ny 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
the