valley to entertain us; which is well watered, and boafts as rich a foil as any in the neighbourhood.

The entrance to Newchurch is up a hill, rather steep; and without any pretenfions to thofe picturesque beauties we expected to find there. The church is old, but not interefting; nor is there any thing out of the common line in the appearance of the houfes, which are chiefly inhabited by tradefmen and labourers.

The view from the church-yard is the beft the place affords. From thence the hills of Gatcombe appear to join thofe of Arreton, and, blending with Knighton, termi nate with Culver cliffs. The valley was the moft interefting; after which Knighton house formed the next principal fubject; and both were clofed by Afhey down.

From hence we paffed Queen Bower. On the top of its hill stands a peasant's hut; -but if fine profpects and enchanting objects give a pre-eminence, this fpot is more befitting the manfion of a peer. The views from it are nearly the fame as those seen from the oppofite downs.

Purfuing our way down the bower, we croffed to Afp, where the greatest depth of the valley is plainly perceptible. From thence we paffed Cherry gardens, and turned to Landgard, the principal house of which is at prefent occupied by Mr. Smith, an opulent farmer. The oak and elm groves that furround this manfion render it a pleasant refidence. Its views are rather clofe and contracted, but upon the whole agreeable.

From Landgard we paffed clofe under Shanklin downs, and croffed to Wroxall, a fmall village near Appuldurcombe. The latter lying directly in our route, and having procured admiffion tickets, we entered the park and proceeded to it.

SECTION XIV.

APPULDURCOMBE park, the feat of Sir Richard Worfley, is fituated in a valley, which takes one of the most extenfive courfes, and might be confidered as one of the principal dales, in the island. Our readers may remember the mention we made of this houfe when, in our circuit round the island, we took a view of it from the downs of Yaverland and St. Helen's. We then could not fo well judge of its fituation; but we were now convinced that it was pleafant. The harbour of Brading broke in between the downs of Yaverland and Brading, and prefented the coaft of Suflex to bind the diftance.

Those fences and hedge rows which had difgufted our eye when we looked down upon them from Afhey downs, now viewed from the houfe, dropped into the focus of each other, and rather refembled a wood than that what they really were. Taken altogether, the fituation of Appuldurcombe houfe is pleafant, but not poffeffed of that grandeur which refults from the ruder boldnefs of Nature.

This manfion, which is built of freeftone, is large and beautiful.-There are four regular fronts to it, of the Corinthian order, the principal of which is adorned with two wings, and has a lawn before it. The offices all lie at the back of the house, where ftrangers who come to view it ufually enter.

The first room we were ushered into, after paffing the fervants' hall, was the great hall-a moft fuperb and elegant apartment, embellished with the choiceft productions of the arts.

Some beautiful pictures adorn the walls, particularly the fubject of the Salutation, by Fran. Barbiercus, oppofite the door; the drawing of which is chaffte and fpirited;

the colouring dark, but with a fine effect.-Over the fire-place, on the left hand, is the Confecration of a Bishop ;-the fubject not interefting, but highly finished. These pictures, we understood were purchafed by Sir Richard Worfley, when lately abroad.

A portrait by Vandyke, is alfo in the best ftile; as are a Virgin and Child, and feveral others, by Holbein, Sir Peter Lely, Carracchi, &c. all in the first manner.

The bufts likewife difplay judgment in their felection.-That of the river Nile is an elegent piece of fculpture;-the fymmetry of the limbs is graceful, and the whole finely proportioned.-The fixteen Cupids are delicately touched, and equally well grouped.

Several antiques grace the pedestals; among which the Genius of Hercules, the Achilles, and the Bull, are fome of the best.

The roof is fupported by eight beautiful pillars of the Ionic order, refembling porphyry, highly ornamented.

From hence our guide conducted us to the dining parlour.-Here we were gratified with a fight of fome of the finest pictures ever produced by the pencil of Zuccarelli. At the extremities of the room hung two of the largest I ever faw by this great mafter; and, if I may prefume to fay fo, I think them the beft.--In my humble opinion, thofe at Windfor and Hampton Court, from recollection, are not fuperior.

That on the right hand as you enter the room, has every requifite to render a picture complete;-the compofition is grand and elevated;-the figures in the foreground are fpirited; and at the fame time there is a peculiar foftness in the countenance of both the women which stamps an everlasting credit on that knowledge of the paffions this master was known to poffefs.-The only disparity was in the cattle, which were rather out of proportion, by being too long in the back. The buildings are in the ftile of Pouffin, and happily managed;-the back-grounds are poffeffed of all the fire and colouring that can fet off a picture. Upon the whole, this claims the fuperiority over every other piece in the room.

Its companion is nearly on the fame fubject, and beautiful in the extreme.The light and fhadow in this piece, give the fpectator a thorough knowledge of the pitch to which painting can be carried.-The others by this mafter likewife claim at

tention.

Two by Berghem alfo grace the room.-It is needlefs to make any comment on the performances of this well-known mafter, except just saying that they are in his best ftile. I am forry to be obliged to add, that they are fo very highly varnished, that in a few years there is a probability of their being entirely obliterated.-Indeed too many in this collection have undergone that deftructive procefs, to the great difappointment of Time, who would otherwise have handed them down with pleasure to pofterity.

We were now conducted to the, drawing-room, which is pleafantly fituated, and the furniture extremely beautiful. Returning from this room, we entered the library, where nothing befides a figure on the ceiling attracted our particular attention.-This claimed our warmeft praife.-The fubject is an angel in the attitude of flying.-The colcuring is beautiful; the drawing ftill more fo.-One of the legs, which was forefhortened, appeared to be the touch of Cipriani; and indeed the whole of the figure led us to fuppofe that it was the production of that artift.-But as it was placed fo high, we could not take upon us to pronounce to a certainty its mafter.

We next paffed into an interior library, where fresh beauties attracted our notice.-A Sun-fet, on one of the highest pannels near the door, was the first object that caught our eyes.-It was a piece of fuch merit, that we could have viewed it for an hour, without finding the leaft abatement in our pleasure and admiration.-The fubject was a Sea-port, executed in the most finished ftile.The colouring was warm but free from glare;-and fo foftly blended was the whole, that a completer copy of Nature was never feen.-The veffel in the distance is handled with peculiar judgment, and exemplifies the nice conception of the master.

A whole length of Sir Richard Worfley, in his regimentals, by Sir Joshua Rey nolds, hangs in one corner; and a picture by Barrett, of that wonderful spot, Steephill, likewife graces the room; together with a few old heads, &c.

The little dreffing-room contains a fet of Italian views in water colours; among which is an eruption of Mount Vefuvius. There is alfo a view of the Egyptian Pyramids; with feveral different views of Athens; all in the highest rank of the art.Thefe we likewife found were what Sir Richard had lately brought over.

The organ-room boafts alfo of feveral beautiful pictures.-One by Reubens, over the door, is in his firft ftile of colouring;-the half tints are soft and harmonious, and fhow the excellency of his pencil;-the fubject, Nymphs bathing. A large picture of Boors quarrelling, in an excellent ftile. One by Palamedes, of a Merry Making, which is placed under the foregoing, has alfo a claim to merit.

A ftoning of St. Stephen, with a Jofeph and our Saviour, are pictures in a capital ftile. There are two good pieces by Gerard Dow;-the first his usual subject, a woman looking out of a window; the other, his mother at work. A fmall piece by Van Helmont, of Boors regaling, is in the best stile of of that master. The confumptive boy has merit ;-but, as well as confumptive, the artist furely intended him for a languishing one.-Hinting our doubt on this head, we were informed by our guide, that the former was meant to be expreffed by the artist.

Paffions, or corporeal affections, of a fimilar tendency, from the fimilarity of their reprefentation, fometimes caufe a doubt of the painter's intentions, especially where no diftinguishing traits are to be met with; fo the appearance of a confumptive perfon, and one languifhing from extreme fenfibility, might be mistaken by the fpectator; and he may be led to doubt, as we did, of the painter's defign.

Returning to the veftibule, we there alfo obferved feveral pictures of the first rank. Among them was one of Liberality, by Sir Joshua. What I have already faid on a former occafion of the merit of this first of living artifts, renders it unneceffary for me to fay much of this piece. I cannot forbear, however, obferving that the countenance of the female figure, reprefenting Liberality, is fuch as his brilliant imagination ufually forms.-Every beauty fhines alike confpicuous; and hard it is to know which is the loveliest feature in her face;-each is fo charming, that it bids defiance to the critic; and the tout en-femble is fuch as will be modern at any future date.-The hair, loosely difhevelled, flows partly over the fhoulders, and adds beauty to those charms that Sir Joshua is fo peculiarly happy in, when he is painting a female from his own imagination. The picture of Daniel in the lion's den, after the original in the poffeffion of his Grace of Hamilton, is here; but it hangs almoft beyond the fight of an indifferent eye. -The original is accounted one of Rubens' mafter pieces.-Several prints have been engraved from it.

A picture of young Mafter Worfley, by Mr. Cofway, is over the door.-Time feems to have mellowed the colouring, and to have brought it to the highest perfection. A Dog

A Dog and dead Fox, by Mr. Elmer, is painted with all the nature the pencil of that gentleman poffeffes. Several other pieces of great merit alfo adorn the walls.A fine ftatue of Apollo Belvidere ftands on the flaircafe.

With thefe remarks fhall we take leave of the infide of the houfe, as recent orders from its owner forbid the admiffion of ftrangers up ftairs; which we could not help lamenting, as we were informed that it contains fixty rooms, and that the walls of most of them are decorated with pictures. But if thofe in the rooms above are as much obfcured by dirt and varnish as the principal part of thofe we faw below were, we may venture to pronounce it to be throughout the collection of a perfect

connoiffeur.

I have known many gentlemen purchase at an extravagant price, pictures that have been scarcely visible; as if merit confifted in obfcurity.-In particular, I once faw a confiderable fum given for a piece by Rubens, which was totally devoid of colouring or defign, (as many even of that great mafter's have been, though these branches of the art were his forte,) while others of far fuperior merit, by a modern artist, attracted fcarcely a look. With little lefs prejudice in favour of obfcured antiquity, do a great part of this collection feem to have been chofen.

The fureft way for strangers to obtain a fight of the infide of this manfion, is by an application to the prefent poffeffor of the Bugle inn, at Newport; where, befides procuring the means for partaking of fo defirable an entertainment, they will find the comforts and conveniences of a home, though at an inn.

Leaving the house, we now paffed through the lodge and the park, towards Godfhill. The entrance into the park is by a handsome gateway of the Ionic order. An obelifk of Cornish granite, of a confiderable height, ftands in the park, which was erected to the memory of Sir Robert Worfley. One of the views from the houfe is directed to an artificial caftle, placed on a rocky cliff, about half a mile from the park, which is generally known by the name of Cook's Caftle. The lodge is a neat plain building.-The keeper's houfe ftands on the left, at the foot of a fmall copfe.

A great deficiency of wood appears through the whole park.-Several fmall clumps of regularly planted trees ftraggle in many parts, and afford but little gratification to the fight. And I cannot help here remarking, that in the appearance of this manfion and its environs, there is fuch an unaccountable want of that combination of objects, to which our Gallic neighbours give the happy term of je ne fçai quoi, that not all the art imaginable could raife it, fumptuous as it is, to infpire that pleasurable feeling, which the plain and humble roof of Steephill cottage impreffes on the mind at first. fight.

The termination of the park breaks rather abruptly, and lets in the hill of St. Catherine's on the left, and on the right thofe of Cheverton and Brixton.

At Appuldurcombe there was formerly a cell of Benedictine monks, founded by Ifabella de Fortibus, about the end of the reign of King Henry the Third. This cell was made fubordinate to the abbey of St. Mary de Montifburgh in Normandy, but was diffolved with the reft of the alien priories, by King Henry the Fifth. Previous to its diffolution, it had been given by Henry the Fourth to a convent of nuns, at that time tanding without Aldgate, London.

Having paffed the park farm, we arrived at the outer gate of the park, leading to Godfhill, to which place we proceeded..

SECTION

SECTION XV.

THE town of Godhill is very neat, though fmall, and contains a proportionable number of inhabitants.-Its church ftands upon an afcent, and gives name both to the place and the parish; and, as the people here fay, through a circumftance equally as fabulous as the rifing of Shanklin down.

The architecture is partly Gothic, but, through the ufual mode of modern beautification, the whole is not to be diftinguifhed. However, when we viewed it, two of its gable ends had juft fallen in, which broke the formal appearance of its extremity, and introduced a beautiful fpecimen of its ancient fplendor. The ivy had twifted off many of its difagreeable angles, and added beauty to its Gothic appearance. Its prefent fhattered state might have arifen from its having been ftruck by lightning in the year 1778, when great damage was done to it. This church was anciently appropriated to the abbey of Lyra in Normandy.

Upon our entering the porch, we observed abstracts from several acts of parliament fixed against the door, and among them one that excited both our curiofity and rifibility.—It was from an act made in the feventh of James the First, which enacts, that every female who unfortunately intrudes on the parifh a fecond illegitimate child, fhall be liable to imprisonment and hard labour in Bridewell for fix

months.

Now as the number of females on this island much exceeds that of the males; and as, from the mild temperature of the climate, circumftances frequently arife among the lower ranks that render the intention of this act of no effect; we could not help thinking this public exhibition of the abstract as rather a rigorous exertion of juftice. We found it was not very unusual here for the young men, from the deficiency of numbers juft fpoken of, to pay their devoirs to more than one young woman at a time; and as it is not poffible for him legally to unite himself to all of them, he generally beftows his hand on her who had firft prefented him with a pledge of their love. This, however, is feldom done till the approach of a fecond pledge from the fame perfon renders fuch an act of compaffion needful, in order to avoid the confequences of the tremendous anathema fixed on the church door.

Leaving Godfhill, we paffed the valley to Shorwell, which is but a small spot. Northcourt was the next place we made for. - Here Bull, Efq. has a feat, which

is pleasantly fituated, and commands extensive views.

Finding ourfelves nearly in a part that we had vifited before, during our tour round the coaft, and confequently where no fresh information was to be obtained, we turned our horfes, and purfued our route up Chillerton-ftreet; from whence we fkirted the oppofite fide of the vale of Gatcombe.

Here every luxuriance that could be wifhed for, ftrewed the valley. The fpring which rifes at the bottom of St. Catherine's, bending its courfe down the dale, relieved the continued groups of wood lying in its circle. This ftream, which is faid to be the fource of the river Medina, has the honour of being called by that name, long before it can make any pretenfions to the denomination of a

river.

Chillerton down now frequently bounded our left-hand view; -the oppofite valley that led to Sandown, which has been twice defcribed, was hidden for a confiderable diftance; - frequent interpofitions of landfcape, however, made amends for the want

of