chief, whose title is, Lord Warden and Admiral of the Cinque Ports.  There is no charter extant of the ports prior to Edward I.; and as they are not mentioned collectively in Domesday, many persons have been led to conclude, I think erroneously, that they did not exist as a corporation at the time when that ancient record was taken.  Dover, Sandwich, and Romney are named as privileged ports, from which it may be inferred, that the corporation flourished at that time,—­and for this reason,—­Hastings has always been considered the first port in precedency, which would not probably have been the case, if it had been one of the latest privileged.  The charter of Edward I. mentions immunities granted to the Cinque Ports by William the Conqueror; and, what is still more to the purpose, because it carries back their origin to the Saxon times, is, that King John, in his charter, says, that the Barons of the Cinque Ports had in their possession, charters of most of the preceding kings, back to Edward the Confessor, which he had seen.  So, having traced them up to a Saxon origin, I must leave to some future antiquary the task of settling the precise date of their first incorporation.

The five incorporated ports are, Hastings, Sandwich, Dover, Romney, and Hythe.  Attached to each port are several limbs or members, the inhabitants of which participate in their privileges, and bear a share of their expenses.  Rye and Winchelsea were united to Hastings about the first year of the reign of King John, under the denomination of the two ancient towns, and they appear to have obtained the superiority which they now hold over the other limbs, at a very early period, a charter of the year 1247 styling them, by way of eminence,_nobiliora membra Quinque Portuum._ The limbs are first mentioned in the Red-Book of the Exchequer, a miscellaneous collection of treatises, written before and after the Conquest, and collected together by Alexander de Swereford, Archdeacon of Shrewsbury, an officer of the Exchequer, who died in 1246:  and also in the Domesday of the Ports, an ancient manuscript, formerly kept in Dover castle, but now unfortunately lost; but they do not occur in any charter till that of Edward IV.  By what means or for what purpose these limbs became united to the five head ports, is now matter of speculation.

The duties which the Ports were bound to perform were incessant and of the most arduous character, particularly during the early years of the institution, when the narrow seas were constantly infested by numerous hordes of fierce, adventurous, and reckless pirates.  Exonerated from all other services, they were bound to exert their own naval force for the protection of the realm, for the maintenance of the free navigation of the Channel, for the prevention of piracies, and all impediments and interruptions whatsoever.  Effectually to perform these services, dangerous and difficult it must be allowed, they were obliged to furnish among them fifty-seven ships, each manned