with his mishap, and to our delight
there is "the pond," not indeed covered with ice, as on Mr. Pickwick's
memorable adventure, but crowded with water-lilies on its surface; its
banks surrounded by the fragrant meadow-sweet and the brilliant
rose-coloured willow herb. Furthermore we were informed, by Mr. Franklin
of Maidstone, that the "Red Lion," which formerly stood on the spot now
occupied by Mercer's Stables, is locally considered to be the original
of "a little roadside public-house, with two elm-trees, a horse-trough,
and a sign-post in front;" where the Pickwickians sought assistance
after the breakdown of the "four-wheeled chaise" which "separated the
wheels from the body and the bin from the perch," but were inhospitably
repulsed by the "red-headed man and the tall bony woman," who suggested
that they had stolen the "immense horse" which had recently played Mr.
Winkle such pranks. Finally, in a pleasant chat with the Rev. Cyril
Grant, Vicar of Aylesford, and his curate, the Rev. H. B. Boyd (a son
of A. K. H. B.), we elicited the fact that Cobtree Hall is locally
recognized as the original of Manor Farm. Nay more, in Aylesford
churchyard a tomb was pointed out on the west side with the
inscription:--"Also to the memory of Mr. W. Spong, late of Cobtree, in
the Parish of Boxley, who died Nov. 15th, 1839," who is said to have
been the prototype of the genial and hospitable "old Wardle."

True, neither the distance to Rochester nor to Town Malling fits in with
the narrative, but this is not material. Dickens, with the usual
"novelist's licence," found it convenient often-times to take a nucleus
of fact, and surround it with a halo of fiction, and this may have been
one of many similar instances. His wonderfully-gifted and ever-facile
imagination was never at fault.

So on our return journey we console ourselves by reading the following
description, in chapter vi. of _Pickwick_, of the first gathering of the
Pickwickians at their host's, one of the most delightful bits in the
whole book, and "make-believe," as the Marchioness would say, that we
have actually seen Manor Farm, Dingley Dell.

"Several guests who were assembled in the old
parlour, rose to greet Mr. Pickwick and his
friends upon their entrance; and during the
performance of the ceremony of introduction, with
all due formalities, Mr. Pickwick had leisure to
observe the appearance, and speculate