had a station at Porchester, on its northern shore; and it is supposed that the Roman name for a harbour, Portus, has been transmitted to the modern Portchester, Portsea, Portsmouth, Portsdown, and Gosport. Portsmouth is first noticed in the Saxon Chronicle, a. D. 501. Its favourable situation as a naval arsenal led at an early period to the works that have since distinguished it. Richard I. granted a charter to the town; and it has lately been ascertained that there was a naval station here in the reign of John. Portsmouth was burnt by the French in the time of Richard II. It was fortified by Edward IV., Richard III., and Henry VII.; and in the reign of Henry VIII. became the principal station of the English navy. During the great civil war, the town was garrisoned for the Parliament. Great additions have been made to its fortifica tion, especially in the reigns of Charles II., William III., and George III.; and it is now believed to be impregnable. The ruins of Porchester Castle are fine. (See p. 36.)

One of the great advantages of this place is that very fine anchorage known by the name of Spithead, which lies about half-way between the mainland and the Isle of Wight, but nearer to the latter. It is protected by the high land of the > island from southerly winds, and from northerly and easterly winds by the main land. The entrance to the harbour of Portsmouth is very narrow, but with sufficient depth of water for the largest ships. The channels by which vessels approach the mouth of the harbour are commanded by batteries of such power that an enemy's fleet, however strong, would be annihilated before it could reach even the entrance. Within the narrow gut at the entrance, on one side of which is Portsmouth, and on the other side Gosport, the water spreads out into a wide basin, in which those ships of war that are under repair or preparing for sea are riding. About a mile and a-half from the entrance, the water branches off in various directions, and, by the help of the tide, is navigable to Farnham and to Porchester Castle, a pile of antiquity that will reward the curiosity of a visitor. As the town of Portsmouth is surrounded with walls, the streets are, for the most part, narrow, and consist of houses of inferior appearance. Some of the buildings are of ancient date: one especially, in the High Street, is worthy of notice, as being the dwelling in which Villiers, Duke of Buckingham was assassinated by Felton in the reign of Charles I. The walls which surround the town are shaded by trees, and afford a good promenade for the inhabitants.

The parish church is a venerable object, and is said to have been originally erected in 1220; but the chancel is the only part left of the original building. Its interior is very beautiful. At the west end is the tower, added in 1693, which is 120 feet in height. The walls of the church are adorned with a variety of handsome monuments. In the parish register is to be seen the registration of the marriage of King Charles II. with the Infanta of Portugal, 22d May 1662. Portsea stands to the north of Portsmouth, and contains the dockyard and the principal establishments connected with it. It is considerably larger than Portsmouth, and, like it, is strongly fortified. Outside the fortifications of these two towns are extensive suburbs, containing some handsome houses.

E

The dockyard at Portsmouth may be regarded as the grand naval arsenal of Britain, and the head-quarters or general rendezvous of the British fleet. The dockyard, accordingly, is the largest in the kingdom, covering nearly 120 acres, and every possible attention is paid to its extension and improvement. On the land side it is completely separated from the town by a wall 14 feet high; and along the harbour it has a wharf-wall of nearly three-quarters of a mile. Strangers are admitted to the dockyard without any formal introduction.

In the centre of the wharf-wall, facing the harbour, is the entrance into the great basin, the dimensions of which are 380 by 260 feet, and its area 24 acres. Into this basin open four excellent dry docks; and on each side is another dry dock, all capable of receiving ships of the largest class. Besides these, there is a double dock for frigates. There are also six building-slips, two of which are capable of receiving the largest vessels. The dockyard contains all the offices necessary for the construction and equipment of vessels. The block machinery invented by the late Sir Marc Isambart Brunel (the engineer of the Thames Tunnel) is especially deserving of notice. The machinery, which is impelled by steam, is capable of producing 1400 blocks daily, and supplies the whole of the British navy. The number of men employed in Portsmouth dockyard during the war was considerably above 4000, of whom about 1500 were shipwrights and caulkers, the remainder were joiners, smiths, sawyers, sailmakers, ropemakers, &c. On the eastern extremity of the dockyard are the houses and gardens of the Commissioner and principal officers of the yard, the chapel, the Royal Naval College, and the School of Naval Architecture. The dockyard has several times suffered considerable injury from fire. In 1776, it was set on fire by the notorious incendiary, Jack the Painter, who was executed for the crime at Winchester in 1777. The gun-wharf, adjacent to the dockyard, is an immense arsenal, consisting of various ranges of buildings for the reception of military and naval stores and artillery. The small armoury which contains upwards of 20,000 stand of arms, is a spacious building, and the great object of admiration. The victualling department has recently been removed to the opposite side of the harbour. The expense of this depository is said to have amounted to half a million of money. The storehouses are of vast dimensions. A special object of curiosity at this establishment, is the machinery substituted for manual labour in making biscuit. A fine new steam corn-mill, recently built at an expense of L.76,000, is also an object worthy of attention. On the same side of the harbour is the noble building for the reception of sick and wounded seamen.

Portsmouth and Portsea, with their suburbs, contain nine places of worship in connection with the Establishment; and those of Protestant Dissenters are still There are also a Roman Catholic chapel and a Jewish syna

more numerous.

gogue.

Portsmouth enjoys a considerable foreign and coasting trade. amount of custom's duty collected in 1850 was £77,258,

The gros

The earliest known charter of the borough was conferred by Richard I., but the corporation is said to have been established by Henry I. It first returned members to Parliament 23d Edward L. The borough limits formerly included the town and parish of Portsmouth, but they were greatly extended by the Reform Act. The enlarged borough returns two members to Parliament.

The population of Portsmouth in 1831 was 8083; and of Portsea, 42,306 ; together, 50,389. In 1841, 53,058, and in 1851, 72,096.

On the western side of Portsmouth harbour is the market-town of Gosport. Early in 1840, a floating bridge was established, which plies across the harbour between these places every half hour. The distance is about a mile, and the passage is made under ten minutes. A second bridge is intended to be established. The population of the town of Gosport in 1851 was 7414.

The tourist may return to London either by the branch railway from Gosport, which joins the South-Western Railway at Bishopstoke, or by the South Coast Railway, by way of Brighton. (See chapters xxxiv. and xxxv.) At the distance of 174 miles from Portsmouth is the city of

CHICHESTER,

an Episcopal residence, and a place of very great antiquity. Chichester is situated about seven miles from the western extremity of the county of Sussex. Its distance from London is 62 miles, south-west by south. It is placed near an arm of the sea, on a gentle eminence, nearly surrounded by the little river Lavant. Its site is supposed to be identical with that of the Roman Regnum. At the period of the Conquest, it was conferred on Roger de Montgomery, Earl of Alençon, who built a castle within the city walls. This fort was demolished in the first year of Henry I., and no traces of it now remain but an artificial mount of moderate height. During the great civil war, Chichester was held for the King by Sir Edward Ford, High Sheriff of the county; but it was taken by Sir William Waller in 1642, after a siege of ten days. The cathedral and bishop's palace, together with several of the churches, suffered severely from the ravages of the Parliamentary soldiers. The city remained in the hands of the Parliament during the remainder of the war; and Algernon Sidney was governor in 1645.

The city consists principally of four spacious streets, named after the four cardinal points, and meeting in one common centre, at which is an ancient octangular cross, one of the most elegant structures of the kind in England. Chichester is surrounded by an ancient stone wall, for the most part in a state of excellent repair. Two public walks, planted with fine trees, have been formed on the artificial mound of earth thrown up within the walls. The cathedral was erected in the twelfth century, but has undergone frequent repairs. It is adorned with a beautiful steeple, and contains portraits of all the kings of England down to George I., and of the bishops of Selsea and Chichester till the Reformation,

Here are also to be seen some finely carved oak stalls; the chantry of St. Richard, an exquisite specimen of Gothic workmanship; and a monument, by Flaxman, to the memory of the poet Collins, who was born in this city in 1720 or 1721, and died here in 1756. Chillingworth, famed for doubting, was chancellor of this diocese, and was buried in the cloisters in 1644. The other buildings worthy of notice are, the Bishop's Palace, the Deanery erected by Bishop Sherlock, the Councilroom, the Guildhall, formerly the chapel of a monastery, and the Theatre. Chichester has seven parish churches, several meeting-houses, and charitable institutions. The present corporation is established under a charter of James I., but it has been a borough from time immemorial. It has sent two representatives to Parliament since 23d Edward I. A.D. 1295. Population (1831) 8270; (1841) 8512; (1851) 8662.

At a short distance from Chichester is Goodwood, the splendid seat of the Duke of Richmond. It is of an oriel form, consisting of a centre and two wings. The principal front is 166 feet long, and each of the wings 106 feet. The park is nearly six miles in circumference, and is adorned with fine trees. Races are annually held here in July, and much resorted to. The course is singularly picturesque. The house contains a collection of valuable paintings and statues. The views from different parts of the grounds are rich and extensive.

Within the demesnes of Goodwood were lately the ruins of Halnaker House, an interesting structure of considerable antiquity; but of late years it fell so fast into decay, that it became unsafe to visit parts of the ruins, and the greater part of these have now been taken down and sold. Half a mile to the south of Halnaker are the ruins of the Priory of Boxgrove, founded by Robert de Haia in the reign of Henry I. The church and the refectory are the only remains of the conventual buildings.

About nine miles from Goodwood is the pleasant watering-place of Bognor. Twelve miles from Chichester, on the London Road, is Midhurst, pleasantly situated near the Arun. It was an ancient borough by prescription, having returned representatives to Parliament since 4th Edward II. Since the Reform Bill, it has returned one member to Parliament. The population of the Parl. borough in 1851 amounted to 7021. Near the town, in the midst of a beautiful and extensive park, are the ruins of Cowdray House, once the magnificent seat of the noble family of Montagu. It was destroyed by fire 24th September 1793. The eighth Lord Montagu perished about the same time in the falls of Lauffen in Switzerland; and his only sister and heir married the late W. S. Poyntz, Esq., who erected a new house in the park, about a mile from the ruins. The latter is now in possession of the Earl of Egmont. From Midhurst a road leads by Haslemere, Godalming, Guildford, and Kingston to London.

About 6 miles east of Midhurst, 12 north of Arundel, 14 north-east from Chichester, and 49 south-west from London, is the town of Petworth, situated on branch of the Arun. The church contains the remains of many of the Percies, arls of Northumberland. Close beside the town is Petworth House, the magnicent mansion of Gen. Wyndham, erected by the proud Duke of Somerset. The

interior contains one of the finest collections of books, pictures, statues, and busts in the kingdom. Several of the rooms are hung with tapestry. Here is preserved the sword used by Hotspur at the Battle of Shrewsbury. The park wall is about twelve miles in circumference. The enclosure is beautifully undulated and graced with trees of the noblest growth. In front of the mansion is a sheet of water of considerable extent.

Eleven miles from Chichester is the town of Arundel, situated on the southern declivity of the South Downs, at the base of which runs the river Arun. It is 56 miles distant from London, and 21 from Brighton. The town was incorporated by charter of Elizabeth, and has returned members to Parliament since the reign of Edward I. The Reform Bill took away one of its representatives. Arundel is a place of great antiquity, and is mentioned in the will of Alfred the Great. At the Conquest, the earldom of Arundel was conferred upon Roger Montgomery, who made it his place of residence. From the Montgomerys it passed into the possession of the family of Albini; from them to the Fitzalans; and from them, by marriage, to the Howard family, its present possessors. The frincipal object of attraction is the splendid baronial castle, the residence of the Duke of Norfolk. It is of very remote antiquity, and must have existed in the Saxon times, as Castrum Harundel is assessed in Doomsday Book. It is a quadrangular Gothic building, enclosing about five acres and a-half of ground, the walls being from five to twelve feet in thickness, and the ground plan very nearly resembling that of Windsor Castle, with a circular keep in the middle, raised on a mount 110 feet in height from the fosse below on the outside. It proudly overlooks the whole castle, and is a conspicuous object from the surrounding country. It is in perfect preservation, but is almost entirely overgrown with ivy. The castle has undergone various sieges, during the last of which, in 1643–4, it suffered so severely from the Parliamentary troops under Sir William Waler, that it ceased to be the residence of its noble possessors till the time of Charles, eleventh duke, by whom it was restored to its ancient magnificence. Its internal arrangements and decorations are eminently calculated to exhibit the talent and taste of that nobleman. Among the many specimens of the arts with which it is adorned, are several curious paintings of the Howard family; a large window of painted glass in the dining-room; and the Baron's Hall, ornamented with a painted window of the signing of Magna Charta. Arundel Castle enjoys the peculiar privilege of conferring the dignity of earl on the possessor without any patent or creation from the Crown ; a privilege not enjoyed by any other place in the kingdom. The Church of St Nicholas, a handsome Gothic edifice, contains some splendid monuments of the Earls of Arundel. A noble town-hall has lately been erected by the Duke of Norfolk. The river Arun is famous for the rich and delicate mullet which it produces. It is connected with Portsmouth by means of the Porstmouth and Arundel Canal. Arundel is a bonding port. The trade is principally in timber, coal, and corn. 71 population in 1851 was 2748. It returns one M. P.