“Sweet are its groves, and verdant are its fields.”

The mansion is a large square edifice, extremely well-situated,—­in front a fine lawn falls with an easy slope, shaded by many noble oaks and elms:  and immediately behind rises a steep hill luxuriantly clothed with hanging plantations.  At a short distance from the house is a small lake; and near the latter, the neat little parish-church, and the Parsonage, both beautifully embosomed in wood.

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THE ROAD TO FRESHWATER-GATE.

>> From Chale to the celebrated Cliff’s of Freshwater is about twelve miles; the first eight of which are through an agricultural district, presenting only so many agreeable pictures of rural life,—­and of these the principal are SHORWELL, NORTHCOURT, and BRIXTON.

    “A simple scene! yet hence Brittannia sees
    Her solid grandeur rise.”

The fact is, the greater part of the soil is so extremely fertile, as to be employed in tillage and meadow, almost to the exclusion of woods and coppice, which constitute the chief ornaments of a landscape.  We have, however, nearly the whole of the journey such a charming view of the ocean, as to compensate for the deficiency of sylvan beauties.

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After passing a small church called KINGSTON, posted on a knoll, and surrounded by a few trees which bespeak their bleak exposure, we reach ...

SHORWELL,

A considerable village, about four miles from Chale, and five from Newport; it stands charmingly sheltered in a curve of the downs with a southern aspect; has a pretty church; and boasts of the finest old mansion in the island, called NORTHCOURT, built in the reign of James I. This venerable pile has lately been thoroughly repaired:  a necessary operation by the bye that has stripped it for a few years of its greatest ornament—­the rich drapery of ivy which invested its lofty gray walls and pinnacles:  hills, clothed with hanging woods and plantations, rise boldly around it; many of the oaks and pines, luxuriating in a fertile soil and genial climate, are uncommonly fine:  the grounds too are embellished with a rustic temple, and a very elegant mausoleum to the memory of Miss Bull, the daughter of a former owner,—­the whole scene indeed is replete with architectural and sylvan beauties.  There are in the neighbourhood two other ancient manorial residences, named Westcourt and Woolverton, now converted into farm-houses:  and the cottages of Shorwell are remarkable for their neatness and comfortable appearance, as well as for the abundant display of creepers and flowering shrubs with which most of them are adorned.

Two miles further on we enter BRIXTON, a populous village in the heart of a rich tract of cultivation:  is one mile from the shore, and screened from the north by a range of lofty downs.  The Church is rather spacious, and not unpicturesque; many of the cottages are neat, some few furnished for lodgings:  and there is a comfortable small inn.  This place is commonly called Brison, and one clergyman names it Brightstone.