Litchfield enquirer., 1851-02-06

8 al extensive villa, in the modern ltai>
mn style, with . front Of perhaps two
Kindred feet, and the outlines pictur-
esuuely broken by tower or campanllo.
III stands in the midst of a sandy plain,
which is level around the house and tow
ard the road, and undulating and broken
towards the sea, of which it commands
Inc views.
It is fenced off from the highway by
close, rough board "park paling,' some
seven or eight feet high. Within this
fence is a belt of young trees, and scat
tered here and there, over the the sur
face Of most of the inclosure, are groups
and patches OF small trees and shrubs,
newly planted. The whole place has,
most completely, the look of the Preten>
tious place of some of our wealthy men at
home. who. turning their backs upon the
numberless fine natural sites, with which
our country abounds, choose the barest
and baldest situation, in order that they
may dig, delve. level. and grade and
spend half their fortunes, in doing what
nature has, not m;le distant, offered to
them ready made, ana II thousand'tlmes
more beautifully done. Osborne house
may be tolerable residence, 1--WE mean
respecting its out. of doors pIeasure,} SO
wears hence: but it is almost the only
eouatry seat we saw in England, that
looked thoroughly raw and uncomtorta-
BILE. suppose, in country where eE-
ery thing seems finished, there is a sim
gular pleasure in taking a place in the
rough, and working beauties out OF tame
ness and insipidty. The Queen lives
here, and walks and drives about the
neiehborhood, in comparatively simple
and unos,entatious manner, and attracts
very little attention, and her husband
practices farming and planting. quite in
good earnest.
A country-seat, onlya mile distant, in
thoroughly English taste, was COM
plsts contrast to the foregoing, and gave
US a great pleasure. This is Norris Cas-
tie, built by Lord Seymour, but now the
property OF Mr. Bell, who resides here.
Neither the place, nor the house is larger
than several on the Hudson, and the
grounds reminded me. in the simple lawn
or park, sprinkled with fine groups of
trees, Of Livingston manor, and Ellerslie.
The house gave me greater pleasure than
any modern castslated building that |
have seen; partly because it was simple,
and essentially domestic looking. and yet,
with fine relish Of ant putty about it
The facade may, perhaps, be 1870 feet,
and | was never more surprised, than
when learned that the whole was erect>
ed quite lately. The walls are Of gray
stone, rather rough, and they get large
part of their beauty ftom the luxuriant
vines that fesloon every part of the cas-
tie. The vines are the Ivy, and our Vir
ginai creeper, intermingled. and as BOTH
cling to tho stone, they form the most
picturesque dapory, which has, in few
years, reached to the top of the battles
men,ed tower, and given mellow and
venerable character to the whole edtice.
We dned at Newport, the substantial
little town, which lying nearly i'll the Gems
tire of The Island. serves as its capital and
principal market. The Isle of Wight.
enjoying, as it does, ii wholly insulated
position, is almost the only English
ground not interlaced by railroads. For
this reason, the genuine stage coach. now
comparatively obsolete elsewhere. still!
tiourlshes here, and still carries number
OF passengers outside. quite at variance
with all our ideas Of safety and speed
The guard who accompanies these coach
es. usually plays a tune on the French
horn OF key bugle. just before the coach
,starts-,snd plays it 200, with SO much
spirit and taste. that it was not without
some difficulty l could resis. the temp
sation to join his party. Progress. and
the spirit of the times. though they give
US most substantial benefits, in the shape
of railroads, etc., certainly do not add to
the poetry Of life rs 1 thought when
compared the delicious air Of Bellini,
played by the coach guard. with the
horrible screams of the steam whistle of
the locomotive. now associated with the
travel OF all Christendom.
1t is but mile from Newport to Ca.
iisbrook C;s,le-one of the most int
resting old ruins in Englan :. 1t crowns
a tiue hill, and from the top Of its ruined
towers. you look over lovely landscape
Of hill and vale, picturesque villages and
green meadows. The castle Itself, With
It's Notifications. covers perhaps half
dozen acres. A,id Is just in that state of
ruin and decay, best calculated to excite
the Imagination. and send one upoa
voyage into dream land. You Chamber
over the parapets, acd look out from
amid the Wondering battlements. man
tied with the richest masses of ivy, aud
see wild trees growing in the very centre
of what were once stately apartments.
Here is the very window from which
Charles l. yainly endeavored to make his
escape when he was a prisoner within
these walls two hundred years ago,
(l647) / felt tempted to question the
stone walls aro,snd me of the cad So'iio