MR. DOWNING'S LETTERS FROM ENGLAND. 



MR. DOWNING'S LETTERS FROM ENGLAND. 



Forn (lav.s in the I.sle of Wight — the weather, the climate, and the scenery, all de- 

 lio-htful. The Island it.sclf, about fifteen miles long, is England in miniature — with its 

 hedges, green lawns, soft-tufted verdure — now and then a great house, and plenty of ornce 

 cottages. In some respects it fell below, but in manj^, fully equalled my expectations. If 

 you think of it as the " Garden of England," it Avill disappoint you, for there are coun- 

 ties in England — for example, Warwickshire — better cultivated, and more soignee, than 

 tliis spot. A considerable portion of the Island — especially the western end, is neither cul- 

 tivated fields nor gardens, but broad downs and high bluffs. I should say that you would 

 get the best idea of the Isle of AVight, without seeing it, by imagining it composed partly 

 of Nahant, and partly of Brookline — near Boston — the prettiest rural nest of cottage vil- 

 las in America. The bare grass slopes and bluffs of Nahant, will correspond to the wes- 

 tern part of the Isle of Wight, while the suburbs of Boston, that I have mentioned, are 

 a very fair offset to the more decorated and cultivated cottages and grounds of the eas- 

 tern and southern portions. 



You cross from Southampton to the Island, in rather less than an hour, by one of the 

 small mail steamers plying here. The towns of East and West Cowes, where you land, 

 as well as Rj'de, which is a few miles further, have quite a gay ajipearance at this season 

 of the year, from the harbors being filled with the pretty vessels of the various yacht 

 clubs, that hold their regattas here — and the accommodation at the hotels is, for the time 

 at least, brought up to the st3de and prices which the titled yacht-men naturally beget. 

 The flag of the admiral of this fancy fleet, the Earl of YAREOROUGn, floated from the 

 mast of his fast looking vessel, and a variety of craft, of all sizes, .lying about hor, gave 

 the whole neighborhood an air of great life and animation. 



Our party, three in number, took one of the light, open carriages, ■\\'ith which the 

 Island abounds, and started, the next morning after our arrival, to explore it pretty tho- 

 roughly. 



The neighborhood of East Cowes, abounds with pretty scats, and, on the opposite 

 shore, are numberless little cottages, by the side of the water, " to let," with all the 

 cosy furniture in-doors, of English domestic life, and out-of-door accompaniments of trees 

 and shrubs, and overhanging vines, that gave them a very inviting appearance. Although 

 I had never lived under the authority of a landlord, I could find nothing but tempta- 

 tions to become a lessee of such pretty domicils as these. They look so truly home-ish, 

 and tell ycm at a glance, such a story of years of the tenderest care and attention, in all 

 that makes a cottage charming, that they make one long to stop acting the traveler, and 

 nestle down in the bosom of that peaceful domestic life, which they suggest. 



A short distance, perhaps a mile, from Cowes, is Osborne House — the marine re- 

 sidence of YiCTORLA.. This place is her private property, and having been almost wholly 

 erected within a few years past, may be said to afford a tolerable index to the taste of 

 lier j\Iajcsty. The residence is an extensive villa, in the modern Italian style, with a front 

 of perhaps two hundred feet, and the outlines picturesquely broken by tower or campa- 

 nile. It stands in the midst of a sandy plain, Avhich is level around the house and toward 

 the road, and undulating and broken towards the sea— of which it commands fine views. 



It is fenced off from the highway by a close, rough board " park paling," some sev 

 ht feet high. Within this fence is a belt of young trees, and scattered here 

 over the surface of most of the enclosure, are groups and patches of small trees 



