before was, that Charles Dickens realized the dream of his youth, and became the possessor of Gad's Hill." The purchase was made in the Spring of 1856.

In the "Uncommercial Traveller," under the head of "Travelling Abroad," No. VII., Dickens makes this mention of it :

So smooth was the old high-road, and so fresh were the horses, and so fast went I, that it was midway between Gravesend and Rochester, and the widening river was bearing the ships, white-sailed, or black-smoked, out to sea, when I noticed by the wayside a very queer small boy.

"Halloa!" said I to the very queer small boy, "where do you live?"

"At Chatham," says he.

"What do you do there?" says I.

"I go to school," says he.

I took him up in a moment, and we went on.

Presently, the very queer small boy says,

"This is Gad's Hill

we are coming to, where Falstaff went out to rob those

travellers, and ran away."

"You know something about Falstaff, eh?" said I.

"All about him," said the very queer small boy.

"I am old (I am nine) and I read all sorts of books. But do let us stop at the top of the hill and look at the house there, if you please!"

"You admire that house?" said I.

"Bless you, sir!" said the very queer small boy, " when I was not more than half as old as nine, it used to be a treat for me to be brought to look at it. And now I am nine, I come by myself to look at it. And ever since I can recollect, my father, seeing me so fond of it, has often said to me, 'If you

were to be very persevering and were to work hard, you might some day come to live in it.' Though that's impossible!" said the very queer small boy, drawing a low breath, and now staring at the house out of window with all his might.

I was rather amazed to be told this by the very queer small boy, for that house happens to be my house, and I have reason to believe that what he said was true.

Of "Gad's Hill's haunted greenness," a modern poet well says:

"There is a subtle spirit in its air;

The very soul of humour homes it there;

So is it now: of old so has it been;

Shakspeare from off it caught the rarest scene

That ever shook with laughs the sides of Care; Falstaff's fine instinct for a Prince grew where That hill-what since!-show'd its Kentish green.

years

Fit home for England's world-loved Dickens."

Before Dickens left Tavistock House, where he had resided for many years, and where "Bleak House" and "Little Dorrit" were written, he gave some dramatic performances which elicited the warmest praise from those who had the good fortune to be present. A large room had been fitted up with stage, scenery, and footlights, and his friend Wilkie Collins had written an entirely new drama of the most romantic character for the occasion. The title was "The Frozen Deep," and the rigours of the Arctic regions were scenically portrayed by Clarkson Stanfield, R.A., and Mr. Danson. The following rough outline will give some idea of the piece as then performed. First, there was a beautiful scene in Kent,

painted by Mr. Telbin, in which the members of the family of Captain Ebsworth and Lieutenants Crayford and Steventon, who are on board certain vessels engaged in an expedition at the North Pole, are assembled, and disclose the sufferings and the suspense by which they are agonized during the absence of their relatives. These consist of five young ladies-Mrs. Steventon (Miss Helen), Rose Ebsworth (Miss Kate), Lucy Crayford (Miss Hogarth), Clara Burnham (Miss Mary), and the Nurse Esther (Mrs Wills), with their Maid (Miss Martha). Clara Burnham has two lovers-one Richard Wardour, performed by Mr. Charles Dickens himself, and the other Frank Aldersley (Mr. Wilkie Collins), to whom she is engaged. The former has vowed a terrible vengeance against his rival. And now that they are both on the Polar Seas together, Clara's fears are awakened, and haunt her imagination continually. To deepen the impression still more, Nurse Esther pretends to second-sight, and predicts the most fatal catastrophe.

Doubts are entertained of the character of Wardour from his strange conduct. This arises from "the pangs of despised love," with which his heart still wrestles. As yet he knows not who his rival may be, and does not suspect that he dwells in the same hut with him. Lieutenant Crayford, a bluff, hearty sailor (Mark Lemon), takes a strong interest in him, and believes in his inherent goodness. But at length his faith gives way; for, in a well-managed conversation, he penetrates the state of Wardour's soul, and forms

of his tendencies the most awful judgment. Soon after Wardour makes the discovery that Aldersley is his rival, and his resolution is formed to accomplish the vengeance on which he had so long brooded. We next find all the party, with the young ladies, on the shore of Newfoundland. But Wardour and Aldersley are for awhile missing, and Crayford is haunted with a horrible suspicion that the latter has been made the victim of the former. Wardour in rags, wild as a maniac, rushes into the cave. He claims food and drink, part of which he takes, and carefully preserves the rest in a wallet. Crayford at last recognizes him -endeavours to seize him-but the madman dashes away, soon to return with poor exhausted Aldersley in his arms. He had become the preserver of the man whom he had seduced to the most desolate spots on the Arctic snows for the purpose of destroying. He makes full reparation for his intended. crime; and, ere his death, blesses the union of Clara Burnham and Frank Aldersley. Dickens's personation of Wardour required the best acting of a wellpractised performer. His acting surprised all who witnessed it. The character was a fervid, powerful, and distinct individuality; not unlike, in some respects, Mr. B. Webster's tragic impersonations. Mrs. Inchbald's farce of "Animal Magnetism" concluded the evening's amusements, Mr. Dickens acting the Doctor, and Mr. Mark Lemon Pedrillo.

On the Wednesday following, Buckstone's wellknown farce of "Uncle John " was performed,

Mr. Dickens acting the vigorous old gentleman of seventy to perfection. Representations subsequently took place at the Gallery of Illustration, and at the Free Trade Hall, Manchester, for charitable purposes. On the 27th October, 1864, it was publicly produced at the Olympic Theatre, and met with a very enthusiastic reception.

The death of Douglas Jerrold, in June, 1857, was keenly felt by Dickens. The two friends had been on the most intimate terms for many years, as the few extracts we have already given from pleasant letters will show. The funeral was at Norwood Cemetery. The coffin was of plain oak, and on each side were the initials, "D. J." The pall-bearers were Charles Dickens, W. M. Thackeray, Charles Knight, Horace Mayhew, Mark Lemon, Monckton Milnes (Lord Houghton), and Mr. Bradbury. A great gathering of artists and literary men surrounded the grave.

With his usual thoughtfulness and practical kindness, he soon ascertained the position in which poor Mrs. Jerrold, the widow, had been left. He found, as he had really suspected-for few men of letters were such good business men as Dickens-that a helping hand would be necessary, and he then, in conjunction with Mark Lemon, Albert Smith, Arthur Smith, and other friends, formed a committee to raise a fund, which was to be known as the "Jerrold Fund."

"Dickens entered warmly into the matter," remarks one who knew him; "and on the day of