ll 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--L2,500--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
shou