a romance, and the imagination fashions a story to the swelling sails.

The bright light of Brighton brings all things into clear relief, giving
them an edge and outline; as steel burns with a flame like wood in
oxygen, so the minute particles of iron in the atmosphere seem to burn
and glow in the sunbeams, and a twofold illumination fills the air.
Coming back to the place after a journey this brilliant light is very
striking, and most new visitors notice it. Even a room with a northern
aspect is full of light, too strong for some eyes, till accustomed to it.
I am a great believer in light--sunlight--and of my free will never let
it be shut out with curtains. Light is essential to life, like air; life
is thought; light is as fresh air to the mind. Brilliant sunshine is
reflected from the houses and fills the streets. The walls of the houses
are clean and less discoloured by the deposit of carbon than usual in
most towns, so that the reflection is stronger from these white surfaces.
Shadow there is none in summer, for the shadows are lit up by diffusion.
Something in the atmosphere throws light down into shaded places as if
from a mirror. Waves beat ceaselessly on the beach, and the undulations
of light flow continuously forwards into the remotest corners. Pure air,
free from suspended matter, lets the light pass freely, and perhaps this
absence of suspended material is the reason that the heat is not so
oppressive as would be supposed considering the glare. Certainly it is
not so hot as London; on going up to town on a July or August day it
seems much hotter there, so much so that one pants for air. Conversely in
winter, London appears much colder, the thick dark atmosphere seems to
increase the bitterness of the easterly winds, and returning to Brighton
is entering a warmer because clearer air. Many complain of the brilliance
of the light; they say the glare is overpowering, but the eyes soon
become acclimatised. This glare is one of the great recommendations of
Brighton; the strong light is evidently one of the causes of its