Xx **

the little stream on which the town is situated, and signifying
"water," which accounts for the Latinised "Dubris" and the
French "Douvres." At one period the sea washed over portions
of the borough which are now covered with chards and flints, and
converted into serviceable highways,-buildings, in fact, at this
time stand where once the waves were wont to rush in with many
a gentle murmur. It is difficult to say at what time this former
state of things existed, or by what period the sea had altogether
receded to its present limits; but in a picture of the Roman
Dubris which we have seen, the town is surrounded by four high
walls, and is further protected by the sea flowing some little
distance up the valley, the river, then evidently much wider than
now, doubtless carrying the brackish waters towards Ewell, a lovely
modern suburb of Dover. Gradually, however, the waters receded,
and, as years rolled away, a green sward perhaps covered what
had been the sea-shore, and the old burghers used to sit under the
shade of lofty trees standing where, once upon a time, ships had
anchored-it may be, the identical vessel which brought Julius
Cæsar to this country, B.C. 55.

Situated as it were on the very threshold of the kingdom, and
possessing natural defences of the most impregnable character, it
is not at all surprising that there should be connected with Dover
many deeply-interesting historical associations. Those who are
well-initiated in the mysteries of antiquarian lore, and who take
part in the characteristic controversies of archeologists, tell us
that in all probability the inhabitants of the coast received visits
from the Gauls and others even before the invasion of Cæsar, for

the ancient Britons were then discovered to be the possessors, not only of war-chariots, but also of horses to make them serviceable in their defence, and it is pretty clear that they were indebted to their occasional visitors for those great advantages, which they probably procured by means of some recognised system of exchange, no Chancellor of the Exchequer existing then to frame laws for a commercial treaty of any kind.

Our object, though, is not to deal at any great length with the details of the ancient annals of Dover, which are familiar to all who have even cursorily studied English history generally, and we will therefore merely trace those main incidents of which a review is necessary in order to introduce our remarks upon the present condition of the town. William the Conqueror did a great deal to add to the strength of Dover, and there are at the present moment a few traces of the wall which was probably built at his instigation, to confine the circumscribed limits of the place. While, however, efforts were being made in that way to protect the port from exterior dangers, the interior of Dover was visited by a more ruthless enemy-fire; for during the reign of the Conqueror we find that the inhabitants participated in the excitement of a general conflagration, which did serious damage. In almost every subsequent reign the town appears to have been more or less the scene of various stirring events, its nearness to France, its natural strength, and the means taken to fortify it against invasion, giving it considerable importance in the estimation of the respective sovereigns of England.

Of all its defences, the principal stronghold was naturally the

**

Dover Castle, whose attractive and imposing proportions at the
present day are so beautifully depicted in our photographic
illustrations. History is very prolific of details concerning this
fortress, and Darell's "Dover Castle "-a work published in the
reign of her who is best known as "Good Queen Bess "—tells us
that Hengist the Saxon, in the year of our Lord 460, appointed
his brother Horsa to the post of Governor of the Castle and
Warden of the Ports. The latter high office, after falling into
disuse, was revived by Edward the Confessor, and exists to the
present day, being now filled by the Right Hon. the Earl of
Granville, K.G. It would take a volume of itself to do justice
to the history of this ancient appointment, which, Mr. Edward
Knocker says, in his valuable work, "The Grand Court of
Shepway," was made permanent by William the Conqueror soon
after his seizure of the kingdom, the King "constituting one of
his Norman barons Constable of Dover Castle, Warden, Chan-
cellor, and Admiral of the Cinque Ports," which comprised Dover,
Sandwich, New Romney, Hastings, Hythe, all in Kent, with two
"Ancient Towns," Rye and Winchelsea, in Sussex. Earl Granville
is the one hundred and forty-eighth Lord Warden, the first in the
long list of famous men being Godwyne, Earl of Kent, who died
A.D. 1053, in the reign of Edward the Confessor; and Earl Gran-
ville's immediate predecessors being the late Lord Palmerston,
the Marquis of Dalhousie, Governor-General of India, and the
Duke of Wellington, who, in his official capacity, rode over from
Walmer Castle (where he was staying) to Dover, only a few days
before his death.

Longfellow thus graphically describes the sudden death of the

old Duke:

"Sandwich and Romney, Hastings, Hythe, and Dover,

Were all alert that day,

To see the French war-steamers speeding over,
When the fog cleared away.

"And now they roared at drum-beat from their stations,
On every citadel;

Each answering each, with morning salutations,
That all was well.

"And down the coast, all taking up the burden,
Replied the distant forts,

As if to summon from his sleep the Warden,
And Lord of the Cinque Ports.

"No more, surveying with an eye impartial

The long line of the coast,

Shall the gaunt figure of the old Field-Marshal
Be seen upon his post.

"For in the night, unseen, a single warrior,

In sombre harness mailed,

Dreaded of man, and surnamed the Destroyer,
The rampart-wall has scaled.

"He did not pause to parley or dissemble,

But smote the Warden hoar;

Ah! what a blow! that made all England tremble,
And groan from shore to shore."

The Lord Warden ruled with almost Royal sway in the district which came under his control, and the acts of those who filled the office, especially after the privileges conferred upon the Cinque Ports, which constituted the little kingdom, by the Magna Charta, formed, in successive generations, important

"Footprints on the sands of time."