think that this college life must be very dull and monotonous, especially to the young, active, and energetic minds who form the majority of collegiate residents. Monotonous it certainly is, but it is by no means the dull affair a stranger would suppose. What with boat-racing and cricket-matches, college feast days (provided by the foundation), and private wine-parties, the continual dropping in of fellow students, to talk of all sorts of congenial topics, and the perpetual fun and frolic that must as a matter of course arise, where, as at Trinity, nearly 300 young men, in exuberant animal spirits, and, in most cases, with ample pecuniary means, are located together, the student manages to while away his time in as pleasant a manner as it is easy to imagine. Should he, on the other hand, be a reading man, "studious.of laborious ease," what abundant means of enjoyment are here! One of the best libraries in the world open to him as freely as though it were his own; chambers of the most comfortable description overlooking secluded gardens and picturesque walks, whose tranquil air, joined with the monastic quiet of the college, is alone sufficient to give an inclination for study,-with companions of similar tastes and pursuits; and, above all, working under the superintendence of the college authorities, who are ever ready to assist the studious in their learned labours,-few portions of a man's life afford more satisfaction at the moment, or more agreeable memories when past, than the period spent at college. A thousand tomes have been written for and against University education in this country, as pursued at Oxford and Cambridge. This is not the place, nor is ours the province to follow up the discussion. The educated foreigner who may visit Cambridge with our little book in his hand, will probably be able, from what we have said, to contrast the British with the continental system; but the English reader who may be disposed to join in the condemnation so recently current against University existence here, is requested to consult some accredited authority as to the mode adopted abroad; and certainly the work of Mr. W. Howitta very determined anti-Cambridge and Oxford man-entitled "Student Life in Germany," is not exactly calculated to enamour one with the Teutonic instead of the British process of teaching the adolescent idea how to shoot.

But we must not linger over these recollections, pleasant though they be, and which, when they are recalled, make one forget his grizzled locks and again grow young; we will therefore conclude our remarks on Cambridge by conducting the visitor through the principal sights of the locality, showing him the best means of viewing the different places of interest with the least loss of time.

On starting, then, from the station, it will save some little time to take an omnibus into the town; and accordingly we are put down at Christ College, into which we step to see Milton's mulberry tree, now fast decaying, and supported by props. Thence proceeding along Sidney Street, past Sidney College, where Cromwell was a student, we come to the Round or Holy Sepulchre church; and continuing in the same line over the bridge, near to which are some of the wharves, pass Magdalen College, and reach the Castle Hill, where for a few minutes we pause. From here we diverge at once to the west, and are soon in the delightful walks at the back of the colleges; and from no other point do the buildings present so striking or so beautiful an appearance as from here; indeed the magnitude and character of the colleges can hardly elsewhere be appreciated. The walks are laid out in avenues of limes, and elms, and horse-chesnuts, and the various Gothic buildings form a succession of delightful combinations with the masses of rich foliage. The river, too, adds much to the beauty of the scene, and on a summer's afternoon the walks have a very characteristic appearance,-crowded with students, in the academic costume, some sauntering slowly about the groves; some, book in hand, lie stretched on the gently sloping sward of the river banks; while others, grouped around, pass the joke and jest, and seem bent only on enjoyment.

We now turn through a narrow footpath, and enter the grounds and new court of St. John's, cross the covered bridge, pass through the three courts, and are in Trinity Street, close to the gateway of Trinity College, which we at once proceed to inspect. If possible the visitor should be here at the hour of dinner, when he will really see a strange sight. Just take a peep into the kitchen, and behold the long array of roaring fires and twirling joints, the mountains of bread, and the countless pewter stoups of ale. But the dinner hour has arrived, and the servants are placing the joints on the hall tables. And now what a rush takes place! See how each man tries to get opposite the best joint, and how anxious they all

are to carve. No wonder, for unless he carves for himself he will get little dinner. Notice how, as soon as one has helped himself, he shoves it to his next neighbour, who is waiting for it; and so it goes on. Some are now taking pies and tarts, "sizings," for which, as we have seen, they pay extra; those who have first done quietly walking away without waiting for the others. Gradually the whole disperse, to meet again shortly at Chapel; and we, also, resuming our route, pass through the college grounds, and along the walks to King's, which we enter by the back entrance. The scene from King's Bridge is a very interesting one; the river studded with wherries of every colour, the walks with the collegians in their black and purple gowns, and ladies in dresses of rainbow hue, the trees and buildings glowing under the declining sun, all make up a picture, that, once seen, is never forgotten. After admiring the Chapel we proceed through the front gateway into the Parade, by far the noblest part of the town; and having viewed the Senate House, Library, &c., continue our walk in a straight line, passing in succession Corpus College, Catharine Hall, the Pitt Press, Fitzwilliam Museum, and come to Addenbroke's Hospital.

We retrace our steps to the Pitt Press, turn down Silver Street, look into Queens' College, observing its peculiarly monastic appearance; and then crossing the quadrangle of Catharine Hall, and turning by the corner of Corpus College, soon get on to the Market Hill; where, among the peculiarities striking the attention of the stranger, is the singular method of vending butter, which is here sold in lengths a yard long, instead of in the usual lumps. For the sake of its old houses and picturesque combinations we stay five minutes in the street called Petty Cury; and then, if pressed for time, make the best of our way to the Railway Station.* But if it can be spared, an entire day may be both pleasantly and profitably spent in seeing the interiors of the more important places mentioned, and in extending one's rambles to all the colleges, which each possess some individual point of interest. If, however, time is important to the visiter, a stay of three or four hours will enable him to form a fair impression of the place, and

*Whilst waiting at this splendid station, we may as well mention that Robert Stephenson, Esq., a gentleman whose name is indelibly connected with the Eastern Counties Railway, as one of its engineers, was born at Wilmington, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, November 16th, 1803. At the age of 16, he was apprenticed as a coal viewer, at which occupation he served for three years, and was then sent by his father to the University at Edinburgh, which he entered in 1821. After a session of diligent and laborious study he returned from Edinburgh, and commenced his apprenticeship to engineering under his father, who had just established a steam-engine manufactory at Newcastle. In 1824 he accepted the charge of an expedition set on foot for the purpose of exploring the gold and silver mines of South America, and he remained there nearly four years. On his return to England in 1828, he directed his attention to the construction of locomotives; executing, however, in 1829, the Warrington and Newton, and Leicester and Swannington Lines of Railway. In the controversy which took place on the motive power to be used on the Manchester and Liverpool Railway, Mr. Stephenson favored locomotives, and his reasoning strengthened the directors in their desire to decide for locomotives; they offered a premium of £500 for the best locomotive, which must consume its own smoke; must not, with its complement of water in the boiler, exceed six tons in weight, and must be capable of drawing after it, on the level of a wellconstructed railway, a train of carriages, weighing twenty tons, at the rate of ten miles an hour. If the engine could be made of less than six tons weight, it need then only draw three times its own weight of carriages. The 6th of October, 1829, was fixed upon for the trial. Robert Stephenson, in conjunction with Mr. Henry Booth, then secretary of the Liverpoool and Manchester, now of the London and North Western, and who from the first had favoured locomotives, went to work at once, resolved to outstrip the conditions, and leave no further doubt as to their superiority. Four engines were entered for the contest, of which, however, only three appeared upon the rails; and of these, the Rocket, of Robert Stephenson, weighing 4 tons 5 cwt. and which, therefore, in ac cordance with the terms fixed, drew 12 tons 15 cwt., carried off the prize, put an end to the battle of locomotives and stationaries, and beyond measure raised the spirits of the directors by accomplishing an average of fourteen miles an hour, and attaining a maximum speed on one trip of twenty miles. This was deciding the point-to all practical purposes the beginning of our present system of railways. Immediately before the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester in 1830, Robert Stephenson undertook the survey of the first projected line from London to Birmingham, and in 1832 deposited complete and well-digested plans of the line in every essential particular as it now stands. During the construction of this line, George and Robert Stephenson laid down a cross of trunk lines in Belgium, and were both decorated by the King with the Ribbon and Cross of the Legion of Honour. At the general election of 1847 he was returned to Parliament, without opposition, for the borough of Whitby, in Yorkshire, as a Conservative and a Protectionist, opposed to the repeal of the Navigation Laws and the endowment of the Roman Catholic Clergy. Of the works conducted by Robert Stephenson, one of the greatest is the York, Newcastle, and Berwick Line, with its magnificent high level bridge over the Tyne at Newcastle, and the beautiful viaduct of twenty eight arches, of 125 feet high and 61 feet 6 inches across the broad valley of the Tweed at Berwick. But the greatest, the last and crowning triumph of Robert Stephenson, and of engineering skill, are the huge iron box bridges over the Conway, at the Castle, and the Menai, at the Britannia Rock. He has this year (1851) made a professional tour of Europe and the East, being everywhere received with the distinction due to his preeminent reputation.

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to carry away a sufficient recollection of its beauty and grandeur to yield a rich harvest to his memory in many an after day, besides affording material to talk about a spot whose fame has for ages been a theme of admiration in every part of the civilized world.

CHAPTER VII.

FROM CAMBRIDGE TO ELY.

CIR

CAMBRIDGE BOAT RACING-AQUATIC CONTESTS ON THE RIVER BANKS-HAYMAKING UNDER PECULIAR CUMSTANCES BEDFORD LEVEL-LORD COTTENHAMELY AND ITS CATHEDRAL, &c.

Distance from Ely to-London, 72 miles; Cambridge, 14; Wisbeach, 241; Peterborough, 304; Thetford, 23; Norwich, 53; Yarmouth, 78. Population of Ely (including two parishes,-6,825; Waterbeach, 1,270.

ON resuming our seat in our fiery chariot the bell rings, the porters bellow unintelligible injunctions, the engine indulges in a scream or two, and after a few affected pants and convulsive struggles-a sort of make-believe that it is quite tired and exhausted, and that it is protesting vehemently against proceeding another yard, it appears suddenly to resolve upon the course it will take-and we are at once dashing along through brick yards and ploughed fields. Leaving Cambridge on our left, of which a distant view is obtained, King's College Chapel rising preeminent above the other buildings; and after skirting the suburb of Barnwell, the St. Giles' of Cambridge, we cross the Cam, at a distance of about two miles from Cambridge, near the pretty village of Chesterton. It is at this point of the river that the University boat races terminate, commencing some distance down the river near to a sluice called Bait's Bite; and as the stream here is not sufficiently wide to allow two boats to pass each other, they are obliged to have recourse to an expedient called "bumping," by which rule, immediately one boat is enabled to touch or "bump" the stern of that in advance, the bumped" is compelled to ship its oars, and lie by the side of the bank until the others have passed, and on the following racing day it takes its place next in rank to the boat that bumped it. In these boat races, the desire for victory and the esprit de corps are so great, and induce such violent exertions, that at the conclusion of a race it is no unusual thing to see two or three of the oarsmen taken out of the boats in a fainting condition.

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On crossing the river we first pass the little station of Chesterton; next the junction of the branch line to St. Ives, Huntingdon, and Wisbeach; and are then rapidly traversing Chesterton Common, a few years ago a large open waste, used only for pasturing some cattle, but now enclosed and cultivated, and producing fine crops of grain. The ferry of Clay Hithe is now just perceptible, near to which is the rather pretty village of Ditton; the Plough Inn on this river bank being a great resort of fishermen, and moreover famous for its ale. On the left side is Milton Church, and on the other is the remarkably neat one of Horningsea. The river Cam here runs parallel with the line, and in fact continues to do so nearly all the way to Ely. Ditton Church is where the village "fiddler” did “penance" the year before last for talking scandal of the parson's wife. This circumstance made a great noise at the time all over the country, as it brought some thousands to the spot, and led to a most uproarious row in and outside the church. The sympathies of the mob were of course on the side of Orpheus, who, after the "ceremony," was carried in triumph through the village, and deposited in front of the Plough, the ample cellar of which celebrated hostelry was drained of its contents in libations to the parochial Paganini's health, and the Cleric's confusion. The train continuing its course over a dead level, the traveller catches a glimpse of Landbeach Church, peeping out from amongst the trees in the distance on the left; and after crossing a plain studded with windmills, reaches the station and village of Waterbeach: the village church, with its square tower, being close to the station, distant 54 miles from Cambridge.

The land in this neighbourhood being exceedingly low, the level of the river Cam is frequently higher than that of the adjacent fields, which have consequently to be drained by artificial means, and powerful steam engines are erected at intervals to pump the water from the gulleys into the river, the elevated banks

of which are seen clearly from the line. During floods, which occasionally occur, the river sometimes overflows its banks, and then the country on either side is inundated to a considerable depth, and a great deal of damage results to the crops, &c. On the flood rising after heavy rains these banks are not unfrequently the scene of very spirited contests; the inhabitants of the parishes on either hand come to the banks armed with spades and pickaxes, and as the waters advance they elevate the banks on their respective sides by throwing up earth on the top of them, thus endeavouring to force the aqueous invader to the opposite side. This struggle, after lasting some time, is usually determined by the waters bursting over one side or other, and inundating the parish, the victors proclaiming their triumphs by loud shouts.

About forty years ago the fields on the right of the line at Waterbeach were the scene of a most unusual event,-haymaking on the ice. The weather being very wet at the time when the grass was nearly fit to cut, the ground was covered with water to the depth of two or three inches, and the same weather continuing until Christmas, when a sharp frost set in, the fields were covered with ice, and the farmer and his men went on the ice, and cut and carried the grass in the usual way; of course it was not good for anything as hay, but it served as litter for cattle.

Leaving Waterbeach behind us, we rush directly into some of the most singular districts in the kingdom, called "the Fens." This tract of land has, in the course of centuries, undergone remarkable changes. There is abundant evidence to prove that it was once a forest, and that it then became a stagnant morass. In the 13th century many irruptions of the sea covered this district; and as the dams and drains were badly kept, the spot became an unhealthy malarious swamp, either watery or boggy. Through this morass the Nene, the Welland, the Ouse, and other rivers, found their way to the sea.

This district, called the Bedford Level, comprehends the whole of a large tract of flat land about thirty-three miles long, and is divided into three parts, which are distinguished as the North, the Middle, and the South Levels. The North Level lies between the rivers Welland and Nene; the Middle Level between the Nene and the Old Bedford River; and the South Level extends from the Old Bedford River to Stoke, Feltwell, and Mildenhall.

The draining of this immense tract occupied public attention for many years, and embankments and cuttings were from time to time made, but the works were quite inefficient. However, the great national importance of such an undertaking at length forced it into notice; and after several proposals from a Dutchman named Vermuyden had been submitted to the Government, and rejected, the Duke of Bedford, in 1634, made an agreement with Charles I. that a company would drain a large portion of the morass on condition of having some of the reclaimed land for themselves. The Duke having associated fourteen gentlemen with himself commenced operations, and this company, at an expense of £1,000,000, made seven cuts or drains, the most extensive of which is the Old Bedford River, extending from Earith to Salter's Lode, being seventy feet wide and twenty-one miles long. When the company had invested £400,000, they received 95,000 acres of the reclaimed land, but it was less in value than the actual amount expended.

A regular system was now established for preserving the reclaimed land, and for improving the draining. A royal charter was granted in 1664, by which the undertakers for the drainage were incorporated, and regulations were framed for the management of the 95,000 acres allotted. This corporation has since been kept up, and consists of a governor, six bailiffs, twenty conservators, and a commonality. The corporation is empowered to impose and levy taxes for the preservation of its land, and for upholding the ways, passages, rivers, cuts, drains, banks, &c., throughout the level, which are also the property of the corporation. The governor and bailiffs must each possess at least 400 acres of the land granted to the corporation to qualify them for holding these offices. The qualification requisite for the conservators is 290 acres ; such of the commonality as possess each 100 acres are allowed to have a voice in the election of the officers of the corporation.

At the original allotment of the 95,000 acres, the adventurers received assignments proportioned to the sums which each had contributed, so that the whole assignment is not held in common, but each owner holds his allotment or purchase subject to the laws and restrictions of the corporation. At the time the charter

was granted by Charles II., the king reserved 12,000 acres for himself out of the 95,000 acres, but this proportion was subject to the same management as the rest of the allotment.

At various times during the last two centuries, extensive works have been carried on to effect a better drainage of this large flat region, by the construction of artificial rivers. The principal of these has been completed, under Acts passed in 1827 and 1829 for improving the outfall of the river Nene; for the drainage of the lands discharging their waters in the Wisbeach River; for improving the navigation of the Wisbeach River from the upper end of Kindesley's Cut to the sea; and for embanking the salt marshes lying between Kindesley's Cut and the sea. Under the Acts, a new tidal channel has been cut for the discharge of the waters of the Nene into the sea, and several thousand acres of marsh land have thus been reclaimed. The old channel afforded only a tedious and dangerous passage, and that, too, at spring tides, and with a favourable wind, to vessels of about sixty tons burden, drawing about six feet water. The new channel affords a safe and uninterrupted communication between Wisbeach and the sea at all variations of the tide, and in all weathers, for vessels of the above burden, and at spring tides for ships of much larger dimensions.

Various auxiliary means have been used for the complete drainage of the Level. In many parts windmills have been erected for raising and carrying off the water, forming a very remarkable feature in a somewhat dreary landscape; but steam engines have recently to a great extent superseded them. In the North Level the drainage is effected without either windmills or steam engines.

of distinguished scholars of Cambridge, having graduated LL.B. at Trinity in 1803.

Pursuing our way over a vast plain, thickly besprinkled in summer with grazing cattle, we pass the village of Stretham, near the line on the left, and on the right on a clear day, the tower of Soham Church is visible. The river still accompanies us, and on the left side, after a run of a few minutes, the noble structure of Ely Cathedral bursts upon the view in all its majestic propor

tions.

Ely is a city and a county of itself, and is the seat of a Bishop's see, of considerable antiquity. Etheldra, the wife of Egfride, King of Northumberland, founded a religious house on this spot, and became the first abbess herself. The Danes, in their frequent incursions, entirely ruined this establishment, for at that period they were enabled to sail their ships close up to the walls of the town, the river being much deeper; in fact, it is supposed to have been an arm of the sea. One of the oldest songs extant is a war lyric of these Northmen, which relates that they heard the monks of Ely singing their hymns as they were sailing round the walls at night. It was rebuilt by Ethelwald, Bishop of Winchester, who converted it into a monastery, to which King Edgar and many succeeding monarchs gave great privileges and grants of land, so that this abbey in process of time became one of the best in England. Richard, the eleventh abbot, wishing to free himself of the Bishop of Lincoln, within whose diocese his monastery was situated, and not liking so powerful a superior, made great interest with King Henry I. to get Ely erected into a bishopric, and spared neither purse nor prayers to bring this about. He even brought the Bishop of Lincoln to consent to it, by giving him and his successors the manors of Bugden, Biggleswade, and Spalding, which belonged to the abbey, in lieu of his jurisdiction; but he lived not to taste the fruits of his industry and ambition, for he died before his abbey was erected into a see; his successor was the first Bishop of Ely. But the great privileges the Bishops enjoyed during a long succession of years were almost wholly taken away or much restricted during the reign of Henry VIII,

who caused an Act to be passed restoring to the Crown all the ancient royalties, &c. The building, as it now appears, has been the work of several of its Bishops; the west parts were rebuilt by Bishop Ridal, and the choir and lanthorn were begun by Bishop Norwold, and finished by Bishop Frodsham. The lady chapel, which forms a portion of the edifice, is used as a church for divine service, and is one of the most elaborately decorated architectural buildings in the kingdom, although it was much mutilated in the time of the civil wars, the parliamentary army having destroyed in their fanatic zeal a great deal of the rich tracery, and nearly all of the delicately chiseled figures. Two small chapels or oratories, on each side of the altar, are particularly deserving of notice, affording as they do such eminently beautiful specimens of ecclesiastical decoration and carving. The one called Bishop Alcock's is so rich in ornament, and of such exquisite proportions and fertility of design, that it alone is worth a journey from London to see. In the chapel south of the altar is a fine brass to the memory of Mr. Basevi, the gifted architect of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, who was killed in this Cathedral by a fall from a scaffold. The roof of the nave is of wood, and is now being restored and decorated with great taste. The pillars which support the roof are faced with black purbeck marble, contrasting admirably with the white chalky stone of which the Cathedral is built. Some of the monuments within the building are very ancient, and are the source of much gratification to many antiquaries who visit the Cathedral.

The diocese contains all Cambridgeshire, and the Isle of Ely, excepting Iselham, which belongs to the see of Rochester, and fifteen other parishes which are in the see of Norwich, but it has a parish in Norfolk named Emneth. The number of parishes in this diocese are 141, whereof 75 are impropriate. This see has given two Saints and two Cardinals to the Church of Rome, and to the English nation nine Lord Chancellors and seven Lord Treasurers, one Lord Privy Seal, one Chancellor of the Exchequer, one Chancellor of the University of Oxford, two Masters of the Rolls, and three Almoners.

The Isle of Ely is a district separated from the rest of the county on the south by the river Ouse, and contains about 225,150 acres, and a population of 61,610. A smaller tract, however, of about seven miles by four broad, is now generally viewed as forming the Isle, strictly so called, and is surrounded by a marsh formerly covered with water, from whence its name. The city itself is of small extent; and though many of the houses from their antiquity are worth a passing notice, yet the traveller will find little to detain him,-in fact, although called a city, it is nothing more than a little country town, and is remarkable for being the only city in England which does not send members to Parliament. Ely is much visited by naturalists, who come here in search of the peculiar aquatic plants and birds with which the neighbourhood abounds.

CHAPTER VIII.

FROM ELY TO THETFORD.

THE FENS-THEIR PECULIAR SCENERY-BRANDONTHETFORD, AND ITS ANTIQUITIES-BOADICEA-CASTLE HILL-BISHOPRIC-FISHING, &c.

Distance from Thetford to-London, 95 miles; Norwich, 30; Yarmouth 50; Brandon, 7.

Population of-Brandon, 2,002; Thetford, 3,814.

GAIN we are speeding onwards, and taking a parting glance at the Cathedral, and noticing the junction of the Peterborough Branch, to which we shall again recur, are once more in the Fens, which, however deficient they may be in poetry or romance, are rich in pasture, luxuriant in

beef; and if they fail in invoking any classic imagery, conjure up aldermanic visions of roast and boiled. It is by no means easy to describe the remarkable scenery that the Fens present to the traveller's eye; interminable plains on either side, stretching far away till they seem to dip into the horizon, with scarcely an interruption for the weary sight to dwell on; in winter little better than a swamp, and frequently partially inundated with water; totally devoid of those two great features of English scenery, trees and hedges, with the fields divided by means of narrow dykes, running into the broad drains with which the entire surface is intersected; drains and cuttings which, bordered with sedges and rank vegetation, are filled with the voracious pike, (the fresh water shark), the slimy eel, and the beautifully striped harmless water snake, with no sound to meet the wanderer's ear but the croak of the frog, and the shrill cry of the landrail, and with a soil composed of decayed vegetable matter of intense blackness, in places so soft that the foot sinks in, in

walking over it; the moist earth teeming with vapours, and the air heavy with dews, seeming to hang over the whole like a gigantic curtain, a winter's day in the Fens is undoubtedly one of the most cheerless scenes that can readily be imagined. In summer, however, the face of nature is totally changed; herds of lowing cattle and browsing sheep wander in freedom over the plain, and rapidly fatten on the luxurious herbage with which it is covered; the powerful steam engines, working unceasingly on the river's banks, pump the accumulated waters from the drains; the botanist is seen rambling through the fields, and exploring the fissures, in search of the rare and peculiar plants found alone in this district; the song of the shepherd and the bleating of lambs are heard in the distance; and the whole picture is one of high fertility, and pastoral ease and quietness.

For the first twelve or fourteen miles from Ely the nature of the country is unchanged; but having passed the two small stations at Mildenhall Road and Lakenheath, we approach Brandon, when the general level of the ground rises; and after ascending one or two inclines we leave the dead levels with their stagnant ditches behind us, and dash into a country gently rolling and undulating. Hedges and trees again make their appearance, the black soil ceases, and becomes gravelly; next farm houses and whitewashed cottages are seen sprinkled around; the neighbouring ridges are crowned with plantations of firs; and, passing through a cutting, the first since leaving Cambridge, we stop at the pretty station of Brandon.

Brandon, a parish and market town in the county of Suffolk, is situated on the Brandon River, or Little Ouse, which runs into the Wash at Lynn, is navigable as far up as Thetford, and forms the northern boundary of the county of Suffolk. There is here a considerable manufactory of gun flints, very fine flint being found in the neighbourhood in large quantities; and in the adjacent country are some immense rabbit warrens, from which the London market is annually supplied with a prodigious number of animals. There are some traces also of an intrenchment, supposed to have been a Roman station, but its origin is lost in obscurity. Brandon has a very respectable trade in corn, malt, coal, bricks, iron, and timber, and since the opening of the Eastern Counties Railway, the town has considerably improved in importance. The parish church is dedicated to St. Peter, and the living is a rectory in the diocese of Norwich. The Dukes of Suffolk formerly took their names from this place, and it now gives the title of Duke to the Hamilton family.

Leaving Brandon, the country for some distance is of an extremely pleasing character, until we come to a heath of considerable extent, famous for the quantity of game which it produces, the pheasant shooting being some of the finest in the country. This neighbourhood is the resort of many sportsmen, who come here for the season. Having crossed the heath, the fine rural and truly English scenery again appears, with its pretty cottages and farms; forming

A most living landscape, and the wave

Of woods and corn fields and the abodes of men
Scattered at intervals, and wreathing smoke
Arising from such rustic roofs-

and after a run of seven miles we reach Thetford.
Thetford is a borough and market town, and returns two
members to parliament, the number of electors being about 230,
and the mayor being the returning officer.* The municipal
government consists of a mayor, recorder, ten aldermen, twenty
common councilmen, and other officers. There are five principal
streets, and the houses on the Suffolk side of the river are con-
nected with the town by means of a bridge over the river Ouse.
There is an extensive paper mill, an iron foundry, three breweries,
and several malting establishments. The town contains three

⚫ The borough of Thetford is represented in Parliament by the following members:

Earl of Euston, eldest son of the Duke of Grafton (who formerly sat for Thetford). Born 1819. Was attaché to the British Legation at Naples. Was Colonel of the West Suffolk Militia for a short period in 1846, but resigned. Appointed a Deputy-Lieutenant of Northampton, May, 1846. A Liberal. Opposed to the endowment of the Roman Catholic Clergy. First returned for Thetford in 1847.

Honourable Francis Baring, second son of first Lord Ashburton, by the daughter of William Bingham, Esq., of Philadelphia. Born 1800. Married 1833 Mddle. Claire Hortense, daughter of the Duke of Bassano (in France). A Conservative. Voted against the repeal of the malt tax in 1835; represented Thetford from 1832 till 1841; again elected without opposition, on the succession of his brother the Hon. W. Bingham Baring to the peerage, August, 1848. [See note at p. 6.]

parishes, St. Cuthbert, St. Peter, and St. Mary the Less; and there are also places of worship for Independents, Wesleyans, Quakers, and Roman Catholics. But the chief celebrity of Thetford consists in its antiquity, for it is supposed by most antiquaries to be the site of the Sitomagus of the Romans in 435; and it is even contended by some that it was the royal city of the Iceni previous to the Roman invasion. However, it is quite certain that it was the metropolis of East Anglia, which kingdom comprised the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, and the Isle of Ely. On the invasion of Julius Cæsar, this kingdom was in some degree overlooked by the Romans, and maintained its independence on paying a trifling tribute to the conquerors; but the connection between the Romans and the Iceni became in time so close, that in the reign of Nero, Prasatigus, King of the Iceni, on his death-bed made Cæsar co-heir, with his two daughters, to his crown and kingdom, in the hopes, probably, of preserving peace. But this policy only furnished Nero's officers with a pretence for seizing upon the kingdom, plundering the king's palace, and consigning the Iceni to slavery: they even violated the two daughters of the dead king, and when their mother, Boadicea, made an appeal to the justice of the Roman general, he ordered her to be scourged from his presence. This treatment so exasperated the Iceni, that they rose in rebellion, and queen Boadicea placing herself at their head, made an irruption on the Romans, and met with such success, that she cut off the Roman colony at Maldon, and the ninth legion that came to its relief. The colony of Verulam shared the same fate, the victorious queen putting all to the sword, and slaying between seventy and eighty thousand of the Romans and their allies; she herself, however, was at length defeated with an equal loss by Suetonius, the Roman general, and was slain in the engagement.

From that time the town of Thetford continued to improve,the Romans making it a station, and surrounding it with a wall and other fortifications, the remains of which are still visible: the castle hill, or mound, when measured some years ago, being 100 feet high, and 984 feet in circumference at the base. During the Saxon Heptarchy the town was in a flourishing condition, and remained so until totally destroyed by an incursion of the Danes, but thirty years after it had quite recovered itself; for, on reference to Doomsday Book, we find that in the reign of Edward the Confessor it had 944 burgesses, though in the time of William the Conqueror these had decreased to 720.

Thetford was originally the seat of a Bishop's see, which dates from a very early period. Upon the conversion of the East Angles to Christianity an episcopal see was founded at Dunwich, which, after undergoing several removals, was at length fixed at Thetford in the year 1070. On the death of William Galsagus, the second bishop, in 1091, the Bishopric of Thetford was purchased by Herbert Lozinga, a Norman, for the sum of £1,900. He continued the see at Thetford for the first six years, but on the 6th of the ides of April, 1094, he removed the see to Norwich, not, however, until he had been to Rome to acknowledge his great crime in having purchased the bishopric; and having pleaded guilty to the charge of simony, and resigned his staff and ring into the hand of Pope Pascal II., he received absolution, and had his staff returned to him, being enjoined, as a penance for his crime, to build several churches and monasteries. In consequence of this injunction, and as some compensation to the town of Thetford for the removal of the see, Bishop Herbert, in conjunction with Roger Bigod, founded a monastery of Cluniac Monks at this place, but it gradually declined; and although it continued to be a deanery for several centuries, with peculiar power and privileges, it became at length quite extinct.

The visitor to this town will be much struck with the numerous vestiges of antiquity which invite his attention on every hand, and point out its former flourishing condition. Upon referring to Martin's History of Thetford (4to, 1779), it will be found that there existed in the time of Edward III. upwards of twenty churches, eight monasteries, six hospitals, twenty-four streets, and five market places, though nearly all of them are now either entirely lost or in ruins. There was also a nunnery here, the remains of which are still preserved; this nunnery was originally a monastery, founded in commemoration of the sanguinary battle which was fought in this neighbourhood between the English under King Edmund, and the Danes, and which lasted seven hours, with great slaughter on both sides. In the reign of Henry II. this monastery, having become very much reduced, was converted into a nunnery, was given to the nuns of Lynn, in Norfolk,