To Correspondents. OLD INHABITANT.-We must obtain additional particu lars of the circumstance, before calling public attention to the encroachments complained of. ENQUIRER.-The Bromley Record is registered for trans mission abroad, and can be sent to any part of the kingdom, or the British Colonies for one postage stamp. Our numerous correspondents will, no doubt, be disappointed at not seeing their Mercurial observations and calcalations in print. We can assure them such kindness is always welcome to us; but to publish it in such quantities as have poured in on us this month would be tiresome to our readers, who will be pleased to know that our sale has not diminished. Several applications for an Index of the "Bromley Record" have been received; should there be a sufficient number to cover the expenses of printing, we shall be happy to comply with their wishes; to comprise the two volumes, 1s 6d. each. now complete, which may be bound in one, in cloth at A brief sketch of the Life of BISHOP WARNER in our next. MOON'S CHANGES-JUNE. First Quarter --- 5th day, at 2.43 morn. 12th day, at 6.17 after. 19th day, at 3.12 after. 27th day, at 6.54 after. The Bromley Record. SUNDAY, JUNE 1, 1862. NOTES OF THE MONTH. AMERICAN affairs as far as have been known to us, have shown a succession of victories on the Federal side, but the probability of the south becoming again a portion of the United States, appears jurious effects of the American war is now being generally felt throughout England and France. Some political economists, by way of consolation, inform us that this distress would have come without the aid of the war, inasmuch as all markets were overstocked with cotton goods, and a diminution of labour must have been the consequence for some time to come. Another wide spread calamity, which we regret to have to record, is the erruption of the sea near King's Lynn, Norfolk, on Sunday the 4th ult. The tidal water having undermined the works of the outfall Sluice at St. Ger. mains, on the west bank of the Ouse, it soon made an extensive breach in the strong barrier, placed there by the skill of some of our most eminent engineers, and by the inhabitants considered almost impregnable, so long had it withstood the unwearied attacks of the impetuous waves without showing any signs of giving way. An opening being made of about 50 feet wide, the water at the following tides, rushed about 8000 acres of rich and highly in and ultimately took possession of cultivated land. The inhabitants had live stock as possible, but in many into fly for their lives, taking as much stances leaving all their furniture behind, which, with their farmsteads and and probably are now, for several miles cottages, growing crops, &c., have since inland, covered by the sea, and steam In Parliament, the annual vote on forts are being made to repair the dampackets plying over them. Great efthe Church Rate question was taken on the 14th ult., when the numbers were, however successful these attempts may age, so far as stopping the breach, but, for the abolition 286, against 287, giv-be, the crops are destroyed for this ing a majority of 1 in favour of matters as they stand. On the last occasion, year and perhaps for the next. when this question was before the house, the numbers happened to be equal, and it fell to the speaker's lot to give the casting vote. as remote as ever. The South com plains of the great Powers, for looking on without interfering, whilst the North offer up thanksgiving for the same. At home, the opening of the International Exhibition was the all engross ing topic for several days in the early part of the month. Distress in the manufacturing districts, we are sorry to learn, is siderably on the increase, and the in VOL. III con An appeal to the nation will no doubt be made to alleviate their sufferings, as well as that in the manufacturing districts, and we would recommend our readers who are uncharitable, if there are any such, to call to mind the "Good Fellow of Knockholt." B Kentish Worthies. ANNE BOLEYN. The county of Kent has furnished two native celebrities to whom England is indebted for the two most important events recorded in her annals. Caxton, whose biography we have already given, was the first to introduce the art of Printing; "And Gospel light first shone from Boleyn's eyes." Now although we cannot agree to this extent with the Poet, as the change in the National Religion was the inevitable result of causes long at work, though quickened in their development by the impetuous passions of an arbitrary monarch, still as Anne Boleyn became the wife of Henry VIII., the downfall of Wolsey, and the rise of Cromwell and Cranmer, were consequent upon her elevation to the throne. She was also the mother of Queen Elizabeth, who ultimately completed the Reformation commenced by her father, and thus perfected one of the most signal revolutions which a nation has ever undergone. But in writing the life of Anne Boleyn we shall confine ourselves strictly within the confines of personal biography without trespassing upon the domains of political history; marking all the points of chief interest in the eventful career of this ill-fated beauty, -not less disastrous in her fortunes than that other frail and fair sovereign, Mary of Scotland, the rival of Elizabeth. and won her, and as the ancient edifice is still in existence, a brief account of her birth place will not be uninteresting to the reader. HEVER CASTLE is very pleasantly situated on the banks of the river Eden, which meanders with a gentle ripple through the broad meadows and leafy vales of the Weald of Kent. It stands too,-does this time-honoured old mansion,-on classio ground, for within a morning's walk lies the Penshurst of the immortal Sidneys,— the ancient castle of Tunbridge,-and Somerhill, once the residence of President Bradshaw, who condemned Charles I. to the block. The splendid pile of Knole, is also within the limit of a day's moderate ramble. The present mansion was built by William de Hevre,-probably on the site of an earlier Norman fortress,-in the reign of Edward III.; and still remains pretty nearly in the same form and character of that period. It is built of stone in a quadrangular shape, enclosing a large court yard, and surrounded by a deep Moat which still derives its waters from the adjacent river. The principal front was the fortified part, consisting of a large and lofty gate-house, flanked by two square towers. Over the gateway impend bold machicolations or parapets, from which missiles could be hurled on the heads of assailants, and the chambers above the guard rooms were supplied with furnaces for melting lead and pitch, to be poured upon them for the like purpose, towers are pierced with loopholes, through which arrows might also be discharged without fear of reprisal. Three stout gates, and as many portcullises are arranged one behind the other within the gateway. One room in the Gatehouse has been recently fitted up. Weigh-cently The rest of the build The Anne Boleyn was the eldest daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn and the Lady Elizabeth Howard, but much uncertainty prevails both as to the date and place of her birth. Some historians state that she was born in 1501, others in 1507; some assert that the place of her nativity was Blickling Hall, whilst others, and they are in the majority -are in favour of Hever Castle, Weighing these contradictory authorities dispas- ing is occupied as a farm residence, but sionately, we come to the conclusion that the arrangements are still those which she was born at Hever in 1501. Here, it existed three centuries ago. The dark oak is certain, that her early years were spent panelling remains within, just as the quaint with her sister Mary and her brother gables remain without. There is a grand George, afterwards the unfortunate Vis- staircase, such as would put to shame its count Rochford, as well as with another flimsy and modern prototypes in Belgravia; companion, a youth who, in later life, as and a long gallery, echoing every footstep, Sir Thomas Wyatt, exercised so fatal an with a recess once used, it is said, as the influence upon her destiny. Morcover as council chamber of "bluff Harry," as well it was at Hever where her Royal lover sued as a trap door which opens into dark, damp dungeons; and into a subterranean the VI., 1459, by Mr. Geoffrey Boleyn, a passage leading to the Moat. There is wealthy mercer, and Lord Mayor of Lonalso a chamber in which Anne of Cleves don. His grandson was also a worshipful died, besides a picturesque boudoir connec- Knight, Sir Thomas Boleyn, the father of ted with a bedroom, once tenanted by the Queen Anne, and afterwards, Earl of ill-fated Anne herself. In this long gal- Wiltshire. On the attainder of him and lery has Henry held many a splendid revel, his son, the Viscount Rochford, Henry the -in its recesses has he drawn aside the VIII. seized upon the domain, and afterbeautiful daughter of his host, and whis- wards conferred it upon Anne, of Cleves, pered in her ear those soft nothings which his fourth wife, who died here in 1556, led her to a throne and a scaffold. In one when it again reverted to the Crown, and recess there is a bay window, a famous, was granted by Queen Mary to the Walever to be noted oriel,-where Anne was degrave family, from whom it was purwont to sit in silent expectation of the chased in 1745 by Mr. Thomas Waldo, coming of her royal lover, whilst watchmen and in whose descendants, the Sibthorpes, were stationed on the hills between Hever it still remains. and Chiddingstone, who, when the monarch came "galloping from Eltham or Greenwich," sounded their bugles in token of his approach—and in this recess, as tradition tells us, was their favourite seat, where she prattled to his eager ears, of state affairs and theological mysteries, of laces, silks, lutes, and love. Such is the historical record of Hever Castle, where the Childhood of Anne Boleyn was spent, and here after she had attained the age of eleven, her mother, the Lady Elizabeth, expired in the year 1512, after which Anne was placed under the guidance of a French governess, named Simonette, and instructed by competent teachers in needlework, music, and dancing; she learned to write legibly, and to express herself clearly, both in French and English, accomplishments sufficiently rare in those days, and which recommended her at the early age of 14 to the post of Maid of Honor to Henry's youngest sister, Mary Tudor. There is another tradition, a strange story, at Hever, when the King's fickle affections passed from Anne Boleyn to Jane Seymour, he became desirous, as all historians tell us, of getting rid of the obnoxious wife; but as he had already one divorced Queen living in the person of Katharine of Arragon, two divorced Queens might prove exceeding troublesome. He there- She followed this Princess to France, fore decided, says the Hever tradition, upon on the occasion of her espousals with Louis starving poor Anne to death; so he dis- the XII in 1514, and at that Court she patched her to Hever and cast her into a soon became a pivot of attraction to the dungeon, where she lay until the gaoler gay French gallants, where her fresh and thought all life must be extinct: then he blooming English loveliness was duly apwent to remove the body, but to his horror, preciated. A French chronicler of that Queen Anne revived. He had not the period describes the costume which enheart to repeat the cruel experiment, so he hanced her natural charms. "She had a sent her back to London, where the king, bourrolet or cape of blue velvet, trimmed as we all know, got rid of her by another with points, and at the end of each hung a method. True it is that history tells a little bell of gold. She wore a vest of different tale, still as a faithful Biographer blue velvet, starred with silver, and a surwe are bound to record the fable. How-coat of watered silk, lined with miniver, to ever as we have made a digression from Hever and its owners, we will now retrace our steps. After William de Hevre's death, the Castle and Manor passed, by his daughter's marriage, into the hands of Lord Cobham, of Starborough, from whose grandson it was puchased in the 37th year of King Henry which were attached large hanging sleeves that hid her hands from the too prying curiosity of lovers and courtiers; her little feet were covered with blue velvet brodequins, each of the insteps being adorned with a diamond star; on her head she wore a golden-colored Aureole of some kind of plaited gauze, and her hair fell in ringlets." Such was the dress of the youthful Anne sports, athletic exercises, and pastimes of Boleyn. To be continued. BROMLEY UNION WORKHOUSE CHAPEL. This excellent and necessary work has, we learn, been commenced, and will shortly be roofed in. It is a plain unpretending structure, but has all the appearance of a building set apart for divine worship. The neighbourhood has in general responded handsomely to the appeal made to it by the committee, but Bromley seems to form an exception to this rule. Only a few, and those chiefly the wealthiest residents, have as yet subscribed. As forty or fifty pounds will in all probability still be needed, we hope that one, two, and three pound subscribers will be induced to forward their contributions (which may be paid to any member of the committee), to assist a work, which, in respect of utility and importance, is second to none that has been undertaken of late in this neighbourhood. CRICKET.-BROMLEY v. HAYES.—This match came off at Hayes on the 30th. Bromley went in first and scored 47, twenty of which were got by C. B. Griffith, and sixteen by F. A. Raynes. Hayes then made their appearance at the wickets and scored 141; Mr. F. A. Norman making a score of 66 runs. The morning being unfavourable delayed the commencement of the game, so that one innings terminated the proceedings. Last year a match was played with a similar result in favour of Bromley. The return match will be played on the 10th of this month. We intend giving the scores of the future matches. FIELD PATHS. Burke complained that the age of chivalry was gone; and the book sellers say that the age of poetry has followed it. And truly it seems so. "Those brown old lines of rural liberty, the field paths-those outlets to the poetry of the country, almost by association poetry themselves are fast disappearing. And it is now more than ever requisite that they should not disappear, with an enormously increasing population, when many a pleasant village green has been appropriated, moor and commons enclosed, and even the ancient forests contracted to the narrowest dimensions. Sir Thomas Moore, in his Utopia," describes a plot of land, in his imaginary region, in the neighbourhood of towns, set apart solely for the healthful 66 the people—a project lately resuscitated by Lord Brougham, not unwisely. Yet, after all, there is nothing so pleasant as footpaths, leading on from village to village, through all the fair variety of fields; in spring, through scenes wrought as by enchantment, to the most tender, vivid, delicious greenness and floweriness; in summer, through hayfields, with their picturesque groups of haymakers and merry makers; in autumn, to the golden corn fields, where the partridge "chirrs" in the twilight, and the rook is seen duskily winging its flight to the distant woods. Over breezy hills do you pass, with the fairest of prospects; through woodlands, with their cool shades, in the sound of rippling brooks; over rustic bridges; in pleasant glooms, where the solitude; and on by old farm houses, brimchil-chal's notes make felt the soothing solitude; and on by old farm houses, brimful of health, wealth, and quiet. A stile seems to me the key of fairy land-the entrance to "that unsubstantial fairy place," the home of the cuckoo and the nightingale; and no less the home of all those whose senses are awake, who have their eyes and their hearts open to participate in its delights. You enter, and, if cares go not with you, the town, with its sights and sounds, is soon forgotten, or brought back only for the pleasant contrast. You there meet your own infancy, there your youth is restored to you-more especially if you were born and brought up in the country. The dryness as of dust which seems in the very heart, the thirst for something long delayed or undefined, the unsatisfied feeling of those whose golden age has passed byis, for the time, soothed or intermitted. You feel that the scent and aspect of flowers died not upon the senses, that they entered your soul, and, woven with your being, became a part of your being. O delightful field-paths; sacred to memory and to love, to health, and to hope! "Stopped by an order of sessions !"-verdict, "died of appoplexy." Awful are sudden deaths. These veins of the public health are closed at once. Would man suffer nature to record "a natural death," it were better. Did they miss the accustomed tread to human feet, it were well that nature should erase the traces of past intercourse, all remembrance of pleasant communion. Oh, for an act of T 1 that of the public another, and yet both can be coexistent in one and the same estate. Here there 66 ST. PAUL'S CRAY. CONCERT.-On Tuesday evening, May 20th, a spirited Concert took place in the National School Room, when a selection of above twenty glees, songs, choruses, &c. were sung 1 by the following members of the Choir:Miss Baker, Miss Linsdell, Miss Uden, Miss Pollard, Miss Waller, Miss Harland, Miss Groombridge; Mr. Antram, Mr. Harris, Mr. Herbert, Mr. Whitehead, and Mr. Uden. Pianoforte-Miss Edlmann. ConductorMr. Griffiths. The Concert was commenced with two or three verses of "God Save the Queen," which was followed by a part song; "See the Chariot at Hand," then a solo and quartett, "Ellen Bayne," the solo was sung by the Antrams; "Hark the Lark," a glee; then a song by Mr. Harris, as "Burns the Charger," which was rapturously received; "A Christmas Madrigal;" then a duet, by Messrs. Antram and Harris, "All's Well." Miss Baker then sung "Troubadour Enchant-only some certain persons, such custom is repugnant ing," (from Lurline,) and was encored, to which she responded again, and the chorus from "The Waits," concluded the first part. The second part commenced with "May Day," a quartette, and was well executed, Mr. Griffiths taking the lead, followed by the "Gipsy's Tent," a solo and chorus, this called forth a burst of applause, and was repeated; then a song by Miss Linsdell, "Sweet Spirit,' (from Lurline,) which was well sung; after which a part song, "Dawn of Day," a trio, "Winds Gently Whisper," and "The Blue Bells of Scotland; this Quartett was encored. Mr. Antram then sung a serenade, entitled "Good Night Beloved," admirably, and, but for the lateness of the evening would, no doubt, have been repeated; a trio and glee, "Breathe Soft ye Winds," and "The Forester" were well performed; and the chorus, "Hearts of Oak," brought to a close the first public concert given by the St. Paul's Cray Choir. There was a large attendance of the gentry and clergy of the neighbourhood present, so that the School room was filled. At the rehearsal on the previous evening a general invitation was given to the poorer classes of the village, and the children of the above school to attend free of charge. MARTIN'S HILL. Mr EDITOR.-The preservation of Martin's Hill as a public promenade and place of recreation for the inhabitants of Bromley is undoubtedly, at the present moment, a subject of paramount importance to the welfare of the town; and altho' much has been said and written on the subject it appears to me that the "vexata questio" has not as yet been placed in its true light. The recent attempt at mystifica, tion by claiming the Hill as "private property,' which the freehold undoubtedly is, is simply an absurdity. The right of an individual is one thing, has been a right of enjoyment established by |