THE ISLE OF WIGHT 241 



river," with the distant towns of Gosport and Ports- 

 mouth on the opposite shore and the Portsdown hills 

 beyond. Eastward is "the open ocean bounded only 

 by the horizon." Southward, now as then, a rich 

 and fruitful valley lies immediately beneath. "A fine 

 range of opposite hills, covered with grazing flocks, 

 terminate with a bold sweep into the ocean, whose 

 blue waves appear at a distance beyond. Several 

 villages, hamlets, and churches are scattered in the 

 valley. The noble mansions of the rich and the lowly 

 cottages of the poor add their respective features to 

 the landscape." The parish church of Godshill is 

 seen crowning a little eminence which rises out of 

 the valley ; while to the south-west, some ten miles 

 away, is dimly discerned the remains of an ancient 

 chantry, once occupied by a solitary hermit, on the 

 summit of St. Catherine's Down. 



Little Jane's cottage, which is annually visited by 

 large numbers of persons, is still in the same condition 

 as when she died there in the summer of 1799. For 

 many years it was owned by a pious and cultured 

 lady, lately deceased, who venerated the name and 

 teaching of Legh Richmond, and who regarded its 

 possession as a sacred trust. She would allow no 

 alterations to be made, no modern " improvements " 

 to be carried out. The cottage is still thatched with 

 straw, and the original lead casements of the lattice- 

 windows remain. Inside, upstairs and downstairs 

 alike, nothing has been changed ; and the " mean 

 despised chamber," with its "sloping roof" and 

 " uneven floor," remain as when the good pastor 

 administered the Holy Communion to the dying child 

 more than a hundred years ago. The little garden, 

 too, is practically unchanged. A high bank, starred 



Q 



