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River Medway

104.

UPNOR-CASTLE, &c. defcribed.

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T Upnor-Cafle, he fays, there is not a gun mounted for fervice, nor yet a platform, as fome have afferted. Nor is there any platform of guns at the Swamp, nor yet at Cockham wood. The fort at the Swamp is now called Birds- p neft fort, where guns can hardly be remembered, and where the embrafures of earth are long fince mouldered away, and over-run with bushes and brambles, and the ground behind this fort turned into a profitable brick-kiln; the veftigia or marks of a fort there, only remaining.

Cockham wood fort, about a mile

March

tion of each gunner, weekly, from Up-
nor caftle to Hoe-nefs aforefaid.

Upnor-caftle is pleasantly fituated, on
high rifing ground, next the banks of
the Medway, almoft oppofite to Chatham
new dock on the other fide. There is
a large powder magazine at Upnor-caftle,
for the fervice of the navy; and belong-
ing to the garrifon there, for the fervice.
and fecurity of this magazine, are a
mafter-gunner, and 12 other gunners, a
storekeeper and clerk; an officer's com-
mand of foldiers on detachment: Which,
with all the adjacent forts, Gillingham,
Cockham-wood, and Hoe-nefs forts, a-
forefaid, every one fubordinate to this ga-
rifon, are under the command of lieut.
gen. John Guife, the prefent governor.

commodation of that gentleman. Coals
and candles are alfo allowed for the ufe
of this garifon. The colours are hoifted
at the top of the caftle.

The governor's houfe is built of stone" in the cattle, being the fouth tower, at which, on account of its unfitness for his reception, he never refides. But there are very good barracks, in which the gunners, foldiers, and officer commanding on the spot, are well accommodated; ! beyond Birds-neft fort, going from Up-Cand a beautiful and magnificent storenor-caftle, on the fame fide of the Med-keeper's house and gardens, for the acway, is yet to be feen, but with all the guns difmounted, and thrown by on the ground, viz. feveral 42 pounders; the hot and ordnance ftores lying in the mafter-gunner's houfe, juft at hand, which, as well as the fort, is become very ruinous: But as there is a falary annexed, it ferves for the fupport of feme deferving perfon, and his family, who has spent his youthful time in his majesty's fervice. There is a very fine profpe&t from the leads at the top of the houfe, commanding the river up as far as Rochester, and down as far as Sheerness, comprehending the contiguous hills and valleys, which in the fummer appear like a Paradife. E It is conveniently fituated for an aftronomer to take his obfervations of the heavens, and for a poet to engage his fancy and attention.

Gillingham-fort is lately improved as a garifon; a master-gunner, and two other gunners, belonging to it: And new barracks are built there. It stands on the contrary fide of the Medway to that whereon ftands Upnor-caftle and Cock! ham wood fort, below the latter, fo called from the adjacent wood; yet almost oppofite to Upnor, by the winding of the Medway.

F

Hoe nefs fort is fituate on the Medway's brink, below Gillingham fort, on the fide next Hoe marihes. No guns are G mounted at this fort, to which only a mafter gunner belongs, who lives abfent: But a quarter gunner from Upnor caftle lives on the fpot, for a week at a time, a boat being allowed for the tranfporta

The air here, and throughout the whole hundred of Hoe, is fubject to fo many changes in 24 hours, that agues are complained of the year round, in fummer as well as winter. And befides the fudden changes of air in this part of Kent, the other caufes contributing to agues here, more than in any other parts of the county," are the falt exhalations from the adjacent marihes, overflowed by the Medway tides, and left fwampy twice every 24 hours." And the hundred of Hee (near which ftands Upnor Caftle) being fo clofely embraced by the Thames and Medway, next the fea, whofe arms in fome places, are not above a mile or two afunder, where the hundred lies low, and subject to be overflowed, muft reeds produce an increase of the fame effects.

The foil about Upnor is very clayey, and the roads and paths very flippery and troublefeme after rain. There are feveral monuments of wit extant in these parts, especially at the quarry houfe, or Kentish Vaux-hall, fituated on a fair profpect, at a convenient distance from Chatham, Rochester, and Stroud, from whence these towns, and the river are finely beheld, with the Gothick bridge of Rochester, fupported on eleven separate arches, and ferlings, where the tide rifes and falls with great rapidity.

JOUR

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a. The Castle.

6. The South Tower, or

Governor's Apartment.

L. Mag.March 1753.

A SOUTH-EAST VIEW OF UPNOR-CASTLE IN KENT

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1753. JOURNAL of the PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES in the POLITICAL CLUB, continued from p. 65.

The laft Speech I shall give you in the Debate continued in your last, was that made by C. Popilius Lænas; which was in Subftance thus.

Mr. Chairman,
SIR,

W

ment been firmly united, no other prince in Europe would have ventured to attack the queen of Hungary, nor would France have ventured to prompt any of them to do fo by a promife of her affiance; A for the Dutch and we, with the affiftance of Pruffia, would have been able to fupport that houfe againft any confederacy that could have been formed against it; but by the promiles we made to the court of Vienna, and the projects we at first formed against Pruffia, we prevented any fuch agreement, and thereby occafioned fuch a confederacy to be formed against the queen of Hungary, that we ourselves were obliged to agree to a neutrality, which we were forced to observe, until by the C bad conduct of the French generals, we got that agreement brought about, between the queen of Hungary and the king of Praffia, we ought at first to have infifted on.

B

D

HETHER the immedi ate election of the archduke Jofeph as king of the Romans, be a right or a wrong measure, is not the question now before us; for a measure may in itself be right, that is to fay, it may be the intereft of this nation to have it brought about, and yet it may be wrong in us to attempt it, or at least it may be wrong in us to become the chief actors, and to be at the chief expence in bringing it about. To prove this I need not dive very deep into the hiftory of past times, or the politicks of future. To have had the pragmatick fanction of the late emperor religiously obierved, and all his dominions tranfmitted entire to his next fucceffor, was in itself a right measure; but in the circumflances Europe was thrown into by his death, it became impoffible to be accomplished, and our intermeddling in it fo much as we did at the beginning, that is, when the king of Pruffia firft invaded Silefia, not only brought on the laft war, but brought the houfe of Auftria to the very brink of deftruction; for if we had then plainly told the court of Vienna, that we could not intermeddle in their difpute with the king of Pruffia, that court would probably have come to an agreement with him at the expence of a fmall part of Silefia; and if they had done this, I am perfuaded, no war would have happened in Europe, becaufe, if those two powers had by fuch an agree

-

March, 1753

E

F

hich

But this agreement, Sir, was far from having the fame good effect it would have had at firt: It put an end, it is true, to the war between those two powers, but it did not eftablish a friendship between them, tho' the king of Prufia got by it a greater part of Silefia than he would have been at first fatisfied

with. On the contrary, he was now engaged in a defenfive alliance with France, and he forefaw, that his quiet enjoyment of what he had got would depend upon his preferving that alliance. Tho' we were fully apprifed of this circumstance, yet we foon after engaged in a measure, which was likewife right in itfelf, but it was very wrong, it was even ridiculous in us to engage in it at that time; and we certainly would not have engaged in it, if we had not been governed, and I may fay blinded, by an interest which was

far

106 PROCEEDINGS of the POLITICAL CLUB, &c. March

far from being the intereft either of Britain or of Europe. The meafure I mean was that of conquering and taking from France fome territory, to be given to the queen of Hungary as an equivalent for what she had yielded to the king of Pruffia. A This, I fay, was in itfelf a right meafure; but confidering the alliance then fubfiting between France and Prussi, it was ridiculous at that time to think of it, as we foon found by experience; for the moment we made an impreffion upon France in Alface, the king of Pruffia, in purfuance of his alliance, renewed the war, and attacked the queen of Hungary in Bohemia.

cautiously avoid engaging in any otherwife, Sir, that we fhould most project that may feem to tend this way because it will always give France a great advantage over us. The princes of Germany know as well as we do, that it is our interest to render the emperor their abfolute mafter, and that, on the other hand, it is the interest of France to preferve their independency. We fhould therefore be extremely cautious of B but feem to have a tendency towards engaging in any meafure, that may. overturning what they call the liberties of the Germanick body, because in that case it will be easy for France to perfuade many of them to accept of fubfidies from her, and to join in her measures, under pretence of her having no other view but that of preferving their independency, which it is fo much her intereft to take care of, becaufe, whilft that is preferved, they will never afflift the houfe of Auftria in any ambitious projects against her.

D

Thus, Sir, from a very late part of the hiflory of patt times it appears, that a meafure may in itself C be very right, and yet it may be wrong in us to embark in it; and now with regard to the politicks of future times, it would be right, that is, it would be for the intereft of this nation, not only to have the Imperial diadem continued, but to have it made hereditary in the family of Auftria. Nay, I will go further, I believe, it would be our intereft to have that family established in an abfolute fovereignty over the whole German empire; and however much this might be contrary to the intereft E of the princes of Germany, I believe, it would not be repugnant to the intereft of the people in general; for they might, perhaps, live more happily, and extend their trade more eafily, by means of their great navigable rivers, than they can do at F prefent; and if the emperor was as abfolute in Germany as the French king now is in France, I am fure, we should have nothing to fear from the overgrown power of the houfe of Bourbon If it were poffible, therefore, to render the houfe of Auftria the abfolute and hereditary fovereigns of the whole German empire, the meafure would be right in felf; but will any one fay, it would be right in us to attempt it? So far

G

Now, Sir, I fhall leave to gentlemen to confider, whether our being fo very folicitous about having the archduke Jofeph cholen king of the Romans in the life time of his father, may not seem to fome of the princes turning their liberties; for we all of Germany as a step towards overknow, that for the prefervation of their liberties they depend very much upon the capitulations, that are to be figned and worn to by every emperor at his election. If any thing has reign, if any innovation has been been practifed during the former introduced, that may feem of bad confequence towards their liberties, they take care to provide against it by a capitulation at the next election. But they fay, and rightly fay, that peror his father's life-time, the were the fon to be chofen in the emreigning emperor might have so much influence as to prevent any fuch capitulation's being infifted on. grees be rendered precatious, and at and thus their liberties might by de

lait

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