Summer Rambles.—Down The Medway.

old forfc Avas a thing Avhich John Bull thought he could not afford to see damaged , and therefore , so far from thanking Mynheer de Ruyter for ridding him of the place and saving men's lives , he determined in savage mood to raise it again and make it bigger than eA'er . Thus arose Sheerness—two

miles of dockyards and heavy fortifications , in such a dismal SAvamp as the world never saw before . Certain it is that henceforth no sane Dutchman , hoAveA r er thick his skin ancl his nasal organ , will enter Sheerness if he can help it . The dockyard is built upon a hundred thousand pilesand the

, barracks are built upon piles , and the houses are built upon piles , and the fortifications are built upon piles . It is a Venice upon piles ; with this difference , that Avhile the Italian city stands upon the rocky bottom of the Adriatic , the Isle of Sheppey toAvn is suspended over the bottomless

mud of old Father Thames . Here is the Alpha and Omega of the mighty stream of seAvage Avhich the ocean of mankind above sends as a tribute to the ocean of Avaters below .

Yet even Sheerness has its bit of romance , There stands on what is nicknamed the Marina , a large house , AA'ith " Royal Hotel" over the gate . The place appears to be now joint-stock , limited , and all that , ancl so far decidedly unromantic ; but ifc Avas nob meant to he so from the

commencement . Some thirty or forty years ago , Avhen the Avhole of the million of piles had not yet been rammed into the dismal SAvamp , the foundations of this house Avere laid by a man of A'ery singular character , AVIIO , though not entitled to be called great in the strict sense of the Avord , hacl some of

the elements of greatness about him . The man Avas EdAvarcl Banks , affcerAvards Sir EdAvard . He began life as a farm labourer , but in course of time became a navvy , and in 1805 , Avhen thirtysix years old , was AA'ith others engaged in making a railroad betAveen Chipstead and Mersfchamclose

, to that famous old brough of Gatton AA'hich had only one inhabitant , yet sent two members to the House of Commons up to the time of the Reform Bill . Railroad-making , being IIBAY , was probably Avell paid in those days ,. and in an unlucky hour

Edward Banks resolved upon saA'ing money , and becoming Avhat Englishmen north of the TVeed call thrifty ; of course , he thereupon rose rapidly in the Avorld . Employing first a feAV of his brother navvies under him on " jobs , " he gradually came to be a master builder , then a Government

contractor , and so forth to the top of the ladder . For a quarter of a century , from 1810 to 1835 , he Avas busy in executing some of the most extensive engineering Avorks of the time ; he built the Waterloo , SoutliAvark , London , and Staines bridges over the Thameserected Government dockyards

, at Sheerness , and made IIGAV channels for the rivers Ouse , Nene , aud Witham , in Norfolk aud Lincolnshire . All the Avhile his heart yearned for the life of labourer he had been leading on the green wooded slopes of Chipstead . HoAvever , though

Summer Rambles.—Down The Medway.

gifted with that iron determination which can accumulate hundreds of thousands , and make a rich Government contractor out of a poor labourer , he had not moral courage enough to follow the benfc of his own inclinations . So , instead of retreating to a quiet little country house on the Surrey hills ,

Edward Banks , knighted Sir EdAA'ard , built himself a big house upon piles in the dismal swamp ; that same house UOAV styled the " Royal Hotel . " Needless to say that Sir EdAA'ard felt very wretched in his big house , and , yearning eA'ermore after the green hillsdied in the summer of 1835 his last

, , Avords expressing the desire to be buried in the little church of Chipstead . There IIOAV lie the remains of the great Government contractor , under a pompous monument of Avhite marble , recounting all his A'irtues , not omitting the " honourably acquired wealth . "

Strange , that while pacing the miry streets of pile-grown Sheerness , Ave thought of little else but the fate of poor Sir Echvard Banks!—Spectator .

Out And About: In Derbyshire.

OUT AND ABOUT : IN DERBYSHIRE .

Derbyshire presents remarkable variety , and offers something to interest most minds—suit most tastes . The lover of nature , the lover of art ; the inquirer as to progress , fche studenfc of Mediaeval practices ancl poAvers ; the invalid in search of health , and the eager spirit-seeking excitement

and pleasure , may each there find Avhat he Avants , and a great deal more . Starting from London , tako a run , for example , to Derby , then to Dove Dale , to pleasant RoAvsley , Avhere the Wye is lost in the Derwent , and AA'hence yon attack Haddon Hall and ChatsAvorthand make a trito vulgarised

, p Matlock ; get across the country to Chesterfield , for the purpose of viewing Harcrwick Hall , Bolsover Castle , and Wingfield Manor House ; and then rail away to Buxton , and the route Avill include several churches of interest , many remarkable sepulchral monuments , some historic houses of

world-Avide fame , rich AA'ith associations ; a large number of fine pictures , several wonderful caA'erns , Nature's architecture , sparkling with gems ; not to speak of man ' s Avork , that has opened them ; and some of the loveliest VIBAVS of moor , of mountain , and of plain , that ever gladdened eyes and filled the heart AA'ith delight and thankfulness . One is tempted to exclaim Avith an untaught poet of a more northern

coimfcv" Look round on this Avorld—ifc is SAVcefc , ifc is fair ; There is light in its sky , there is life iu its air ; Sublimity breathes from the forms of its hills , And beauty Avinds on with its rivers and rills : The dew , as Avith diamonds , its meads hath besprent ; From its groves are a thousand wild melodies sent ; While floAvers of each tint are bmorning impearled :

y Oh I Avhy is there AVOC in so lovely a world ?" But we Avill think not of the woe in the Avorld just IIOAV—only of the pleasant , eleA'ating , and instructive things that are to be found in it , and