A SHOOTER'S HILL TRAGEDY.

Dismissing this imaginary incident, there remain to be noticed the records of actual deeds of violence and robbery committed at this spot. So far back as the reign of Richard II., an order was issued by the crown to cut down the woods on either side of "Sheter's Held," alleging, as the reason of this proceeding, that they afforded great shelter for thieves; and in the time of the first James we find it stated, that the footpads continued still to rob there as if by prescription. A few years previous, during Elizabeth's reign, it gained the unthankful epithet of the "Hill of Blood," from a fearful murder that had been but recently committed there, and which excited great interest at the time; so much so, that a play was produced on the subject, to gratify that morbid taste for the horrible which would seem to have prevailed with our forefathers, and to have been by them transmitted in all its force down to the present generation. In preference to quoting old John Stowe's explicit account of this affair, we will give a brief narrative of the leading circumstances :

In the year 1573, one George Brown, enamoured of the wife of a merchant named Sanders, purposed, with her knowledge, to remove all obstacles to the free indulgence of their passion, by waylaying and murdering her husband, when he journeyed abroad on matters of business. An opportunity soon occurring, Brown was apprised thereof by Mistress Anne Drewry—also a party to the plot-and took his stand on Shooter's Hill, in wait for the traveller, who had to pass along that road towards St. Mary Cray. Master Sanders was attended by one servant, named John Bean, but both were quickly overcome by Brown's superior strength, and left for dead by the roadside. Immediately afterwards Brown sent a message to Mistress Drewry, by her man-servant, known as Trusty Roger," informing her of the fact, and then hastened himself to London, where he received from this same trusty go-between twenty pounds, which the women Drewry and Sanders had raised by placing their plate in pawn. Just then they learned that John Bean, the man-servant, who was thought to have been slain as well as his master, had been found by an old man and his daughter, wounded in ten or eleven places; and that before he died he gave an account of the murder, charging Brown with the commission of the deed. Search was therefore immediately

THE POET BLOOMFIELD.

made for Brown, of which Trusty Roger was sent to warn him, taking with him a further supply of cash for the murderer's use. So much excitement prevailed respecting this affair that a hue and cry was raised far and wide, and in the course of a short time Brown was detected, concealed in a mean house at Rochester. He was immediately examined, and made confession of the deed, to which he said he was instigated by Mistress Drewry, under the promise of marriage between him and Mistress Sanders, "whom he seemed to love excessively," and who he protested was in no way privy to the affair. His trial came on soon after, when he was found guilty on his own confession, and executed, and his body afterwards hung up in chains on the spot where the murder was committed. The two women and Trusty Roger were then arrested, and executed together at Smithfield, each of them, before they died, acknowledging their participation in this romantic tragedy.

Shooter's Hill has other and more pleasing associations, and to these let us at once return. The neighbourhood was a few years since a favourite place of residence with the poet Bloomfield, who after a fit of illness used to breast the steep of Shooter's Hill, indulging in rhymes, while seeking in the pure air the invigoration of his shattered health. One poem, composed under these circumstances, opens with the following invocation to the rosy goddess

"Health! I seek thee;-dost thou love
The mountain top or quiet vale,

Or deign o'er humbler hills to rove
On show'ry June's dark south-west gale?
If so, I'll meet all blasts that blow,
With silent step, but not forlorn ;
Though, goddess, at thy shrine I bow,
And woo thee each returning morn.
"I seek thee where, with all his might,
The joyous bird his rapture tells,
Amidst the half-excluded light,

That gilds the fox-glove's pendent bells;
Where, cheerly up this bold hill's side
The deep'ning groves triumphant climb;
In groves Delight and Peace abide,
And Wisdom marks the lapse of time.
"To hide me from the public eye,

To keep the throne of Reason clear,
Amidst fresh air to breathe or die,
I took my staff and wandered here,

ANECDOTE OF LINNEUS-SEVERN DROOG CASTLE.

Suppressing every sigh that heaves,

And coveting no wealth but thee,

I nestle in the honied leaves,

And hug my stolen liberty."

But we must needs be hastening on our journey, as the position of the sun in the heavens above us tells that the better part of the day is already spent. Half-way down the declivity of the hill, a road branches off to the left which leads us to Eltham. This road continues in its course directly across the face of the hill side, having above it, on the one hand, cultivated and well-wooded estates; whilst below it, upon the other,

"Wrapped in a golden fleece

Of blossoms,"

extends a narrow tract of furze-covered waste, which serves to remind the visiter of the former condition of the greater portion of the country around. It was in admiration of this plant in full flower in the winter season, that the distinguished Linnæus fell upon his knees and prayed, on beholding it for the first time in all its splendour, clambering up the base of Shooter's Hill. On our left hand, entombed among trees,

"A far-seen monumental tower

Records th' achievements of the brave;

And Angria's subjugated power,

Who plundered on the eastern wave;"

which ever since we left old Charlton, has been a prominent object in the landscape. It is a modern structure, at least comparatively so, having been erected only sixty years since. The various apartments were formerly decorated with a collection of eastern trophies and other curiosities from India, but many of these were stolen by some nightly visitants a few years since. The building when we last inspected it was in a state of great dilapidation, much of which we were told was the work of casual visiters from neighbouring parts. From its summit a most extensive view can be obtained, which comprises all the well-known objects for miles around. An inscription over the doorway informs us "that it commemorates the achievements of the late gallant officer, Sir William James, Bart., in the East Indies, during his command of the Company's marine forces in those seas, and in a particular manner to record the conquest of Severn Droog, on the coast of Malabar, which fell to his superior valour and able conduct, on the 2nd day of April,

ELTHAM PALACE-THE BRIDGE AND MOAT.

1755." It is due to conjugal affection to state, that Severn Droog Castle, as this tower is called, was erected by the widow of the gallant officer to whose memory it is devoted.

Our winding way takes us gradually round to the direct west face of the hill, and from thence onwards to the village of Eltham and its venerable palace. At present the long sloping roof of the great hall is alone visible among the surrounding foliage, but as we advance nearer, adown the remains of an avenue of branching elms, an old seneschal, still stout and hearty for his age, in the form of a romantic bridge of four arches, stretches itself forward to introduce us within the precincts of the outer inclosed court, marked by the ivy-covered ruins of the ancient wall.

This bridge is thrown across an encircling moat of very variable breadth, in some places being less than fifty, and in others more than one hundred feet broad. The whole space originally enclosed by the moat is about an acre. It appears to have been made deepest on the north side, fronting the principal approach to the palace, excepting in which situation, it is now dry. Towards the west it was very wide, and on this side, it must be observed, the principal front of the palace was placed, so that the water would here have formed an additional ornament, as well as a means of defence. From here, between the breaks of foliage in the park, a noble view was then obtained, which, stretching across the intervening valley, terminated with the gothic spire of the ancient metropolitan cathedral. The bridge was built by Edward the Fourth, in place of the wooden drawbridge, which was better adapted for the security of the place during the previous turbulent reigns. Some fragments of the gateway, that formerly joined to the eastern side of the bridge, still remain, but these are too inconsiderable to attract any attention, beyond the passing remark that such a structure here once held watch and ward over the suspicious convenience of the bridge, which was alike favourable to friend or foe.

Having crossed the bridge, before us stands all that remains of the once magnificent palace of Eltham ;-its great hall, partially concealed by a leafy screen, formed by one or two aged elms. Beneath the shadow of these trees, and close to the hall itself, two cottages have been constructed out of its ruined materials, whose inmates, like garrulous attendants upon decrepid age, afford

strangers very incorrect guidance respecting the past history of their venerable charge. The most valuable records which have been preserved of the actual character of this interesting residence of England's earlier kings are, first, a ground plan, made at the time of some alterations being effected in 1509; and next, the parliamentary survey, taken immediately after the death of Charles the First. From the survey it appears that Eltham House, as it is here called, had a capital mansion, built of brick, stone, and timber; and that, besides the great hall, it contained one fair chapel, the site of which, however, it is now impossible to determine, thirty-six rooms and offices below stairs, with two large cellars. Above stairs were seventeen lodging-rooms on the side called the King's, while on the Queen's side there were twelve others; on the Prince's side were nine lodging-rooms: in all thirty-eight, with various other small and necessary rooms and closets. There were thirty-five bayes of building round the court-yard, which contained about seventy-eight rooms, used as offices. The whole, after the survey, were sold to the parliamentary general, Nathaniel Rich, for the sum of £2,753.

In the cottage adjoining the entrance into the hall a key is kept,