"Well, I don't mind astonishing the natives for once in a way," replied Freddy, "but it's dreadfully debauched, eating oysters and drinking porter at this time of day or night, whichever you are pleased to call it; you'll ruin my morals." "Eh? Mrs. Lot?" interrupted Lawless, coming up to | last night; capital brown stout, Sir, 'real Guinness !" us, "why was she like me? do you give it up? Because "That's it, my man," was the rejoinder, "trot 'em she got into a pretty pickle, there's a riddle for you. I out, by all means. Freddy, old boy," he continued, ay, I made a nice mess of it just now, didn't I? that's" come along in with us, and have some." what comes of going to these confounded balls. The fact was," he continued, sinking his voice, "the filly bolted with me; she took uncommon kindly to the champagne at supper; in consequence, she was so fresh when we started, that I could'nt hold her; she kept pushing on faster and faster, till at last she was fairly off with me; we did very well as long as we stuck to the open country, but we contrived to get among some very awkward fences; the first stiff bit of timber we came to she made a rush at, and down we came, gate-I mean, table, candlestick, and all, a regular smash, and to make matters worse, one of the candles set the other young woman's petticoat alight." "In fact, after a very severe run, you were nearly being in at the death," suggested Coleman. "By Jove, it was nothing to laugh at though," resumed Lawless; "she'd have been regularly cooked, if Frank Fairlegh hadn't put her out when he did, and I should have been tried for 'Unjustifiable Girl-icide,' or "Maliciously setting fire to a Marriageable Female," or some such thing; and I dare say the young woman wasn't insured anywhere; I should have got into a pretty mess; it would have been a worse job than breaking Shrimp." "Frederick, look here!" cried Lucy Markham, who was passing the place where we stood; "see how Mr. Fairlegh's sleeve is scorched; surely," she continued, turning to me, "your arm must be injured." "It begins to feel rather painful," replied I, "but I daresay it's nothing to signify." Come to my room," exclaimed Freddy, anxiously. "Why did you not mention it before?" Really I scarcely felt it in the excitement of the moment," returned I;" it can't be of any consequence." On removing the coat-sleeve, however, a somewhat considerable burn was apparent, extending about half way from the wrist to the elbow, and which, the moment it was exposed to the air, became excessively painful. Fortunately, amongst the guests who had not yet taken their departure, was the surgeon of the neighbourhood, who was speedily summoned, and who, after having applied the proper remedies, recommended me to carry my arm in a sling for a few days, at the end of which time, he assured me, it would cause me little inconvenience. As it was, by great good luck, my left arm which was injured, I submitted to this mandate with tolerable resignation, and returned to the drawing-room to be pitied by the tongues of the old, and the bright eyes of the young ladies, to an extent which (as at that time of day I was somewhat addicted to the vice of shyness) was more flattering than agreeable. "The devil fly away with your morals," was the polite rejoinder; and in we all went together. The oysters and porter soon made their appearance, and had ample justice done them; then, as a matter of course, spirits and water and cigars were produced, "just to prevent the oysters from disagreeing with us;" and we sat talking over old times, and relating various adventures which had occurred to us since, without troubling our heads about the flight of minutes. At length Coleman, pulling out his watch, exclaimed, "Past four o'clock, by the powers! I must be getting to bed, -I've got a lease to draw to-morrow, and my head won't be over clear, as it is." "Nonsense," replied Lawless, "bed's all a popular delusion; we can't be better off than we are-sit still;" but on Coleman's persisting in his wish to depart, Lawless continued,-"Well, take another glass, and then Frank and I will walk home with you, and see you safe, for it's my belief that you're getting screwed,' or you'd never think of going to bed." Freddy and I exchanged glances, for if any of our party were in the condition expressed by the mysterious word 'screwed', it certainly was Lawless himself. After sitting some little time longer, we once more sallied forth, with the avowed intention of seeing Coleman home. ORFORD CASTLE. AMONGST the thousands of tourists from south to north, in these times of extended intercourse between all parts of this beautiful island by steam navigation, who has not, whilst inhaling the bracing breeze and careering gaily over the "boundless and sublime," observed on the coast of Suffolk, between Harwich harbour and Aldeburgh, famous for being the birthplace of Crabbe, a castle rearing its proud front in broad relief against the western sky? Between those two light-houses, and at a short distance from that low, shingly, and barren shore denominated the Ness, broad, massive, stern, and grey stand the remains of Orford Castle, a mighty stronghold of feudal times, associated with the imperishable names of the Malet, the Bigod, It was between two and three o'clock when Lawless the Despenser, and other "barons bold," who conand I prepared to take our departure for the inn attributed to form the chivalrous host of the Norman which we were to sleep. Being a lovely night, Coleman volunteered to accompany us for the sake of the walk, telling the servants not to sit up for him, as he had a latch-key in his pocket, an article, regarding the possession of which, a constant civil war was carried on between his mother and himself, wherein by dint of sundry well-contrived stratagems, and deeply-laid schemes, he invariably gained the victory. "I tell you what," said Lawless, "the row and bother, and the whole kick up altogether, has made me alarmingly hungry; the only decent bit of chicken I managed to lay hands on at supper, Di Clapperton ate; precious twist that girl has, to be sure; even after all the ground she's been over to night, going a topping pace the whole time too, she wasn't a bit off her feed; didn't she walk into the ham sandwiches? that's all ! I'd rather keep her for a week than a fortnight, I can tell you; she'd eat her head off in a month, and no mistake. Here, waiter," he continued, "have you got any thing to eat in the house?" "Yes, Sir, splendid barrel of oysters down by coach conqueror. Orford Castle stands upon a commanding eminence on the north-west side, or, in military phrase, on the right bank of the river Ore. By day, in clear weather, it serves as a land-mark for the mariner, and may be easily distinguished at the distance of twenty-five miles. A more interesting object is, perhaps, impossible to conceive, as you approach the coast, especially towards evening. In the far distance the eye rests upon the domain of the Marquis of Hertford, with its undulating wood-land; in the fore-ground, the lofty keep and weather-beaten turrets of the old castle, mellowed by the rich glow of sunset, proudly shadowing forth the crumbling glories of olden times. The date at which this venerable castle was erected has long been a matter of anxious inquiry amongst topographers and antiquarians. No records exist; for in the "iron times" of which we write the barons and their retainers, being engaged almost exclusively in warlike pursuits, had no opportunities for cultivating the arts of literature; indeed, literature had scarcely! dawned when this kingdom was first dotted with | fortresses and castles. The little learning known was confined exclusively to the cloister. The monks were engaged more in matters relating to the management of their respective monasteries, than in making records connected with the castles and fortresses erected to consolidate and perpetuate the sway of the conqueror. After most careful and elaborate research, we have little doubt that Orford Castle was built A.D. 1067-8. In the former year, the Conqueror received the submission of all the nobility who had not attended his coronation, at Barking, in Essex, and, confirming them in possession of their estates and dignities, took care, however, previously to visiting Normandy, to place all real power in the hands of his barons; the better to effect which he caused fortresses and citadels to be erected at various places best situated for commanding the king dom. That Orford Castle was one of the strongholds then erected there can be little doubt, since its position was calculated to form a most powerful military station, commanding the country for many miles around, and under cover of which a most favourable point was presented for carrying on intercourse with the Conqueror's Norman dominions, as well as for debarking supplies and munitions of war. The opinion we have expressed is further strengthened by several historical facts. Upon the usurpation of the crown by Stephen, the barons, in return for their submission, demanded the right of fortifying their castles, and the whole of England was thereupon filled with fortresses, garrisoned with vassals and soldiers. The evils resulting from compliance with this demand were aggravated by the wars in which Stephen was engaged with the Empress Matilda. In 1155, however, Henry II., the better to strengthen his throne and to keep the refractory barons in order, caused all the newly-erected castles to be demolished, which, upon the authority of historians, had proved "so many sanctuaries for freebooters and rebels." In pursuance of this royal mandate, the castles of Ipswich, with the castle of Walton, about twenty miles from Orford, were razed to the ground; and in accordance also with stipulations, the stones being removed in each case to the distance of a mile, were scattered about, that they might not again be used for similar erections. The evidences of this still remain. The soil of Suffolk is gravel and chalk, with a staple of loam. In a part of the town of Ipswich, called "The Wash," which in olden times formed the bed of a deep stream of water, fordable at different points, but which now consists of a long and well-paved street, through which, however, a small stream still finds its way from Christ Church Park, and falls into the river Orwell, the stones of Ipswich Castle have been several times turned up during the last century by excavators, in digging wells and cellars; whilst a road, about a mile from the site of the Castle of Walton, has also presented the same evidences that Walton Castle shared the same fate. Now, in none of the histories of the period, nor indeed in any of the quaint narratives given by the early English chroniclers, do we find mention of any Castle of Orford having been made subject to the same mandate. Upon this negative evidence, then, we may reasonably conclude that Orford Castle, as it now stands, survived the general wreck; and that there are the best grounds for this, is shown also by the fact that Orford Castle was placed in the hands of those Norman nobles who were bound by their fealty to support the throne; though, as we shall see, there were one or two exceptions, in which cases the turbulent and disaffected were superseded by others more worthy of their sovereign's trust and con fidence. It is probable that Orford Castle was erected by Robert Malet, and the evidence is strong in favour of the supposition. This Robert Malet was the son of William Malet, whose name appears on the roll of Battle Abbey as having been one of the victorious followers of the Norman invader. To him was consigned the body of Harold, found on the field of Hastings, with injunctions that the usual pious offices should be properly per formed. The services rendered by William Malet appear to have met with ample reward at the hands of the Conqueror, in the person of Robert Malet, the son for, after the fall of William Malet, in 1069, in defend ing York Castle, the command of which devolved upon him upon the death of Robert Fitz-Richard, the governor, the Conqueror granted to Robert Malet 27 manors in England, 221 of which, as Dugdale states, were situate in the county of Suffolk. In this grant was the manor of Sudborne, in which Orford was included. These princely possessions Robert Malet appears to have held for about thirty-three years. Under Henry L he held the office of Great Chamberlain; but, deserting his post, he ranged himself under the banners Robert Curthose, who laid claim to the throne. Upor the defeat of Curthose and his rebellious followers, Henry I. deprived Robert Malet of all his possessions, and being banished the realm, he passed over with Robert Curthose into Normandy; the name of Malet being thenceforth associated with the basest ingratitude for deserting the Crown in the greatest emergency in which his king could have been placed, thus forming a strong commentary upon the political morals of those times, though later periods of our history have not been less remarkable for similar examples. Having given the above historical data, it may be interesting to attempt a minute description of the castle itself. From the number of bricks and tiles turned up at various periods in the vicinity, there appears to be no doubt that the castle stood formerly in the centre of the town of Orford. That Orford was, in ancient times, a place of considerable magnitude, admits of no question. Enjoying the favour of successive sovereigns, and being under the immediate personal serveillance of powerful barons, Orford possessed many privileges. So early as the reign of Edward I. it sent two members to parlia ment; that privilege is now extinct. Down to the year 1500, Orford possessed three churches-but one now remains. Its maritime importance is evidenced by the fact, that in the reign of Edward III. the burgesses fitted out three ships of war, which they despatched to the siege of Calais; it possesses now but half-a-dozen small fishing boats. Five centuries since it possessed several streets; their sites are now either traversed by the plough or are depastured by oxen and kine. The thoroughfares, Bridge-street, Church-street, and Broadstreet, which once echoed to the clank of armed men, and to the bugle sounded at the castle-gate by the "belted knight," now present to the spectator merely so many green lanes," still retaining their ancient appellations, where lovers may ramble, or poets apostrophize the moon. The warlike baron and his trusty bands of retainers; the portly burgesses, proud of their royal charters; the stately ships, which rode gallantly on the broad and swelling bosom of the Ore; the busy population deep in trade and commerce; the handicraftsmen plodding to their daily toil; the stoled priest shriving the dying sinner, and wafting his last penitential sighs to heaven; the joys and sorrows, the hopes and fears, the crimes and virtues, the springs which gave impulse to human actions-all have been swept away; and the only memento now left of the glories of Orford is its noble castle, and all its proud recollections. We now come to the important question-under whose immediate auspices was Orford Castle designed and Upon yonder lofty mound, covered with the green completed? This is, again, a somewhat difficult point to herbage of summer, stands the keep with its "donjon solve. It is one that has puzzled every local historian.-nearly all that now remains of the once mighty strong As we have observed before, no records exist. hold of the Malet, the Bigod, and the Despenser. The keep is a good specimen of the castellated style. It is ninety feet in altitude, and is built in the form of a polygon of eighteen sides, described within a circle whose radius is twenty-seven feet. Three square embattled towers flank it at equal distances on the west, north-east, and south sides, and by these towers the keep is overlooked. At the base of the keep the walls are twenty feet thick. The entrance is on the western side through a narrow gate leading to a flight of stone steps within. Ascending these you approach a broad and massive gate, the semicircular arch of which rests on corbels displaying grotesque heads. Passing through this, you attain a platform from which you have a view of the "donjon," with its damp and dismal walls, and stupendous Norman arches. In the centre of the floor of this "donjon" is yet to be seen the mouth of the well intended to supply the garrison with water in times of siege. In this" donjon" how many captives may not have pined! how many sighs may not have been breathed for liberty as the "iron entered the soul!" Passing along the platform, the visitor ascends, on the right, another flight of broad stone steps, forming the principal staircase, when he finds himself in what formed the guard-room; the stupendous fireplace, the recesses in the walls, the narrow windows, and the general character of the whole apartment, indicating its Norman origin. In this guard-room the late Marquis of Hertford had a huge table built, around which, with his noble visitors, it is stated he passed many pleasant hours in the summer seasons during the latter years of his life. This table, which still remains, occupies the guardroom on all sides to within about six feet of the walls, such are its gigantic dimensions. Proceeding again through a series of low arched passages, the guard-room communicates with two or three stone chambers lighted by loop-holes. They appear to have been intended as places of security, having been approached only through a succession of doors, which disappeared centuries ago, though the pivots are still left, with the holes in the solid stone, through which the massive bolts were shot. In one of these dark and dismal apartments, tradition states that " a laydye of high degree" was confined during the absence of her lord, who accompanied Richard Coeur de Lion to Palestine. She gave birth to a beautiful babe, who was seized by stealth in the temporary absence of the nurse, and carried off by freebooters in the guise of Flemish merchants. The "laydye" fretted and pined away, and her lord only returned in time to weep over her bier, and to die of a broken heart-the loss of his "ladye" and her babe being a keener stroke to him than the blow aimed at his breast by the bright steel of the Saracen. When the wind on winter's nights has soughed and moaned through the windings of the castle, producing sounds like the sighs of troubled spirits, simple-minded peasants plodding homewards have often fancied they heard the wails of the "ladye," and the sorrowful complainings of her lord, alternating with the ditty of the nurse hushing the bright-eyed babe to sleep. Perhaps at that old window in the tower above, the nurse may have fondled that babe in her arms, and the burden of her song may have been something like the modern version, though not in the same words: "O slumber my darling, thy sire is a knight; Thus dying upon the ear like the falling strains of a windows of the chapel are yet in excellent preservation. The floor of this oratory no longer exists-the whole interior is a mass of ruins. To the eastern wall, however, are yet attached the remains of a stone altar. The visitor might well spend an hour in musing upon this spot. "How many beads have here been told? The holy anthems and the notes of praise are now hushed; all is silent as the grave; on all sides, a series of crumbling ruins: hearts that once worshipped at that altar have centuries since mingled with common dust: ambition, virtue, guilt, age in its " sear and yellow leaf," sated with the world-youth, buoyant with hope and dreaming of “glorious war," have alike knelt here, and have alike passed away. As we turned from the spot, we thought of Bernard Barton's lines"Where religion's holy name Hath preferred its sacred claim; Count it still as hallowed ground." But to proceed. The outer walls of the keep and towers are built in the fashion which from time immemorial has been characteristic of the district-flint and rubble faced with Caen stone. The interior walls are built entirely with stone of the same description, and seem destined to last to future ages. The corroding hand of time has made but few inroads; it is only here and there within the keep that the visitor can detect the slow progress of time's ravages. Perhaps there is no castle in the kingdom of the same antiquity in a better state of preservation. Upon taking a minute survey of the exterior, the attention of the visitor is called to the site of what once formed a square building, adjoining the western side of the tower on the south-east of the keep. This building formed the principal entrance to the castle in its palmy days, communicating with a series of drawbridges, which, forming a passage over the outer and inner moats in the olden time, echoed to the heavy tread of the armed bands of the Malet, the Bigod and the Despenser, as they marched along in triumph with polished lance, and gay pennons fluttering in the breeze. About eighty years since, there was also standing near the keep a place locally termed the kettle-house, which was supposed to have been used as a kitchen. Between the moats and opposite the southeast tower, about twenty years ago, a wall was standing of circular form, about forty feet high, with parapets and battlements. This no doubt formed a part of the general plan of fortification. The moats still continue to be well defined, the inner one being fifteen feet, and the outer one thirty-eight feet from the walls. Indeed the tout ensemble impresses the visitor with a sense of the strength and security which were the characteristics of this stronghold of the Norman barons, surviving as it has done the wrecks of dynastics and the rallyings of power for nearly one thousand years. The view from the top of the keep is very fine, overlooking an extent of country for many miles. On the west and south there are alternately presented woodland, grazing and corn districts, interspersed with the wellstocked and umbrageous game preserves of the Marquis of Hertford; on the cast, bearing upon its ever-rolling waves many a gallant ship, the boundless expanse of the German Ocean. A very curious story, connected with Orford Castle, recorded by Ralph Coggeshall, an old English chroni cler, is still implicitly believed by the fishermen of the neighbourhood. The incident alluded to is said to have occurred in the year 1161, in the reign of Henry II. It is related that, one stormy day, certain fishermen of Orford, in casting their nets some distauce from shore, caught a monster resembling a man in size and form. His head was bald, but he had a beard long and rugged. Astonished at what they had taken, the monster was conveyed to the governor of the castle. An endeavour was made to domesticate this strange offering of old father Neptune. The monster would eat fish or flesh, but when either was presented to him in a raw state, he would "press it with his hands" previous to mastica tion. The monster would appear, however, to have had a very sorry sojourn amongst his new associates, for not satisfied with surveying him in his "human form," the inmates of the castle were in the habit of "tying him up by the heels," and subjecting him to other cruel torments," to make him speak." The chronicler does not inform us of the result,but goes on to relate that the monster had a couch provided for him, upon which he lay down at sunset, and from which he regularly arose at sunrise. Eventually the governor permitted the fishermen to carry the stranger to the sea-shore, in order to witness his vagaries in his native element. There is an old-standing satire that the men of Coggeshall, in Essex, spread a net around their town to keep out the small-pox. Whether they borrowed the idea from the fishermen of Orford, local traditions do not state; but certain it is, upon the authority of Ralph Coggeshall, that the fishermen of Orford spread three rows of strong nets before a portion of the coast to prevent the escape of the monster, and then permitted him to betake himself to the briny elements. The result was what might have been anticipated. Monster though the stranger was pronounced to be, yet he seemed to possess more brains than the fishermen, for diving under the triple barrier of nets, he was soon beyond the control of his captors, and elevating himself upon the crests of the foaming waves derided the astonished fishermen, and soon disappeared in the depths of the sea. The fishermen, chagrined at the loss, returned in doleful plight to the governor of the castle. The monster, however, some time after returned, to the perfect surprise of the fishermen, and again made a sojourn at the castle. Not being kept under his former strict surveillance, a sort of confidence was established between both parties; but according to Ralph Coggeshall, "the monster being weary of living alone, at last stole away to sea, and was never heard of more.' The tradition is still preserved. On stormy nights when the frail barks of the hardy fishermen are tossed about by the tempestuous waves; when the winds are howling and blustering along the shore, and the "donjon" of the old castle echoes to the strife of the furious elements, the wives and children of the brave mariners are sometimes wont to leave the warm chimney nook and peep fearfully through the half-opened casement into the dank and hazy atmosphere which envelopes this wild and desolate shore, to descry the welcome and well-known craft; retreating timidly as they bear a thought of the mysterious monster, designated the wild man of Orford. The researches into the history of the respective governors of Orford Castle, are full of the deepest interest, introducing us to some of the most illustrious names that adorn our early annals, and to some of the most remarkable events that distinguished the career of the Norman invaders. It has been already shown that Orford Castle was built A.D. 1067-8, under the direction of the Conqueror, by Robert Malet. Upon his attainder for high-treason, in 1102, Henry I. vested the Barony of Orford and the immediate possessions in Peter de Valoines, one of the attendants of the Conqueror, and steward in the royal household. By his successors the castle was held throughout the reigns of Stephen, Henry II., Richard I., up to the year 1204, in the reign of King John, when the barons rose, and eventually succeeded in obtaining Magna Charta. The influence exercised by this confederation caused the expulsion of the Valoines. In 1204, Hugh Bigod, one of the powerful Earls of Norfolk, who had defended his castles at Ipswich and Walton against Stephen, was made Governor of Orford. He was one of the twenty-five barons chosen as conservators of the public liberties, to whom all men were bound to swear obedience under penalty of confiscation. For the part Hugh Bigod acted, he was excommunicated by Pope Innocent III.; pursued, also, by the relentless enmity of the king, John, who never forgot or forgave, and took the earliest means for accelerating his fall. In 1215, when war again broke out between John and the ba rons, and William de Albini, their most puissant leader, was taken prisoner, the king, finding his arms triumphant, removed Hugh Bigod from the governorship of Urford Castle, and placed the responsibility in the hands of Hubert de Burgh, another illustrious name. Hubert de Burgh rendered essential service to the crown, upon the invasion of Louis, son of Philip of France, by op posing, with the greatest fidelity and valour, the French forces, invited over by the refractory barons, under the command of the Count de Perche, who, in 1216, fell at the siege of Lincoln Castle. Having also rendered eminent service at the siege of Dover, Hubert de Burgh was, upon the death of John and the accession of Henry III., in 1216, appointed High Justiciary of England. He is represented to have been the ablest and most virtuous minister whom Henry III. ever possessed; faithful to the crown in the most difficult and danger ous times, with no disposition to enslave or to oppress the people. Loaded with favours and honours beyond any other subject, a conspiracy was got up against him by the discontented barons. Amongst other crimes, Hume states that he was accused of gaining the king's affeetions by enchantment, and of purloining from the royal treasury a gem which had the virtue to render the wearer invulnerable. The faithful minister was abandoned by the king, and, after being for a time confined in the Castle of Devises, made his escape; after which, he again so far exercised his "powers of enchantment," as to im press the king with the conviction that his services were invaluable to the state, and he was consequently again received into royal favour. The next illustrious name we find in connexion with Orford Castle, is that of Hugh le Despenser, who, with his son, in the reign of the unfortunate Edward II., made himself so conspi cuous in the part he took against Queen Isabella, and her paramour, Roger Mortimer. Hugh le Despenser appears to have succeeded Hubert de Burgh until about the year 1262, when Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, laid claim to the throne. After the parliament, called "the mad parliament," held at Orford in 1258, the first act of Simon de Montfort and the twenty-four confederated barons, was to displace all the chief officers of the crown, and to replace such officers by others of their own appointment. Henry III. proclaimed this breach of trust; and to mark his displeasure, with, others, removed Hugh le Despenser from the governor ship of Orford Castle, at the same time placing new governors and new garrisons in most of the castles throughout the kingdom. Hugh le Despenser was suc ceeded by Philip Marmion, descendant of a Norman baron. In 1263, Simon de Montfort, having formed a, new conspiracy in France, commenced an open rebel lion, and he and the insurgent barons were reinvested with the sovereignty of the kingdom. One of their first acts was to restore Hugh le Despenser to the office of High Justiciary; and he was again also reinstated in the governorship of Orford Castle. This he appears to have held through the civil wars, during the predomi nance of Simon de Montfort up to 1265, when the Battle of Evesham proved the death-blow to Simon de Montfort and his faction. After this triumph of the royal arms, all the castles, including Orford, were surrendered to the crown, Simon de Montfort being the only baron who was made the subject of attainder; Hugh le Des penser being compelled, with other barons, to make composition with the crown to an extent not exceeding five years' rental of their respective estates. Although, at this period of history, Hugh le Despenser thus lost the royal favour, yet he was afterwards again reinstated in the office of Governor of Orford Castle, and, with his son, occupied a brilliant position down to the reign or, Of lances, burnished shields, and bristling spears;" "The various glories of their arms combine, Edward II, when Roger Mortimer, succeeding in his | ening and improving the mystery of murder, from the rebellion and invasion under the auspices of Queen Isa- first essay of clubs and stones to the present perfection bella, effected the destruction of both the Despensers, of the royal favourites; the elder, at ninety years of age, Much as the genius of "our good Edmund" luxuriated gunnery, cannoneering, bombarding, mining." being hanged, and his body thrown to the dogs; the latter being also, without trial, brought to the block. in speculative philosophy, and luminous as was his Such is a sketch of the early history of Orford Castle course of action and thought, he could scarcely have in those eventful and bloody times. It now only remeditated on the vast number of means for "sharpenmains to be added, that the elder Despenser was suc- ing and improving," which science has, of late years, ceeded, in 1336, (Edward III,) by Robert de Ufford, who devised; all of them involving considerations of the married Cecilia, daughter and co-heiress of Robert de la Valoines. In 1382, (Richard II.,) William de Ufford highest importance to the welfare of the human race; died seised of the castle and domain, which were assigned a proximate effect of these discoveries, doubtless, being, for the dowry of Isabella his wife. This lady survived in a great measure, the extinction of the curse and caher husband thirty-five years. Upon her demise, in lamity of WAR. Its chivalry will, indeed, then have 1417, Robert, Lord Willoughby De Eresby, whose an- departed; and the contest, so long as it remain, will cestor led the second line of the English forces at the have none of those brilliant episodes of human action Battle of Cressy, had livery of the castle and town of which are the ignes fatui of hero-worship. No moreOrford; and in this family both remained until 1526, Henry VIII.,) when William, Lord Willoughby, died, "An iron harvest on the field appears, leaving as his heiress his daughter Catherine. In 1529, the wardship of Catherine devolved upon Charles Brandon; and in 1535, having made proof of her age, she had livery of the lands and castle of Orford as her inheritance, and thereupon became fourth wife of the great Duke of Suffolk. Upon his death, in 1545, the duchess married Charles Bertie, Esq., a gentleman skilled in various foreign languages, and member of a family of high rank. Both were zealous promoters of the Reformation, and suffered much in its cause, being compelled, apon Mary's accession, to quit the kingdom in order to save their lives. A curious old ballad, published in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, commemorative of their example, is yet extant, entitled, "The most rare and excellent History of the Duchess of Suffolk, and her husband, Richard Bertie's Calamities: to the tune of Queen Dido.'" Upon the death of the Duchess of Suffolk, in 1580, her son and heir, Peregrine Bertie, who was born at Wesel, one of the Hans Towns, claimed the dignity and title of Willoughby de Eresby, which, being allowed, he had summons to Parliament. By Sir Robert Naunton, in the "Fragmenta Regalia," he is named as one of the queen's first swordsmen, and a just master of the military art." About 1595, the Castle of Orford passed from this illustrious family to Sir Michael Stanhope, Knt., county Notts, who, it is said, occupied a Ligh position in the councils of Elizabeth and James I. it afterwards descended to the Hon. Pryce Devereux, Lord Viscount Hereford, whose heirs held it, with the manor of Sudborne, until about 1780, when both were purchased by Francis, eldest son of Francis Lord Conway, Baron Conway, of Rageley, Warwickshire; who, on the third of August, 1750, was created Earl of Hertford and Viscount Beauchamp; being advanced also on July 5th, 1793, to the high rank of Marquis of Hertford and Earl of Yarmouth. Our narrative, compiled from many original sources, exclusively our own, now comes to a close. Under the auspices of the noble house of Hertford, we trust the fine old Castle of Orford will be preserved unmutilated to future generations, which, like the present, will not fail to dwell with wonder and delight upon this hoary memento of the chivalry of England in those times when the galleries, now silent and deserted, echoed hoarsely to the warlike preparations of stalwart men-at-arms; or when, amidst flowing wine-cups, the old castle echoed softly to the mellifluous strains of the harper welcoming the chieftain back from the plains of Palestine. GUN-COTTON. R. T. THE great Edmund Burke, almost in the same page that he laments the departure of the age of chivalry, has this acute observation: "From the earliest dawnings of policy to this day, the invention of men has been sharp But we must leave the heroic age, and come to our own times. Cotton, having already contributed largely to our national prosperity in times of peace, is likely to play a very important part in the strategies of war. The discovery is already disputed: it is the old story of Columbus and the egg: the egg now stands erect, and every one makes fulminating, or gun-cotton: it is very easy when one knows the way. We believe the credit of the discovery to be due to Professor Schonbein, of Basle, the discoverer of ozone, an element analogous in its chemical character to chlorine. The novelty was first announced as an explosive compound, possessing many apparent advantages over gunpowder. It was described as a cotton, prepared by a secret process: on the application of a spark, the solid mass is at once converted to a gaseous state; and in an experiment performed in the laboratory of Professor Schonbein, a certain weight of gunpowder, when fired, filled the apartment with smoke; whilst an equal weight of cotton exploded without producing any smoke, leaving only a few atoms of carbonaceous matter behind. Common balls and shells were experimentally projected by this prepared cotton, which was stated to have nearly doubled the projectile force of gunpowder. Professor Schonbein made an interesting experiment on the wall of an old castle: it had been calculated that from three to four pounds of gunpowder would be requisite to destroy this wall, and a hole capable of containing that quantity was prepared. In this aperture were put four ounces of the prepared cotton, which, when fired, blew the massive wall to pieces. Again, the sixteenth part of an ounce of the prepared cotton, placed in a gun, carried a ball with such force that it perforated two planks at the distance of fiftyeight paces; and, at another time, with the same charge and distance, drove a bullet into a wall to the depth of 33 inches. In other experiments, a drachm of cotton sent a ball, three-quarters of an ounce weight, to a distance of two hundred paces, where it penetrated a deal plank to the depth of two inches. A portion of this cotton, when thrown into water, and afterwards dried, did not lose its inflammable property. Such were the experiments made by Professor Schonbein, with this new explosive power, in Switzerland. the British Association for the Advancement of Science, In September last, the savant attended the Meeting of at Southampton; and, the fame of the gun-cotton having travelled much faster than the Professor, great was the curiosity of the members of the Association to witness |