of the murderers of the
martyr, Thomas a Becket), from King Ethelbert to Queen Victoria, and
from Archbishop Lanfranc to Archbishop Longley; the lofty groined arches
and stately towers, the beautiful carved screen, the noble monuments,
the splendid choir (a hundred and eighty feet in length) approached by
many steps, the rich stained-glass windows, all attract our admiring
attention, and confirm our impression that a modern pilgrimage to
Canterbury is a thing to be highly appreciated; and on no account would
we have missed this part of our excursion. The murder of Thomas a
Becket (1170) took place between the nave and the choir in a transept or
cross aisle called "The Martyrdom."

[Illustration: Bell Harry Tower: Canterbury Cathedral:]

There is an interesting Sidney Cooper Gallery of Art, and also a Museum
in the city, the latter containing some rare old Roman Mosaic pavement
discovered in Burgate Street at a depth of ten feet.

But our object is to identify spots made memorable in _David
Copperfield_, and we walk round the spacious Cathedral Close and "make
an effort" (as Mrs. Chick said) in trying to find the simple-minded and
good Dr. Strong's House. It is described as "a grave building in a
courtyard, with a learned air about it that seemed very well suited to
the stray rooks and jackdaws who came down from the Cathedral towers,
and walked with a clerkly bearing on the grass-plat."

Alas! it is not here, although there are many such houses that
correspond with it in some particulars. So we try several of the "dear
old tranquil streets," but fail to discover the identical building.

The next object of our search is Mr. Wickfield's residence, "a very old
house bulging out over the road; a house with low latticed windows,
bulging out still further, and beams with carved heads on the ends,
bulging out too." How strongly the description in many parts tallies
with the houses in Rochester opposite "Eastgate House"; but here again
we are baffled, as other modern pilgrims have been before, and we cannot
associate any particular building with either of the two houses. The
house in Burgate Street now occupied as offices by Messrs. Plummer and
Fielding, Diocesan Registrars, who obligingly permit an examination of
it, is suggested to us as being Mr. Wickfield's house, but, after an
inspection, on several grounds we are obliged to reject this suggestion.

[Illustration: Scene of the Martyrdom Canterbury Cathedral]

[Illu