, we all ventured
out through the wind and snow to visit Dover Castle, situated upon the
bleak cliffs to the north of the town....

"The castle, with its various towers and walls and outworks, has been the
constant care of the Government for ages. Here are the remains of every
age from the time of the Romans to the present. About the centre of the
enclosure stand two ancient ruins, the one a tower built by the Romans,
thirty-six years after Christ, and the other a rude church built by the
Saxons in the sixth century. Other remains of towers and walls indicate
the various kinds of defensive and offensive war in different ages, from
the time when the round or square tower, with its loopholes for the
archers and crossbowmen, and gates secured by heavy portcullis, were a
substantial defence, down to the present time, when the bastion of
regular sides advances from the glacis, mounted with modern ordnance,
keeping at a greater distance the hostile besiegers.

"Through the glacis in various parts are sally-ports, from one of which,
opening towards the road to Ramsgate, I well remember seeing a corporal's
guard issue, about fifteen years ago, to take possession of me and my
sketch-book, as I sat under a hedge at some distance to sketch the
picturesque towers of this castle. Somewhat suspicious of their
intentions, I left my retreat, and, by a circuitous route into the town,
made my escape; not, however, without ascertaining from behind a distant
hedge that I was actually the object of their expedition. They went to
the spot where I had been sitting, made a short search, and then returned
to the castle through the same sally-port.

"At that time (a time of war not only with France but America also) the
strictest watch was kept, and to have been caught making the slightest
sketch of a fortification would have subjected me to much trouble. Times
are now changed, and had Jack Frost (the only commander of rigor now at
the castle) permitted, I might have sketched any part of the interior or
exterior."

"_Boulogne-sur-Mer, France, December 29, 1829._ This morning at ten
o'clock, after our tedious detention, we embarked from Dover in a steamer
for this place instead of Calais. I mentioned the steamer, but, cousin,
if you have formed any idea of elegance, or comfort, or speed in
connection with the name of steamer from seeing our fine steamboats, and
have imagined that English or French boats are superior to ours, you may
as well b