, the two
+canaries, the old china, the punch-bowl full of dried rose leaves, the
+tall press guarding all sorts of bottles and pots, and wonderfully out
+of keeping with the rest." On the strength of this description by an
+ardent lover of Dickens, we fully make up our minds to visit Dover at no
+distant date to see Miss Betsey Trotwood's house for ourselves.
+
+_À propos_ of Miss Trotwood's domicile, we have been favoured by Mr. C.
+K. Worsfold, an old resident of Dover, with a letter containing some
+interesting particulars, from which we extract the following:--
+
+"Dickens's description of the local habitation of Betsey Trotwood is not
+consistent with the surroundings. The hills on either side of the town
+belong to the War Department, and are occupied as fortifications; on the
+eastern side is the Castle, and on the western side barracks and forts.
+On the western heights there is a house somewhat answering to Dickens's
+description, having a garden in front of it, and a small plot of grass
+in front of the garden; and about forty years ago there lived in this
+house a lady of rather masculine character, who always resented any
+intrusion of boys, and perhaps donkeys, on the grass in front of her
+house and garden, and I believe she was occasionally rather rough with
+the boys; but there the likeness to Betsey Trotwood ends. This was a
+married lady living with her husband.
+
+"I know it was a matter of conversation forty years ago that Dickens
+must have found his original in the lady in question, but I think he was
+rather in the habit of selecting his characters without reference to
+locality, and then adapting them to his requirements.
+
+"Dickens was a frequent visitor to Dover, and he may possibly have been
+a witness of some encounter between this lady and the boys, and on that
+occasion donkeys may have been present.[34] I do not know of any
+relative of the lady answering to Miss Trotwood's worthy nephew."
+
+"A moderate stroke," as Mr. Datchery said, "is all I am justified in
+scoring up"; and we reluctantly leave the "sunny street of Canterbury,
+dozing, as it were, in the hot light," and take our places in the train
+for Chatham, distant about twenty-seven miles.
+
+The only new parts of interest which we go over, on our return journey
+by rail, are the green fields surrounding the ancient city, wherein are
+numbers of those beautiful and quiet-feeding cattle, which the eminent
+artist, Mr. T. Sidney Cooper, R.A. (who resides in the neighbourhood),
+loves to paint, and paints so well; and in due time we pass the
+chalk-topped hills called Harbledown, overlooking Canterbury, from
+whence the best view of the city is obtained, and safely reach our
+headquarters at Rochester.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[32] According to a "Note" in the _Rochester and Chatham Journal_, the
+derivation of this curious term is from _uro_ to burn (ustus).
+
+[33] One of the "Five Cinque Ports, and two Ancient Towns" often
+referred to, but not always remembered--Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, New
+Romney, Hythe, Winchelsea and Rye.
+
+[34] Mr. Charles Dickens kindly writes to me:--"The lady who objected to
+the donkeys lived at Broadstairs. I knew her when I was a boy."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+COOLING, CLIFFE, AND HIGHAM.
+
+ "And now the range of marshes lay clear before us,
+ with the sails of the ships on the river growing
+ out of it; and we went into the Churchyard . . .
+ and the light wind strewed it with beautiful
+ shadows of clouds and trees."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ "What might have been your opinion of the place?"
+
+ "A most beastly place. Mudbank, mist, swamp and
+ work; work, swamp, mist, and mudbank."--_Great
+ Expectations._
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ "They were now in the open country; the houses
+ were very few and scattered at long intervals,
+ often miles apart. Occasionally they came upon a
+ cluster of poor cottages, some with a chair or low
+ board put across the open door, to keep the
+ scrambling children from the road; others shut up
+ close, while all the family were working in the
+ fields. These were often the commencement of a
+ little village; and after an interval came a
+ wheelwright's shed, or perhaps a blacksmith's
+ forge; then a thriving farm, with sleepy cows
+ lying about the yard, and horses peering over the
+ low wall, and scampering away when harnessed
+ horses passed upon the road, as though in triumph
+ at their freedom."--_The Old Curiosity Shop._
+
+
+NOW for a long tramp in the country of the Marshes--the famous "Meshes"
+of _Great Expectations_. The air is sultry on this Thursday afternoon,
+and there is thunder in the distance. The storm, however, does not pass
+over Rochester, but further on we find traces of it where the roadways
+have been washed up. Afterwards the air becomes deliciously cool, and
+that hum of all Nature which succeeds the quiet preceding the storm is
+distinctly perceptible. Crossing Rochester Bridge, keeping to the right
+along Strood and Frindsbury--the churchyard of which affords a splendid
+view of Rochester, Chatham, and the Medway--passing up Four Elms Hill
+and through the little village of Wainscot, nothing of interest calls
+for notice until we have travelled some miles from Strood. After
+crossing a tramway belonging to Government, and utilized by the Royal
+Engineers as a means of communication between the powder-magazine and
+Chatham Barracks, we observe that vegetation, which is so rich in other
+parts of Kent, here appears to be dwarfed and stunted. A hop-garden
+presents a very miserable contrast, in its struggle for existence, to
+others we have seen in the more central parts of the county, and even
+some of these were far from being luxuriant, owing to such a peculiarly
+wet and cold season. The hedges in places are diversified with the small
+gold and violet star-like flowers and the green and scarlet berries of
+the climbing woody nightshade, or bitter-sweet (_Solanum Dulcamara_),
+often mistaken for the deadly nightshade (_Atropa Belladonna_--a fine
+bushy herbaceous perennial, with large ovate-shaped leaves, and lurid,
+purple bell-shaped flowers), quite a different plant, and happily
+somewhat rare in England. The delicate light-blue flowers of the chicory
+are very abundant here.
+
+A tramp of upwards of six miles from Rochester, by way of Hoo,[35]
+brings us to Lodge Hill, overlooking Perry Hill, which affords a
+magnificent view of the mouth of the Thames beyond the low-lying
+Marshes, and of Canvey Island, off the coast of Essex, on the opposite
+side. By the kindness of a farmer's wife we are allowed to take a short
+cut through the farm-garden and grounds, which leads direct to Cooling
+(or Cowling) Church, a cheerless, grey-stone structure, the tower
+standing out as a beacon long before we reach it.
+
+Those unacquainted with this part of Kent may be interested in knowing
+that the Marshes, which stretch out over a considerable distance on
+either side of the Thames, on both the Kent and the Essex coasts,
+consist entirely of alluvial soil reclaimed at some time from the river.
+They are intersected by ditches and water-courses, and covered with rank
+vegetation, chiefly of grass, rushes, and flags, where not cultivated.
+Higher up the land is rich, and large tracts of it are planted with
+vegetables as market gardens. Sea-gulls, plovers, and herons are
+numerous; their call-notes in the still evening sounding shrill and
+uncanny over the long stretches of flat lands.
+
+Dear old Michael Drayton, the Warwickshire poet, who touched upon almost
+everything, has not omitted to describe the Marshes in a somewhat
+similar locality, for in the _Polyolbion_ (Song XVIII.) he gracefully
+compares them to a female enamoured of the beauties of the River Rother,
+thus:--
+
+ "Appearing to the flood, most bravely like a Queen,
+ Clad all from head to foot, in gaudy Summer's green,
+ Her mantle richly wrought with sundry flow'rs and weeds;
+ Her moistful temples bound with wreaths of quiv'ring reeds;
+ And on her loins a frock, with many a swelling plait,
+ Emboss'd with well-spread horse, large sheep, and full-fed neat;
+ With villages amongst, oft powthered here and there;
+ And (that the same more like to landscape should appear)
+ With lakes and lesser fords, to mitigate the heat
+ In summer, when the fly doth prick the gadding neat."
+
+Readers of _Great Expectations_ will remember that the scene in the
+first chapter between Pip and the convict, Magwitch, is laid in Cooling
+churchyard, and on reaching this spot we are instantly reminded of what
+doubtless gave origin to the idea of the five dead little brothers of
+poor Philip Pirrip, for there, on the left of the principal pathway, are
+indeed, not five stone lozenges, but _ten_ in one row and three more at
+the back of them, such peculiarly-shaped and curiously-arranged little
+monuments as we never before beheld. They consist of a grey stone
+(Kentish-rag, probably, but lichen-encrusted by time) of cylindrical
+shape, widening at the shoulders, coffin-like, and about a yard in
+length, the diameter being about eight inches, including the portion
+buried in the earth. Four little foot-stones are placed in front, and
+separating the ten little memorials from the three at the back is a
+large head-stone, bearing the name--"Comport of Cowling Court, 1771."
+Cooling Church, which has the date 1615 on one of the bells, has an
+example of a Hagioscope, a curious, small, square, angular, tunnel-like
+opening through the wall, which divides the nave from the chancel. It is
+said to have been the place through which those members of the church,
+who were unworthy or unable to receive the sacred elements, might get a
+look at their more acceptable companions during the administration of
+the sacrament. The Rev. W. H. A. Leaver, the Rector, who kindly shows us
+over his church, in reply to our question as to whether he could give
+any information about Charles Dickens, said that he was a new-comer in
+the district, and that all he remembers is, that when his sister was a
+little baby in arms, her mother happened once to be travelling in the
+same train with the great novelist, who, with his usual kindness, gave
+the child an orange, which she acknowledged very ungratefully by
+scratching his face!
+
+The following is a picture of the neighbourhood, given in the opening
+sentences of the story:--
+
+ "Ours was the marsh country, down by the river,
+ within, as the river wound, twenty miles of the
+ sea. My first most vivid and broad impression of
+ the identity of things, seems to me to have been
+ gained on a memorable raw afternoon towards
+ evening. At such a time, I found out for certain,
+ that this bleak place overgrown with nettles was
+ the churchyard; and that Philip Pirrip, late of
+ this parish, and also Georgiana, wife of above,
+ were dead and buried; and that Alexander,
+ Bartholomew, Abraham, Tobias, and Roger, infant
+ children of the aforesaid, were also dead and
+ buried; and that the dark flat wilderness beyond
+ the churchyard, intersected with dykes, and
+ mounds, and gates, with scattered cattle feeding
+ on it, was the marshes; and that the low leaden
+ line beyond was the river; and that the distant
+ savage lair, from which the wind was rushing, was
+ the sea; and that the small bundle of shivers
+ growing afraid of it all, and beginning to cry,
+ was Pip."
+
+[Illustration: Graves of the Comport Family: in Cooling Churchyard]
+
+Here follows the appearance of the awful convict, and the terrible
+threats by which he induces Pip to bring him "that file and them
+wittles" on the morrow; to enforce obedience the convict tilts Pip two
+or three times, "and then" [says Pip] "he gave me a most tremendous dip
+and roll, so that the church jumped over its own weathercock." Then he
+held him by the arms in an upright position on the top of the stone,
+finally threatening him "with having his heart and liver torn out," in
+case of non-compliance.
+
+All the characters described in _Great Expectations_, and all the scenes
+wherein they played their parts--Pip, with and without his "great
+expectations"; his sister Mrs. Joe Gargery, "on the rampage with
+Tickler;" Joe Gargery, "ever the best of friends, dear Pip;" Mr. and
+Mrs. Hubble, the former fond of "a bit of savoury pork pie as would lay
+atop of anything you could mention and do no harm;" the stage-struck
+Wopsle, _alias_ "Mr. Waldengarver"; "the servile Pumblechook;" the two
+convicts, "Pip's convict," Magwitch, with "the great iron on his leg,"
+and the "other convict," Compeyson, also ironed; "slouching old" Orlick;
+Biddy, simple-hearted and loving; "the Serjeant" and "party of
+soldiers"; Mr. Jaggers, "the Old Bailey lawyer"; Estella, Miss Havisham,
+Herbert Pocket, and Bentley Drummle at "the market town"; Joe's Forge
+(now converted into a dwelling-house); "The Three Jolly Bargemen"
+(obviously taken from "The Three Horse-shoes," the present village inn);
+the "old Battery," "the little sluice-house by the lime-kiln;"--all
+centre round Cooling churchyard, and appear before us as though traced
+on a map.
+
+Forster says in the _Life_:--"It is strange as I transcribe the words,
+with what wonderful vividness they bring back the very spot on which we
+stood when he said he meant to make it the scene of the opening of
+this story--Cooling Castle ruins and the desolate Church, lying out
+among the marshes seven miles from Gad's Hill!"
+
+[Illustration: Cooling Church.]
+
+Beyond where the river runs to the sea, we conjure up the chase and
+recapture of Pip's convict, while poor Pip himself, assisted by his
+friend Herbert Pocket, is straining every nerve to get him away. As
+illustrative of the wonderfully careful way in which Dickens did all his
+work, we also read in Forster's _Life_:--
+
+"To make himself sure of the actual course of a boat in such
+circumstances, and what possible incidents the adventure might have,
+Dickens hired a steamer for the day from Blackwall to Southend. Eight or
+nine friends, and three or four members of his family, were on board,
+and he seemed to have no care, the whole of that summer day (22nd of
+May, 1861), except to enjoy their enjoyment and entertain them with his
+own in shape of a thousand whims and fancies; but his sleepless
+observation was at work all the time, and nothing had escaped his keen
+vision on either side of the river. The fifteenth chapter of the third
+volume is a masterpiece."
+
+Speaking generally of this fascinating story, which possesses a
+thousand-fold greater interest to us now we visit the country there
+described (not formerly very accessible, but now readily approached by
+the railway from Gravesend to Sheerness, alighting at Cliffe, the
+nearest station to Cooling), Forster says:--
+
+"It may be doubted if Dickens could better have established his right to
+the front rank among novelists claimed for him, than by the ease and
+mastery with which, in these two books of _Copperfield_ and _Great
+Expectations_, he kept perfectly distinct the two stories of a boy's
+childhood, both told in the form of autobiography."
+
+The marshes are also alluded to twice in _Bleak House_--first, in
+chapter one--"Fog on the Essex marshes, fog on the Kentish heights;" and
+secondly, in the twenty-sixth chapter, in the dialogue between Trooper
+George and his odd but kind-hearted attendant Phil Squod, the original
+of which, by the bye, was a Chatham character.
+
+ "'And so, Phil,' says George of the shooting
+ gallery, after several turns in silence; 'you were
+ dreaming of the country last night.'
+
+ "Phil, by the bye, said as much, in a tone of
+ surprise, as he scrambled out of bed.
+
+ "'Yes, guv'ner.'
+
+ "'What was it like?'
+
+ "'I hardly know what it was like, guv'ner,' said
+ Phil, considering.
+
+ "'How did you know it was the country?'
+
+ "'On accounts of the grass, I think. And the swans
+ upon it,' says Phil, after further consideration.
+
+ "'What were the swans doing on the grass?'
+
+ "'They was a eating of it, I expect,' says
+ Phil. . . .
+
+ "'The country,' says Mr. George, applying his
+ knife and fork, 'why I suppose you never clapped
+ your eyes on the country, Phil?'
+
+ "'I see the marshes once,' says Phil, contentedly
+ eating his breakfast.
+
+ "'What marshes?'
+
+ "'_The_ marshes, commander,' returns Phil.
+
+ "'Where are they?'
+
+ "'I don't know where they are,' says Phil, 'but I
+ see 'em, guv'ner. They was flat. And miste.'"
+
+Forster says:--"About the whole of this Cooling churchyard, indeed, and
+the neighbouring castle ruins, there was a weird strangeness that made
+it one of his [Dickens's] attractive walks in the late year or winter,
+when from Higham he could get to it across country, over the stubble
+fields; and, for a shorter summer walk, he was not less fond of going
+round the village of Shorne, and sitting on a hot afternoon in its
+pretty shady churchyard."
+
+Altogether, the place has a dreary and lonesome appearance in the close
+of the summer evening, and we can picture with wonderful vividness the
+remarkable scenes described in _Great Expectations_, as the lurid purple
+reflection from the setting sun spreads over the Thames valley, and
+lights up the marshes; the tall pollards standing out like spectres
+contribute to the weirdness and beauty of the scene.
+
+Dickens was not the only admirer of the Marshes. Turner also visited
+them, and painted some of his most famous pictures from observation
+there, namely "Stangate Creek," "Shrimping Sands," and "Off Sheerness."
+
+A few paces from the church brings us to Cooling Castle, built by Sir
+John de Cobham, the third Baron Cobham, in the reign of Richard II.,
+whose arms appear on the gatehouse, together with a very curious motto
+in early English characters. We extract the following interesting
+account of the tower from the _Archæologia Cantiana_ (vol. xi.):--
+
+[Illustration: Gateway Cooling Castle]
+
+"On the south face of the eastern Outer Gate Tower, we see the
+well-known inscription, which takes the form of a Charter, with Lord
+Cobham's seal appended to it. This is formed of fourteen copper plates
+exquisitely enamelled. The writing is in black, while the ground is of
+white enamel; the seal and silk cords are of the proper colours. The
+whole work is an exquisite example of enamel, which after five hundred
+years' exposure to the weather remains nearly as good as when it was put
+up. The inscription states very clearly why Lord Cobham erected a castle
+here, viz. for the safety of the country. The French invasion had shewn
+the need, and the inscription was perhaps intended to disarm the
+suspicions and hostility of the serfs by reminding them of that need.
+It runs thus, in four lines, each enamelled upon three plates of
+copper:--
+
+ "'Knoweth that beth and schul be
+ That i am mad in help of the cuntre
+ In knowyng of whyche thyng
+ Thys is chartre and witnessyng.'"
+
+"(Seal, 'gules', on a chevron 'or' three lions rampant 'sable'.)
+
+"Inscriptions are rare on Gothic buildings, especially on castles. This
+at Coulyng is remarkable from being in English, at a time when Latin was
+employed in all charters; it contains that early form of the plural
+'beth' instead of 'are.' The inscription measures thirty-two inches by
+fourteen, and the diameter of the seal is no less than seven and a
+quarter inches long."
+
+After stopping a short time to admire the imposing entrance gate and the
+remains of the ancient moat, we wend our way for two or three miles, by
+lanes and "over the stubble-fields," to the straggling village of
+Cliffe,[36] the houses of which are very old and mostly weather-boarded.
+The approach to the church is by a rare example of a lich-gate, having a
+room over it for muniments, and the church itself (which is very large,
+and seems to be out of proportion to the size of the village) stands in
+a commanding position on a ridge of chalk, overlooking the marshes, from
+whence the views of the river in the distance are very fine. It is
+supposed to be the place where the Saxon Church held its councils, and
+there is a local tradition of a ferry having once existed near here.
+Evidence of this seems to survive in the fact that all the roads both on
+the Kent and Essex shores appear to converge to this point. The church
+has some interesting _miserere_ stalls and brasses to the Faunce family
+(17th century). On the walls we find specimens of that somewhat rare
+fern, the scaly spleenwort (_Ceterach officinarum_).
+
+[Illustration: Cliffe Church]
+
+Time does not permit us to go on to Gravesend, which like this place
+was one of Dickens's favourite spots ("We come, you see" [says Mr.
+Peggotty, speaking of himself and Ham to David Copperfield, when they
+visited him at Salem House], "the wind and tide making in our favor, in
+one of our Yarmouth lugs to Gravesen'"), so we defer our visit to that
+popular resort until another occasion.
+
+We notice in places where the harvest has been cleared (which, alas!
+owing to excess of wet and absence of sun, has not been an abundant
+one), preparations for cultivation next year, exhibiting that peculiar
+effect from ploughing which that gifted writer and born naturalist, the
+late Richard Jeffreys, described in his book _Wild Life in a Southern
+County_, with that love for common things which was so characteristic of
+him:--
+
+"The ploughmen usually take special care with their work near public
+roads, so that the furrows end on to the base of the highway shall be
+mathematically straight. They often succeed so well that the furrows
+look as if traced with a ruler, and exhibit curious effects of vanishing
+perspective. Along the furrow, just as it is turned, there runs a
+shimmering light as the eye traces it up. The ploughshare, heavy and
+drawn with great force, smooths the earth as it cleaves it, giving it
+for a time a 'face,' as it were, the moisture on which reflects the
+light. If you watch the farmers driving to market, you will see that
+they glance up the furrows to note the workmanship and look for game;
+you may tell from a distance if they espy a hare, by the check of the
+rein and the extended hand pointing."
+
+Our destination is now Higham--"Higham by Rochester, Kent,"--Dickens's
+nearest village, in which, from his first coming to Gad's Hill, he took
+the deepest interest, and after a further long tramp of nearly four
+miles steadily maintained, we reach Lower Higham towards dusk; and in a
+lane we ask an old labourer (who looks as though he would be all the
+better for "Three Acres and a Cow") if we are on the right road to
+Higham Station. Curtly but civilly the man answers, "Keep straight on,"
+when an incident occurs which brightens up matters considerably. The
+questioner says to the labourer, "Do you remember the late Charles
+Dickens?" (We always spoke, when in the district, of "the _late_ Charles
+Dickens," to distinguish him from his eldest son, who lived at Gad's
+Hill for some years after his father's death. Frequently the great
+novelist was spoken of by residents as "old Mr. Dickens!")
+
+"Do I remember Muster Dickens?" responds the venerable rustic, and his
+eyes sparkle, and his face beams with such animation that he becomes a
+different being. "Of course I do; he used to have games--running,
+jumping, and such-like--for us working people, and I've often won a
+prize. He used to come among us and give us refreshments, and make
+himself very pleasant."
+
+"How long have you lived in this parish?" says the questioner.
+
+"Sixty-seven year," is the answer.
+
+Time prevents further inquiries, so we bid our friend "good-evening."
+
+In referring to the sports at Gad's Hill, Mr. Langton has recorded how a
+friend sent him a broadside of a portion of one day's amusements, which
+from its amateurish appearance was probably printed by Dickens's sons at
+the private printing-press before alluded to. The occasion was the 26th
+December, 1866, and the Christmas sports were held in a field at the
+back of Gad's Hill Place. Mr. Trood, a former landlord of the "Sir John
+Falstaff" (whose name has been previously mentioned), had, by permission
+of Charles Dickens, a booth erected for the refreshment of persons
+contesting. The attendance was between two and three thousand, and there
+was not a single case of misconduct or damage. Mr. A. H. Layard, M.P.
+(afterwards Sir Austin Layard), was present, and took great interest in
+the proceedings, Dickens having appointed him "chief commissioner of the
+domestic police." Sir Austin Layard said of the sports, "Dickens seemed
+to have bound every creature present upon what honour the creature had
+to keep order. What was the special means used, or the art employed, it
+might have been difficult to say, but that was the result." We made
+every effort to obtain one of the bills of these sports, but without
+success, and therefore take the liberty of quoting from Mr. Langton's
+copy:--
+
+ =Christmas Sports.=
+ The All-Comers' Race.
+ Distance--Once round the field.
+ First Prize 10_s._; Second, 5_s._; Third, 2_s._ 6_d._
+ Entries to be made in MR. TROOD'S tent before 12 o'clock.
+ To start at 2.45.
+ Starter--M. STONE, ESQ.
+ Judge and Referee--C. DICKENS, ESQ.
+ Clerk of the Course--C. DICKENS, JUNR., ESQ.
+ Stewards and Keepers of the Course--MESSRS. A. H. LAYARD,
+ M.P., H. CHORLEY, J. HULKES, and H. DICKENS.
+
+In a letter written to Mr. Forster next day, Dickens said, "The road
+between this and Chatham was like a fair all day, and surely it is a
+fine thing to get such perfect behaviour out of a reckless sea-port
+town."
+
+We presently meet with another representative of the class of village
+labourer at Upper Higham, a cheery old man, although, as is sadly too
+often the case in his class, he was suffering from "the Rheumatiz."
+"Those are nice chrysanthemums in your garden," we observe. "Yes, they
+are, sir," he replies; "but if they had been better attended to when
+they was young, they'd have been nicer." "Well, I suppose both of us
+would," is the rejoinder. We are in touch on the instant. Our new
+acquaintance laughs, and so a question or two is put to him, and the
+following is the substance of his answers, rendered _à la_ Jingle but
+very feelingly:--
+
+"Mr. Dickens was a nice sort of man--very much liked--missed a great
+deal when he died--poor people and the like felt the miss of him. He was
+a man as shifted a good deal of money in the place. You see, he had a
+lot of friends--kept a good many horses,--and then there was the men to
+attend to 'em, and the corn-chandler, the blacksmith, the wheelwright,
+and others to be paid--the poor--and such-like--felt the miss of him
+when he died."
+
+"How long have you lived here?"
+
+"Well, I come in '45, eleven years before Mr. Dickens."
+
+"And I suppose you are over sixty."
+
+"Well, sir, I shall never see seventy again."
+
+Wishing our friend "good-night," we continue our tramp. On another
+occasion we met, in the same place, a third specimen of village
+labourer, "a mender of roads," who knew Charles Dickens, and so we
+walked and chatted pleasantly with him for some distance. Said our
+informant, "You see, Mr. Dickens was a very liberal man; he held his
+head high up when he walked, and went at great strides." The "mender of
+roads" was some years ago a candidate for a vacant place as
+under-gardener at Gad's Hill, but the situation was filled up just an
+hour before he applied for it. He said Mr. Dickens gave him
+half-a-crown, and afterwards always recognized him when he met him with
+a pleasant nod, or cheerfully "passed the time of day." We heard in many
+places that Dickens was "always kindly" in this way to his own
+domestics, and to the villagers in a like station of life to our
+intelligent friend "the mender of roads." A fourth villager, a groom,
+who had been in his present situation for twenty years, said:--"Both the
+old gentleman and young Mr. Charles were very much liked in Higham.
+There wasn't a single person in the place, I believe, but what had a
+good word for them."
+
+It may be interesting to mention that Higham--the old name of which was
+Lillechurch--is an extensive parish divided into several hamlets. In a
+useful little book published in 1882, called _A Handbook of Higham_, the
+Rev. C. H. Fielding, M.A., the author, says:--"There are few parishes
+more interesting than Higham, as it provides food for the antiquarian
+and the student of Nature; while its position near the 'Medway smooth,
+and the Royal-masted Thame,' affords to the artist many an opportunity
+for a picture, while the idler has the privilege of lovely views." Mr.
+Roach Smith was of opinion that Higham was the seat of "a great Roman
+pottery." A Monastery of importance existed here for several centuries,
+Mary, daughter of King Stephen, being one of the Prioresses; but it was
+dissolved by Henry VIII. The list of flowering plants given in Mr.
+Fielding's book is extensive and interesting, and contains many
+rarities.
+
+A "Cheap Jack," a veritable Doctor Marigold, had taken up his quarters
+at Higham, and we loiter among the bystanders to hear his patter. We
+feel quite sure that had Dickens been present he would have listened and
+been as amused with him as ourselves. We heard a few days previously the
+public crier going round in his cart, announcing the arrival of this
+worthy by ringing his bell and proclaiming in a stentorian voice
+something to this effect:--
+
+"The public is respectfully informed that the Cheap Jack has arrived,
+bringing with him a large assortment of London, Birmingham, and
+Sheffield goods, together with a choice collection of glass and
+earthenware, which he will sell every evening at the most reasonable
+prices."
+
+On our arrival here we find him on his rostrum surrounded by some
+flaring naphtha lamps, and thus disposing of some penny books of songs:
+"Now, ladies and gentlemen, what shall we have the pleasure of saying
+for this handsome book, containing over a hundred songs sung by all the
+great singers of the day--Macdermott, Madam Langtry, Sims Reeves, and
+other eminent vocalists--besides numerous toasts and readings. Well, I
+won't ask sixpence, and I won't take fivepence, fourpence, threepence,
+twopence--no, I only ask a penny. Sold again, and got the money. Take
+care of the ha'pence" (to his assistant), "for we gives them to the
+blind when they can see to pick 'em up." We of course bought a copy of
+the famous collection as a "Dickens-item."
+
+Before returning to Rochester we are anxious to identify the
+blacksmith's shop where the _feu de joie_ was fired from "two smuggled
+cannons," in honour of the marriage of Miss Kate Dickens to Mr. Charles
+Collins. Alterations have taken place which render identification
+impossible; but a local blacksmith, who has established himself here,
+gives us some interesting particulars of the games in which he took
+part. He mentions also a circumstance relating to Dickens's favourite
+horse, Toby. It appears that it was an express wish of the novelist that
+when he died this horse should be shot; and according to our informant
+the horse was shod on the Tuesday before the 9th of June (the day of
+Dickens's death), and shot on the following Monday. The gun was loaded
+with small shot, and poor Toby died immediately it was fired. The
+blacksmith thoroughly confirms the opinion of the old labourers as to
+the kindness of Charles Dickens to his poorer neighbours. A curious
+episode occurs in our conference with this man: he seems under the
+impression, which no amount of assertion on our part can overcome, that
+my friend and fellow tramp, Mr. Kitton, is Mr. Henry Fielding Dickens.
+Whether there was any facial resemblance or likeness of manner did not
+transpire, but again and again he kept saying, "Now ain't you Harry
+Dickens?" Among the names at Higham we notice that of a well-remembered
+Dickens character--Mr. Stiggins!
+
+On arriving at Higham Railway Station, we chat a bit with the
+station-master and porter there, but both are comparatively fresh comers
+and knew not Charles Dickens. After an enjoyable but somewhat fatiguing
+tramp, we are glad to take a late evening train from Higham to Strood,
+and thus ends our inspection of the land of "the Meshes."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+By the kindness of Mr. Henry Smetham (locally famed as the "Laureate of
+Strood"), we subsequently had an introduction to Mrs. Taylor, formerly
+school-mistress at Higham, who came there in 1860, and remained until
+some years after the death of Charles Dickens. She knew the novelist
+well, and used to see him almost every day when he was at home. She
+said, "If I had met him and did not know who he was, I should have set
+him down as a good-hearted English gentleman." He was very popular and
+much liked in the neighbourhood. On his return from America, in the
+first week of May, 1868, garlands of flowers were put by the villagers
+across the road from the railway station to Gad's Hill. There was a flag
+at Gad's (a Union Jack, she thinks), which was always hoisted when
+Dickens was at home. He never read at Higham, and never came to the
+school; but he always allowed the use of the meadow at the back of Gad's
+Hill Place for the school treats, either of church or chapel, and
+contributed to such treats sweets and what not.
+
+Mrs. Taylor remembers that the carriage was sent down from Gad's Hill
+Place to the Higham railway station nearly every night at ten o'clock to
+meet either Charles Dickens or his friends. It passed the school, and
+she well recollects the pleasant sound made by the bells. She heard
+Dickens read _Sairey Gamp_ in London once, and did not like the dress he
+wore, but thought the reading very wonderful.
+
+This lady says she was in London at the time of the death of Charles
+Dickens, the announcement of which she saw on a newspaper placard, and
+was ill the whole of the day afterwards. It was a sorrowful day for her.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We are much indebted to Mrs. Budden of Gad's Hill Place for the
+following interesting particulars which she obtained from Mrs. Easedown,
+of Higham, "who was parlour-maid to Mr. Dickens, and left to be married
+on the 8th of June, the day he was seized with the fit. She says it was
+her duty to hoist the flag on the top of the house directly Mr. Dickens
+arrived at Gad's Hill. It was a small flag, not more than fourteen
+inches square, and was kept in the billiard-room. She says he was the
+dearest and best gentleman that ever lived, and the kindest of masters.
+He asked her to stay and wait at table the night he was taken ill; she
+said if he wished it she would, and then he said, 'Never mind; I don't
+feel well.' She saw him after he was dead, laid out in the dining-room,
+when his coffin was covered with scarlet geraniums--his favourite
+flower. The flower-beds on the lawns at Gad's Hill in his time were
+always filled with scarlet geraniums; they have since been done away
+with. Over the head of the coffin was the oil painting of himself as a
+young man (probably Maclise's portrait)--on one side a picture of 'Dolly
+Varden,' and on the other 'Kate Nickleby.' He gave Mrs. Easedown, on the
+day she left his service, a photograph of himself with his name written
+on the back. Each of the other servants at Gad's Hill Place was
+presented with a similar photograph. She said he was unusually busy at
+the time of his death, as on the Monday morning he ordered breakfast to
+be ready during the week at 7.30 ('Sharp, mind') instead of his usual
+time, 9 o'clock, as he said 'he had so much to do before Friday.'
+But--'Such a thing was never to be,' for on the Thursday he breathed his
+last!"
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Mrs. Wright, the wife of Mr. Henry Wright, surveyor of Higham, lived
+four years at Gad's Hill Place as parlour-maid. She is the proud
+possessor of some interesting relics of her late master. These include
+his soup-plate, a meerschaum pipe (presented to him, but he chiefly
+smoked cigars--he was not a great smoker), a wool-worked kettle-holder
+(which he constantly used), and a pair of small bellows. When she was
+married Mr. Dickens presented her with a China tea service, "not a
+single piece of which," said Mrs. Wright proudly, "has been broken."
+
+She remembers, at the time of her engagement as parlour-maid, that the
+servants told her to let a gentleman in at the front door who was
+approaching. She didn't know who it was, as she had never seen Mr.
+Dickens before. She opened the door, and the gentleman entered in a very
+upright manner, and after thanking her, looked hard at her, and then
+walked up-stairs. On returning to the kitchen the servants asked who it
+was that had just come in. She replied, "I don't know, but I think it
+was the master." "Did he speak?" they asked. "No," said she, "but he
+looked at me in a very determined way." Said they, "He was reading your
+character, and he now knows you thoroughly," or words to that effect.
+
+As parlour-maid, it was part of her duty to carve and wait on her master
+specially. The dinner serviettes were wrapped up in a peculiar manner,
+and Mrs. Wright remembers that Lord Darnley's servants were always
+anxious to learn how the folding was done, but they never discovered the
+secret. At dinner-parties, it was the custom to place a little
+"button-hole" for each guest. This was mostly made up of scarlet
+geranium (Dickens's favourite flower), with a bit of the leaf and a
+frond of maidenhair fern. On one occasion in her early days, the
+dinner-lift (to the use of which she was unaccustomed) broke and ran
+down quickly, smashing the crockery and bruising her arm. Mr. Dickens
+jumped up quickly and said, "Never mind the breakage; is your arm
+hurt?" As it was painful, he immediately applied arnica to the bruise,
+and gave her a glass of port wine, "treating me," Mrs. Wright remarked,
+"more like a child of his own than a servant."
+
+When she was married, and left Gad's Hill, she brought her first child
+to show her former master. He took notice of it, and asked her what he
+could buy as a present. She thanked him, and said she did not want
+anything. On leaving he gently put a sovereign into the baby's little
+hand, and said, "Buy something with that."
+
+Mrs. Wright spoke of the great interest which Dickens took in the
+children's treats at Higham, lending his meadow for them, providing
+sweets and cakes for the little ones, and apples to be scrambled for. He
+took great delight in seeing the scrambles.
+
+She also referred to the cricket club, and said that when the matches
+were going on it was a regular holiday at Higham. Dickens used to take
+the scores, and at the end of the game he gave prizes and made little
+speeches. Her husband, Mr. Henry Wright, acted as secretary to the club,
+and is the possessor of a letter written by Mr. Dickens, in reply to an
+address which had been presented to him, of which letter the following
+is a copy:--
+
+
+ "GAD'S HILL PLACE,
+ "HIGHAM BY ROCHESTER, KENT.
+ "_Tuesday, 29th July, 1862._
+
+ "DEAR SIR,
+
+ "As your name is the first on the list of
+ signatures to the little address I have had the
+ pleasure of receiving--on my return from a short
+ absence--from the greater part of the players in
+ the match the other day, I address my reply to
+ you.
+
+ "I beg you to assure the rest that it will always
+ give me great pleasure to lend my meadow for any
+ such good purpose, and that I feel a sincere
+ desire to be a good friend to the working men in
+ this neighbourhood. I am always interested in
+ their welfare, and am always heartily glad to see
+ them enjoying rational and healthful recreation.
+
+ "It did not escape my notice that some expressions
+ were used the other day which would have been
+ better avoided, but I dismiss them from my mind as
+ being probably unintentional, and certainly
+ opposed to the general good feeling and good
+ sense.
+
+ "Faithfully yours,
+ "CHARLES DICKENS.
+ "MR. H. WRIGHT."
+
+Both Mrs. Easedown and Mrs. Wright informed us (through Mrs. Budden)
+that "Mr. Dickens was the best of masters, and a dear good man; that he
+gave a great deal away in the parish, and was very much missed; that he
+frequently went to church and sat in the chancel. . . . When he lived in
+Higham there used to be a great deal of ague, and he gave away an
+immense quantity of port wine and quinine. Since the Cement Works have
+been at Cliffe there has been very little ague at Higham."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Mr. Robert Lake Cobb, of Mockbeggar House, Higham, a land agent of high
+position and a County Councillor, told us that he took in the _Pickwick
+Papers_ as they appeared in numbers, and he recollected how eagerly he
+read them, and how tiresome it was to have to wait month by month until
+the story was finished. The book made a tremendous sensation at the
+time. Many years afterwards Charles Dickens came to reside at Gad's Hill
+Place, and the families became intimate. "Mr. Dickens," observed our
+informant, "was a very pleasant neighbour, and had always got something
+nice to say. He was a dreadful man to walk--very few could keep up with
+him."
+
+Mr. Cobb had one son, Herbert, who was a playfellow of Dickens's boys;
+and as illustrative of the interest he took in his neighbours, on one
+occasion the novelist and our informant were talking over matters, when
+the former said, "What are you going to bring your boy up to?" "A land
+agent," replied Mr. Cobb. "Ah," said the novelist, "whatever you do,
+make him self-reliant." He thought that of all the sons Mr. Henry
+Fielding Dickens most resembled his father.
+
+Among the notable people Mr. Cobb met at Gad's Hill Place were Mr.
+Forster, Mr. Wilkie Collins, Mr. Fechter the actor, and others. When
+Hans Christian Andersen was visiting there, Dickens took him to Higham
+Church. Mr. Cobb spoke of the pleasant picnic parties which Dickens gave
+on Blue Bell Hill. He was of opinion that Cob-Tree Hall in that
+neighbourhood, about one and a half miles from Aylesford, nearly
+parallel with the river, suggested the original of Manor Farm, Dingley
+Dell. It formerly belonged to Mr. Franklin, and is now occupied by Major
+Trousdell. Mr. Cobb believed that Dickens took the title of _No
+Thoroughfare_--which he and Wilkie Collins contributed to the 1867
+number of _All the Year Round_, and in the dramatizing of which Dickens
+subsequently was so interested--from the notice-boards which were put up
+by Lord Darnley in many parts of Cobham Park.
+
+On one occasion our informant remembers a stoppage of the train in
+Higham tunnel, which caused some consternation to the passengers, as no
+explanation of the delay was forthcoming from any of the railway
+officials. The station-master coming up at the time, Dickens
+remarked--"Ah! an unwilling witness, Mr. Wood."
+
+Mr. Cobb mentioned that Miss Hogarth, Dickens's sister-in-law, was a
+great favourite in the neighbourhood, from her kindness and
+thoughtfulness for all with whom she came in contact, and especially the
+poor of Higham.
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[35] Speaking of Hoo, Lambarde says (1570)--"Hoh in the old English
+signifieth sorrow or sickness, wherewith the Inhabitants of that
+unwholesome Hundred be very much exercised[!]."
+
+[36] Lambarde says, "The Town [of Cliffe at Hoo] is large, and hath
+hitherto a great Parish Church: and (as I have been told) many of the
+houses were casually burned (about the same time that the Emperor
+_Charles_ came into this Realme to visite King _Henry_ the eight), of
+which hurt it was never thorowly cured."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+COBHAM PARK AND HALL, THE LEATHER BOTTLE, SHORNE, CHALK, AND THE DOVER
+ROAD.
+
+ "It's a place you may well be fond of and attached
+ to, for it's the prettiest spot in all the country
+ round."--_The Village Coquettes._
+
+ "The last soft light of the setting sun had fallen
+ on the earth, casting a rich glow on the yellow
+ corn sheaves, and lengthening the shadows of the
+ orchard trees."--_The Pickwick Papers._
+
+
+WE reserve this, our last long tramp in "Dickens-Land," for the Friday
+before our departure. Mrs. Perugini, the novelist's second daughter, had
+recently told us that this was the most beautiful of all the beautiful
+parts of Kent, and so indeed it proves to be. Its sylvan scenery is
+truly unique.
+
+Mr. Charles Dickens the younger, in his valuable annotated Jubilee
+edition of _Pickwick_, has included this note relating to Cobham:--
+
+"As all the world knows, the neighbourhood of Rochester was dear to
+Charles Dickens. There it is that Gad's Hill Place stands, the house to
+which, as 'a queer, small boy,' he looked forward as the possible reward
+of an industrious career, and in which he passed the later years of his
+life; and near Rochester, still approached by the 'delightful walk'
+here described, is Cobham, one of the most charming villages in that
+part of Kent. Down the lanes, and through the park to Cobham, was always
+a favourite walk with Charles Dickens; and he never wearied of acting as
+_cicerone_ to his guests to its fine church and the quaint almshouses
+with the disused refectory behind it."
+
+Happily the weather again favours us on this delightful excursion. It is
+just such a day as that on which we made our visit to Gad's Hill. As we
+have had much tramping about Rochester during the morning, we prudently
+take an early afternoon train to Higham, to save our legs. The short
+distance of about four miles consists almost entirely of tunnels cut
+through the chalk.
+
+Alighting at Higham Station, we make our way for the Dover Road and
+reach Pear Tree Lane, which turns out of it for Cobham. We notice in
+passing through Higham by daylight that the lanes are much closed in by
+banks, in fact, the tertiary and chalk systems have been cut through to
+form the roads; but here and there one gets glimpses of the Thames, its
+course being marked by the white or brown wings of sailing-boats.
+
+The lane above alluded to, a little above Gad's Hill, is the direct road
+to Cobham, and on entering it we are immediately struck with the
+different scene presented, as compared with any part of the county we
+have previously gone over. It is cut through the Thanet Sands, which at
+first are of ashy gray colour, but after some distance are of a bright
+red hue, probably owing to infiltration, and the road rises gently until
+the woods are reached. The vegetation growing on the high banks consists
+of oak, hazel, beech, sycamore, and Spanish chestnut, in many places
+intermingled with wild clematis. The branches of the trees are not
+allowed to grow over into the road, but are kept well cut back so as
+practically to form a wall on either side, extending in some places to
+twelve feet high. The effect is to present an almost unbroken surface of
+various shades of green, deliciously cool and shady in the heat of
+summer, and brightened here and there in autumn by the rich
+orange-coloured fruit of the arum, the scarlet berries of the white
+bryony, and--deeper in the woods--by the pinky-waxen berries of the
+spindle-tree, described by Lord Tennyson as "the fruit which in our
+winter woodland looks a flower."
+
+As the road continually winds in its upward progress, and as no part
+within view extends beyond a few hundred yards before it turns again,
+the limit of perspective is frequently arrested by a number of evergreen
+arches. It was a Devonshire lane, so to speak, in a state of
+cultivation. Of course in the early spring, the delicacy of the fresh
+green foliage would give another picture; and again the autumnal tints
+would present a totally different effect under the influence of the rich
+colouring of decaying vegetation.
+
+No wonder Dickens and his friends had such admiration for this walk, the
+last, by the way, that he ever enjoyed, on Tuesday, 7th June, 1870, with
+his sister-in-law, Miss Hogarth, the day before the fatal seizure. In a
+letter written from Lausanne, so far back as the year 1846, he says:--
+
+"Green woods and green shades about here are more like Cobham, in Kent,
+than anything we dream of at the foot of Alpine passes."
+
+When we reach an elevation and are able to get an extended view of the
+country we have traversed, a magnificent prospect of the Thames valley
+on the west side, and of the Medway valley on the east, discloses
+itself. On a bank in this lane we find a rather rare plant, the
+long-stalked crane's-bill (_Geranium columbinum_), its rose-pink flowers
+standing out like rubies among the green foliage. _Pteris aquilina_, the
+common brake or bracken, is very luxuriant here; but we have met with
+few ferns in the part of Kent which we visited. We were afterwards
+informed that _asplenium_, _lastrea_, _scolopendrium_, and others are to
+be found in the neighbourhood. We pass at Shorne Ridgway a village inn
+with a curious sign, "Ye Olde See Ho Taverne." On inquiry, we learn that
+"See Ho" is the sportsman's cry in coursing, when a hare appears in
+sight.
+
+The woods surrounding the entrance to the park are presently reached,
+and here the vegetation, which in the lanes had been kept under, is
+allowed to grow unchecked. At intervals walks (or "rides," as they are
+called in some counties) are cut through the woods, the grass being well
+mown underneath, and each of these walks is a shaded grove, losing
+itself in the distance. The deep silence of the place is only broken by
+the cooing of the wood-pigeon, and the occasional piercing note of the
+green woodpecker. It is said that the nightingales appear here about the
+13th of April and continue singing until June, and that the best time
+for seeing this neighbourhood is during the blossoming season in May.
+
+The temptation to quote Dickens's own description of Cobham Park from
+_Pickwick_ cannot be resisted:--
+
+ "A delightful walk it was; for it was a pleasant
+ afternoon in June, and their way lay through a
+ deep and shady wood, cooled by the light wind
+ which gently rustled the thick foliage, and
+ enlivened by the songs of the birds that perched
+ upon the boughs. The ivy and the moss crept in
+ thick clusters over the old trees, and the soft
+ green turf overspread the ground like a silken
+ mat. They emerged upon an open park, with an
+ ancient hall, displaying the quaint and
+ picturesque architecture of Elizabeth's time. Long
+ vistas of stately oaks and elm trees appeared on
+ every side: large herds of deer were cropping the
+ fresh grass; and occasionally a startled hare
+ scoured along the ground with the speed of the
+ shadows thrown by the light clouds, which swept
+ across a sunny landscape like a passing breath of
+ summer."
+
+Another description of Cobham at another time of the year is found in
+the _Seven Poor Travellers_:--
+
+ "As for me, I was going to walk, by Cobham Woods,
+ as far upon my way to London as I fancied. . . .
+ And now the mists began to rise in the most
+ beautiful manner, and the sun to shine; and as I
+ went on through the bracing air, seeing the
+ hoar-frost sparkle everywhere, I felt as if all
+ Nature shared in the joy of the great Birthday. . . .
+ By Cobham Hall I came to the village, and the
+ churchyard where the dead had been quietly buried
+ 'in the sure and certain hope' which Christmastide
+ inspired."
+
+We notice in our quiet tramp here a peculiarity in the foliage of the
+oaks which is worth recording. It will be remembered that in the late
+spring of 1888, anxiety was expressed by certain newspaper
+correspondents that the English oak would suffer extermination in
+consequence of caterpillars denuding it of its leaves. But naturalists
+who had studied the question knew better. The caterpillar, which is no
+doubt the larva of the green Tortrix moth (_Tortrix viridana_), spins
+its cocoon at the end of June or the beginning of July, and the effect
+of the heavy rains and warm sunny days since that time was to encourage
+the energy of the tree in putting forth its second growth of leaves.
+This second growth of delicate green almost covered the oaks in Cobham
+Park, and effectually concealed the devastation of the caterpillars on
+the old leaves. The effect was quite spring-like. Truly, as George Eliot
+says, "Nature repairs her ravages."
+
+[Illustration: Cobham Hall.]
+
+Cobham Park is nearly seven miles round, and its exquisitely varied
+scenery of wood and glade is conspicuous at the spot where the chestnut
+tree called "The Four Sisters" is placed. There is a lovely walk from
+Cobham Hall to Rochester through the "Long Avenue," so named in
+contradistinction to the "Grand Avenue," which opens into Cobham
+village. This walk, which slopes all the way down from the Mausoleum,
+leads to a seat placed midway in an open spot where charming views of
+the Medway valley are obtained. For rich sylvan scenery in the county of
+Kent, this is surely unrivalled.
+
+Admission to Cobham Hall, the seat of the Earl of Darnley (whose
+ancestors have resided here since the time of King John), is on Fridays
+only, and such admission is obtained by ticket, procurable from Mr.
+Wildish, bookseller, of Rochester. A nominal charge is made, the
+proceeds being devoted towards maintaining Cobham schools.
+
+The Hall is a red-brick edifice (temp. Elizabeth, 1587), consisting of
+two Tudor wings, connected by a central block designed by Inigo Jones.
+The most noticeable objects in the entrance corridor are a fine pair of
+columns of Cornish serpentine, nearly ten feet high, tapering from a
+base some two feet square. The white veining of the steatite (soapstone)
+is in beautiful contrast to the rich red and black colours of the
+marble. These columns were purchased at the great Exhibition of 1851. An
+enormous bath, hewn out of a solid block of granite said to have been
+brought from Egypt, is also a very noticeable object in this corridor.
+
+The housekeeper--a chatty, intelligent, and portly personage--shows
+visitors over the rooms and picture-galleries. There is a superb
+collection of pictures by the Old Masters, about which Dickens had
+always something facetious to say to his friends. They illustrate the
+schools of Venice, Florence, Rome, Netherlands, Spain, France, and
+England, and were formed mainly by purchases from the Orleans Gallery,
+and the Vetturi Gallery from Florence, and include Titian's 'Rape of
+Europa,' Rubens's 'Queen Tomyris dipping Cyrus's head into blood,'
+Salvator Rosa's 'Death of Regulus,' Vandyck's 'Duke of Lennox,' Sir
+Joshua Reynolds's 'The Call of Samuel,' and others. But the pictures in
+which we are most interested are the portraits of literary, scientific,
+and other worthies--an excellent collection, including Shakespeare, John
+Locke, Hobbes, Sir Richard Steele, Sir William Temple, Dean Swift,
+Dryden, Betterton, Pope, Gay, Thomson, Sir Hugh Middleton, Martin
+Luther, and the ill-fated Lord George Gordon.
+
+There is also an ornithological museum, with some very fine specimens of
+the order of grallatores (or waders). In reply to a letter of inquiry,
+the Earl of Darnley kindly informs us that the examples of ostrich
+(_Struthio camelus_), cassowary (_Casuarius galeatus_), and common emu
+(_Dromaius ater_), were once alive in the menagerie attached to the
+hall, which was broken up about fifty years ago.
+
+We are shown the music-room (which, by the bye, his late majesty King
+George IV., is said to have remarked was the finest room in England), a
+very handsome apartment facing the west, with a large organ, and capable
+of containing several hundred persons. The decorations are very chaste,
+being in white and gold; and, as the brilliant sun was setting in the
+summer evening, a delicate rose-coloured hue was diffused over
+everything in the room through the medium of the tinted blinds attached
+to the windows. It had a most peculiar and pretty effect, strongly
+recalling Mrs. Skewton and her "rose-coloured curtains for doctors."
+
+[Illustration: Dickens's Châlet, now in Cobham Park.]
+
+By the special permission of his lordship, we see the famous Swiss
+châlet, which is now erected in the terrace flower-garden at the back of
+Cobham Hall, having been removed to its present position some years ago
+from another part of the grounds. It stands on an elevated open space
+surrounded by beautiful trees--the rare Salisburia, tulip, cedar,
+chestnut and others--and makes a handsome addition to the garden,
+irrespective of its historical associations. The châlet is of dark wood
+varnished, and has in the centre a large carving of Dickens's crest,
+which in heraldic terms is described as: "a lion couchant 'or,' holding
+in the gamb a cross patonce 'sable.'"
+
+There are two rooms in the châlet, each about sixteen feet square, the
+one below having four windows and a door, and the one above (approached
+in the usual Swiss fashion by an external staircase), which is much the
+prettier, having six windows and a door. There are shutters outside, and
+the overhanging roof at first sight gives the building somewhat of a
+top-heavy appearance, but this impression wears off after a time, and it
+is found to be effective and well-proportioned. "The five mirrors" which
+Dickens placed in the châlet have been removed from the upper room, but
+they are scarcely necessary, the views of rich and varied foliage and
+flowers seen from the open windows, through which the balmy air passes,
+forming a series of pictures in the bright sunlight of the August
+afternoon delightfully fresh and beautiful. We sit down quietly for a
+few minutes and enjoy the privilege; we ponder on the many happy and
+industrious hours spent by its late owner in this now classic building;
+and we leave it sadly, with the recollection that here were penned the
+last lines which the "vanished hand" was destined to give to the world.
+
+The Earl of Darnley generously allows his neighbours to have a key of
+his park, and Dickens had one of such keys, a privilege greatly
+appreciated by him and his friends. Recently his lordship has erected a
+staircase round one of the highest trees in the park, called the "crow's
+nest," from whence a very pretty peep at the surrounding country is
+obtained.
+
+During our visit we venture to ask the portly housekeeper if she
+remembers Charles Dickens? The ray of delight that illumines her
+good-natured countenance is simply magical.
+
+"Oh," she says, "I liked Mr. Dickens very much. He was always so full of
+fun. Oh! oh! oh!" the recollection of which causes a fit of suppressed
+laughter, which "communicates a blancmange-like motion to her fat
+cheeks," and she adds: "He used to dine here, and was always very
+popular with the family, and in the neighbourhood."
+
+We cannot help thinking that such delightful places as Cobham Hall were
+in Dickens's mind when, in _Bleak House_ (_à propos_ of Chesney Wold),
+he makes the volatile Harold Skimpole say to Sir Leicester Dedlock--"The
+owners of such places are public benefactors. They are good enough to
+maintain a number of delightful objects for the admiration and pleasure
+of us poor men, and not to reap all the admiration and pleasure that
+they yield, is to be ungrateful to our benefactors."
+
+Leaving the park by a pretty undulating walk, and passing on our way a
+large herd of deer, their brown and fawn-coloured coats contrasting
+prettily with the green-sward, we come upon the picturesque village of
+Cobham, where Mr. Tupman sought consolation after his little affair with
+the amatory spinster aunt. Of course the principal object of interest is
+the Leather Bottle, or "Dickens's old Pickwick Leather Bottle," as the
+sign of the present landlord now calls it, wherein Dickens slept a night
+in 1841, and visited it many times subsequently. There is a coloured
+portrait of the President of the Pickwick Club on the sign, as he
+appeared addressing the members. A fire occurred at the Leather Bottle a
+few years ago, but it was confined to a back portion of the building;
+unfortunately its restoration and so-called "improvements" have
+destroyed many of the picturesque features which characterized this
+quiet old inn when Dickens wrote the famous Papers. Here is his
+description of it after Mr. Pickwick, Mr. Snodgrass, and Mr. Winkle had
+walked through Cobham Park to seek their lost friend:--
+
+[Illustration: The "Leather Bottle" Cobham]
+
+ "'If this,' said Mr. Pickwick, looking about him;
+ 'if this were the place to which all who are
+ troubled with our friend's complaint came, I fancy
+ their old attachment to this world would very soon
+ return.'
+
+ "'I think so too,' said Mr. Winkle.
+
+ "'And really,' added Mr. Pickwick, after half an
+ hour's walking had brought them to the village,
+ 'really for a misanthrope's choice, this is one of
+ the prettiest and most desirable places of
+ residence I ever met with.'
+
+ "In this opinion also, both Mr. Winkle and Mr.
+ Snodgrass expressed their concurrence; and having
+ been directed to the Leather Bottle, a clean and
+ commodious village ale-house, the three
+ travellers entered, and at once inquired for a
+ gentleman of the name of Tupman.
+
+ "'Show the gentlemen into the parlour, Tom,' said
+ the landlady.
+
+ "A stout country lad opened a door at the end of
+ the passage, and the three friends entered a long,
+ low-roofed room, furnished with a large number of
+ high-backed leather-cushioned chairs, of fantastic
+ shapes, and embellished with a great variety of
+ old portraits, and roughly-coloured prints of some
+ antiquity. At the upper end of the room was a
+ table, with a white cloth upon it, well covered
+ with a roast fowl, bacon, ale, and etceteras; and
+ at the table sat Mr. Tupman, looking as unlike a
+ man who had taken his leave of the world, as
+ possible.
+
+ "On the entrance of his friends, that gentleman
+ laid down his knife and fork, and with a mournful
+ air advanced to meet them.
+
+ "'I did not expect to see you here,' he said, as
+ he grasped Mr. Pickwick's hand. 'It's very kind.'
+
+ "'Ah!' said Mr. Pickwick, sitting down, and wiping
+ from his forehead the perspiration which the walk
+ had engendered. 'Finish your dinner, and walk out
+ with me. I wish to speak to you alone.'
+
+ "Mr. Tupman did as he was desired; and Mr.
+ Pickwick having refreshed himself with a copious
+ draught of ale, waited his friend's leisure. The
+ dinner was quickly despatched, and they walked out
+ together.
+
+ "For half an hour, their forms might have been
+ seen pacing the churchyard to and fro, while Mr.
+ Pickwick was engaged in combating his companion's
+ resolution. Any repetition of his arguments would
+ be useless; for what language could convey to them
+ that energy and force which their great
+ originator's manner communicated? Whether Mr.
+ Tupman was already tired of retirement, or whether
+ he was wholly unable to resist the eloquent appeal
+ which was made to him, matters not; he did _not_
+ resist it at last.
+
+ "'It mattered little to him,' he said, 'where he
+ dragged out the miserable remainder of his days:
+ and since his friend laid so much stress upon his
+ humble companionship, he was willing to share his
+ adventures.'
+
+ "Mr. Pickwick smiled; they shook hands; and walked
+ back to rejoin their companions."
+
+[Illustration: The Old Parlour of the "Leather Bottle."]
+
+[Illustration: Cobham Church]
+
+In order to preserve the historical associations of the place, the
+landlord of the Leather Bottle has added to the art collection in the
+fine old parlour (that still contains "the high-backed leather-cushioned
+chairs of fantastic shapes") many portraits of Dickens and illustrations
+from his works, including a copy of the life-like coloured Watkins
+photograph previously referred to. It has been already suggested that
+the neighbourhood of Kit's Coty House probably gave rise to the famous
+archæological episode of the stone with the inscription--"Bill Stumps,
+his mark," in _Pickwick_, which occurred near here, rivalling the "A. D.
+L. L." discovery of the sage Monkbarns in Scott's _Antiquary_.
+
+Time presses with us, so, after a refreshing cup of tea, we just have a
+hasty glance at the beautiful old church, which contains some splendid
+examples of monumental brasses, which for number and preservation are
+said to be unique. They are erected to the memory of John Cobham,
+Constable of Rochester, 1354, his ancestors and others.[37] There are
+also some fine old almshouses which accommodate twenty pensioners. These
+almshouses are a survival of the ancient college. We then take our
+departure, returning through Cobham woods.
+
+Turning off at some distance on the left, and passing through the little
+village of Shorne, with its pretty churchyard, a very favourite spot of
+Charles Dickens, and probably described by him in _Pickwick_ as "one of
+the most peaceful and secluded churchyards in Kent, where wild flowers
+mingle with the grass, and the soft landscape around, forms the fairest
+spot in the garden of England"--we make for Chalk church. It will be
+remembered, that the first number of _Pickwick_ appeared on the 31st
+March, 1836, and on the 2nd of April following Charles Dickens was
+married, and came to spend his honeymoon at Chalk, and he visited it
+again in 1837, when doubtless the descriptions of Cobham and its
+vicinity were written. To this neighbourhood, "at all times of his life,
+he returned, with a strange recurring fondness."
+
+[Illustration: Shorne Church]
+
+Mr. Kitton has favoured me with permission to quote the following
+extract from his Supplement to _Charles Dickens by Pen and Pencil_,
+being the late Mr. E. Laman Blanchard's recollections of this pleasant
+neighbourhood:--
+
+"In the year Charles Dickens came to reside at Gad's Hill, I took
+possession of a country house at Rosherville, which I occupied for some
+seventeen years. During that period a favourite morning walk was along
+the high road, of many memories, leading from Gravesend to Rochester,
+and on repeated occasions I had the good fortune to encounter the great
+novelist making one of his pedestrian excursions towards the Gravesend
+or Greenhithe railway station, where he would take the train to travel
+up to town. Generally, by a curious coincidence, we passed each other,
+with an interchange of salutations, at about the same spot. This was on
+the outskirts of the village of Chalk, where a picturesque lane branched
+off towards Shorne and Cobham. Here the brisk walk of Charles Dickens
+was always slackened, and he never failed to glance meditatively for a
+few moments at the windows of a corner house on the southern side of the
+road, advantageously situated for commanding views of the river and the
+far-stretching landscape beyond. It was in that house he had lived
+immediately after his marriage, and there many of the earlier chapters
+of _Pickwick_ were written."
+
+It is a long walk from Cobham to Chalk church,--the church, by the bye,
+being about a mile from the village, as is usual in many places in
+Kent,--and as the shades of evening are coming upon us, and as we are
+desirous of having a sketch of the curious stone-carved figure over the
+entrance porch, we hurry on, and succeed in effecting our object, though
+under the difficulty of approaching darkness.
+
+[Illustration: Curious Old Figure over the Porch, Chalk Church.]
+
+This figure represents an old priest in a stooping position, with an
+upturned vessel (probably a jug), about which we were informed there is
+probably a legend. Dickens used to be a great admirer of this quaint
+carving, and it is said that whenever he passed it, he always took off
+his hat to it, or gave it a friendly nod, as to an old acquaintance. [We
+regretfully record the fact that since our visit, both porch and figure
+have been demolished.]
+
+Amid the many strange sounds peculiar to summer night in the country, a
+very weird and startling effect is produced in this lonely spot, in the
+dusk of the evening, by the shrill whistle of the common redshank
+(_Totanus calidris_), so called from the colour of its legs, which are
+of a crimson-red. This bird, as monotonous in its call-note as the
+corn-crake, to which it is closely allied, doubtless has its home in the
+marshes hereabout, in which, and in fen countries, it greatly delights.
+The peculiar whistle is almost ventriloquial in its ubiquity, and must
+be heard to be properly appreciated.
+
+We retrace our steps to the Dover road, and by the light of a match
+applied to our pipes, see that our pedometer marks upwards of fifteen
+miles for this tramp--"a rather busy afternoon," as Mr. Datchery once
+said.
+
+Since these lines were written, the third volume of the _Autobiography
+and Reminiscences_ of W. P. Frith, R.A., has been published, in which
+there is a most interesting reminiscence of Dickens; indeed, there are
+many scattered throughout the three volumes, but the one in question
+refers to "a stroll" which Dickens took with Mr. Frith and other friends
+in July 1868. Mr. Cartwright, the celebrated dentist, was one of the
+party, and the "stroll" was in reality, as the genial R. A. describes
+it, "a fearfully long walk" such as he shall never forget; nor the night
+he passed, without once closing his eyes in sleep, after it. "Dickens,"
+continues Mr. Frith, "was a great pedestrian. His strolling was at the
+rate of perhaps a little under four miles an hour. He was used to the
+place,--I was not, and suffered accordingly."
+
+Having a shrewd suspicion that this referred to one of the long walks
+taken in our tramp, the present writer communicated with Mr. Frith on
+the subject, and he was favoured with the following reply:--
+
+"The stroll I mentioned in my third volume was through Lord Darnley's
+park, but after that I remember nothing. As the time spent in walking
+was four hours at least, we must have covered ground far beyond the
+length of the park.
+
+"On another occasion,--Dickens, Miss Hogarth, and I went to Rochester to
+see the Castle, and the famous Pickwickian inn. On another day we went
+to the Leather Bottle at Cobham, where Dickens was eloquent on the
+subject of the Dadd parricide, showing us the place where the body was
+found, with many startling and interesting details of the discovery."
+
+The subject of the Dadd parricide alluded to by Mr. Frith was a very
+horrible case; the son--an artist--was a lunatic, and was subsequently
+confined in Bethlehem Hospital, London. There are two curious pictures
+by him in the Dyce and Forster collection at South Kensington; one is
+inscribed "Sketches to Illustrate the Passions--Patriotism. By Richard
+Dadd, Bethlehem Hospital, London, May 30, 1857, St. George's-in-the-Fields."
+It has much minute writing on it. The other is "Leonidas with the
+Wood-cutters," and illustrates Glover's poem, _Leonidas_. It is
+inscribed, "Rd. Dadd, 1873." He died in Bethlehem Hospital in 1887.
+
+The Dover Road! What a magic influence it has over us, as we tramp along
+it in the quiet summer evening, and recall an incident that happened
+nearly a hundred years ago, what time the Dover mail struggled up
+Shooter's Hill on that memorable Friday night, and Jerry Cruncher, who
+had temporarily suspended his "fishing" operations, and being free from
+the annoyances of the "Aggerawayter," caused consternation to the minds
+of coachman, guard, and passengers of the said mail, by riding abruptly
+up, _à la_ highwayman, and demanding to speak to a passenger named Mr.
+Jarvis Lorry, then on his way to Paris,--as faithfully chronicled in _A
+Tale of Two Cities_. Again, in the early part of the present century,
+when a certain friendless but dear and artless boy, named David
+Copperfield,--who having been first robbed by a "long-legged young man
+with a very little empty donkey-cart, which was nothing but a large
+wooden-tray on wheels," of "half a guinea and his box," under pretence
+of "driving him to the pollis," and subsequently defrauded by an
+unscrupulous tailor named one Mr. Dolloby ("Dolloby was the name over
+the shop-door at least") of the proper price of "a little weskit," for
+which he, Dolloby, gave poor David only ninepence,--trudged along that
+same Dover road footsore and hungry, "and got through twenty-three miles
+on the straight road" to Rochester and Chatham on a certain Sunday; all
+of which is duly recorded in _The Personal History of David
+Copperfield_.
+
+In after years, when happier times came to him, David made many journeys
+over the Dover road, between Canterbury and London, on the Canterbury
+Coach. Respecting the earliest of these (readers will remember Phiz's
+illustration, "My first fall in life"), he says:--
+
+"The main object on my mind, I remember, when we got fairly on the road,
+was to appear as old as possible to the coachman, and to speak extremely
+gruff. The latter point I achieved at great personal inconvenience; but
+I stuck to it, because I felt it was a grown-up sort of thing."
+
+In spite of this assumption, he is impudently chaffed by "William the
+coachman" on his "shooting"--on his "county" (Suffolk), its "dumplings,"
+and its "Punches," and finally, at William's suggestion, actually
+resigns his box-seat in favour of his (William's) friend, "the
+gentleman with a very unpromising squint and a prominent chin, who had a
+tall white hat on with a narrow flat brim, and whose close-fitting drab
+trousers seemed to button all the way up outside his legs from his boots
+to his hips." In reply to a remark of the coachman this worthy
+says:--"There ain't no sort of 'orse that I 'ain't bred, and no sort of
+dorg. 'Orses and dorgs is some men's fancy. They're wittles and drink to
+me--lodging, wife, and children--reading, writing, and 'rithmetic--snuff,
+tobacker, and sleep."
+
+"That ain't a sort of man to see sitting behind a coach-box, is it,
+though?" says William in David's ear. David construes this remark into
+an indication of a wish that "the gentleman" should have his place, so
+he blushingly offers to resign it.
+
+"Well, if you don't mind," says William, "I think it would be more
+correct."
+
+Poor David, "so very young!" gives up his box-seat, and thus moralizes
+on his action:--
+
+ "I have always considered this as the first fall I
+ had in life. When I booked my place at the
+ coach-office, I had had 'Box Seat' written against
+ the entry, and had given the book-keeper
+ half-a-crown. I was got up in a special great coat
+ and shawl, expressly to do honour to that
+ distinguished eminence; had glorified myself upon
+ it a good deal; and had felt that I was a credit
+ to the coach. And here, in the very first stage, I
+ was supplanted by a shabby man with a squint, who
+ had no other merit than smelling like a
+ livery-stables, and being able to walk across me,
+ more like a fly than a human being, while the
+ horses were at a canter."
+
+Pip, in _Great Expectations_, also made very many journeys to and from
+London, along the Dover road (the London road it is called in the
+novel), but the two most notable were, firstly, the occasion of his
+ride outside the coach with the two convicts as fellow-passengers on the
+back-seat--"bringing with them that curious flavour of bread-poultice,
+baize, rope-yarn, and hearth-stone, which attends the convict presence;"
+and secondly, that in which he walked all the way to London, after the
+sad interview at Miss Havisham's house, where he learns that Estella is
+to become the wife of Bentley Drummle:--
+
+ "All done, all gone! So much was done and gone,
+ that when I went out at the gate the light of day
+ seemed of a darker colour than when I went in. For
+ awhile I hid myself among some lanes and bypaths,
+ and then started off to walk all the way to
+ London. . . . It was past midnight when I crossed
+ London Bridge."
+
+One more reference is made to the Dover road in _Bleak House_, where
+that most lovable of the many lovable characters in Dickens's novels,
+Esther Summerson, makes her journey, with her faithful little maid
+Charley, to Deal, in order to comfort Richard Carstone:--
+
+ "It was a night's journey in those coach times;
+ but we had the mail to ourselves, and did not find
+ the night very tedious. It passed with me as I
+ suppose it would with most people under such
+ circumstances. At one while, my journey looked
+ hopeful, and at another hopeless. Now, I thought
+ that I should do some good, and now I wondered how
+ I could ever have supposed so."
+
+When speaking of Dickens's characters, some critics have said that "he
+never drew a gentleman." One ventures to ask, Where is there a more
+chivalrous, honourable, or kind-hearted gentleman than Mr. John
+Jarndyce? Sir Leicester Dedlock in the same novel too, with some few
+peculiarities, is a thoroughly high-minded and noble gentleman of the
+old school. This by the way.
+
+[Illustration: "There's Milestones on the Dover Road"]
+
+After walking some distance, we are able to verify one of those sage
+experiences of Mr. F.'s aunt:--"There's milestones on the Dover road!"
+for, by the light of another match, the darkness closing in, and there
+being no moon, we read "4 miles to Rochester." However, we tramp merrily
+on, with "the town lights right afore us," our minds being full of
+pleasant reminiscences of the scenes we have passed through, and this
+expedition, like many a weightier matter, "comes to an end for the
+time."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We had on another occasion the pleasure of a long chat with Mrs. Latter
+of Shorne, one of the daughters of Mr. W. S. Trood, for many years
+landlord of the Sir John Falstaff. She said her family came from
+Somersetshire to reside at Gad's Mill in the year 1849, and left in
+1872. The Falstaff was then a little homely place, but it has been much
+altered since. She knew Charles Dickens very well, and saw him
+constantly during his residence at Gad's Hill Place. Mrs. Latter lost
+two sisters while she lived at the Falstaff--one died at the age of
+eleven, and the other at nineteen. The last-mentioned was named Jane,
+and died in 1862 of brain fever. Dickens was very kind to the family at
+the time, took great interest in the poor girl, and offered help of
+"anything that his house could afford." She remembers her mother asking
+Dickens if it would be well to have the windows of the bedroom open. At
+those times people were fond of keeping invalids closed up from the air.
+Dickens said--"Certainly: give 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 blind, but in other respects is in the
+full possession of all his faculties, and remarked that he was much
+interested to hear anybody talk about old friends and times. He was
+inducted as Vicar of Shorne in the year 1837, came to live there in
+1845, and resigned his cure in 1888, after completing his jubilee. He is
+a "Kentish man," having been born at Rochester. In our tramp the
+question of "Kentish man," or "man of Kent," often cropped up, and we
+had an opportunity of having the difference explained to us. A "Kentish
+man" is one born on the east side of the river Medway, and a "man of
+Kent" is one born on the west side.
+
+The position of the residence "Overblow" is delightful. It stands on a
+little hill, the front having a fine view of the Thames valley and the
+marshes, the side looking on to the pretty hollow, in the centre of
+which stands Shorne Church, and the back being flanked in the distance
+by the beautiful Cobham Woods.
+
+The reverend gentleman told us that he was a schoolfellow of the Right
+Honourable W. E. Gladstone and Sir Thomas Gladstone, his brother, at
+Eton, and had dined with the former at Hawarden on the occasion of his
+being thrice Premier, although he helped to turn his old friend out at
+Oxford in 1865, when he was succeeded by the Right Honourable Gathorne
+Hardy, now Lord Cranbrook.
+
+Mr. Marsham was a neighbour of Charles Dickens, occasionally dined with
+him at Gad's Hill, and also met him at dinner sometimes at Mr. Hulkes's
+at the Little Hermitage. He spoke of him as a nice neighbour and a
+charming host, but he rarely talked except to his old friends. He
+frequently met Dickens in his walks, and had many a stroll with him, and
+always found him very interesting and amusing in his conversation. Once
+they were coming down from London together in a saloon carriage which
+contained about twelve or fourteen people. Dickens was sitting quietly
+in a corner. It was at the time that one of his serial novels was
+appearing, and most of the passengers were reading the current monthly
+number. No one noticed Dickens, and when the train stopped at Strood, he
+said--"We did not have much talk." "No," said Mr. Marsham, "the people
+were much better engaged," at which Dickens laughed. Charles Dickens
+did Mr. Marsham the kindness to send him early proofs of his Christmas
+stories before they were published.
+
+After Dickens's death (which he heard of in London, and never felt so
+grieved in his life) Mr. Charles Dickens the younger, and Mr. Charles
+Collins, his brother-in-law, came to select a piece of ground on the
+east side of Shorne churchyard, which was one of Dickens's favourite
+spots, but in consequence of the arrangements for the burial in
+Westminster Abbey this was of course given up.
+
+Mr. Marsham was staying in London, at Lord Penrhyn's, at the time of
+Dickens's death, and Lady Louisa Penrhyn told him that by accident she
+was in Westminster Abbey at about ten o'clock on the morning of 14th
+June, the day of the funeral, and noticing some persons standing round
+an open grave, her ladyship went to see it, and was greatly impressed on
+looking in to read the name of Charles Dickens on the coffin, on which
+were numerous wreaths of flowers.
+
+Our venerable friend possesses a souvenir of the novelist in the two
+exquisite plaster statuettes, about eighteen inches high, of "Night" and
+"Morning," which he purchased at the Gad's Hill sale.
+
+The reverend gentleman spoke of the great improvements in travelling as
+compared with times within his recollection. He said that before the
+railways were constructed he went to London by boat from Gravesend, and
+the river was so bad that he had to keep his handkerchief to his nose
+all the way to avoid the stench. This was long before the days of Thames
+Embankments and other improvements in travelling by river and road.
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[37] "Cobham Church [says a writer in the _Archæologia Cantiana_, 1877]
+is distinguished above all others as possessing the finest and most
+complete series of brasses in the kingdom. It contains some of the
+earliest and some of the latest, as well as some of the most beautiful
+in design. The inscriptions are also remarkable, and the heraldry for
+its intelligence is in itself a study. There is an interest also in the
+fact that for the most part they refer to one great family--the Lords of
+Cobham."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A FINAL TRAMP IN ROCHESTER AND LONDON.
+
+ "You have been in every line I have ever read,
+ since I first came here, . . . you have been in
+ every prospect I have ever seen since--on the
+ river, on the sails of the ships, on the marshes,
+ in the clouds, in the light, in the darkness, in
+ the wind, in the woods, in the sea, in the
+ streets."--_Great Expectations._
+
+ "The magic reel, which, rolling on before, has led
+ the Chronicler thus far, now slackens in its pace,
+ and stops. It lies before the goal; the pursuit is
+ at an end. . . . Good-night, and heaven send our
+ journey may have a prosperous ending."--_The Old
+ Curiosity Shop._
+
+
+IT is the morning of Saturday, the first of September, 1888, when our
+wonderfully pleasant week's tramp in "Dickens-Land" comes to an end. We
+have carried out every detail of our programme, without a single
+_contretemps_ to mar the enjoyment of our delightful holiday; we have
+visited not only the spots where the childhood and youth of Charles
+Dickens were passed, and where the influence of the environment is
+specially traceable in the tone of both his earlier and later writings,
+but we have gone over and identified (as we proposed to do) a number of
+places in which he delighted, and often described in those writings,
+peopling them with airy characters (but to us most real), in whose
+footsteps we have walked. We have seen the place where he was born; we
+have seen nearly all the houses in which he lived in after life; and we
+have been over the charming home occupied by him for fourteen years,
+where his last moments passed away under the affectionate and
+reverential solicitude of his sons and daughters, and of Miss Hogarth,
+his sister-in-law, "the ever-useful, self-denying, and devoted friend."
+
+And now we linger lovingly about a few of the streets and places in "the
+ancient city," and especially in the precincts of the venerable
+Cathedral, all sanctified by the memory of the mighty dead. We fain
+would prolong our visit, but the "stern mandate of duty," as Immanuel
+Kant called it, prevails, and we bow to the inevitable; or as Mr.
+Herbert Spencer better puts it, "our duty is our pleasure, and our
+greatest happiness consists in achieving the happiness of others." We
+feel our departure to-day the more keenly, as everything tempts us to
+stay. Listening for a moment at the open door--the beautiful west
+door--of the Cathedral, in this glorious morning in early autumn, we
+hear the harmonies of the organ and choir softly wafted to us from
+within; we feel the delicious morning air, which comes over the old
+Castle and burial-ground from the Kentish hills; we see the bright and
+beautiful flowers and foliage of the lovely catalpa tree, through which
+the sunlight glints; a solemn calm pervades the spot as the hum of the
+city is hushed; and, although we have read them over and over again,
+now, for the first time, do we adequately realize the exquisitely
+touching lines on the last page of _Edwin Drood_, written by the
+master-hand that was so soon to be stilled for ever:--
+
+[Illustration: Doorway Rochester Cathedral]
+
+ "A brilliant morning shines on the old City. Its
+ antiquities and ruins are surpassingly beautiful,
+ with the lusty ivy gleaming in the sun, and the
+ rich trees waving in the balmy air. Changes of
+ glorious light from moving boughs, songs of birds,
+ scents from gardens, woods and fields--or,
+ rather, from the one great garden of the whole of
+ the cultivated island in its yielding
+ time--penetrate into the Cathedral, subdue its
+ earthy odour, and preach the Resurrection and the
+ Life. The cold stone tombs of centuries ago grow
+ warm; and flecks of brightness dart into the
+ sternest marble corners of the building,
+ fluttering there like wings."
+
+Having time to reflect on our experiences, we are able to understand how
+greatly our feelings and ideas have been influenced for good, both
+regarding the personality of the novelist and his writings.
+
+In the course of our rambles we have interviewed many people in various
+walks of life who knew Dickens well, and their interesting replies,
+mostly given in their own words, vividly bring before our mental vision
+the _man_ as he actually lived and moved among his neighbours, apart
+from any glamour with which we, as hero-worshippers, naturally invest
+him. We see him in his home, beloved by his family, taking kindly
+interest, as a country gentleman, in the poor of the district, entering
+into and personally encouraging their sports, and helping them in their
+distress. To his dependents and tradesmen he was kind, just, and
+honourable; to his friends genial, hospitable, and true; in himself
+eager, enthusiastic, and thorough. No man of his day had more friends,
+and he kept them as long as he lived. His favourite motto,
+"courage--persevere," comes before us constantly. All that we heard on
+the other side was contained in the expression--"rather masterful!"
+Rather masterful? Of course he was rather masterful--otherwise he would
+never have been Charles Dickens. What does he say in that unconscious
+description of himself, which he puts into the mouth of Boots at _The
+Holly-Tree Inn_, when referring to the father of Master Harry Walmers,
+Junior?
+
+ "He was a gentleman of spirit, and good-looking,
+ and held his head up when he walked, and had what
+ you may call Fire about him. He wrote poetry, and
+ he rode, and he ran, and he cricketed, and he
+ danced, and he acted, and he done it all equally
+ beautiful. . . . He was a gentleman that had a will
+ of his own and a eye of his own, and that would be
+ minded."
+
+Perfectly true do we find the summing up of his character, in his home
+at Gad's Hill, as given by Professor Minto in the last edition of the
+_Encyclopædia Britannica_ (one of the most faithful, just, and
+appreciative articles ever written about Dickens):--"Here he worked, and
+walked, and saw his friends, and was loved and almost worshipped by his
+poorer neighbours, for miles around."
+
+Although tolerably familiar with most of the writings of Dickens from
+our youth, and, like many readers, having our favourites which may have
+absorbed our attention to the exclusion of others, we are bound to say
+that our little visit to Rochester and its neighbourhood--our
+"Dickens-Land"--rendered famous all the world over in the novels and
+minor works, gives a freshness, a brightness, and a reality to our
+conceptions scarcely expected, and never before experienced. The
+faithful descriptions of scenery witnessed by us for the first time in
+and about the "quaint city" of Rochester, the delightful neighbourhood
+of Cobham, the glorious old city of Canterbury, the dreary marshes and
+other localities: the more detailed pictures of particular places, like
+the Castle, the Cathedral, its crypt and tower, the Bull Inn, the Vines,
+Richard Watts's Charity, and others--the point of the situation in many
+of these cannot be realized without personal inspection and
+verification.
+
+And further, as by a sort of reflex action, another feeling comes
+uppermost in our minds, apart from the mere amusement and enjoyment of
+Dickens's works: we mean the actual benefits to humanity which, directly
+or indirectly, arise out of his writings; and we endorse the noble lines
+of dedication which his friend, Walter Savage Landor, addressed to him
+in his _Imaginary Conversations of Greeks and Romans_ (1853):--
+
+"Friends as we are, have long been, and ever shall be, I doubt whether I
+should have prefaced these pages with your name, were it not to register
+my judgment that, in breaking up and cultivating the unreclaimed wastes
+of Humanity, no labours have been so strenuous, so continuous, or half
+so successful, as yours. While the world admires in you an unlimited
+knowledge of mankind, deep thought, vivid imagination, and bursts of
+eloquence from unclouded heights, no less am I delighted when I see you
+at the school-room you have liberated from cruelty, and at the cottage
+you have purified from disease."
+
+We have before us--its edges browned by age--a reprint of a letter
+largely circulated at the time, addressed by Dickens to _The Times_,
+dated "Devonshire Terrace, 13th Novr., 1849," in which he describes, in
+graphic and powerful language, the ribald and disgusting scenes which he
+witnessed at Horsemonger Lane Gaol on the occasion of the execution of
+the Mannings. The letter is too long to quote in its entirety, but the
+following extract will suffice:--"I have seen habitually some of the
+worst sources of general contamination and corruption in this country,
+and I think there are not many phases of London life that could surprise
+me. I am solemnly convinced that nothing that ingenuity could devise to
+be done in this city in the same compass of time could work such ruin as
+one public execution, and I stand astounded and appalled by the
+wickedness it exhibits." The letter contains an urgent appeal to the
+then Home Secretary, Sir George Grey, "as a solemn duty which he owes to
+society, and a responsibility which he cannot for ever put away," to
+originate an immediate legislative change in this respect. Forster says
+in allusion to the above-mentioned letter:--"There began an active
+agitation against public executions, which never ceased until the
+salutary change was effected which has worked so well." Dickens happily
+lived to see the fruition of his labours, for the Private Execution Act
+was passed in 1868, and the last public execution took place at Newgate
+on 26th May of that year. As indicative of the new state of feeling at
+that time, it may be mentioned that the number of spectators was not
+large, and they were observed to conduct themselves with unusual
+decorum.
+
+It is valuable to record this as one of many public reforms which
+Dickens by his writings and influence certainly helped to accomplish. In
+his standard work on _Popular Government_ (1885), Sir Henry Sumner Maine
+says:-"Dickens, who spent his early manhood among the politicians of
+1832, trained in Bentham's school, [Bentham, by the bye, being quoted in
+_Edwin Drood_,] hardly ever wrote a novel without attacking an abuse.
+The procedure of the Court of Chancery and of the Ecclesiastical Courts,
+the delays of the Public Offices, the costliness of divorce, the state
+of the dwellings of the poor, and the condition of the cheap schools in
+the North of England, furnished him with what he seemed to consider, in
+all sincerity, the true moral of a series of fictions."
+
+ * * * * *
+
+We bid a kindly adieu to the "dear old City" where so many genial
+friends have been made, so many happy hours have been passed, so many
+pleasant memories have been stored, and for the time leave
+
+ "the pensive glory,
+ That fills the Kentish hills,"
+
+to take our seats in the train for London, with the intention of paying
+a brief visit to South Kensington, where, in the Forster Collection of
+the Museum, are treasured the greater portion of the manuscripts which
+constitute the principal works of Charles Dickens. It will be remembered
+that the Will of the great novelist contained the following simple but
+important clause:--"I also give to the said John Forster (whom he
+previously referred to as 'my dear and trusty friend') such manuscripts
+of my published works as may be in my possession at the time of my
+decease;" and that Mr. Forster by his Will bequeathed these priceless
+treasures to his wife for her life, in trust to pass over to the Nation
+at her decease. Mrs. Forster, who survives her husband, generously
+relinquished her life interest, in order to give immediate effect to his
+wishes; and thus in 1876, soon after Mr. Forster's death, they came into
+the undisturbed possession of the Nation for ever.
+
+Besides the manuscripts there are numbers of holograph letters, original
+sketches (including "The Apotheosis of Grip the Raven") by D. Maclise,
+R.A., and other interesting memorials relating to Charles Dickens. _The
+Handbook to the Dyce and Forster Collections_ rightly says that:--"This
+is a gift which will ever have the highest value, and be regarded with
+the deepest interest by people of every English-speaking nation, as long
+as the English language exists. Not only our own countrymen, but
+travellers from every country and colony into which Englishmen have
+spread, may here examine the original manuscripts of books which have
+been more widely read than any other uninspired writings throughout the
+world. Thousands, it cannot be doubted, who have been indebted for many
+an hour of pleasurable enjoyment when in health, for many an hour of
+solace when in weariness and pain, to these novels, will be glad to look
+upon them as each sheet was sent last to the printer, full of
+innumerable corrections from the hand of Charles Dickens."
+
+The manuscripts are fifteen in number, bound up into large quarto
+volumes, and comprise:--
+
+1. _Oliver Twist_--two Volumes, with Preface to the _Pickwick Papers_,
+and matter relating to _Master Humphrey's Clock_.
+
+2. _Sketches of Young Couples._
+
+3. _The Lamplighter_, a Farce. This MS. is not in the handwriting of
+Dickens.
+
+4. _The Old Curiosity Shop_--two Volumes, with Letter to Mr. Forster of
+17th January, 1841, and hints for some chapters.
+
+5. _Barnaby Rudge_--two Volumes.
+
+6. _American Notes._
+
+7. _Martin Chuzzlewit_--two Volumes, with various title-pages, notes as
+to the names, &c., and dedication to Miss Burdett Coutts.
+
+8. _The Chimes._
+
+9. _Dombey and Son_--two Volumes, with title-pages, headings of
+chapters, and memoranda.
+
+10. _David Copperfield_--two Volumes, with various title-pages, and
+memoranda as to names.
+
+11. _Bleak House_--two Volumes, with suggestions for title-pages and
+other memoranda.
+
+12. _Hard Times_--with memoranda.
+
+13. _Little Dorrit_--two Volumes, with memoranda, Dedication to Clarkson
+Stanfield, and Preface.
+
+14. _A Tale of Two Cities_--with Dedication to Lord John Russell, and
+Preface.
+
+15. _Edwin Drood_--unfinished, with memoranda, and headings for
+chapters.
+
+John Forster says:--"The last page of _Edwin Drood_ was written in the
+châlet in the afternoon of his last day of consciousness."
+
+Of the above-mentioned, the calligraphy of Nos. 1, 2, 3 and 4, is seen
+at a glance to be larger, bolder, and to have fewer corrections. In Nos.
+5 to 15 it is smaller, and more confused by numerous alterations.
+According to Forster--"His greater pains and elaboration of writing
+became first very obvious in the later parts of _Martin Chuzzlewit_."
+
+The manuscripts of the earliest works of the Author, _Sketches by Boz_,
+_Pickwick_, _Nicholas Nickleby_, &c., were evidently not considered at
+the time worth preserving. The manuscript of _Our Mutual Friend_, given
+by Dickens to Mr. E. S. Dallas--in grateful acknowledgment of an
+appreciative review which (according to an article in _Scribner_,
+entitled "Our Mutual Friend in Manuscript") Mr. Dallas wrote of the
+novel for _The Times_, which largely increased the sale of the book, and
+fully established its success,--is in the library of Mr. G. W. Childs of
+Philadelphia; and that of _A Christmas Carol_--given by Dickens to his
+old friend and school-fellow, Tom Mitton--was for sale in Birmingham a
+few years ago, and might have been purchased for two hundred and fifty
+guineas! It is now owned by Mr. Stuart M. Samuel, and has since been
+beautifully reproduced in fac-simile, with an Introduction by my friend
+and fellow-tramp, Mr. F. G. Kitton. Mr. Wright, of Paris, is the
+fortunate possessor of _The Battle of Life_. The proof-sheets of _Great
+Expectations_ are in the Museum at Wisbech. Messrs. Jarvis and Son, of
+King William Street, Strand, sold some time since four of the MSS. of
+minor articles contributed by Dickens to _Household Words_ in 1855-6,
+viz. _The Friend of the Lions_, _Demeanour of Murderers_, _That other
+Public_, and _Our Commission_, for £10 each.
+
+At the sale of the late Mr. Wilkie Collins's manuscripts and library by
+Messrs. Sotheby, Wilkinson, and Hodge, 18th June, 1890, the manuscript
+of _The Frozen Deep_, by Wilkie Collins and Charles Dickens, 1856 (first
+performed at Tavistock House, 6th January, 1857), together with the
+narrative written for _Temple Bar_, 1874, and Prompt Book of the same
+play, was sold for £300. A poem written by Charles Dickens, as a
+Prologue to the same play, and _The Song of the Wreck_, also written by
+Charles Dickens, were sold for £11 11_s._ each. _The Perils of Certain
+English Prisoners_, a joint production of Wilkie Collins and Charles
+Dickens, for the Christmas number of _Household Words_, 1857, realized
+£200; and the drama of _No Thoroughfare_ (imperfect), also a joint
+production, fetched £22.
+
+The manuscripts now belonging to the Nation at South Kensington are
+placed in a glazed cabinet, standing in the middle of the room, on the
+right of which looks down the life-like portrait of the great novelist,
+painted by W. P. Frith, R.A., in 1859. The manuscript volumes are laid
+open in an appropriate manner, so that we have an opportunity of
+examining and comparing them with one another, and of observing how the
+precious thoughts which flowed from the fertile brain took shape and
+became realities.
+
+Where corrections have been made, the original ideas are so obscured
+that it is scarcely possible to decipher them. This is effected, not by
+the simple method of an obliteration of the words, as is common with
+some authors, by means of a line or two run through them at one stroke
+of the pen, but by a series of connected circles, or scroll-work
+flourishes, thus, [Illustration] which must have caused greater muscular
+labour in execution. Let any one try the two methods for himself.
+Dickens was fond of flourishes, as witness his first published
+autograph, under the portrait which was issued with _Nicholas Nickleby_
+(1839). Some evidence of "writer's cramp," as it is termed, appears
+where the C in Charles becomes almost a G, and where the line-like
+flourishes to the signature thirty years later, under the portrait
+forming the frontispiece to _Edwin Drood_, are much shorter and less
+elaborate. All the earlier manuscripts are in black ink--the
+characteristic _blue_ ink, which he was so fond of using in later years,
+not appearing until _Hard Times_ was written (1854), and this continued
+to be (with one exception, _Little Dorrit_) his favourite writing
+medium, for the reason, it is said, that it was fluent to write with and
+dried quickly.
+
+From a valuable collection of letters (more than a dozen--recently in
+the possession of Messrs. Noel Conway and Co., of Martineau Street,
+Birmingham, and kindly shown to me by Mr. Charles Fendelow), written by
+the novelist between 1832 and 1833 to a friend of his earlier years--Mr.
+W. H. Kolle--and not hitherto published, it appears that he had not then
+acquired that precise habit of inscribing the place, day of the week,
+month, and the year which marked his later correspondence (as has been
+pointed out by Miss Hogarth and Miss Dickens in the preface to the
+_Letters of Charles Dickens_), very few of the letters to Mr. Kolle
+bearing any record whatever except the day of the week, occasionally
+preceded by Fitzroy Street or Bentinck Street, where he resided at the
+time. It would be extremely interesting to ascertain the reason which
+subsequently led him to adopt the extraordinarily precise method which
+almost invariably marked his correspondence from the year 1840 until the
+close of his life. Possibly arrangements with publishers and others may
+have given him the exact habit which afterwards became automatic.
+
+In addition to the manuscripts in the Forster Collection in the Museum
+there are corrected proofs of a portion of the _Pickwick Papers_,
+_Dombey and Son_, _David Copperfield_, _Bleak House_, and _Little
+Dorrit_. Some of the corrections in _Dombey and Son_ are said to be in
+the handwriting of Mr. Forster. All these proofs show marvellous
+attention to detail--one of the most conspicuous of Dickens's
+characteristics. Nothing with him was worth doing unless it was done
+well. As an illustration of work in this direction, it may be mentioned
+that a proof copy of the speech delivered at the meeting of the
+Administrative Reform Association at Drury Lane Theatre on Wednesday,
+June 27th, 1855, in the possession of the writer of these lines, has
+over a hundred corrections on the nine pages of which it consists, and
+many of these occur in punctuation. On careful examination, the
+alterations show that the correction in every case is a decided
+improvement on the original. The following _fac-similes_ from the
+_Hand-Book_ to the _Dyce and Forster Collection_, and from Forster's
+_Life_, illustrate the earlier, later, and latest handwritings of
+Charles Dickens as shown in the MSS. of _Oliver Twist_, 1837, _Hard
+Times_, 1854, and _Edwin Drood_, 1870.
+
+[Illustration: "OLIVER TWIST," 1837, vol. i. ch. xii.]
+
+[Illustration: "HARD TIMES," 1854, vol. i. ch. i.]
+
+[Illustration: "DAVID COPPERFIELD," 1850 (corrected proof), ch. xiv.]
+
+[Illustration: "EDWIN DROOD," 1870, ch. xxiii. p. 189 (_last MS.
+page_).]
+
+A proof of the fourteenth Chapter of _David Copperfield_, 1850, shows
+that the allusion to "King Charles the First's head"--about which Mr.
+Dick was so much troubled--was _not_ contained in the first draft of the
+story, for the passage originally had reference to "the date when that
+bull got into the china warehouse and did so much mischief." The
+subsequent reference to King Charles's head was a happy thought of
+Dickens, and furthered Mr. Dick's idea of the mistake "of putting some
+of the trouble out of King Charles's head" into his own.
+
+Mr. R. F. Sketchley, the able and courteous custodian of the collection,
+allows us to see some of the other rarities in the museum not displayed
+in the cabinet--prefaces, dedications, and memoranda relating to the
+novels; letters addressed by Dickens to Forster, Maclise, and others;
+rare play-bills; and the originals of invitations to the public dinner
+and ball at New York, which Dickens received on the occasion of his
+first visit to America in 1842. After turning these over with
+reverential care, we regretfully leave behind us one of the most
+interesting and important literary collections ever presented to the
+Nation.
+
+We next visit the Prerogative Registry of the United Kingdom at Somerset
+House, wherein is filed the original Will of Charles Dickens. The search
+for this interesting document pursued by a stranger under pressure of
+time, strongly reminds one of the "Circumlocution Office" so graphically
+described in _Bleak House_. But we are enthusiastic, and at length
+obtain a clue to it in a folio volume (Letter D), containing the names
+of testators who died in the year 1870, where the Will is briefly
+recorded (at number 468) as that of "Dickens, Charles, otherwise Charles
+John Huffham, Esquire." We pay our fees, and take our seats in the
+reading-room, when the original is presently placed in our hands. It is
+one of a series of three documents fastened together by a bit of green
+silk cord, and secured by the seal of the office, as is customary when
+there are two or more papers filed. The first document is the Will
+itself, dated 12th May, 1869, written throughout by the novelist very
+plainly and closely in the characteristic blue ink on a medium sheet of
+faint blue quarto letter paper, having the usual legal folded margin,
+and exactly covering the four pages. It is free from corrections, and is
+signed, "Charles Dickens," under which is the never-to-be-mistaken
+flourish. The testatum is signed by G. Holsworth, 26 Wellington Street,
+Strand, and Henry Walker, 26 Wellington Street, Strand, which points to
+the fact that the Will was written and executed at the office of _All
+the Year Round_. He appoints "Georgina Hogarth and John Forster
+executrix and executor, and guardians of the persons of my children
+during their respective minorities."
+
+The second document is the Oath of John Forster, testifying that Charles
+Dickens, otherwise Charles John Huffham Dickens, is one and the same
+person. The third document is a Codicil dated 2nd June, 1870 (only a
+week before his death), in which the novelist bequeaths "to my son
+Charles Dickens, the younger, all my share and interest in the weekly
+journal called _All the Year Round_." The Codicil is witnessed by the
+same persons. The Will and Codicil are both given in extenso in vol.
+iii. of Forster's _Life_--the gross amount of the real and personal
+estate being calculated at £93,000.[38]
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Avery short tramp from Somerset House brings us to the last object of our
+pilgrimage--the grave of Charles Dickens in Westminster Abbey. Surely no
+admirer of his genius can omit this final mark of honour to the memory
+of the mighty dead. Many years have rolled by since "the good, the
+gentle, highly gifted, ever friendly, noble Dickens" passed away; and we
+stand by the grave in the calm September evening, with "jewels cast upon
+the pavement of the nave from stained glass by the declining sun," and
+look down at the dark flat stone lying at our feet, on which is
+inscribed "in plain English letters," the simple record:--
+
+ CHARLES DICKENS,
+ BORN FEBRUARY THE SEVENTH, 1812.
+ DIED JUNE THE NINTH, 1870.
+
+We recall with profoundly sympathetic interest that quietly impressive
+ceremony as recorded by Forster in the final pages of his able
+biography. "Before mid-day on Tuesday, the 14th June, 1870, with
+knowledge of those only who took part in the burial, all was done. The
+solemnity had not lost by the simplicity. Nothing so grand or so
+touching could have accompanied it, as the stillness and the silence of
+the vast Cathedral." And he further describes the wonderful gathering
+subsequently:--"Then later in the day, and all the following day, came
+unbidden mourners in such crowds that the Dean had to request permission
+to keep open the grave until Thursday; but after it was closed they did
+not cease to come, and all day long." Dean Stanley wrote:--"On the 17th
+there was a constant pressure to the spot, and many flowers were strewn
+upon it by unknown hands, many tears shed from unknown eyes."
+
+What poet, what philosopher, what monarch even, might not envy this
+loving tribute to the influence of the great writer, to the personal
+respect for the man, and to the affection for the friend who, by the
+sterling nature of his work for nearly thirty-five years, had the power
+to create and sustain such sympathy?
+
+Forster thus admiringly concludes the memoir of his hero:
+
+"The highest associations of both the arts he loved surround him where
+he lies. Next to him is Richard Cumberland. Mrs. Pritchard's monument
+looks down upon him, and immediately behind is David Garrick's. Nor is
+the actor's delightful art more worthily represented than the nobler
+genius of the author. Facing the grave, and on its left and right, are
+the monuments of Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Dryden, the three immortals
+who did most to create and settle the language to which Charles Dickens
+has given another undying name."
+
+"Of making many books there is no end," said the wise man of old; and
+certainly, if we may estimate the popularity of Charles Dickens by the
+works of all kinds relating to him, written since his death, the number
+may be counted by hundreds. It may also be said that probably no other
+English writer save Shakespeare has been the cause of so much posthumous
+literature. The sayings of his characters permeate our everyday life,
+and they continue to be as fresh as when they were first recorded. The
+original editions of his writings in some cases realize high prices
+which are simply amazing, and--judging by statistics--his readers are as
+numerous as ever they were. Higher testimony to the worth "of the most
+popular novelist of the century, and one of the greatest humourists that
+England has produced," and to the continued interest which the reading
+public still evince in the minutest detail relating to him and to his
+books, can scarcely be uttered; but what is better still--"his
+sympathies were generally on the right side;"--he has left an example
+that all may follow;--he did his utmost to leave the world a little
+better than he found it;--as he said by one of his characters, "the best
+of men can do no more"--and now he peacefully rests as one
+
+ "Of those immortal dead who live again
+ In minds made better by their presence."
+
+[Illustration]
+
+FOOTNOTE:
+
+[38] Mr. Dolby, in his _Charles Dickens as I knew him_, estimates that
+£45,000 was realized by Dickens's Readings.
+
+
+
+
+L'ENVOI.
+
+
+WE--my fellow-tramp and I--naturally feel a pang of regret now that our
+pleasant visit to "Dickens-Land" is terminated. With a parting grasp of
+the hand I express to the companion of my travels a cordial wish that
+ere long we may, "PLEASE GOD," renew our delightful experience, and
+again go over the ground hallowed by Dickens associations; to which my
+friend, as cordially assenting, replies "SURELY, SURELY!"
+
+With these two favourite expressions of Charles Dickens (quoted above) I
+conclude the book, trusting that it will prove worthy of some kindly
+appreciation at the hands of my readers.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX.
+
+CHIEFLY OF NAMES.
+
+
+ À BECKET THOMAS 212 338 340
+
+ Adams H. G. 271
+
+ Allington 135 290-8
+
+ _All the Year Round_ 37 193 374 422
+
+ Alphington 209 210
+
+ _American Notes_ 45 324
+
+ Andersen H. C. 32 374
+
+ Anderson Mary 152 169
+
+ Athenæum 47
+
+ Austin H. 184 330
+
+ Aveling S. T. 53-4 80-2 97
+
+ Aylesford 288 292 296;
+ Battle of 311 313;
+ Church 290;
+ Churchyard 299;
+ Bridge 290;
+ Friary 297
+
+
+ BAIRD J. 270-1-2
+
+ Ball J. H. 68 226-7 235;
+ William 135 226-7-8 230 246
+
+ _Barnaby Rudge_ 17 44-5 138
+
+ Barnard's Inn 24
+
+ _Battle of Life_ 45 211
+
+ Bayham Street 38 264
+
+ Bell Yard 18
+
+ Bentinck Street 25 417
+
+ _Bentley's Miscellany_ 47 59
+
+ Bevan P. 103 114 251 289 311 324 338
+
+ Birmingham 59 239 240;
+ Town Hall 59 239;
+ and Midland Institute 144 239 240
+
+ Bishop's Court 20
+
+ Blanchard E. L. 393
+
+ _Bleak House_ 18 19 20 37 139 268 288 325-7-8 336 357
+ 380 399 421
+
+ Bleak House (or Fort House) Broadstairs 327-8-9 333
+
+ Bloomsbury Square 31
+
+ Blue Bell or Upper Bell 188 310 314 374
+
+ Boley (or "Bully") Hill 88 124 158
+
+ "Borough English" 83
+
+ Boundary Lane 253
+
+ British Museum 31
+
+ Broadstairs 317 324-333 343-8;
+ Dickens's Residence in High Street 326;
+ Fort House (or "Bleak House") 327-8-9 333;
+ Lawn House 326-7;
+ Look-out House 332
+
+ Brompton (New) 80 252 270-5
+
+ Brooker Mr. 176
+
+ Budden Major 60 167-8-9 173 186-7-8 190-5;
+ Mrs. 168 195 369;
+ James 270-2-3;
+ William J. 269 270 295
+
+ Burgate Street 340
+
+ Burham 270 295
+
+
+ CAMDEN TOWN 38 264
+
+ Canterbury 113 172 336-344 409
+ Burgate Street 340
+ Cathedral 338
+ "Chequers" 343
+ Dane John 337
+ "Fountain" 343
+ Harbledown 348
+ High Street 337
+ Museum 340
+ "Sir John Falstaff" 336
+ "Sun" 343-4
+ West Gate 336-7
+
+ Canvey Island 351
+
+ Chalk 182 391-3;
+ Church 393-4
+
+ Chancery Lane 18 20
+
+ Chatham 4 28 38 53-4 60 70-1 80 144 188 194 231 251-280 282
+ Barracks 105
+ Convict Prison 268
+ Dockyard 267-9 274
+ Fort Pitt 104-6 272-280
+ Giles's Academy 261
+ High Street 260-2 272-3
+ House on the Brook 260-1-5-6 273
+ Lines 273-5-6
+ Mechanics' Institute 267-9 270-1-3
+ "Mitre" 60 116 262-3-4
+ Navy Pay Office 258 274
+ Ordnance Place 265;
+ Terrace 28 92 257-8 265 274
+ St. Mary's Church 92 255;
+ Place 260-2
+
+ Chelsea--St. Luke's Church 26
+
+ Cherry Garden 54
+
+ _Child's Dream of a Star_ 262-6
+
+ _Child's History of England_ 37 205
+
+ Chillington Manor House 308-9 310
+
+ _Chimes_ 18 20 41 305
+
+ Chorley H. F. 196 200
+
+ _Christmas Carol_ 45 239 414
+
+ Cinque Ports 345
+
+ Cliffe 356 360 373;
+ Church 361
+
+ Clifford's Inn 18 19
+
+ Cobb R. L. 373-4-5
+
+ Cobham 377-8 380-2 386-391 393 409
+ Châlet 222 384-5 414
+ Church 391
+ Hall 186 220-2 380-386
+ "Leather Bottle" 60 386-390 396
+ Park 188 194 374-9 380-2-6 396
+ Schools 382
+ Woods 380 391 403
+
+ Cobham Lord 358
+
+ Cobtree Hall 296-299 374
+
+ College Gate 72 124-130
+
+ Collins W. 32-3-6 152 196 207 374;
+ Sale of MSS. 415;
+ Charles A. 196-8 200-2-6 271 367 404;
+ Mrs. C. A. 200;
+ _and see_ Dickens Kate _and_ Perugini Mrs.
+
+ Cooling 349-360;
+ Castle 356-360;
+ Church 351-2;
+ Churchyard 354-7
+
+ Cooper T. Sidney 348
+
+ Cosham 284
+
+ Couchman J. 221-226
+
+ Countless Stones 311-2
+
+ _Cricket on the Hearth_ 45 161 239
+
+ "Crispin and Crispianus" 217-220
+
+ Crow Lane 78
+
+ "Crown Old" 116
+
+ "Crozier" 116
+
+ Cruikshank G. 59 140
+
+ Cursitor Street 20-2
+
+ Cuxton 288-9
+
+
+ DADD R. 396
+
+ _Daily News_ 17
+
+ "Dane John" 337
+
+ Darnley Earl of 202 222 374 382-385 396
+
+ _David Copperfield_ 26 39 45-8 91 139 148 219 251-6-8
+ 266-269 284 317 325 340 343-347 356 396-7;
+ _Fac-simile_ 419 421
+
+ Davies Rev. G. 194-5;
+ Straits 194-5
+
+ Deal 399
+
+ Deanery Gatehouse 127-9
+
+ Devonshire Terrace 31 41-2-4-6;
+ Street 46
+
+ Dickens A. L. 38 184 228;
+ A. T. 47
+
+ Dickens Charles:--
+ Birth 255 285
+ Birthplace 280-287
+ Baptism 285
+ First literary effort 262
+ Short-hand 249
+ Marriage 391
+ and the Serjeant 249 250
+ and the Bears 402
+ and Public Executions 410-1
+ Genealogy (?) 253-4
+ Dogs 183-4-6 226-8
+ Châlet 222 384-5 414
+ Crest 385
+ Ravens 44
+ Readings 239 242 271-2 422
+ Politics 239 240
+ Illness 243-4
+ Death 244 369 370 404
+ Funeral 87-8 401-4 423;
+ Card 226
+ Grave 423-4
+ Will 87 286 401 421-2
+ Manuscripts 412-421
+ Handwriting _fac-similes_ (1837 1850 1854 1870) 418-420
+ Corrected Proofs 417
+ Memorial Brass 137
+ Memorials 227-9 230 247 371 420
+ Portraits 59 205 225 272 370 390 415-6
+ Letters 416-7
+ Mysterious Dickens-item 246-249
+
+ Dickens Mrs. C. 207 231
+
+ Dickens C. Junr. 26 32-4 140-5 200-2 294 366 404 422;
+ Edward B. L. 47
+
+ Dickens Fanny 262-4 284-5;
+ Harriet E. 262-6
+
+ Dickens H. F. 180 198 202-3 221 234 248-9 250 368 374
+
+ Dickens J. 38 254-5 265-6 274 283-4-5;
+ Mrs. 38 254-5 285
+
+ Dickens Kate 36 90 196 206 367 370
+ (_and see_ Perugini Mrs. _and_ Collins Mrs. C. A.)
+
+ Dickens Miss 31-4 416
+
+ Dickenson Mr. 200-1-2-9
+
+ Dodd H. 232-3-4
+
+ _Dombey and Son_ 45 139 227 317 325
+
+ Doughty Street 25-8-9 30
+
+ Dover 54 192 345-348;
+ Castle 347;
+ Heights 346;
+ Road 396-400
+
+ Drage Rev. W. H. 92;
+ Misses 92-3
+
+ "Duck" 117
+
+
+ EASEDOWN MRS. 369-371 373
+
+ Eastgate House 72-77 132
+
+ East Malling 293
+
+ _Edwin Drood_ 6 23-7 46 70-3-4-5 83 106 111 113 115 117 119
+ 120-1-4-8-9 131-4 6-8-9 140-1 171 207 228 247-8-9 288
+ 290 406 411 414 416-7;
+ _Fac-simile_ 420
+
+ Exeter 209
+
+
+ "FALSTAFF Sir John" (at Gad's Hill) 163-5-7 175 207-8-9 400;
+ (At Canterbury) 336
+
+ Farleigh 290
+
+ Faversham 323-4
+
+ Fechter Mr. 106 201 221 242
+
+ Fildes Luke 23 59 75 106 127-9 140-1 169 228 248
+
+ Fisher Bishop 131
+
+ Fitzroy Street 417
+
+ Fleet Street 17 18
+
+ Ford H. 330
+
+ Forster J. 2 6 8 19 20 30-8-9 41-4 51 87 93 107 167 174
+ 176-9 182-6-7 196 207-9 221 232-5 258 262 275 310 324-7
+ 335 356-7 364 412-4-7 421-424;
+ Bequest 412-416
+
+ Fort Clarence 316
+
+ Fort Pitt 104-6 272-280
+
+ _Fortunus_ 33
+
+ Fountain Court 17
+
+ Fox 20
+
+ Frindsbury 195 275 294;
+ Church 212 236 350
+
+ Frith W. P. 230 395-6 415
+
+ Frog Alley 117
+
+ _Frozen Deep_ 32-3 86 241
+
+ Furnival's Inn 24-27
+
+
+ GAD'S HILL 4 44 60 90-1-3 141 161 _et seq._ 241-8-9 265
+ 393 400
+ Sixty years ago 191-195
+ "Falstaff Sir John" 163-5-7 175 207-8-9 400
+
+ Gad's Hill Place 31 42-6 85-88 93 132 161-209 217 221-2-3
+ 224-5-7 240-1-3 271 310 363-4-9 370-1 376 400-9
+ Cedars at 186 192
+ Châlet 186-7 221-2
+ Charades at 197 241
+ Clock 229
+ Cricket at 208 248-9 372-3
+ Dick's Grave at 179
+ _Gazette_ 180 196-8-9
+ "Plough" 241
+ Porch at 184
+ Sale of 235-6 241-6 404
+ Sale Photograph of 230
+ Shrubbery at 186
+ Specification for alterations at 222-3
+ Sports at 363-4
+ Sun-dial 228
+ Theatricals at 241
+ Tunnel at 184-6 228
+ Well at 181-2
+
+ "Gavelkind" 82
+
+ Gibson Mary 46 265-6-7;
+ (_and see_ Weller Mary)
+ Robert 266-7;
+ Thomas 266
+
+ Giles Rev. W. 261;
+ Academy 261
+
+ Gillingham 275
+
+ Gordon Square 31-8;
+ Place 31
+
+ Gower Street 38-9
+
+ Gravesend 3 91 192 336 361-2 393
+
+ _Great Expectations_ 6 7 17 24 37 53 64 70-8 97 156 171
+ 188 269 348 351-354 356-8 398 401-5
+
+ _Grimaldi Memoirs of_ 31
+
+ Grip the Raven 44
+
+
+ HARBLEDOWN 348
+
+ Hard Times 37 416;
+ _Fac-simile_ 419
+
+ Hastings 345
+
+ _Haunted Man_ 45
+
+ Hawke Street 255 284
+
+ Head R. 53 88
+
+ Higham 87 173-6 182 194 242 362-375 377
+
+ Hogarth G. 25;
+ Catherine 26;
+ (_and see_ Dickens Mrs. Charles) E. 34;
+ Mary 29;
+ Georgina 34 86 90 205-6 235-8 242-4 370-5-8 396 406 416
+ 422;
+ William 54
+
+ Holborn 22-4-7
+
+ _Holly Tree Inn_ 263 408
+
+ Homan F. 85-88 117
+
+ Hoo 350
+
+ Hop-Picking and Cultivation 318-323
+
+ Horse Guards 49
+
+ Horsted 292
+
+ _Household Words_ 45 89 106 142 150 193 257 344 415
+
+ House on the Brook 260 1-5-6 273
+
+ Hulkes J. 163 195-198 403;
+ Mrs. 196 204-5;
+ C. J. 205
+
+ _Hunted Down_ 171
+
+ Hyde Park 46;
+ Corner 64;
+ Place 141
+
+ Hythe 345
+
+
+ JOHNSON'S COURT 18
+
+ John Street 28
+
+
+ KENNETTE A. 78
+
+ Kingsgate Street 27
+
+ Kit's Coty House 310-313 391
+
+ Kitton F. G. 4 38 102 110 127 163 205 248 316 368 393 415
+
+ Kolle W. H. 416-7
+
+
+ LAMERT DR. 255;
+ J. 256-8
+
+ Landport 255 280-286;
+ Commercial Road 281-2
+
+ Lang Andrew 15
+
+ Langton R. 2 3 38 83 144 216 252-5-8 264-6 277 281-2-4-6
+
+ Lapworth Prof. 6
+
+ Larkin C. 163 195
+
+ Latter Mrs. 209 400-1-2
+
+ Lawn House 326-7
+
+ Lawrence J. 59 60
+
+ "Leather Bottle" 60 386-390 396
+
+ Lemon Mark 32-4-5-6 151 232-4
+
+ Levy C. D. 246-7
+
+ _Lighthouse_ 33 86 241
+
+ Lincoln's Inn 19;
+ Fields 19
+
+ Linton Mrs. Lynn 167 191-195
+
+ _Little Dorrit_ 37 46 139 161 171 211 416
+
+ Littlewood J. E. 272-3
+
+ Long Mrs. 333
+
+ "Look-out House" 232
+
+
+ MACLISE D. 20 41-4 59 412 421
+
+ Maidstone 90-1 140 293 306-310;
+ Road 78 151;
+ Chillington Manor House 308-9 310;
+ Brenchley Gardens 309
+
+ Malleson J. N. 201-6
+
+ Margate 324 333-4-6;
+ Theatre 334-5
+
+ Marsham Rev J. J. 402-3-4
+
+ Marshes 142 188 349 350-1-7-8 403-9
+
+ _Martin Chuzzlewit_ 17 27 45 56 414
+
+ Marzials F. T. 8 29 31
+
+ _Master Humphrey's Clock_ 45
+
+ Masters Mrs. 217 219 221-6
+
+ Mechanics' Institute 267-9 270-1-3
+
+ Medway River 52-3-4 67-9 98 103 134-5 162 188 211 253 275
+ 288-9 290-2 309 310-6;
+ Valley 379 382
+
+ _Memoirs of Grimaldi_ 31
+
+ Middle Temple Lane 17
+
+ Mile End Cottage 209 210
+
+ Miles Mr. 117 120
+
+ Millen T. 90-1
+
+ Minor Canon Row 92 122-4-7
+
+ Minto Prof. 409
+
+ "Mitre" 60 116 262-3-4
+
+ Mitton T. 414
+
+ Montague Street 31
+
+ _Monthly Magazine_ 18
+
+ Morgan Mr. 200-1-2
+
+ _Morning Chronicle_ 24 26 270
+
+ _Mr. Nightingale's Diary_ 35
+
+ _Mrs. Joseph Porter over the way_ 18
+
+ Mysterious Dickens-item 246-249
+
+
+ NAVY PAY OFFICE CHATHAM 258 274
+
+ New Brompton 80 252 270-5
+
+ New Romney 345
+
+ _Nicholas Nickleby_ 8 31 106 139 210 286 324 416
+
+ _No Thoroughfare_ 374
+
+
+ _OLD CURIOSITY SHOP_ 45-9 139 323 349 405
+
+ Old Sergeants' Inn 18
+
+ _Oliver Twist_ 31 232;
+ _Fac-simile_ 418
+
+ Ordnance Terrace 28 92 257-8 265 274;
+ Place 265
+
+ _Our English Watering-Place_ 317 324-31
+
+ _Our Mutual Friend_ 1 17 18 39 91 171 234 414
+
+ Overblow 402-3
+
+ Owl Club 59;
+ Harmonious Owls 59
+
+
+ PARLIAMENT STREET 48
+
+ Payne G. 130 238
+
+ Pearce Sarah 283-4;
+ Mr. 283;
+ William 284
+
+ Pear Tree Lane 313 377-8
+
+ Pemberton T. Edgar 1 241 286
+
+ Perugini Mrs. 248;
+ (_and see_ Dickens Kate _and_ Collins Mrs. C. A.)
+
+ _Pickwick Papers_ 5 6 20-6-9 31 50-6 62-7 70-5 111 151 231
+ 251-5 261 273-6-9 293-5 297-306 324 373-6-9 387-8 391-3
+
+ _Pictures from Italy_ 18
+
+ "Plorn" 202
+
+ Porchester Castle 284
+
+ Portsea 255 281-2;
+ St. Mary's Church 255 285-6;
+ Hawke Street 255 284
+
+ Portsmouth 281-4-6-7;
+ Common Hard 287;
+ Dockyard 285;
+ Theatre 286
+
+ Portsmouth Street 19
+
+ Prall R. 57 85
+
+ Prior's Gate 127-8
+
+ Proctor R. A. 138-9
+
+ Proctors 148
+
+ _Punch_ 90 175
+
+ Purkis Mrs. 285
+
+
+ QUARRY HOUSE 212
+
+
+ RAINHAM 317-8;
+ Mear's Barr Farm 318
+
+ Ramsgate 336
+
+ Reculver 324;
+ The Sisters 324
+
+ Red Lion Square 28 31
+
+ Regent's Park 39;
+ Street 46 51
+
+ Restoration House 53-4 78 80 94-97 132 156
+
+ Robertson Rev. Canon 214
+
+ Robinson G. 269
+
+ Rochester 4 48 51-97 376 396 406-9
+ "Blue Boar" 64
+ Boley (or Bully) Hill 88 124 158
+ Boundary Lane 253
+ Bridge 50-4 67-70 104 215 217 226-7
+ "Bull Inn" 54-5 _et seq._ 104 143-5 409
+ Castle 69 98-110 137 216 396 406-9
+ Cathedral 53-4 87 90 111-141 216 406-9
+ Cherry Garden 54
+ College (or Jasper's) Gate 72 124-130
+ Crow Lane 78 117 156
+ "Crozier" 116
+ Deanery Gatehouse 127-9
+ "Duck" 117
+ Eastgate House 72-77 132
+ Episcopal Palace 130-1
+ Esplanade 134
+ Frog Alley 117
+ Grammar School 81-8
+ Guildhall 54-5 72 108
+ High Street 51-3-5 63-4 70 82 116 125 130 145 275 287
+ 296 336
+ London and County Bank 116
+ Maidstone Road 78 151
+ Mathematical School 81 175-6
+ Men's Institute 75
+ Minor Canon Row 92 122-4-7
+ New Road 152
+ "Old Crown" 116
+ Prior's Gate 127-8
+ Restoration House 53-4 78 80 132 156;
+ Ghost Story 94-97
+ Sapsea's House 72-5-6 117
+ Satis House 78 97 156-8
+ Savings Bank 76 116
+ Sir J. Hawkins's Hospital 81
+ Sir J. Hayward's Charity 82
+ Star Hill 70 83
+ St. Bartholomew's Hospital 81
+ St. Catherine's Charity 81
+ St. Margaret's 92;
+ Church 151
+ St. Nicholas' 81 11
+ Cemetery 87 136-7
+ Church 136-7
+ Theatre 83 143 242 256
+ Vines (or Monks' Vineyard) 70-8 81 131-2-4 275 409
+ Watts's Almshouses 151
+ " Charity 72 142-160 176 409
+
+ Rye 345
+
+ Ryland Mr. Arthur 144-5;
+ Mrs. 33 144
+
+
+ SANDLING 310
+
+ Sandwich 345
+
+ Sapsea's House 72-5-6 117
+
+ Satis House 78 97 156-8
+
+ _Seven Poor Travellers_ 70 98 106 142-3 150 160 380
+
+ Seymour R. 58
+
+ Sheerness 54;
+ Cockle-shell Hard 101
+
+ Sheppard Dr. 342-3-4
+
+ Shorne 87 137 194 358 391-3 400-2;
+ Church 403-4;
+ Ridgway 379
+
+ Sisters Reculver 324
+
+ _Sketches by Boz_ 26 64 258 270
+
+ _Sketches of Young Gentlemen_ 31;
+ _of Young Couples_ 31
+
+ Smetham Henry 368
+
+ Smith C. Roach 52 101 148 231-238 290 311 366
+
+ Smith E. Orford 303
+
+ Snodland 288 290;
+ Brook 135;
+ Weir 135
+
+ Somerset House 38 264 421-3
+
+ _Song of the Wreck_ 33-4-5 415
+
+ South Kensington Museum 249 396 412
+
+ Spencer Herbert 190 406
+
+ Stanfield C. 20 32-3 86 241
+
+ Stanley Dean 88 137 423
+
+ Staplehurst 93;
+ Accident 198 200-1-9
+
+ Staple Inn 22-4-7
+
+ Star Hill 70 83
+
+ Steele Dr. 174 237-246
+
+ Sterry J. Ashby 3 329 345-6
+
+ Stone F. 36;
+ M. 91 196 200-2-7
+
+ _Strange Gentleman_ 26
+
+ St. Luke's Church Chelsea 26
+
+ St. Margaret's 92;
+ Church 151
+
+ St. Mary's Church Chatham 92 255;
+ Place 260-2
+
+ St. Mary's Church Portsea 255 285-6
+
+ St. Nicholas' Church Rochester 81 114 136-7;
+ Cemetery 87 136-7
+
+ St. Nicholas' Church Strood 211
+
+ St. Pancras' Road 39;
+ Church 39
+
+ Strood 50-5 68 80 162 182 195 211-250
+ "Crispin and Crispianus" 217-220
+ Elocution Society 235
+ St. Nicholas' Church 211
+ Preceptory 212
+ Quarry House 212
+ Temple Farm 211
+
+ _Sunday under Three Heads_ 26
+
+ Symond's Inn 19
+
+ Syms Mr. 82 115-117
+
+
+ _TALE OF TWO CITIES_ 17 37-9 171 204 397
+
+ Tavistock Square 32;
+ House 32-3-6-7 42 86 171 325
+
+ Taylor Mrs. 368-9
+
+ Temple 17;
+ Bar 17;
+ Middle Temple Lane 17;
+ Fountain Court 17
+
+ Temple Farm 211
+
+ Thackeray W. M. 24-6-7 234
+
+ Thames River 188 314 350;
+ Valley 358 378 403
+
+ _Times_ 410-414
+
+ Tom-All-Alone's 268
+
+ _Tom Thumb_ 33
+
+ Town Malling 292-3-4 302-306
+
+ Tribe Ald. 264;
+ Master and Miss 258 264;
+ John 264
+
+ Trood W. S. 175 206-209 400;
+ Edward 2 7 220
+
+
+ _UNCOMMERCIAL TRAVELLER_ 6 7 37 83 159 163-5 171 220 264-9
+ 278
+
+ Upnor Castle 155
+
+
+ _VILLAGE COQUETTES_ 376
+
+ Vines The 70-8 81 131-2-4 275
+
+
+ WAGHORN LIEUT. 257
+
+ Watts Richard 55 142;
+ Almshouses 151;
+ Charity 72 142-160 176;
+ Memorial 157-8
+
+ Weald of Kent 316
+
+ Weller Mary 265-6;
+ (_and see_ Gibson Mary)
+
+ Westminster Abbey 87-8 137 404 423-4
+
+ Whiston Rev. R. 88-90 160
+
+ Whitefriars Street 17
+
+ Whitehall 48
+
+ Whitstable 323
+
+ Wildish W. T. 82 118 175 265 382
+
+ Wills W. H. 152;
+ W. G. 152 193-4
+
+ Winchelsea 345
+
+ Woburn Square 31
+
+ Wood H. 273-4
+
+ Worsfold C. K. 347
+
+ _Wreck of the Golden Mary_ 260
+
+ Wright Mr. 372-3 415;
+ Mrs. 370-373
+
+
+THE END.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+_Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London & Bungay._
+
+ * * * * *
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors repaired with the exception of the rounded
+brackets on pages 224 and 225 as those were replicas of printings. These
+two instances were left open but not closed.
+
+Page xiv, "round" changed to "Round" (where "All the Year Round")
+
+Page 132, "entited" changed to "entitled" (the illustration entitled)
+
+Page 414, "caligraphy" changed to "calligraphy" (the calligraphy of)
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of A Week's Tramp in Dickens-Land, by
+William R. Hughes
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK A WEEK'S TRAMP IN DICKENS-LAND ***
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