occupied the upper end
of the old Steine, and was pointed to as once the house of Dr. Russell, to
whom Brighton owes much of its early fame; its site being now occupied by
a superb hotel: when Phoebe Hassell and Martha Gunn were the lionesses of
the place--the one by land and the other by sea: and when not a carriage
entered Brighton without the electioneering salute of half a score of blue
gownswomen with cards of their crazy machines to give you a
tenancy-at-will of the ocean. But, our quoted particulars of Brighton
invest it with a much earlier interest than our brief memory can supply.
They are historical as well as topographical, from the primitive records
of the place, and are accompanied by a view of the town from the sea, as
it appeared in the year 1743, or about 90 years since. For this and the
interesting details which accompany it we are indebted to a History of
Brighthelmston published by Dr. Anthony Rhelan towards the close of the
last century, and lately edited and reprinted by Mr. Mitchell of Brighton,
with the benevolent intention of aiding the funds of the Sussex County
Infirmary, by the profits arising from the sale of the work. It requires
an almost microscopic eye to distinguish the buildings in the Cut. The
Royal standard on the fort, is, by an error of the artist,
disproportionally large.) The town of Brighthelmston,[1] in the county of
Sussex, is situated on the banks of the sea, at the bottom of a bay of the
same name, formed to the east by Beachy-Head, and by Worthing point to the
West.

The bay is a bold and deep shore exposed to the open sea: from the banks
or cliffs a clean gravel runs to the sea terminating in a hard sand, free
from every mixture of ooze, and those offensive beds of mud, so frequently
found at the mouths of rivers, and on many shores.

The town is built on a rising hill with a south-east exposition; defended
towards the north by hills, whose ascent is easy, and view pleasing;
bounded on the west by a fruitful and extensive cornfield, descending
gently from the Downs to the banks of the sea, and leading to Shoreham;
and on the east by a most beautiful lawn called the Steine, which runs
winding up into the country among hills, to the distance of some miles.

The soil here, and over all the south Downs, is a chalk rock covered with
earth of various kinds and depths in different places.

The country round Brighthelmston is open and free from woods, and finely
diversified wit