e 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