adorn." What a picture is this of the wild luxuriance of nature
devastating the trim and chiselled glories of art! Next is Scotney
Castle, the ancient part of which is said to have been a fortress in the
reign of Richard II.; the moat still remains. The author hints that the
tour may be advantageously extended to Bodiam Castle; Winchelsea, near
which is Camber, one of the fortresses built by Henry VIII. to guard the
south coast; Battle Abbey, founded by William the Norman, and calling up
in review the battle of Hastings, and the Bayeaux tapestry; the Roman
fort of Pevensey; and Hurstmonceaux Castle built by Roger Fiennes,
treasurer to King Henry VI. Returning to the Wells, and in the more
immediate vicinity, are Somer Hill, whose chase, manor, and
appurtenances were conveyed by Queen Elizabeth to her favourite Dudley,
Earl of Leicester, and subsequently to the widow of the magnanimous but
ill-fated Earl of Essex; also, Great Bounds, of the age of Elizabeth,
and conveyed to her relative Henry Cary, Lord Hunsden. Come we then to
Tunbridge Castle, built by De Tonbridge, a kinsman of the Conqueror, who
came with the invaders to share the spoil of their victory: "here, it is
said, he congregated his retainers and vassals. These were all called
into active service soon after the death of William I.," for De
Tonbridge, (or Earl Clare, as he had been created,) espoused the cause
of Robert Curtoise, in opposition to William Rufus, who had seized the
crown. The castle is described by Mr. Britton with interesting and not
dry-as-dust minuteness, although only some dilapidated and almost
undefinable fragments remain. Tunbridge Priory and the Free Grammar
School are next mentioned, the latter in connexion with Dr. Vicesimus
Knox, who was master of the school for some years.

[6] See _Mirror_, vol. xiv. p. 66, and vol. xviii. p. 225.

Let us hope that the frequenters of the Wells will not, in their grave