chanic, on low wages, who shall marry the daughter of a cottager, or laborer." As this bounty is given with reference to the prevention of illicit intercourse, those who are known to have had any child born out of wedlock, are excluded from receiving it.

The entire management of this concern is vested in a Corporation, styled "The Guardians of the Poor within the Isle of Wight;" to which all persons are eligible who possess, in their own right, or in that of their wives, lands or property within the Island rated to the poor's-rate, at the yearly value of 501. or are heirs apparent of such property, to the annual value of 1001. or are occupiers to the same amount; together with all rectors or vicars within the Island. From these twenty-four Directors, and thirty-six acting Guardians, are appointed, twelve of whom are removed on the last Thursday in June, annually, and their places filled by as many others who are eligible. These are divided and sub-divided into quarterly, monthly, and weekly committees; by which means the institution has the benefit of a regular superintendence of the best kind; that of the judicious, and the disinterested. The necessary officers for the internal government of the house, are appointed by the Directors and Guardians, and include a Governor, a Chaplain, a Steward, a Schoolmaster, a Matron, two Surgeons, a Secretary, &c. These have regular salaries; the only officer who fills a responsible situation without salary, is the Treasurer. That part of the eighty acres of land granted by His Majesty, which is not occupied by the buildings and garden, has been divided into fields, and cultivated with every appearance of success.

At a short distance south-west from the House of Industry, are the PARKHURST BARRACKS, and MILITARY HOSPITAL, which have been erected since the year 1778, and contain every requisite accommodation for upwards of 3000 soldiers. The Barracks consist of various ranges of building, running parallel with each other; and the principal of them measuring 163 feet and a half in length. The Hospital is formed by a centre, and two wings, with proper offices, as fumigating rooms, bathis, &c. Great alterations have been lately made in this building, and many im provements have been effected. The whole inclosure occupies

an

an extent of twenty acres; of which about two acres are appropriated to the Hospital. The water for domestic purposes is procured from four wells, of different depths, from 262 to 286 feet. The streets between the ranges of Barracks are forty feet wide. The magnitude and regularity of these buildings give them an important and dignified appearance.

The Forest of PARKHURST, within the limits of which the Barracks and Hospital are situated, occurs in the Domesday Book, under the appellation of Parco Regis, or the King's Park. It was afterwards denominated the King's Forest: and in an account of rents and disbursements of the twenty-third of Henry the Seventh, is a charge for salaries paid to a ranger and two under keepers. Courts of Swanimote were also held here, as appears by an ancient warrant from the Duke of Suffolk.

About one mile south-west from Newport is CARISBROOKE CASTLE, the most ancient and important fortress in the Island. It stands on a high and commanding situation, on a conical eminence, rising above the village of Carisbrooke, and occupying about twenty acres of ground. When it was originally founded is uncertain: : some authors have attributed it to the Britons; and Lluyd says, there was a city here called Caer-broc; words signifying the city or town of yew-trees. Others suppose its origin to be Roman; among whom is Dr. Stukeley, who assigns its erection to his favorite Emperor, Carausius: and Warner mentions six Roman coins, as being in his own possession, of the Emperors Tiberius Cæsar, Germanicus, Vespasian, Maximianus, &c.* that were dug up in a field to the north of the Castle about sixty years ago.

The earliest historical notice, however, of Carisbrooke, occurs in the Saxon annals, under the year 530, when the Castle was be sieged and taken by Cerdic, who, as already mentioned,+ bestowed the government of the Isle on his nephews, Stuff and Withgar; the latter of whom is said to have rebuilt the Castle: this affirmation is supposed to be corroborated by the appearance of part of the wall of the base-court, which bears evident traces of a different origin to the other parts of the fortress.

History of the Isle of Wight, &c. Appendix.

The

+ See p. 335.

The most important era in the erection of this Castle, at least in its present form, was undoubtedly the time immediately succeeding the Norman Conquest; as we learn from that invaluable record, the Domesday Book, that the manor of Avington, of which it was anciently a part, was, in the time of Edward the Confessor, rated at two hides and a half; but in that of the Conqueror, at only two hides; because the "Castle stands upon one virgate." This is a clear proof that, whatever was the ancient state of this fortress, it must have been greatly enlarged between the decease of King Edward, and the period of the Domesday Survey; but whether by William Fitz-Osborne, the first Lord of the Island, or by Roger de Breteville, his son, may be questioned; though most writers attribute it to the former; yet, as he was slain on the Continent within four years of the Norman Invasion, it seems probable that the completion of the Castle must have been left to his son. Various alterations were made in subsequent reigns; and in the time of Queen Elizabeth the whole of the original works was surrounded by an extensive fortification, faced with stone, encompassed by a deep moat, and defended by five bastions. The additions and repairs that have since been made, chiefly regard the improvement of some of the interior parts, for the purposes of residence.

The walls of the Norman fortress, including the keep, which is probably more ancient, inclose about an acre and a half of ground, approaching in form to a rectangular parallelogram, with the augles rounded: these angles seem to have been rebuilt when the works were enlarged by Elizabeth, as that to the south-east has the date 1601. The keep occupies the summit of an artificial mount, between fifty and sixty feet high, situated near the northeast angle of the walls; this, as well as the walls, was defended by a surrounding foss. The form of the keep is an irregular polygon, about sixty feet broad in its widest part, with walls of great strength and thickness: some of the angles are strengthened by buttresses of hewn stone, evidently more modern than the other parts. A flight of seventy-two steps leads up the mount to the entrance, which was anciently defended by a strong double gate and portcullis, On the left, within the entrance, is a larger apartment,

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