headless figure of a Virgin and Child, having a mantle fastened across the breast by a fibula set with glass in imitation of precious stones. This was generally supposed to be the figure of Our Lady of Chatham.

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CHAPTER XI.

Chatham.-Rochester and Stroud.-Rochester Bridge and Castle.-Aylesford.-Birth-place of Sir Charles Sedley.

Hengist and Horsa.

Remarkable Cromlechs.

Kit's

Cotty House.-The Rood of Grace, and Tricks of the Monks of Boxley.-Penenden Heath.

E now, having rounded a considerable bend in the river, arrive within sight of the three adjoining towns of Chatham, Rochester, and Stroud, or as the soldiers billeted upon the

inhabitants call them, Cheat'em, Rob'em, and Starve'em. Chatham extends along the east bank of the Medway, and is a long, straggling ill-built town, which contains a large population, and has an air of considerable bustle and business. In the Domesday Book it is called Coeltham, and Ceteham, and is described as having a church, and six fisheries value twelve pence. It remained but an insignificant place until the time of Elizabeth, when the Dock was erected, and then was laid the foundation

of its present importance. Camden describes it as "stored for the finest fleet the sun ever beheld, and ready at a minute's warning, built lately by our gracious sovereign Elizabeth, at great expense, for the security of her subjects and the terror of her enemies, with a fort on the shore for its defence."

James I. and Charles I. increased the dock and raised many additional buildings. In the reign of Charles II. a first-rate ship of one hundred guns called the Royal Sovereign was built here, and the King visited the docks to inspect the ship before she was launched.

Many large vessels have since been constructed here, including the ill-fated Royal George, in which the brave Kempenfeldt and his twice five hundred men were buried in the deep.

In the eighteenth century, during nearly the whole of which England was at war either with one nation or another, great additions were made to the town and docks of Chatham. In the year 1758 when the country was threatened with invasion, an Act of Parliament was passed for the purchase of additional lands, and the erection of such works as might be necessary to secure this important arsenal from the attempts of an enemy. The famous fortification called the Lines of Chatham were forthwith commenced, and were continued from the banks of the Medway above the Ordnance Wharf round an oblong plot of ground, measuring about half a mile in width and a mile in length to the extremity of the dock-yard, where they again join the Medway. Within this area, besides the naval establishment, are included the upper and lower barracks, which have been built for the garrison, the church of Chatham and the hamlet of Brompton, the latter of modern origin. Various additions have been made to the security of the place since 1758, and another act was

passed in 1782 for the purchase of lands and the erection of buildings.

It was here that the British army was to have taken up its position if Buonaparte had effected a landing upon our shores, and the fate of himself and of England to have been decided. During the late war twenty large forges were continually at work, and some of the anchors made weighed as much as fourteen tons. The Rope House is nearly twelve hundred feet in length, where cables are made one hundred and twenty fathoms long, and twenty-two inches in circumference. There are altogether four docks for repairing, and six slips for building ships. Over the entrance the Lords of the Admiralty in the year 1806, ordered the shattered mainmast of Lord Nelson's ship the "Victory" to be placed as a memorial of the decisive battle of Trafalgar, and as a memento of great deeds, to be continually in the sight of our seamen.

The "Chest of Chatham," for the relief of aged and destitute sailors, was established in the reign of Elizabeth, each of the men in her fleet contributing a portion of his pay for the relief of the sufferers after the defeat of the Spanish Armada. It was much forwarded by the exertions of the Earl of Nottingham,