|Earl of Kent, at the end of this town, called the _Maison Dieu_; |but at the time of the reformation it was converted into a |victualling office, for which purpose it is still used. | |Dover is celebrated in history as a place of the greatest |importance ever since the Norman Conquest. Its ancient castle is |supposed to have been built by Julius Cæsar. Henry the Second, |about the year 1153, is said to have enclosed it with a new wall. |The present entrance is on the south side of the main tower, by a |grand flight of steps round the eastern side to the third story, |or the governor’s apartments. These steps were secured by three |strong gates, at each of which was a chamber or guard room, and a |dungeon for prisoners, in which several persons of distinction |have been confined at different times, but now used only for |disorderly soldiers. These entrances, before the use of gunpowder, |were impregnable, the walls being 18 feet thick. Without the Duke |of Suffolk’s gate are commodious barracks, and wells which supply |the garrison with water, being about 370 feet deep. After this |castle was surrendered to William the Conqueror, it was |considerably strengthened, and made more secure by the erection of |two exterior walls from the Saxon fortification to the very edge |of the perpendicular cliff and additional towers. In the exterior |wall of the castle are 17 towers, most of them named from the |persons under whom they were erected. | |In the reign of Charles I. this strong fortress was taken by |surprise by a few men in the night. One Drake, a zealous |republican, formed a plan to seize the garrison; and, accompanied |by 10 or 12 men, at midnight, by the assistance of ropes and |scaling ladders, he reached the top of the high cliff |undiscovered. Having dispatched the sentinel, they threw open the |gates, and the garrison, who were few in number, in the confusion |supposing themselves to be attacked by superior numbers, |surrendered up the castle to this handful of desperadoes. | |Under the castle to the north of the town, Captain Smith, the |father of the gallant Sir Sidney Smith, has erected a pleasant |though whimsical residence, called The Cave; it is hewn out of the |solid rock. | |Near the edge of the cliff is a beautiful piece of brass ordnance, |24 feet long, cast at Utrecht, in 1544, called _Queen Anne’s |Pocket Pistol_, finely ornamented with figures in bass-relief: it |was a present from the States of Holland to the Queen, and is said |to be capable of carrying a twelve pound shot to the distance of |seven miles. | |In time of peace this town is a great thoroughfare for persons |passing and re-passing to and from France, the channel here being