ACCOUNT OF DOVER; ITS ROMANTIC SITUATION AND EXTENT; ITS CHURCHES; ITS PIER AND HARBOUR; EARL OF HARDWICKE; CASTLE OF DOVER; BLANCHARD AND JEFFERIES; ITS BEACH; LANDING OF CHARLES THE SECOND; FATHER OF SIR SIDNEY SMITH; CHURCHILL; SHAKESPEARE'S CLIFF; PASSAGE FROM DOVER ΤΟ CALAIS ; FOLKSTONE; HYTHE; HUMAN BONES; CINQUE PORTS; THEIR ANTIQUITY AND USEFULNESS; ROMNEY, RYE, AND HASTINGS; FAREWELL TO THE SEA.

MY WORTHY YOUNG FRIEND,

HAVING in my last letter conducted you into

the ancient town of Dover-an account of this place now calls for our attention. Its situation, extent, and history, offer many particulars to the inquisitive mind. We cannot fail of being gratified by inquiries relative to a spot so frequently mentioned in the annals of our country.

DOVER, at the distance of seventy-two miles from London, enjoys a romantic situation. Entering it from Canterbury, you pass through a valley of some length, in which (as has been already mentioned) stands the village of Buckland. The hills. on each side have an interesting aspect-and being market day, I met the good country folks jogging along encircled by the fruits of their industry. The entrance into the town has an antique appearThe Castle, on the left, frowns from on high, and the opposite hill, boldly facing the ocean, has the town stretched at its base, in an envied security. Thus circumstanced, my emotions were

ance.

of a singular kind. Nor was my love of novelty the less gratified by the recollection that I was now approaching one of the principal extremities of the Island of Great Britain.

Mr. Hasted is of opinion, that this was the place where Julius Cæsar first intended to have landed in Britain. This he infers from a passage in his Commentaries, where Cæsar declares, that seeing the cliffs covered with Britons in arms, and observing that the sea being narrow and pent in by the hills, the Britons could easily throw their darts from thence on the shore beneath, he sailed eight miles farther, and came upon a plain and open shore. This spot, in the account of Deal, has been already noticed.

The town, about a mile in length, is large, but scattered, containing 14,000 inhabitants. Snargate-street is so confined by hills that it has a terrific appearance; but length of ages has shewn that the inhabitants are in safety. Dover has a market on Wednesday and Saturday, together with a fair in November, which has three market days. The town has the privilege of trying all offences committed within its liberties and jurisdiction. They have the power of life and death; for two men were, in November, 1817, executed here for forgery. St. Mary the Virgin, and St. James the Apostle, are the two parishes-the former being by far of the greater extent. The church of St. Mary is a handsome structure, consisting of three aisles, and enriched with monuments. The organ is reckoned a capital instrument; and in the tower is a good

peal of eight bells. The late Rev. John Lyon was long the incumbent, to whose ingenious account of Dover this narrative stands indebted. When once (July, 1808) I visited Dover, I attended the morning worship at St. Mary's: an excellent sermon was delivered by the curate, and the whole service conducted with great seriousness and propriety. The Rev. Wm. Tournay, the incumbent of St. James's, is also a gentleman of learning and piety.

of the two

St. Mary's
Surely this

The election both of Mayor and Members of Parliament is held in church, to the violation of decency. impropriety ought to find a remedy. There were formerly more churches in Dover; the remains of one, indeed, at this day, constitute a dwellinghouse inhabited by the late Mr. William Ashdown, who has published several pieces for the elucidation of the Holy Scriptures. The Dissenters in this town are numerous and respectable. The places of worship belonging to the General Baptists and to the Calvinists stand near each other; but difference of opinion among persons who worship so close together, is not suffered to interrupt the harmony of their devotion. To love one another is the first and purest precept of Christianity. The General Baptists have it in contemplation to build a larger and more commodious place of worship. The Society had for its pastor, about a century ago, Mr. Samuel Taverner, who had been governor of Deal Castle. But relinquishing the pursuit of worldly honours, he avowed the profession of his

religion, suffered nobly for conscience' sake, and to the last discharged the duties of the ministerial office with fidelity.

The pier and harbour of Dover are capacious, and have, at different times, proved expensive. Ships of four or five hundred tons enter with safety. The advantages of the harbour have been felt by vessels in distress passing through the Channel. The Dover seamen deserve praise for their humanity on these occasions. Of the public buildings in Dover, the following require mention-the Victualling-Office was anciently the hospital of the Maison Dieu. It is the only place of the kind between Portsmouth and Sheerness; hence all ships belonging to the navy, and lying in the Downs, receive their provisions. The appellation Maison Dieu is literally the House of God, being formerly devoted to purposes of devotion. The Town Hall stands in the market-place, rather antique in its appearance; here are some good portraits, together with a fine print, representing the embarkation of King Henry the Eighth at Dover, May 31, 1520, preparatory to his interview with Francis the First, of famous memory. The Theatre, in Snargate-street, answers also the purpose of assembly-rooms. The Apollo and the Albion Libraries, both contain an ample collection of books, and the London papers are taken in for the use of subscribers.

This town gave birth to the Lord Chancellor, Philip York, Earl of Hardwicke, whose ancestors had been settled here for generations. The Earl

died, universally regretted, in 1764 of him it was justly said, at his decease, that, "convinced of the great principles of religion, and steady in the practice of its duties, he maintained a reputation for virtue, which added dignity to the station he filled, and authority to the law he administered. His attachment also to the national church was accompanied with a full conviction that a tender regard to the rights of conscience, and a temper of lenity and moderation, are not only right in them+ selves, but most conducive in their consequences to the honour and interest of the church. strongest recommendation of the clergy to him for the bestowment of preferments was their fitness to discharge the duties of their profession.”

The

The Castle of Dover, supposed to have been built by Julius Cæsar, but probably raised by the Romans at a subsequent period, merits attention. It has a venerable appearance, and seated on the summit of a lofty cliff, looks down with grandeur upon the surrounding country: a great part of a morning, accompanied by some obliging friends, passed away in its examination. Ascending the side of a steep hill, we enter the Castle through a lofty gate-way, where a person in waiting conducts strangers to every object worthy of attention. But as it takes up near thirty-five acres of ground, I shall only touch on those objects which are interesting to the traveller. Passing several buildings, appropriated to a variety of purposes, we reach an open lawn, where we meet with the brass cannon, peculiarly wrought, twenty-four feet long,