carried before him to the hotel, without the tedious
delays incident to revenue regulations. This puts
one in too good a humour to find fault with porters.
Of the town of St. Helier and its neighbourhood,
I should say, that first impressions are favourable.
These do not arise from the excellence of streets ; the
beauty of public edifices; or the splendour of private
houses: they have a higher source,—and arise from
those indications of general prosperity, which are
everywhere visible. Everywhere the stranger will
perceive the hand of improvement: he will see public
wmrks in progress; he will see shops and houses
tenanted; he will see neither beggars nor rags; and
will recognize in the general aspect of the population,
that look of independence and aisance, which can exist
only in those favoured spots which pauperism has not
reached.
Nor are these favourable impressions to be gathered
only in the town of St. Helier. They will be
strengthened tenfold, by a walk in the environs. The
town, I have said, lies fronting the sea, and is backed
by a range of heights : but betwixt these heights and
the town, there is a level, varying from a quarter of
a mile, to a mile and a half in breadth. This level
forms a semicircular suburb, the arch of which is not
less than three miles ; and the whole of this space
is occupied by villas and cottage residences, with their
gardens and orchards,—the property chiefly of the
native inhabitants of Jersey ; and occupied, either by
themselves, or by the English residents to whom they
are let. These residences are not confined to the
level ground : they encroach upon the heights also,—
r
7
adorning the slopes, and crowning the eminences ;
and the general neatness of the exterior of these villas,
with the substantial garden walls, the luxuriant foliage,
and frequent vineries, strongly confirm the impressions
which have been awakened in walking through the
town.
Let it be recollected too, that some chief causes nf
the prosperity of this island, are independent of the
dicta of fashion. The caprice of a monarch may
elevate or depress Brighton, according as the whim of
a season carries him there, or keeps him away; and
the prosperity nf a Cheltenham or a Bath, is at all
times subject to fashion, the laws of which, are so
capricious as to be inscrutable. But Jersey possesses
those solid advantages, both to its native inhabitants
and to residents, which prove an overmatch for the
caprices of fashion. These advantages will be enumerated
by and by.
The general aspect of St. Helier and its environs, is
altogether un-English. A regular and extensivb fortress
overlooking an English town, is nowhere to be
se en ; and to any one who has travelled in Switzerland,
and who walks in the environs of St. Helier,
recollections of Swiss towns cannot fail to be awakened,
Baden, Basle, Berne, Zurich,—around which, houses,
gardens, parterres, orchards, meadows, groves, and
rocks are so charmingly intermingled, are instantly
recalled; and in the glimpses which are occasionally
caught of the bay, the resemblance is heightened by
the alchemy of imagination, which easily pictures the
lakes of Geneva, Zurich, or Lucern.
Of the town itself, I should say, that in point of