New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1901-08-20

France or crusading In the Holy Land. Then
followed long and glorious period. when the
fleets of the Cirque Ports fought the ma
val battles with France and Spain and
protected the island against invasion during the
Plantagenet and Tudor periods the mariners of
Sandwich, Dover and Hastings joining the
OF Devon in the attack the Spanish Armada.
Meanwhile the swirl OF the sands from the
eastern drift had been in progress generation
after generation, and the Cirque Ports
losing their grip on the The Ravens of
Hastings, Rye, Hythe, Romney and winchelsea
had been filled up with the wash of the Sussex
rivers. and Dungeness had been encroaching
steadily upon the sea, with its accommodations of
shlngle. Dover was no exception to the raw
ages of the tides and southwest winds, for the
town had been rebuilt the bed of the CID
time harbor; but Henry VIII and Elizabeth IN
dertook the work of creating port a
necessary work of national defence. and the
struggle against nature has been maintained by
marine engineers TO this day. Sandwich Bay
was already choked UP with sand when the
Spanish Armada swept by the coast, and while
belated efforts were made TO restore the chan
mel Of the Stour directly southwark by the
struction of two trenches, the undertaking
abandoned as too costly. The barren stretch
of sand seaward has widened generation after
generation, and the isolated old town, with its
glorious history has langushed and shrunk into
insignificance-a medieval show place for trip
pers and loungers in Ramsgate and Deal which
were once its subordinate villages in the con-
federation. The same physical changes which
have silted up the harbor of Sandwich have con-
verted the Goodwin Sands into a natural break
water for deep channel opposite Deal, with an
anchorage for the largest ships in the Downs,
and with ample employment for pilots and fish
ermen. Ramsgate. like Deal, is also protected
by its position from the encroachments Of sand
and shingle and has retained tenacious hold
the sea
AS the pharos by the side of Dover Castle is
a grim reminder of the Roman invasion, with
its nnarvels Of engineering and masonry,
Wslmer Castle beyond Deal is monument to
the dignity and glory of the ancient Cirque
Ports It has remained since the time Of Henry
VIII the seat of the warden of the ports,
Office older than the Norman invasion. and
to which William the Conqueror added the titu-
lar dignity Of Consta bic of Dover Castle. There
has been no break in the tenure of that office
since the Norman period. The medieval lord
warden was the head of a venerable court and
independent of sherffs and justices The
wardenship became alternately a military, ju-
dicial and naval office, its functions varying
under different reigns; and il has survived 10
this day honorary sinecure for great
statesmen, such as Pitt. the Duke Of wellington
the Earl Of DaIhouse. Viscount Palmerston, Earl
Granville and the Marquis of Salisbury The
lord warden is a lord lieutenant for the Cirque
Ports, the two ancient towns, and their corpo-
rate and non-corporate members; and the dig
nifty of the office has increased the power
and resources Of the historic confederacy have
crumbled away. The Cirque Ports themselves
when they lost control over the sea remained
strongholds Of political power with representa-
ton far in excess Of their deserts and even
when successive reform bills restored the bal
ance, something was left 20 distinguish them
from ordinary towns without historic privileges.
To this day the Cirque Ports are Independent Of
the shires in various details Of local govern
ment; neglected old Sandwich still retains titu-
lar supervision over 1ourishng Ramsgate and
Deal. and the lord warden has traditional rights
at the coronation of sovereign English con
servatism invariably gathers up the crumbs
that nothing may be lost" / n. F