d, 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
s