chapter 18—“A Retrospect”—Copperfield writes as follows:—

“There is a vague belief abroad that the beef suet with which he anoints his hair gives him unnatural strength, and that he is a match for a man. He is a broad-faced, bull-necked young butcher, with rough red cheeks, an ill-conditioned mind, and an injurious tongue. His main use of this tongue is to disparage Dr. Strong’s young gentlemen. He says publicly that if they want anything he’ll give it ’em. He names individuals among them (myself included) whom he could undertake to settle with one hand, and the other tied behind him. He waylays the smaller boys to punch their unprotected heads, and calls challenges after me in the open streets. For these sufficient reasons I resolve to fight the butcher.

“It is a summer evening, down in a green hollow, at the corner of a wall. I meet the butcher by appointment. I am attended by a select body of our boys; the butcher by two other butchers, a young publican, and a sweep. The preliminaries are adjusted, and the butcher and myself stand face to face. In a moment the butcher lights ten thousand candles out of my left eyebrow. In another moment I don’t know where the wall is, or where I am, or where anybody is. I hardly know which is myself and which the butcher; we are always in such a tangle and tussle, knocking about upon the trodden grass. Sometimes I see the butcher, bloody but confident; sometimes I see nothing, but sit gasping on my second’s knee; sometimes I go in at the butcher madly, and cut my knuckles open against his face, without appearing to discompose him at all. At last I awake, very queer about the head, as from a giddy sleep, and see the butcher walking off, congratulated by the two other butchers and the sweep and publican, and putting on his coat as he goes, from which I augur justly that the victory is his.”

But a few years afterwards David—ætat. 17—becomes a better match for his opponent; and we read in the same chapter how—after his youthful disappointment _in re_ “the eldest Miss Larkins”—having received new provocation from the butcher, he goes out to battle a second time, and gloriously defeats him.

Turning again on the right into the main central thoroughfare, we may find, on the south side, the Fleur de Lys Hotel—34 High Street. A well-appointed and respectable establishment, at which, in the time of Copperfield’s school-days, Mr. Dick was in the habit of stopping every alternate Wednesday, arriving from Dover by the stage-coach on his special fortnightly visits to David. We read that

“These Wednesdays were the happiest days of Mr. Dick’s life; they were far from being the least happy of mine. He soon became known to every boy in the school, and though he never took an active part in any game but kite-flying, was as deeply interested in all our sports as any one among us.”

On the opposite (north) side of the road stands the old-fashioned George and Dragon Inn—No. 18 High Street. In the days of Copperfield, the London and Dover Coach, passing _en route_ through Canterbury, stopped here for change of horses. At this inn, therefore, was the “COACH OFFICE,” referred to in chapter 17 as being the place of arrival and departure of Mr. Dick, as aforesaid. This London Coach is also mentioned in the closing paragraph of the same chapter, David being on his way to offer Micawber a soothing word of comfort in reply to a dismal letter just received from that “Beggared Outcast”—

“Halfway there, I met the London coach with Mr. and Mrs. Micawber up behind; Mr. Micawber, the very picture of tranquil enjoyment, smiling at Mrs. Micawber’s conversation, eating walnuts out of a paper bag, with a bottle sticking out of his breast pocket. As they did not see me, I thought it best, all things considered, not to see them. So, with a great weight taken off my mind, I turned into a by-street that was the nearest way to school, and felt, upon the whole, relieved that they were gone, though I still liked them very much, nevertheless.”

Turning on the right (northward) from High Street, by a short intermediate road, the Rambler approaches PALACE STREET, on the east side of which, near the western end of the Cathedral, stands the Church of St. Alphege. This edifice was casually referred to by the “Old Soldier,” _Mrs. Markleham_, as the church where the marriage of her daughter Annie with the worthy Dr. Strong was solemnised. The reference occurs, by way of interruption on the part of Mrs. M., during a very touching conference between the doctor and his wife, as related in “Copperfield,” chapter 45—“Mr. Dick fulfils my aunt’s predictions.”

Passing onwards through ST. PETER’S STREET to WESTGATE STREET, crossing the western branch of the river, we come by a turning on the right to NORTH LANE, in which is situated the former Residence of Uriah Heep. It is a small two-storeyed house with plastered front, on the right side, near the entrance of the lane—No. 65; the “’umble dwelling” to which David was introduced as described in chapter 17 of his history—

“We entered a low, old-fashioned room, walked straight into from the street, and found there Mrs. Heep, who was the dead image of Uriah, only short. . . . It was a perfectly decent room, half parlour and half kitchen, but not at all a snug room. The tea things were set upon the table, and the kettle was boiling on the hob. There was a chest of drawers with an escritoire top, for Uriah to read or write at of an evening; there was Uriah’s blue bag lying down and vomiting papers; there was a company of Uriah’s books commanded by Mr. Tidd; there was a corner cupboard, and there were the usual articles of furniture. I don’t remember that any individual object had a bare, pinched, spare look, but I do remember that the whole place had.”

Returning to the main street, we pass the ancient WEST GATE—a fine specimen of medieval architecture, built between two massive round towers, with battlements and portcullis—and continue westward by ST. DUNSTAN STREET. At a short distance onwards, on the south side of the thoroughfare, nearly facing the approach to the SOUTH-EASTERN Railway Station, there may be observed—No. 71—an old picturesque timbered house, with three projecting gables and antiquated windows. This was the Residence of Mr. Wickfield, as described by David, in chapter 15, when he was first taken to Canterbury by Miss Betsy Trotwood—

“At length we stopped before a very old house, bulging out over the road; a house with long low lattice windows bulging out still farther, and beams with carved heads on the ends, bulging out too, so that I fancied the whole house was leaning forward, trying to see who was passing on the narrow pavement below. It was quite spotless in its cleanliness. The old-fashioned brass knocker on the low arched door, ornamented with carved garlands of fruit and flowers, twinkled like a star; the two stone steps descending to the door were as white as if they had been covered with fair linen; and all the angles and corners and carvings and mouldings, and quaint little panes of glass, and quainter little windows, though as old as the hills, were as pure as any snow that ever fell upon the hills.”

This house does not answer in every respect to the full description as contained in the book. The “little round tower that formed one side of the house”—containing Uriah Heep’s circular office—being wanting to complete; but we may readily imagine that this existed, some sixty years’ since, at the western side, in the space now occupied by some gates and a roof of more modern erection. This residence must certainly be located in the _main London road_, as David—referring, at the close of chapter 15, as above, to his recent pedestrian journey from the Metropolis to Dover—speaks of his “coming through that old city and passing that very house he lived in, without knowing it.”

[Some friends resident at Canterbury have been disposed to locate Mr. Wickfield’s house at No. 15 BURGATE STREET, now in occupation of the legal firm of Messrs. Fielding and Plummer (names, by-the-bye, which are used by Dickens in “The Cricket on the Hearth”); but neither the house nor its position will in any way correspond with Copperfield’s description of the same.]

[Picture: The Home of Agnes]

Here then was the Home of _Agnes_—that finest delineation of feminine portraiture ever conceived by our author—the central figure of the many pure and beautiful associations which entwine themselves with the chief interests of this most charming tale. In view of the personal history and character of its heroine, we may well understand Thackeray’s eulogium of his contemporary, as providing for the delectation of his daughters “the pure pages of David Copperfield;” and we can as readily appreciate the preference of Charles Dickens himself, when he says:—

“Of all my books I like this the best. It will be easily believed that I am a fond parent to every child of my fancy, and that no one can ever love that family as dearly as I love them. But, like many fond parents, I have, in my heart of hearts, a favourite child, and his name is David Copperfield.”

Leaving CANTERBURY by the direct line of the LONDON, CHATHAM AND DOVER RAILWAY, we are carried onward through a pleasant country towards the south-east coast; the white roads of the district indicating the abundant chalkiness of the soil. In Copperfield’s 13th chapter, narrating the circumstances of his long tramp to Dover, he says, “From head to foot I was powdered almost as white with chalk and dust as if I had come out of a lime-kiln.”

Passing three minor stations, the train arrives at DOVER PRIORY—about which more anon—whence it proceeds through an intervening tunnel to the town station, at the old port of

DOVER.

The town is of especial interest to readers of “David Copperfield,” as containing on its suburban heights the cottage residence of Miss Trotwood and Mr. Dick.

Proceeding eastward from the station, a short distance along COMMERCIAL QUAY; turning left, then right; and walking onwards _viâ_ SNARGATE, BENCH and KING STREETS, the Rambler may reach the Market Place, centrally situated in the lower part of the town, and may recall the circumstance of poor David resting near at hand, on his arrival—a juvenile stranger in a strange land—after a morning’s fruitless inquiry as to the whereabouts of his aunt. We read (in chapter 13) as follows:—

“I inquired about my aunt among the boatmen first, and received various answers. One said she lived in the South Foreland light, and had singed her whiskers by doing so; another, that she was made fast to the great buoy outside the harbour, and could be only visited at half-tide; a third, that she was locked up in Maidstone Jail for child stealing; a fourth, that she was seen to mount a broom in the last high wind and make direct for Calais. The fly-drivers among whom I inquired were equally jocose and equally disrespectful; and the shopkeepers, not liking my appearance, generally replied without hearing what I had to say, that they had got nothing for me. I felt more miserable and destitute than I had done at any period of my running away. My money was all gone, I had nothing left to dispose of; I was hungry, thirsty, and worn out, and seemed as distant from my end as if I had remained in London.”

At the junction of CHURCH STREET and CASTLE STREET, both leading to and from the Market Place—at the northeast angle—there may be noted the Street Corner at which David sat down, considering the position of affairs, and where he received the first practical intimation for the proper direction of his search:—

“The morning had worn away in these inquiries, and I was sitting on the step of an empty shop at a street corner, near the Market-place, deliberating upon wandering towards those other places which had been mentioned, when a fly-driver, coming by with his carriage, dropped a horsecloth. Something good-natured in the man’s face, as I handed it up, encouraged me to ask him if he could tell me where Miss Trotwood lived. . . . ‘I tell you what,’ said he. ‘If you go up there,’ pointing with his whip towards the heights, ‘and keep right on till you come to some houses facing the sea, I think you’ll hear of her.’”

Leaving the Market Place from its north-west corner, and keeping somewhat to the left, the Rambler may ascend by CANNON and BIGGIN STREETS, as indicated by the coachman’s whip, to the heights of Priory Hill, on which elevation, in the neighbourhood of ST. MARTIN’S PRIORY and the PRIORY FARM, there may be found several semi-detached residences pleasantly overlooking the “silver streak” and the intervening town below. Here, in an eligible position, there may be seen Stanley Mount, a villa residence of two storeys, with bow windows and contiguous lawn. This house now replaces an older one, which aforetime was the cottage at which the worthy Miss Trotwood lived; the miniature lawn in front being the “patch of green” over which that amiable lady asserted private right of way; persistently maintaining it against all comers in general, and the Dover donkey boys in particular—

“The one great outrage of her life, demanding to be constantly avenged, was the passage of a donkey over that immaculate spot. In whatever occupation she was engaged, however interesting to her the conversation in which she was taking part, a donkey turned the current of her ideas in a moment, and she was upon him straight. Jugs of water and watering-pots were kept in secret places, ready to be discharged on the offending boys, sticks were laid in ambush behind the door, sallies were made at all hours, and incessant war prevailed.”

Midway between Railway Stations and Quay, there may be noted The King’s Head Hotel, as being the old Coaching House at which the London Mail terminated its journey, and referred to in “The Tale of Two Cities” by the name of “The Royal George.” Here may be recalled the interview related in chapter 4, which took place at this hotel between _Mr. Lorry_ and _Miss Manette_, and at which the reader is first introduced to the eccentric _Miss Pross_—“dressed in some extraordinary tight-fitting fashion”; wearing on “her head a most wonderful bonnet, like a Grenadier measure (and a good measure too) or a great Stilton cheese.”

Returning to London by South-Eastern Rail, the Rambler will pass, about half-way on the road, the picturesque village of Staplehurst. Near this station it may be remembered that, on June 9th, 1865, a sad disaster occurred to the train in which Mr. Dickens was a traveller. The _Postscript_ to “Our Mutual Friend” contains the following reference:—

“Mr. and Mrs. Boffin (in their manuscript dress) were on the South-Eastern Railway with me, in a terribly destructive accident. When I had done what I could to help others, I climbed back into my carriage—nearly turned over a viaduct, and caught aslant upon the turn—to extricate the worthy couple. They were very much soiled, but otherwise unhurt. . . . I remember with devout thankfulness that I can never be much nearer parting company with my readers for ever than I was then, until there shall be written against my life the two words with which I have this day closed this book—The End.”

RAMBLE VIII _Excursion to Henley-on-Thames_

Route by Great Western Railway _viâ_ Maidenhead and Twyford to Henley—The Red Lion Inn, place of accommodation for Mr. Eugene Wrayburn—Marriage of Mr. Wrayburn and Lizzie Hexam—The Anchor Inn, the “little inn” at which Bella Wilfer first visited Lizzie Hexam—Henley Railway Station—The Tow Path, scene of the interview between Lizzie and Eugene—Marsh Mill, at which Lizzie was employed—Neighbourhood where Betty Higden died—Shiplake Churchyard, where Betty was buried—“A cry for help”—West bank of Thames, Henley Bridge and Poplar Point, the neighbourhood where occurred Bradley Headstone’s attack on Eugene Wrayburn—Lizzie’s walk by Marsh Lock to the Eastern Tow Path beyond Henley Bridge—Her rescue of Eugene—Henley _viâ_ Aston and Medmenham to Hurley Lock, “Plashwater Weir Mill” Lock, Rogue Riderhood, Deputy Lockkeeper—Final scene of the Tragedy—Churchyard of Stoke Pogis—Mr. Micawber’s Quotation—The Homeward Journey—John Harmon’s Reflections.

A very delightful country excursion may be made for visiting the neighbourhood of Henley-on-Thames, of especial interest to the readers of “Our Mutual Friend.”

It may be remembered that _Lizzie Hexam_, desirous of avoiding the attentions of her (then) unworthy lover, _Mr. Eugene Wrayburn_, left London secretly, with the assistance of Riah—representative of the honourable firm of Messrs. Pubsey and Co.; that, by his recommendation, she obtained a situation at a PAPER MILL (then under Jewish management), at some distance from the Metropolis, and remained for a time undisturbed in her country employment; that, thereafter, _Eugene Wrayburn_ obtained her address by bribing the drunken father of “_Jenny Wren_,” the dolls’ dressmaker, and so followed Lizzie to her retreat, being in his turn watched and followed by the passionate and jealous schoolmaster, _Bradley Headstone_, who attempted his life on the river bank; that, near at hand, was the ANGLER’S INN, to which Eugene—nearly dead—was carried by the heroic and devoted Lizzie, who saved him from a watery grave, and where “effect was given to the dolls’ dressmaker’s discovery,” one night, some weeks later, by their romantic marriage, while it was yet doubtful whether the bridegroom would survive; that the death of _Betty Higden_ occurred “ON THE BORDERS OF OXFORDSHIRE,” near the mill at which _Lizzie Hexam_ was engaged, Lizzie herself attending the last moments of the dying woman, and accepting her last request; that in accordance with such request poor Betty was decently interred in a contiguous churchyard, the charges being defrayed by her own hard earnings, specially saved for the purpose; and that, on this occasion, the first meeting of Lizzie and _Miss Bella Wilfer_ took place, when a very interesting and touching interview ensued, which greatly assisted Bella in confirmation of a brave and righteous decision _in re_ money _versus_ love. Also that, at no great distance from this locality, was situated “PLASHWATER WEIR MILL LOCK,” where _Rogue Riderhood_ did duty as deputy lock-keeper, and where, at the last, he and _Bradley Headstone_ were drowned.

These localities are in the neighbourhood of HENLEY, and may be readily verified by the intelligent Rambler, adopting the excursion by land and water, as subjoined.

Leaving PADDINGTON TERMINUS of the Great Western Railway, we pass WESTBOURNE PARK JUNCTION, and the well-arranged grounds of _Kensal Green Cemetery_ (in which repose the mortal remains of Leigh Hunt, Sidney Smith, John Leech, and Thackeray) on the right, travelling westward by the suburban stations of _Acton_, _Ealing_, and _Castle Hill_, and cross the Wharncliffe Viaduct to HANWELL.

To the left may be seen the handsome building of the MIDDLESEX LUNATIC ASYLUM. We next arrive at SOUTHALL, and afterwards cross the Grand Junction Canal to HAYES and WEST DRAYTON. Our train now passes from Middlesex to Buckinghamshire, and steams onwards in the neighbourhood of _Langley Park_—seen on the right. The tower of Langley Church may be observed on the left, rising from the trees, as we speed forward to SLOUGH, where we obtain a distant glimpse of the Royal Castle of Windsor, two miles southward.

Resuming the journey we come, in four miles’ run, to the pleasant village of TAPLOW, on the borders of the Thames (here dividing the counties of Buckinghamshire and Berkshire), and within easy distance of _Burnham Beeches_, a favourite picnic resort. The train now crosses the river, next arriving at MAIDENHEAD, a market town on the Thames. On the right, observation may be taken of Maidenhead Bridge, a noble erection of thirteen arches. Thereafter we soon arrive at TWYFORD JUNCTION, where we change (unless seated in a special through carriage) for Henley, situated four miles northward, and served by a branch line. The town itself is very pleasantly situated on the Thames, with an old church and handsome bridge, but is of special interest to Dickensian students as containing the INN at which _Mr. Eugene Wrayburn_ found accommodation on the occasion of his journey in pursuit of Lizzie Hexam. See “Our Mutual Friend,” book 3, chapter 1, in which Bradley Headstone, returning to Plashwater Weir, is described as reporting the circumstance to the deputy lock-keeper—

“‘Lock ho! Lock.’ It was a light night, and a barge coming down summoned him (Riderhood) out of a long doze. In due course he had let the barge through and was alone again, looking to the closing of his gates, when Bradley Headstone appeared before him, standing on the brink of the Lock. ‘Halloa,’ said Riderhood. ‘Back a’ready, T’otherest?’ ‘He has put up for the night at an Angler’s Inn,’ was the fatigued and hoarse reply. ‘He goes on, up the river, at six in the morning. I have come back for a couple of hours’ rest.’”

The Red Lion Inn thus referred to is situated north of Henley Bridge, on the west bank of the river, and is a favourite resort for disciples of Izaak Walton and boating men in general. Here it was that Eugene Wrayburn—after the murderous attack by the schoolmaster—was brought almost lifeless by Lizzie, when rescued by her from the river, as narrated in chapter 6—

“She ran the boat ashore, went into the water, released him from the line, and by main strength lifted him in her arms and laid him in the bottom of the boat. He had fearful wounds upon him, and she bound them up with her dress torn into strips. Else, supposing him to be still alive, she foresaw that he must bleed to death before he could be landed at his inn, which was the nearest place for succour. . . . She rowed hard—rowed desperately, but never wildly—and seldom removed her eyes from him in the bottom of the boat. She had so laid him there as that she might see his disfigured face; it was so much disfigured that his mother might have covered it, but it was above and beyond disfigurement in her eyes. The boat touched the edge of inn lawn, sloping gently to the water. There were lights in the windows, but there chanced to be no one out of doors. She made the boat fast, and again by main strength took him up, and never laid him down until she laid him down in the house.”

The landing-place and patch of inn lawn, above indicated, may now be verified as belonging to the “RED LION” at Henley aforesaid. The lawn is a favourite standpoint for spectators interested in the HENLEY ROYAL REGATTA, which takes place every year usually about the beginning of July.

The marriage of Eugene and Lizzie took place at this same inn some weeks later, while it was yet uncertain that Eugene would recover; the _Rev. Frank Milvey_ officiating at the bedside, _Bella_ and her husband, _Mr. Lightwood_, _Mrs. Milvey_, and _Jenny Wren_ being duly in attendance—

“They all stood round the bed, and Mr. Milvey, opening his book, began the service, so rarely associated with the shadow of death; so inseparable in the mind from a flush of life and gaiety and health and hope and joy. Bella thought how different from her own sunny little wedding, and wept. Mrs. Milvey overflowed with pity, and wept too. The dolls’ dressmaker, with her hands before her face, wept in her golden bower. Reading in a low, clear voice, and bending over Eugene, who kept his eyes upon him, Mr. Milvey did his office with suitable simplicity. As the bridegroom could not move his hand, they touched his fingers with the ring, and so put it on the bride. When the two plighted their troth, she laid her hand on his, and kept it there. When the ceremony was done, and all the rest departed from the room, she drew her arm under his head, and laid her own head down on the pillow by his side. ‘Undraw the curtains, my dear girl,’ said Eugene, after a while, ‘and let us see our wedding-day.’ The sun was rising, and his first rays struck into the room, as she came back and put her lips to his. ‘I bless the day!’ said Eugene. ‘I bless the day!’ said Lizzie.”

[The clergyman and friends who assisted on this interesting occasion as above, left London from Waterloo Station. We may remember that Mrs. Rokesmith, escorted by Mr. Lightwood, came into town by rail from Greenwich. Thus they would change trains at WATERLOO JUNCTION, and adopt the _South-Western Route_ as being the more convenient, travelling to Reading, and driving thence to Henley. It was at this terminus that Bradley Headstone first heard (from Mr. Milvey) of the intended wedding, and was so seriously upset by the news, that an attack of epilepsy ensued in consequence. We thus read in chapter 11, book 4, with reference to Bella and her escort:—

“From Greenwich they started directly for London, and in London they waited at a railway station until such time as the Rev. Frank Milvey, and Margaretta, his wife, with whom Mortimer Lightwood had been already in conference, should come and join them. . . . Then the train rattled among the house-tops, and among the ragged sides of houses, torn down to make way for it, over the swarming streets, and under the fruitful earth, until it shot across the river. . . . A carriage ride succeeded near the solemn river. . . . They drew near the chamber where Eugene lay.”

This is certainly descriptive of the SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY, and is _not_ applicable to the Great Western Route.]

For full particulars the reader is referred to chapter 11, book 4. On the occasion of Bella Wilfer’s FIRST VISIT to Henley, and the introduction of the two girls to each other, as narrated in chapter 9,