THE LORD CHANCELLOR 135 



It is indeed a most secluded spot, and seemed designed 

 for the habitation of a recluse, or selected for the repose 

 and relaxation of one whose energies were required and 

 devoted to the fulfilling the duties of the highest office in 

 the state. Before we left, and while enjoying the social 

 conversation that a beautiful day and pleasant company 

 jjromoted, I observed with what apparent ease a French 

 privateer might cross the Channel, land a boat's crew, 

 and carry off the Lord Chancellor, great seal and all, from 

 this solitary and defenceless spot. 



Upon another shooting excursion in an opposite 

 direction, where in a wild and open country the sports- 

 man has some little difficulty to find and follow his game, 

 I came upon the house where that great but ill-fated 

 genius, Sir Walter Raleigh, first introduced the custom 

 of smoking — now so prevalent among all classes. It was 

 a lonix, low buildinof, with a thatched roof. At the time 

 I was there it was a jDublic, as lonely as Colman's " Red 

 Cow " on Muckslush Heath. Here my companion and I 

 repaired for refreshment, which we partook of in the 

 room where that celebrated scholar, courtier, warrior, 

 historian, and philosopher, indulged in his new-discovered 

 luxury, which he had learned from the red men of 

 Virginia. A young rustic, as tradition goes, ^^erceiving 

 the smoke issuing from his mouth and nostrils, threAv the 

 contents of a flagon over him to extinguish, as he 

 ignorantly thought, the fire that was about to consume 

 him. 



Another took me to the neighbourhood of Lulworth, 

 and its castle — the seat of the Roman Catholic family of 

 the Welds — is as conspicuous for its modern architecture 



