wall. This latter, being the immediate inlet to the body of the Keep, was defended by a massive gate, and portcullis, the hinges and grooves of which remain; and in the roof are openings, for the purpose of showering destruction on the heads of assailants.

The interior of the Keep is divided by a strong wall into two nearly equal parts, communicating, however, by open arches on each floor. In the centre of this wall is a Well of considerable depth, two feet nine inches in diameter, neatly wrought, opening to the very top of the Keep, and having an arch of communication on every floor. The floors were three in number, independent of the basement story; but these were removed in the reign of James the First, when the Castle was dismantled: the openings in the walls in which the ends of the timbers were lodged, evince the latter to have been of great thickness, though none of them now remain. The basement story was low and gloomy; the only light which it received being admitted through seven small loopholes, which opened inwardly, of a conical figure: here the muni tion and stores for the use of the garrison were deposited. In the north-east angle is a circular winding staircase, which ascends from the ground to the summit of the Keep; and within the south wall is a square passage, or funnel, which also communicates with the upper floors, and, from its singularity, has given rise to much fanciful speculation: the precise uses to which it was assigned, are certainly difficult to ascertain, yet the supposition that it was intended for the conveyance of military stores to the upper parts of the Keep, without incumbering the staircase, is entitled to some attention. On the north side is a dark flight of steps, leading to the dungeon, a small vaulted apartment, almost without light, ranging beneath the lower story of the entrance tower.

The first floor, which seems to have been that occupied by the soldiery, and into which was the entrance from without, was twenty-two feet in height. On this floor, besides seven loop-holes, of a somewhat less cautious construction than those beneath, were two spacious conical fire-places, gradually contracting to the outer part of the walls, where small apertures were left to give issue to the smoke. Another, but smaller, fire-place, is contained in a lit

tle apartment within the north-west angle; and here also were two very curiously-contrived, and well-defended, windows, designed to command a view of what was passing on the steps of the entrance. Within the east wall of this floor is a gallery, together with some private apartments; the openings into which were singularly well calculated for the security of those who might be there stationed to watch the proceedings of a besieging army, In the south-east angle begins a second circular staircase, which, as well as that in the opposite tower, ascends to the top of the Keep,

The second floor consisted of the State apartments, and was more ornamental and lofty than either of the others: the height was twenty-eight feet. These apartments communicated by four large semicircular arches, formed in the partition wall, and sus tained by massive columns and half columns, curiously wrought, and about eighteen feet high. The arches, as well as those of the two large fire-places on this floor, (which are of similar form to those before mentioned,) are decorated with rich zig-zag mouldings, of a varied and complex character. Within the thickness of the wall, round the upper part of this floor, is a gallery which tra, verses the whole Keep, and receives light from without through about twenty-five small windows: the exteriors of these were more highly finished than any of the former openings; and inwardly they appear to have been secured by wooden shutters, the hinges and bar-holes of which still remain. This gallery was also open to the state apartments by six arches on each side.

The upper floor was about sixteen feet high, and has likewise a gallery, with openings both within and without, similar to the preceding, From the remains of a large arch in the south-east corner, it seems highly probable that the Chapel was placed here; though this cannot absolutely be determined;* the destruction of this angle in the wars between King Johan and his Barons, and its

subsequent

* From a dateless rescript in the Regisrum Roffense, it appears that there was a Chapel in the Castle, named the King's Chapel; and the Ministers that officiated in it were called the King's Chaplains: their stipend was fifty shillings a year.' Hist. of Rochester, p. 33.

subsequent re-edification in a different style of architecture, having caused some small alteration in the plan of the building, as árranged by Bishop Gundulph.

The roof of the Keep, as well as the floors, has been entirely destroyed: it most probably consisted of a platform on a level with the top of the wall within the parapet: the latter was about five feet high, and had embrazures about two feet wide. The four towers at the angles were raised another story; and had alsó small platforms, with parapets and embrazures. These, as well as the platform, command a very noble and extensive view over the whole city, the river Medway, and all the adjacent country; so that no enemy could approach within the distance of several miles without being discovered. The gutters which conveyed the water from the platform, are still perfect. The entrance tower contained two apartments, the openings into which from without, though small, are less contracted than those on the same floors in the Keep: this also was crowned by a platform, surrounded by a parapet, and embrazured.

All the walls are composed of the common Kentish rag-stone, cemented by a strong grout or mortar; in the composition of which, immense quantities of sea-shells were used, and which has acquired, from age, a consistency, equal, if not superior, to the stone itself. The coigns are of the yellow kind of stone, said to have been brought from Caen, in Normandy: the window-frames, together with the mouldings round the principal entrance, the faces of the columns in the state apartments, and the arches above, as well as those of the fire-place, and the steining of the Well, are all of this stone; but the vaultings of the galleries, together with the staircases, and all the arches within the walls themselves, are formed of the rude rag-stones, which seem to have been placed on wooden centres, and the grout poured over them in so liquid à state, as to fill up every crevice, and unite the whole in one impervious mass. The masonry of the south-eastern or circular tower, though of a different age, is essentially the same; but the coigns are of free-stone: at the base may yet be traced the square foundations of the original tower, which stood here prior to the

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siege in the time of King John. About the beginning of the last century, an attempt, originating in sordid motives, was made to destroy the whole of this venerable fabric; but this, through the solidity of the walls, was found to be too expensive an enterprize, and was therefore abandoned on the same principles from which it had originated.

The SEE of ROCHESTER, though one of the most ancient, is at the same time one of the smallest in England; and those only of Glocester and Oxford are stated in the King's books as inferior in value. It was founded about the year 600, by Ethelbert, King of Kent, together with a PRIORY of Secular Canons, in honor of St. Andrew, to whose powerful intercession was ascribed many signal instances of Divine favor, and various miracles. Augustine, the Apostle of Britain, and first Archbishop of Canterbury, on the completion of the Cathedral Church which Ethelbert had founded, (anno 604,) conferred the episcopal dignity on Justus, a prelate of eminent learning and integrity, who had been sent from Rome to assist in the conversion of the Saxons to Christianity. From this period the See of Rochester has been held in succession by ninety-three Bishops, many of whom have been famous for their talents, piety, benevolence, and extensive acquirements.

Paulinus, the third Bishop, who had previously held the See of York, and was established here in 633, was, after his decease in 644, reputed as a Saint; and his memory acquired so much renown in after ages, that his relics were removed from the vestry, or sacristy, of the Church erected by Ethelbert, where they had been

"Ethelbert's Church was dedicated to St. Andrew, as a token of respect to the Monastery of St. Andrew at Rome, from which Augustine, and his brethren, were sent to convert the Anglo-Saxons; and, after the Church was rebuilt, Lanfranc did not change the name of its tutelary Saint, as he did in his own Cathedral, the Primate having such confidence in this Apostle, that he never transmitted by Gundulph any principal donation, without entreating the Bishop to chaunt the Lord's prayer once for him at the altar of St. Andrew." Denne's Mem. of the Cath, Ch. of Rochester, printed in the Custumale Roffense, p. 154.