Folkstone has acquired a vigour and vitality which it only requires perseverance in the inhabitants to maintain; nor can this increase in the prosperity of the town be truly ascribed to any other cause than the spirited conduct of the company, who have made it one of their most important maritime termini. The census, moreover, speaks on this subject with an eloquence that is quite unanswerable, for in 1831 Folkstone had only 2,300 inhabitants, and in 1841 but 2,900, whereas in 1851 it had upwards of 7,500; showing an increase of about 140 per cent. Facts like these speak more than all praise!"[13] [13] G. Measom's _Illustrated Guide to the South-Eastern Railway_. [Illustration: DOVER. (from the Ramsgate Road.)] DOVER, FROM THE RAMSGATE ROAD. The most favourable point of view for an artist who is desirous of obtaining a general view of Dover, is certainly that portion of the Ramsgate Road of which Mr. Bartlett has availed himself on the present occasion. Placed at a sufficient elevation to enable him to embrace a wide extent of land and water, he is still sufficiently near the town to secure that distinctness of detail which adds so much to the effect of a landscape. One of the chief points of attraction in Dover must always be the Castle, but as we shall have another opportunity of referring to that structure, in connection with our view of Dover from the Beach, we purpose now to devote our attention to the town itself. At the period of the Conquest, Dover was unquestionably a place of considerable note. It is mentioned, with Sandwich and Romney, in the Domesday-book, as a privileged port; and is said to have enjoyed, from an earlier period, sundry privileges and immunities in common with those two towns, on consideration of supplying a certain number of ships and mariners for the defence of the adjacent coast. In the reign of King John, Dover received a charter as one of the Cinque Ports; and in several succeeding reigns, its shipping and mariners were frequently employed in the fleets assembled to convey English armies to France. As it was considered the key of England, it was surrounded with walls and strongly fortified; and as it was the principal port in the kingdom for persons taking shipping in proceeding to France, acts were passed in the reign of Edward III. and Richard II., appointing the rate of passage. Henry VIII. expended large sums in the improvement of the harbour, the entrance of which had been much choked up by shingle washed in by the sea. A pier was commenced, and carried on at a great expense, but he died before it was completed; and in the reign of his successor, the work appears to have been almost wholly suspended. In the reign of Elizabeth, further attempts were made to improve the harbour; and in 1606 an act was passed appointing eleven commissioners, who were empowered to receive certain rates, and employ the money in repairing the pier and improving the harbour. In succeeding times various plans