CARDINAL WOLSEY AT STONE PLACE-STONE CASTLE.

night on his way to Dover on his French embassy, attended by a retinue befitting a sovereign prince, rather than an ambassador of state. There were among it the Bishop of London, the Earl of Derby, and Sir Thomas More, besides other noblemen and gentlemen, who rode before my Lord Cardinal, three by three, apparelled all in velvet and sarcenet and wearing over their doublets magnificent chains of gold. Preceding these were a body of the cardinal's yeomen, and upwards of two hundred servants, all clad in a livery of orange tawny, with the initials of the cardinal, and his hat embroidered thereon. Before the cardinal were borne two grand crosses of massive silver, two large silver pillars, his cardinal's hat, and his embroidered cloak bag. As was his wont, the cardinal himself, clad in rich vestments, rode in mock humility upon a mule; but there followed him a led horse, richly caparisoned. After arriving at Stone Place, he sent the greater part of his retinue back to Dartford, to lodge themselves, as best they might, at the different inns, with orders to rejoin him when he pursued his journey early the following morning.

Rather less than a mile distant from the church, pleasantly enclosed by trees and shrubberies, stands Stone Castle, a private mansion in the castellated style; some portions of which are of genuine antiquity. At the eastern corner, the visitor will notice an old grey-grown tower, half-hidden by a robe of ivy; this he will readily perceive to have been erected several ages earlier than the main structure.

From here we hasten back to Greenhithe, finding food for our amusement by the way in the extensive river view that lies before us. Although the air is calm, and only one or two lazy sails are to be seen slowly beating up against a feeble tide, the bosom of the stream is still agitated by the swell of the continually passing steam-boat each with its hundreds of passengers, all pleasure bound, whether journeying to home or foreign parts, to Ramsgate or to Rotterdam. Some solitary few from the crowded Gravesend boats land at Greenhithe pier; but the countless multitudes hurry on to the more bustling watering place; the amusements and attractions of which we promise to make the reader acquainted with, if he will be of our company at our next excursion to the once small fishing village of Gravesend.

OGARTH figures in a story of an embarkation for Gravesend, a hundred years ago, which most amusingly contrasts with things as they are in our time. It comes down to us in

AN ACCOUNT OF WHAT SEEMED MOST REMARKABLE IN THE FIVE DAYS' PEREGRINATION OF THE FIVE FOLLOWING PERSONS: viz., MESSRS. TOTHALL, SCOTT, HOGARTH, THORNHILL, AND FORREST. Begun on Saturday, May 27th, 1732, and finished on the 31st of the same Month.

"Saturday, May the 27th, we set out with the morning, and took our departure from the Bedford Arms Tavern, in Covent Garden, to the tune of 'Why should we quarrel for riches.' The first land we made was Billingsgate, where we dropped anchor at the Dark House.

"There Hogarth made a caracatura of a porter, who called himself the Duke of Puddle Dock.* The drawing was (by his grace) pasted on the cellar door. We were agreeably entertained with the humours of the place, particu"It is to be regretted (says Mr. Hone) that his grace's picture was not preserved."

HOGARTH'S EXCURSION TO GRAVESEND.

larly an explanation of a Gaffer and Grammar, a little gross, though in presence of two of the fair sex. Here we continued till the clock struck one.

"Then set sail in a Gravesend boat we had hired for ourselves. Straw was our bed, and a tilt our covering. The wind blew hard at S. E. and by E. We had much rain and no sleep for about three hours. At Cuckold's Point we sung St. John, at Deptford Pishoken; and in Blackwall Reach eat hung beef and biscuit, and drank right Hollands.

"At Purfleet we had a view of the Gibraltar, the Dursley Galley, and Tartar Pink, men-of-war, from the last of which we took on board the pilot who brought her up the channel. He entertained us with a lieutenant's account of an insult offered him by the Spaniards, and other affairs of consequence, which naturally made us drowsy; and then Hogarth fell asleep, but soon awaking, was going to relate a dream he had, but falling asleep again, when he awaked forgot he had dreamed at all.

"We soon arrived at Gravesend, and found some difficulty in getting ashore, occasioned by an unlucky boy's having placed his boat between us and the landing-place, and refusing us passage over his vessel; but as virtue surmounts all obstacles, we happily accomplished this adventure, and arrived at Mr. Bramble's at six."

Starting at one in the morning sounds sufficiently outrebut it was necessary in those days to study the tide; and Hogarth and his friends evidently thought themselves well provided when they had a bed of straw, and a tilt for covering.

Now-a-days, Gravesend is scarcely two hours from London if we take one of the trains which leave the Blackwall terminus, in Fenchurch Street, every fifteen minutes, and embark at the Brunswick Pier. This shall be our plan, and since we have on former trips become familiar with old Father Thames from London to Greenhithe, let us on this occasion, amuse our rivervoyage by studying the various craft which swarm the stream.

Choosing morning for our starting-time, we are sure to find a vessel ready to bear us on our way, and, in less than half an hour from the city, we are afloat, and have left Blackwall and Woolwich behind us.

Few of the companions of our trip, whilst admiring the fine effect of the vessels on the river, have any knowledge of their varied rig and purposes; and an hour may be pleasurably and profitably spent in making note of their different names and characters.

Those craft beating up the channel, with two masts and square sails, are collier brigs, and form the most numerous class of ships on the Thames. Very many thousands might

RIVER CRAFT.

be counted in a year, bringing their dingy cargoes to keep London warm. Often may tier after tier be seen here and there at anchor, as far down as Gravesend. It would cheapen coal for the poor man's fire to let the market fill with stock; and so the wealthy owners detain the fuel on its way, to keep up the priceto the great injury of the public, and with great injustice to the colliers' crews, to whom this long delay is so much positive

loss of time and wages. Next to the colliers, the largest class of vessels are those heavy, barge-looking craft, sloop-rigged, with a single mast, large mainsail, foresail, and jib, and a pear-shaped board pendent on each side. They are commonly called "Billy Boys" (their strict name being "Humber Keels"), and form a fleet of nearly twelve thousand, trading chiefly from Yorkshire to London, generally with grain. They draw but little water, and their masts are movable, allowing them to pass under bridges. The novice must not confound them with the Thames barges,

which are a third numerous class, but of smaller build, less seaworthy, and mostly employed in bringing hay, straw, and fruit from the Medway; these again must be distinguished from the Dutch schuyts, which have but one mast. The use of these schuyts is curious. There are fourteen of them employed all

RIVER CRAFT.

the year round bringing eels from the canals of Holland to the cooks of London. In summer they do not venture up to the bridges, as the foulness of the water would kill the fish, unless sold at a single market, and that would not suit the Dutchman's notions of prices; so he anchors down stream, and sends up a floating box, pierced with holes, and towed along by a wherry. This holds as many as he thinks will sell without lowering the price, and then the box being taken back on board the boat which towed it up, next market-day he sends another instalment of his

DUTCH SCHUYT.

crawling cargo,

and so on, until

all are profitably

sold. The schuyt

DUTCH GALLIOTT.

may easily be known from the galliott, another class of Dutchmen, always to be seen on the river, by the two masts, the round raised stem and stern, and unpainted sides of the latter. These craft come