e place has sadly changed
since for the worse."

* * * * *

Mr. Humphrey Wood, Solicitor, of Chatham, was, about the year 1867,
local Hon. Secretary to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals, and, having applied to Charles Dickens to give a Reading on
behalf of the Society, received the following polite answer to his
application. If only a few words had to be said, they were well said and
to the purpose.

"GAD'S HILL PLACE,
"HIGHAM BY ROCHESTER, KENT.
"_Thursday, 5th September, 1867._

"SIR,

"In reply to your letter, I beg to express my
regret that my compliance with the request it
communicates to me, is removed from within the
bounds of reasonable possibility by the nature of
my engagements, present and prospective.

"Your faithful servant,
"CHARLES DICKENS.
"HUMPHREY WOOD, ESQ."

Like other towns in Kent, Chatham contains many names which are
suggestive of some of Dickens's characters, _viz._ Dowler, Whiffen,
Kimmins, Wyles, Arkcoll, Perse, Winch, Wildish, Hockaday, Mowatt,
Hunnisett, and others.

It is, of course, scarcely necessary to mention, in passing, that
Chatham is one of the most important centres of ship-building for the
Royal Navy; the dockyards--often referred to in Dickens's minor
works--cover more than seventy acres, and are most interesting. Here, at
the Navy Pay-Office, the elder Dickens was employed during his residence
at Chatham.

Fort Pitt next claims our attention. It stands on the high ground above
the Railway Station at Chatham, just beyond Ordnance Terrace. In Charles
Dickens's early days, and indeed long after, until the establishment of
the magnificent Institution at Netley, Fort Pitt was the principal
military Hospital in England, and was visited by Her Majesty during the
Crimean War. It is still used as a hospital, and contains about two
hundred and fifty beds. The interesting museum which previously existed
there has been removed to Netley.

From Fort Pitt we see the famous "Chatham lines," which constitute the
elaborate and almost impregnable fortifications of this important
military and ship-building town. The "lines" were commenced as far back
as 1758, and stretch from Gillingham to Brompton, a