nclined to adopt Gravesend, on the statement of
the author's daughter, that, one day, driving with her father towards
Cobham, he said that "it was here that Mr. Pickwick dropped his whip."
Cobham would be on the way to Gravesend.

Now what was Muggleton? A large town, with Mayor, Burgesses, and
Freemen--an ancient and loyal Borough, much given to petitioning
Parliament. It is insinuated that these petitions were guided by
Stiggins-like instincts--"a zealous advocacy of Christian principles
combined with a devoted attachment to commercial rights. Hence they were
against negro slavery abroad and _for_ the factory system at home. They
were for abolishing Sunday trading in the streets, and for maintaining
the sale of church livings." A member of Boz's family has assured me
that Maidstone was in the author's mind: it is only some eight miles from
Rochester. But "The Bull" waiter informed the Pickwickians that
Muggleton was nearly double the distance, or fifteen miles; while
Gravesend is about six miles from Rochester--so the evidence of distance
does not help us. Where, too, did Mr. Pickwick drop his whip? The
Pickwickian enthusiast can ascertain this--'an he will--by a little
calculation. After leaving "The Bull," the tall quadruped exercised his
"manoeuvre" of darting to the side of the road, rushing forward for some
minutes--_twenty times_--which would cover about an hour. In the
etching, there is a picture of the spot--a hedge-lined road. Mr.
Pickwick and his friends had to walk the whole way; yet they arrived late
in the afternoon. No one could walk from Rochester to Maidstone in that
time.

It was natural that Mr. Pickwick should drop his whip--but most unnatural
that he should ask Winkle to dismount and pick it up for him; and most
unnatural of all that Winkle, in his precarious situation, should consent
to dismount. The ordinary course would be that Tupman or Snodgrass
should get down. Then, for the great marvel of all, we have Mr.
Pickwick, who _would not_ get down, or _could not_ get down to pick up
his whip, getting down to help Mr. Winkle on to his horse! Thus, on the
two occasions, the useless or lazy Tupman and Snodgrass kept their seats.

It has been claimed--by the late Charles Dickens the younger--that Town
Malling was Muggleton, and on the ground that it has always had a
reputation for good cricket. It is not far from Maidstone. But this is
easily disposed of. Muggleton is described as a