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THE ROAD FROM ST. LAWRENCE TO NITON.

>>_For the succeeding mile and a half, our attention will be called to no one particular object; but we shall have the Undercliff in all its native character, a circumstance which must prove gratifying to those who admire Nature in_ HER OWN attire,

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The reader will be pleased, we have no doubt, with the following brief notice of this part of the coast, by the late celebrated Mrs. Radcliffe:—­

“Oct. 15, 1811.—­Passed Lord Dysart’s beautiful cottage:  it stands at some distance from the shore, and has several distinct roofs, well thatched:  stands at the head of a winding lawn, with a fine beech-grove, and richly-colored copse.  The little parish-church of St. Lawrence, perhaps the smallest in England, stands on a knoll, and terminates the cultivated valley; immediately beyond which we entered upon a scene of the wildest grandeur and solemnity.  Many of the ruinous precipices of the upper cliffs project in horizontal strata, yet have perpendicular rents.  Some of the shattered masses give the clearest echoes:  we stood before one which responded every syllable with an exactness which was truly astonishing.—­There is sometimes what may be called an amphitheatre of rock, where all the area is filled with ruins, which are however covered with verdure and underwood, that stretch up the sides with the wildest pomp:  and shelter here a cottage, there a villa, among the rocky hillocks.”

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Passing a gentleman’s residence situated below the road on our left, called OLD PARK (not from its display of sylvan honors), we should look out for a romantic ascent in the lofty cliffs called ...

CRIPPLE-PATH: 

It is worth examining, being a curious instance of the formation of the bold horizontal crags and ledges which distinguish these hoary precipices.  For some distance the path is in a sunken stratum of soft freestone, while the upper ledge of more stubborn rock overhangs it several feet.  Having reached the eminence by a rude winding staircase in a rent of the cliff,—­we shall be well repaid for our trifling labor, by the beautiful prospect which is disclosed of the Undercliff, spread like an extensive garden immediately under our feet.  Many parties walk hence on the edge of the cliffs to Niton, &c.

MIRABLES is another charming villa, through whose luxuriant plantations the road is carried for nearly half a mile, affording a most grateful shade:  but, by the bye, at the expense of all prospect.

    “Refreshing change, where now the blazing sun? 
    By short transition we have lost his glare,
    And stepp’d at once into a cooler clime.”

The house is secluded from our view:  it is in the plain cottage style:  but the grounds are not surpassed for rock and sylvan beauty by any seat on the coast.