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in describing any interesting relic of the past
in your own neighbourhoods, and send the description to that
paper; you will soon acquire confidence for greater achievements.
But, above all, remember that the sole object of your researches
ought to be Truth, Have as many theories as you please,—I
have had thousands in my time,—but always be ready (as I have
been) to discard them at once, even the most long-cherished ones,
the moment you find the Truth opposed to them. Without this
devotion to Truth, we are nothing but frivolous triflers. There is
abundance of material for you to work upon; indeed, throughout the
county of Kent there are so many objects of intense interest to
the antiquary, that it is difficult at this moment to select any
one for special remark. Within a short walk from the spot where we
stand, the relics of the past are scattered, thick as the herbage
on which you tread, and these, not of one race of conquerors only,
but of every successive one that has planted itself here,—Celtic,
Roman, Saxon, Norman, or whatever other early races maybe named as
having, in primeval times, peopled this county. Of the latter
period —the Norman, or nearly so—we have close to us Alington
Castle, that most interesting of ruins, of which we have actual
records dating as far back as the time of Henry II.; in aftertimes
the seat, in successive generations, of the three illustrious
Wyats; subsequently of Sir John Astley and his greater
relative, that true and loyal cavalier, the Lord Astley; it
has finally
become the property of a family which can enumerate among its
ancestors that most eminent antiquary and loyalist Sir John
Marsham, and now represented by a noble Earl who thoroughly
appreciates the value of these venerable walls as historical
relics, and who has earned the gratitude of antiquaries by sparing
them from further demolition. Then, again, we have in this
neighbourhood another historical mansion, in whose past we shall
find abundant materials for' our volume, " Leeds Castle'
famous for having barred out the " she-wolf of France"
(Isabel, consort of Edward II.). There are many other similar
objects of historical interest, all within a walk, which I have
not time to enumerate; and I cannot better conclude than by
hoping that you may all share with me in the feelings of the poet
(Webster):
"I do love these ancient
ruins,—
We never tread upon them, but
we set
Our foot upon some reverend
history."
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