resort to it in the bathing season find it a healthy little watering-place; and there are some very agreeable walks in its vicinity. Some of the houses about the hills have very extensive views. There is at Sandgate one of the castles, which were built in 1539 for the defence of this coast. When the coast was again forti

"Most gracious fool,

Get off that stool."

We will only add, that Folkestone was the birthplace of William Harvey, the discoverer of the circulation of the blood. Among the new things that have sprung up in Folkestone within the last two or three years, has been a literary institution, to which the name of 'The Harveian Institution' has been given; and within the last month or two, there has been a proposal started by some of the inhabitants to erect a statue here in memory of their great townsman; but the deed is not to be wholly Folkestonian, for we see by the county newspapers, that all Kent is asked to contribute.

SANDGATE: HYTHE.

Passing through the churchyard, we come upon a footpath that runs along the very edge of the cliff, all the way to Sandgate, and affords a pleasant breezy walk, with a broad, open sea prospect. The coachroad lies at the foot of the cliff. A stranger will hardly be tempted to linger at Sandgate, by the clean, quiet, rather prim look of its one street; but visitors who

gate was repaired and converted into a circular redoubt, with a large martello tower, mounting three guns, in the centre. In all, it was mounted with thirteen 24-pounders. Sandgate was at the same time made one of the military centres for the coast defences. A large encampment was formed on the heights, where, afterwards, extensive barracks were erected for artillery and infantry. Six martello towers were also built along the ridge of the cliffs; and the military canal was formed from Sandgate to Appledore. This canal commences by the road just outside Sandgate, and is carried in traverses (or in a zig-zag manner) along the edge of Romney Marsh, a distance of thirty miles, till it unites with the Rother, a few miles above Rye. The canal is from 60 to 70 feet wide, and about 9 feet deep. It is protected at the head by a battery; at each of the angles, which are about one-third of a mile apart, the embankment is pierced for heavy cannon, and station-houses for artillerymen were erected at certain intervals. The guns, however, were never mounted; nor was the canal ever completed as a military work: it has for some years been used for the conveyance of goods, but the traffic on it is inconsiderable.

Hythe, three miles beyond Sandgate, was once a seaport town, though now above half a mile distant from the sea. It was then a far more extensive place than it now is, having, according to Leland, "contained a fair abbey, and four parish churches that be now destroyed." It is by some said to have extended as far as West Hythe, which is now above two miles to the westward; but the more probable opinion is, that East Hythe, as it used to be called by way of distinction, grew up as West Hythe decayed, owing to the recession of the sea; in the same manner as West Hythe is believed to have arisen from the loss of the haven of Lympne, some miles further inland. Hythe was at an early date a place of importance, as is shown by its having been one of the original Cinque Ports. Its history is like that of other towns we have visited, and have yet to visit, along this coast, one of plunder by foes, and of change and decay from alterations in the land and ocean. The most remarkable circumstance is the contemplated abandonment of it, in the reign of Henry IV., owing to a combination of misfortunesthe loss of five ships and a hundred men at sea; the destruction of two hundred houses by fire; the death of a large proportion of its inhabitants by pestilence; and the decay of its haven. The king, however, relieved them from their liabilities, as one of the Ports, and granted to them several favours, in order to induce them to remain. The measures taken at this time for the restoration of the town appear to have been successful.

The present town, which consists of one principal street and some smaller ones diverging from it, lies at

the base of a steep hill, on the summit of which the church is seated. But it is supposed that formerly a good part of the town stood on the hill, where considerable traces of streets are easily discernible. Hythe has the appearance of a quiet and not unprosperous country town, of rather moderate size. It has accommodated itself to the changes that have occurred, and has so gradually contracted its dimensions, as to display no very evident signs of decay. It has the usual official buildings of a corporate town, and it has also a few old houses; but the only building of any general interest is the church, and that should be seen. Externally it is a massive, irregular pile; its heavy form rendered heavier by the huge buttresses with which it is strengthened. It has been built at several different periods: parts of it are Norman, while the chancel is early English; and some additions have been made at much later times. The chancel is by far the most interesting part of the building; indeed, it is, both inside and out, of very unusual beauty. Externally, the end of it, with the five graceful lancet windows, is especially worthy of notice; and not less the pleasing play of light and shadow, and of line, that is produced by the bold form of the buttresses as seen in connection with the entire gable. The interior is very striking: the lofty clusters of slender Sussex marble pillars which support the roof, and the handsome window, have a very fine effect. Other parts also deserve notice; but we must not run into details. Under the chancel is a remarkably fine groined crypt, admirably designed, and well finished. For its own sake it ought to be seen, as such crypts are far from common; but it is usually visited

for a very different reason. It contains an enormous quantity of human bones, piled up with great regularity, and preserved with much care. They were, it is said, collected from the sea-shore, and are by some thought to be the remains of Britons and Saxons slain in a battle fought on the beach, in the time of Vortimer, about the year 546; while others suppose them to have belonged to the Saxons and Danes, who, they affirm, fought there in the days of Ethelwolf. It is hardly worth while disputing about two or three hundred years in such a matter: enough for us that they are above a thousand years old, and that they were of warlike race. The skulls are in capital preservation, and as white as though fresh from the hands of the curator of Guy's. They would be just the thing to win the heart and stimulate the imagination of a craniologist. Here are skulls thick enough to have borne, one would think, the hammer of Thor without damage; there are others that might have been brained by a fan. Some of them are large enough to lead one to believe there were giants in the land in those days, while some might have belonged to a dancing-master. There seems to be no reason to doubt that these bones are very ancient; and the holes and fractures in the skulls, evidently made during life, -in many instances by a sharp-pointed instrument, like a pick,-prove plainly enough that they belonged to those who came to a violent death.

SALTWOOD CASTLE, LYMPNE, ETC.

Before renewing our journey along the coast, we must stroll a little way inland. It is but a short way that we propose to go, but it is seldom that so much of general interest can be met with in the like distance. Ascending the hill by Hythe church, a walk of about a mile northward brings us to the ruins of Saltwood Castle; but it will be best not to go the most direct road to them. The castle stands on the brow of a hill that overlooks a narrow valley, along which a little brook runs down into Hythe. The path which leads up this valley, though somewhat the farthest, is much the better way; but you need not pursue it all the way from Hythe. You can easily drop into it at almost any point from the hill. The valley itself is very beautiful; noble trees afford a pleasant shade, and make, with the peeps of distance, and patches of blue sky which are seen between them, many a charming picture. But, just at a turn of this valley, you get a view of the castle, set in a frame of richest foliage, so glorious, that the memory will not willingly let it pass away. (Cut, No. 7.) Saltwood Castle belonged to the Archbishops of Canterbury till the reign of Henry VIII., when Cranmer surrendered it to the king, or exchanged it for other lands. The outer walls enclosed an area of about three acres. Part of the walls are standing, as are also fragments of towers which defended them, but these are in a very ruinous condition. Within the walls are some remains of a hall, a chapel, and other apartments. But the most perfect relic is the Gate House, which was erected by Arch

bishop Courtney, in 1381. It is very lofty, with round towers at the angles, and has battlements and machicolations. The arms of the archbishop are sculptured over the doorway. The Castle is placed on very elevated ground, and the view from the top of the Gate House reaches inland over a wide extent of splendid scenery, and over the sea, as far as the French coast. The Gate House is as handsome a pile close at hand as it appeared to be at a distance: of its time and style there are not many finer left. It is now occupied as a farmhouse. The grey massive fragments of towers and walls, with the ivy that climbs so luxuriantly over them, are also very picturesque when regarded as near objects.

From Saltwood Castle you may pass (after a glance at the church and village) by a succession of right pleasant field paths, to Lympne, where are some more architectural relics to examine, and some more noble prospects to be gazed over. But these prospects have something more than their mere beauty to render them interesting. This little gathering of houses along the hill top derives its name of Lympne, or Lymne, from its marking the site of the Roman Lemanæ, and the green meadow below is their Portus Lemanianus. Wonderful have been the changes here since Roman ships came to anchor under the cliffs on which we are standing. Now, at the nearest point the sea is more than two miles distant; but, on casting the eye around, it is soon seen that the change had commenced long before the Romans knew this spot. The hills that from Hythe have boldly swept away from the sea, we perceive, preserve all along a cliff-like steepness on the seaward side; and they continue their cliff-like character till they bear round again, some miles to the westward of us, so as to form a noble inland bay. And this, doubtless, it has been. Against these hills the waves once beat, and the low level tract that now stretches between them and the sea was covered by the waters. Now this tract-the well-known Romney Marsh-reaches in unbroken flatness a length of some fifteen miles, and a width of seven at the centre of the bay. Not within the compass of English history has this tract been much other than it now is; many an old town and village is scattered along it, and testifies to its having been firm land these 800 or 900 years; but we have ample evidence that during that time the sea has receded here, and we have evidence also that it continues to recede.

The building on the edge of this hill, popularly called Lympne Castle, is a castellated mansion of the fifteenth century. Though not a castle, it is strong enough to be one. Its massive form is very striking as a whole, and it has many good architectural features. The porch entrance on the northern side may be pointed out as one. It was originally a residence of the archdeacons of Canterbury: it is now a farm-house. Closely connected with the archdeacon's house is Lympne Church, a huge, heavy structure; very plain, but impressive, on account of its massiveness. It appears to have been constructed with the resolution

These buildings, as will be seen, have no connection with the ancient Lemana; though, from the former size of the church, we may infer that, in the Norman era, the place retained some of its ancient consequence. But there are relics that testify palpably to the abode here of that people who seem to have stamped almost indelibly their impress upon every spot they sojourned on. The Roman road that connected this place with Canterbury is to be easily traced, and in parts remains in something like a sound state: it is yet called Stone-street. Of the various articles that are generally known as Roman remains,' many specimens are still found, as we shall presently show they used to be found three centuries ago. But the chief memorial is a Roman building of large size, that stands in a meadow at the base, and partly on the slope of the hill, which has Lympne Church and Castle on its summit. This time-honoured pile, which is known as Studfall Castle, is now terribly dilapidated. When Leland examined it about 1540, it was in a much more complete state; we therefore shall quote the careful old antiquary's account of it it will be seen that he mistakes it for a British edifice, but that is of little consequence; we need hardly say that the Britons were not adepts enough in architecture to raise such a building, and we have already pointed out that the large bricks he mentions are Roman. He says: "There remaineth at this day the ruins of a strong fortress of the Britons, hanging on the hill, and coming down to the very foot. The compass of the fortress seemeth to be a ten acres, and belike it had some wall beside that stretched up to the very top of the hill, where now is the parish church, and the archdeacon's house of Canterbury. The old walls of Britons' bricks, very large, and great flint set together almost indissolubly, with mortar made of small pebble. The walls be very thick, and in the west end of the Castle appeareth the base of an old tower. About this Castle, in time out of mind, were found antiquities of many of the Romans."

Close by, on the northern bank of the Military Canal, is another historical ruin, almost as mere a fragment as that we have just been looking at, but of a very different kind. This is Court-à-street Chapel, famous as the place wherein Elizabeth Barton, the Holy Maid of Kent,' affirmed that she held intercourse with spiritual beings. The strange extent to which the delusion spread, and the many eminent persons who became involved in the terrible consequences attendant upon its being converted into a political measure, as well as the miserable fate of the unfortunate woman, are known to every one who has looked ever so carelessly into English history.

There are still other architectural remains within a short distance, but we will not seek after them. From Court-à-street Chapel we may return alongside the canal to Hythe, which is only about four miles distant.

ROMNEY MARSH: ROMNEY.

On leaving Hythe we enter upon a bleak and dreary region:-flat, sandy, and, as Johnson said of some such a place, “naked of all vegetable decoration." Till we reach the Dymchurch Wall-which, however, is not above four miles off-the view, even of the sea, is shut out by the bank, and the eye can only rest upon the barrenness around, or note the painful efforts of a few stunted trees to draw a starveling existence from the sand and shingle.

When looking from the ridge of Lympne Hill, we were able to see where had been a magnificent bay within a geologically recent, though uncertain, period. Here we may readily make out the bounds of a small bay or haven that has existed within the reach of history. It has the general crescent-like form of a shallow bay; the extreme points being Shorn Cliff, between Sandgate and Hythe, and the spot where the Romney road first touches Dymchurch Wall; and it extends back to the hill. The chord of this crescent is rather under four miles. The whole space included between these points is sand and shingle beach, just such as would be produced by the silting-up of a harbour. Close under the hills alone, where it was first left by the receding sea, has any useful vegetation secured a hold; while southward of the Military Canal, only the hard dry grasses, and a few patches of furze, have here and there won a place as precursors of future fertility. This tract points out distinctly enough the site and the form of the Portus Lemanianus, though very likely its area was much more limited than the outline we have indicated.

At the extremity of this barren region we come upon a tract as low and flat, and, doubtless, once as barren, but now no less remarkably fertile. Let us mount Dymchurch Wall and look over this district. Very strange to one accustomed to the undulations of a hilly country is the appearance of Romney Marsh. Far away as the eye can reach, nearly, is a uniform level surface, of the richest verdure. No hedges break its continuity, and only about a scattered homestead, or where a few roofs and a church-tower point out a little village, are any trees seen. Neither waving corn-fields nor dusky fallows anywhere vary the prospect. The whole extent is laid down as pastureground; broad trenches serve at once to drain and to