"Hail to thy face and odours, glorious Sea! 'Twere thanklessness in me to bless thee not, Great, beauteous being! in whose breath and smile My heart beats calmer, and my very mind Inhales salubrious thoughts. How welcomer Thy murmurs than the murmurs of the world! Though like the world thou fluctuatest, thy din To me is peace, thy restlessness repose. Ev'n gladly I exchange yon spring-green lanes, With all the darling field-flowers in their prime, And gardens haunted by the nightingale's Long trills and gushing ecstacies of song, For these wild headlands and the sea-mew's clang. "With thee beneath my windows, pleasant Sea! I long not to o'erlook earth's fairest glades And green savannahs--Earth has not a plain So boundless or so beautiful as thine." St. Leonards was originally a mile and a half distant from Hastings; but the old town has stretched out its arms to its youthful progeny. The Grand Parade was the first step towards uniting them; and now other places have sprung up, and they are fairly joined together. The esplanade now reaches, with hardly an interruption, from the Marine Parade at Hastings to the Marina at St. Leonards, and forms probably the finest walk of the kind in the kingdom. The vicinity of Hastings is replete with objects of interest, and amongst them we may mention Bulverhythe, a short distance from St. Leonards, generally assigned as the landing-place of William of Normandy. East Hill, or Camp Hill, was probably the site chosen for his first encampment, whence, after a brief stay, he marched to meet the English troops under Harold. Of the events of that day our readers are already well informed; but should any of them feel disposed to spend a day in visiting the old town of Battle, they will find their labour well repaid by an inspection of the ruins of Battle Abbey; though we must caution them against the supposition that the existing remains are those of the edifice erected by the Conqueror in commemoration of his victory: they are of a later date, yet still deserving of a better fate than seems to have fallen to their share. [Illustration: RYE (Sussex)] RYE, SUSSEX. To the Cinque Ports, of which Rye and Winchilsea are appendages, we have already adverted in several articles of this work. As places where strength and vigilance were particularly necessary, and from which ships might put to sea in cases of sudden emergency, these ports were entitled, in former times, to the special attention of government, and performed great and important services to the country. Their privileges are numerous, and they are within the jurisdiction of the Constable of Dover Castle, Warden of the Cinque Ports.