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THE

YOUTHS' MAGAZINE;

OR,

EVANGELICAL MISCELLANY.

MAY, 1852.

HASTINGS CASTLE.

THE remains of the castle of Hastings are situate at the edge of the west cliff, and have a striking appearance on entering the town from St. Leonard's. The walls were apparently, at some remote period, of great strength; and ruins, which may still be traced, indicate that the town was once fortified. On the east hill, are banks and trenches, supposed to have been constructed by William the Norman, during his contest with Harold II., which terminated the Saxon dynasty.

For more than a century, the area within the castle walls was occupied as a pasturage; the few ruins rising in the furrows of the hills in different parts were covered with mould and grass, and the walls displayed only a quantity of mis-shapen fragments, which, in the language of Grose, who examined them about a hundred years ago, " appeared to have been plain, and without towers or other means of defence."

The Earl of Chichester, who is the proprietor of the castle, having observed some steps in a tower of the western wall, personally directed various excavations, and in September, 1824, the lower part of a large gate, apparently the keep-gate, was discovered. This is always considered to be a principal structure in old castles, the

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rooms or chambers over it-most of which had a double story-being generally appropriated as the residence of the governor, while the tops, which were surrounded by an embattled parapet, afforded an extensive view of the adjacent country. The apartments over the gateway and towers, two of which flank the gate on each side, have disappeared, although those on the ground-floor remain. These towers are of a semi-circular shape, sixteen feet in diameter, and once had apartments communicating with passages in the wall. The gateway is about eight or nine feet wide, and nineteen deep. The groove for the portcullis, and the hooks on which the hinges of the gate turned, still remain; and some fragments of an old chain, which probably assisted in securing the gate, were discovered near the spot. By excavating on the outside of the wall, in order to find this gate and the line of wall extending beyond it on each side, a broad flat walk was obtained. A wall of considerable height stretched from the keep to the north gate, a guard-house being attached to it; in proximity to which are the remains of a church, which, including the chancel, was 110 feet in length. From the mouldings that remain, this structure appears to have been of different styles of architecture of which a neat, gothic arch, with handsome corbels, has been rebuilt by Lord Chichester from fragments of the old one. If the capitals are true, they must be about 600 years old.

A lofty wall, supported by towers, which still remain, constituted the fortifications from the north gate. On this side the hill is steep, and the position of the castle, with strong and loopholed wall, would be highly favorable for defence. One of the towers is circular, and has a flight of stone steps; the other has remains of Norman windows, splayed deeply in the interior.

The space now enclosed was probably not the whole of the ancient work, as it does not appear to exceed an acre

of ground. It is laid out in an exceedingly neat manner, with grass plats, flower-beds, and wooden and iron seats. The castle affords an excellent view of the sea, and of the coast as it stretches on towards Beachy Head and Brighton. Looking over St. Leonard's and Bexhill, Langley Point, near the town of Eastbourne, may be seen. Beyond St. Leonard's the coast assumes a different character from that on the eastern side of the castle. The shore becomes flat, the cliffs disappear, and martello towers are observed, which were constructed during the late war to defend the coast from invasion, and now occupied as stations for the preventive service. The road to Pevensey lies along the margin of this shore, often gay with the blue flowers of the vipers' bugloss, or the tall blossoms of the yellow-horned poppy, while the railroad to Brighton runs parallel with the coast for some distance. Fourteen miles off is the bay and castle of Pevensey, which may be seen from the heights of Hastings.

THE UPS AND DOWNS OF LIFE.

(Concluded from page 155.)

MATILDA, who was now about five and twenty years of age, had lived in my father's family longer than I could remember, and was a most faithful servant. My kind mother wished her to have the evening to herself; she therefore came and sat in the nursery, and helped Mary, the housemaid, to put the little children to bed, sending me down into the study, to sit with my father and grandfather.

It might have been, perhaps, eight o'clock, when there was a knock at the door, and Matilda came in curtseying and blushing with "If you please, Sir, would you be kind enough to lend me the globe for a minute ?"

"The globe!" exclaimed my father, when she was gone, "what can she possibly want that for ?-perhaps that Joe may shew her the places where he has been, poor fellow."

My grandfather said not a word, but continued to assist and

instruct me about the concoction of some gum seals that I was very anxious to make.

At last, after more than half an hour, Matilda knocked again and entered, with the globe under her arm. A heavier foot than her's had come up the little passage, and my grandfather on hearing it, called out—“ Joe, if you're there, come in man, and speak to some old friends."

Upon this, in walked a stalwart young man, very upright, but very sallow, and with a terrible sabre cut across his forehead and cheek.

"Well, Joe," said my father after the first greetings, “you have seen a good deal of the world, since you left this place ?"

"Aye, sir," replied Joe, "and now I wish I hadn't done it. I wish I'd stopt at home; or at any rate I wish I hadn't gone off like that; for, bless you, sir, seeing the world ain't by half so pleasant as folks think. But what a pleasure it is, sir," continued Joe, looking round, “to come back and find I'm the only one changed; why the old gentleman looks heartier than ever!"

My grandfather acknowledged the compliment with a smile. "And what do you mean to do for a living ?" he enquired, "shall you take to your old occupation again, Joe?”

"Well I don't deny that I have been very down-hearted about that, ever since I got my discharge," said he; “what's a day laborer's wages, to maintain a family on; in particular, when a man is not altogether so strong for work as he used to be ?"

"I don't wonder you should have considered the matter with anxiety," replied my father.

"And," proceeded Joe, looking hard at Matilda, “a man may have saved a trifle, but what's that? Why, one winter out of work, would see the last of it; and so when I came here, I was uncommon down-hearted; but she, (pointing again at Matilda, who stood holding the globe in her arm, and arrayed in a lilac print gown, and her best cap, trimmed with pink ribbon, looked the very picture of contentment)—she says, she won't hear talk of resignation, nor no such like thing. And so," he continued, laying his large fingers on the globe, “we've been looking at this here, and I'm sure, if she's willing, I'm

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