New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1843-09-08
THE TRIBUNE.
Glimpses of Europe... No. II.
THE ISLE OF WIGHT

They may find it, with its four rivers in the Isle
WlGnT. Nature has here done all in herpow
sand Art has well supplied her few iallngs.-
Or first glimpse oft was from boat tossing IN
,high sea. Lucretius has sung bow sweet 1t is to
sef from the land, ships laboriDg in the waves ;
a forgot TO say how much more sweet the
| md looks to those in the water. The beautiful
own of RYDE lay before us, with It's dusky-hucd
and picturesque cottages, cmbosomcd in rich
dumps Of foliage, and looking out on lawns of
vivid verdure, enclosed by hawthorn hedges Of
the deepest green, and sloping down to the mar
gin Of the 'ssolent sea- At last we touched
English ground landed safely, passed comforta-
uy luckily for our first Impressions the Custom
House ordeal, and commenced our scrutiny Of
The men, manners and things
OF the "men and Manners we were panied
to see the slayish obsequiousness | verify be-
teve that If. a thorough bred English waiter were
TO be knocked down, his first words in return
would be g Thank'ce, sir.'' 1t was sad to- think
how long and how severely they must have been
pressed and ground down before they arrived at
this pitch Of long suffering. 1t was easy 10 see
that they could not here buy land in fee for ten
York F" sLilEings an acre.
OF the (" things" the most remarkable TO an
American eye, was their universal completeness,
finish and perfection. Every thing seemed done;
none Of the houses were building or q being built; y
al seemed to have been long ago made Just what
they should be, and left so. All wore comlorta-
BE and quiet air If love in cottage" ever
berealzed, it must be here. A glimpse over the
high walls and hedges, with which an English
man, Turk-like, scdulously surrounds and ex-
cludes from passers-by the beauties which an
American would delight to expose 10 the admra-
ton Of his ncighbors, showed us close-cut lawns Of
yelvety smoothncss, sprlnklcd with rose trees VIC
lets and the like, intcrscctcd by walks cut in
the winding line of beauty, and looked upon from
broad windows extending down to them, so that
the interior carpet and the outer Of grass were
equal in level as well as in brilliancy, not stray
leaf even disturbed the finish not a single blade
lowered above its fellows, but all was perfect in
harmony and proprlety. The flowers were planted
in fancifuy shaped beds, cut out OF the green turf
which surrounded them, and the margins were
trimmed as exact as if the grass had been put
under the charge of har.cutter Many plants,
such as the graceful Fuchsia, or Ladies car-drop,
which with US are raised in pots, here flourish in
the greatest luxuriancc of foliage and flowers in
open gardens. Nothing was parched up, as by
our torrid sun, and all seemed as if constantly
kept waered, and SO it was, by the best of all
gardeners, Nature.
The cottages are evidently the result Of centu-
mes ofs,udy in the art OF uniting beauty and COM
fort. The are generally of stone, (or stucco,
equally effective as marble) and are always of
some modest and subdued hue. Among their
Qaaker.lke colors of drab, buff, slate, and the
like scarcely a glaring white is to be seen, and
never one OF our burning red fronts. The archi-
lecture of each is different, but all agree in being
low and expansive, and in possessing projecting
bow windows, which add grcaly to their beauty,
and at the same time command a prospect in
every direction. Many of the buildings are
Gothic and Elizabethan in style; others are TIA
ian; but none display the columncd piazzas of a
'rsclan Temple, a favoritc, though most map
popnate fashion in America. Some are matched
IN mmlcry of peasant rudeness and their porti-
GOES are formed of rough, EMBARKED twigs; but
aeT chairs of twisted roots arc beicd by the satin
o't0mans seen within. Every thing is so delight
nj that the visi,er from sea is obliged 10 be re-
minded that the last of the commandments is,
Thou shall not covet."
The beauty Of Ryde arises IN some degree from
lis combining modern American freshness with
hnsLsl! perfection OF finish. Its duslly huc-a
general characteristic of English towns-vcry
satisfactorily explains the cxtravagant wonder OF
Dickens at the bright colors, the brilliant white
fon's and green. Venetian binds of Boston. Were
aNewEngland village to be whirlcd through the
1'iike The famed chapel of Loretto, and set down
4ae N old England, 1t would be one Of the great
@curlosities in the three kingdoms. With us,
Ns Two halves Of a house perfectly balance, as if
would otherwise overturn; but here, especial
saas seem taken to make them unsystcmatcal.
1ach side differs from its fellow, and this gives
4aea greater variety and apparent extent, each
faon of the spectator presenting an entirely diff
feas view. OF some Of these, "a faint idea may
,ofmed from the cottage OF Washington Irving
q iarrytown, and of the simpler ones general
WI very inferior copy may be found in those
eound Union Park.
sisn Rydc we drove to Newport, in the nte
hos the capital of the island. Here commenced
oE hrss trial and unavoidable admiration of Eng
lsa roads. Sno,h and level. as the best tagged
Rssnent, the wheels glide over them as on a.
'away, The specimens of MacAdamized roads
u america are very imperfect, sometimes from
want of the best materials, and sometimes from