[52]“The Pickwick Papers,” chap. xxxiv.
[53]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[54]“... A strong place perched upon the top of a high rock, around which, when the tide is in, the sea flows, leaving no road to the mainland.”—“A Child’s History of England,” chap. ix.
[55]In the early part of the last century the Logan, or Rocking, Stone could be easily swayed to and fro, its poise being so accurate that a hand-push would set it in motion and cause it to rock. In April, 1824, this huge rock was overthrown by a party of sailors, and, filled with remorse for this foolish act, the leader of the party (Lieutenant Goldsmith, nephew of the poet) determined to replace it at his own expense, the stone being swung back with pulleys to its original resting-place in November of the same year, amid great local rejoicing. But its rocking propensities were sadly diminished, and at the present time have ceased altogether.
[56]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[57]Forster’s “Life of Dickens.”
[58]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.”
[59]Thackeray wrote some of the early numbers of “Vanity Fair” at the Old Ship Inn, and caused George Osborne and his bride to spend the first few days of their married life there.
[60]“The Letters of Charles Dickens.” This passage reminds us of the following contemporary reference in “Vanity Fair,” chap. xxii.: “But have we any leisure for a description of Brighton?—for Brighton, a clean Naples, with genteel lazzaroni; for Brighton, that always looks brisk, gay, and gaudy, like a harlequin’s jacket....”
[61]Vide “Mary Boyle—Her Book,” 1901. Miss Boyle, an intimate friend of Dickens, pleasingly records her recollections of Dr. Everard’s school, where, as a girl, she was very popular among his pupils, and much in request at the dances. Her partners included the late and the present Lords Northampton, Mr. Frederick Leveson-Gower, and her cousins, the sons of Sir Augustus Clifford.