lodgings that would suit you; but the trial must be made. The country is at present charming, the first spring flowers peeping forth in the gardens wonderfully.

I hope that you continue to like The Excursion. I hear good news of it from many quarters. But its progress to general notice must be slow.

Have you read Lucien Bonaparte's epic? I attempted it, but gave in at the sixth canto, being pressed for time. I shall, however, resume the labour, if opportunity offers. But the first three stanzas convinced me that the author was no poet. Farewell! Miss Hutchinson is still in Wales. Mrs Wordsworth begs her best regards.-Faithfully yours, WILLIAM WORDSWORTH."

A few weeks later Wordsworth wrote thus to Thomas Poole, Nether Stowey :

"RYDAL MOUNT, AMBLESIDE, March 13, 1815.

MY DEAR POOLE, A few days ago I was at Keswick, where I learned that Hartley was to go to Oxford about Easter. Mrs Coleridge wished me to write to you and mention this, and also that if it were not inconvenient to you, that the £10 which you were so kind as to offer, would be convenient at this time; as she has not the means of fitting him out, and she does not like to apply to his uncles in the first instance. He is to go to Merton College, where his cousins or uncles (I am not sure which) have procured him an office, the title of it Postmaster, which is to bring him in £50 per annum, which with his uncle's £40, Lady B.'s £30, and your £10, it is hoped will maintain him. Cottle also allows £5 per annum; if more be wanted, Southey and I must contrive to advance it. I have done all in my power to impress upon H.'s mind the necessity of not trusting vaguely to his talents, and to an

irregular sort of knowledge, however considerable it may bə in some particulars; and of applying himself zealously and perseveringly to those studies which the University points out to him. His prime object ought to be to gain an independence; and I have striven to place this truth before his understanding in the clearest point of view; and I took the opportunity of speaking to him on the subject in the presence of his uncle Southey, who confirmed and enforced all that I said. So that if good advice have any virtue in it, he has not been left unfurnished with it. Southey means to look out for a place in some public office for Derwent; he hopes to succeed in the Exchequer where the situations are very good. Sara has made great progress in Italian under her mother; and is learning French and Latin. She is also instructed in music by Miss Barker, a friend of Southey's, who is their near neighbour; so that should it be necessary she will be well fitted to become a governess in a nobleman or gentleman's family, in course of time; she is remarkably clever; and her musical teacher says that her progress is truly astonishing. Her health unfortunately is but delicate.

It was my intention to write to you if Mrs C. had not requested it, and I am happy to give this account of our friend's children, who are all very promising. Nevertheless,

I have some fears for Hartley, as he is too much inclined to the eccentric. But it is our duty to hope for the best. Coleridge, we have learnt, is still with the Morgans, but removed from the neighbourhood of Bath to Colne or Caln in Wiltshire. His friends in this country hear nothing from him directly. A sister of my wife's who was staying at Bath, walked over to call upon him, but found the family removed. His late landlady was very communicative, and said that Mr C. used to talk with her of his children, and mentioned that his eldest was going to college. So that

you see he expects the thing to take place; though he wished to put it off when you conversed with him on the subject. I rejoice to hear of your thriving school. I have not yet seen your relation's pamphlet which you recommend; I have heard it praised by others, and shall procure it.

If you have read my poem The Excursion, you will there see what importance I attach to the Madras system. Next to the art of printing, it is the noblest invention for the improvement of the human species. Our population in this neighbourhood is not sufficient to apply it on a large scale; but great benefit has been derived from it even upon a small one. If you have read my poem, I should like to have a history of your feelings during the perusal, and your opinion afterwards: if it has not deeply interested you, I should fear that I have missed my aim in some important particulars. I had the hope of pleasing you in my mind, during the composition in many parts, especially those in which I have alluded to the influence of the manufacturing spirit; and in the pictures, in the last book but one, which I have given of boys in different situations in life; the manufacturer, the boy of the yeomanry, and the clergyman's and gentleman's son. If you can conscientiously recommend this expensive work to any of your wealthier friends, I will thank you, as I wish to have it printed in a cheaper form, for those who cannot afford to buy it in its present shape. And as it is in some places a little abstruse, and in all serious, without any of the modern attractions of glittering style, or incident to provoke curiosity, it cannot be expected to make its way without difficulty, and it is therefore especially incumbent on those who value it to exert themselves in its behalf. My opinion as to the execution of the minor parts of my works is not in the least altered. My poems are upon the point of being republished, in two

vols. octavo, with a new preface, and several additions, though not any pieces of length. I should like to present you with a copy as a testimony of my regard, if you would let me know where you wish to have it sent; or if you could call, or desire anybody to call for it at Longmans. Pray give me your notions upon the Corn Laws; what restricted price you think high enough-some one seems indispensable.-Most faithfully yours,

W. WORDSWORTH."

The following letter to Gillies gives Wordsworth's earliest judgment on the novels of Sir Walter Scott.

"RYDAL MOUNT, April 25, 1815.*

MY DEAR SIR,†—I think of starting for London in a few days with Mrs Wordsworth, and as I wish to leave home with as clear a conscience as I can, I sit down to atone for one of my offences in not having replied sooner to your kind letter.

You ought to have received my two volumes of poems long before this, if Longman had done his duty. I ordered a copy likewise to be sent to Walter Scott. I cannot but flatter myself that this publication will interest you. The pains which I have bestowed on the composition can never be known but to myself, and I am very sorry to find, on reviewing the work, that the labour has been able to do so little for it. You mentioned Guy Mannering in your last. I have read it. I cannot say that I was disappointed, for there is very considerable talent displayed in the performance, and much of that sort of knowledge with which the

* So it is dated in Gillies' book: but Wordsworth was then in London. The month was probably March. The mistake may be either Words

worth's, or Gillies'.

+ Memoirs of a Literary Veteran, by R. P. Gillies, vol. ii., pp. 157-160.

author's mind is so richly stored. But the adventures I think not well chosen, or invented; and they are still worse put together; and the characters, with the exception of Meg Merrilees, excite little interest. In the management of this lady, the author has shown very considerable ability, but with that want of taste, which is universal among modern novels of the Radcliffe school, which as far as they are concerned, this is. I allude to the laborious manner in which everything is placed before your eyes for the production of picturesque effect. The reader, in good narration, feels that pictures rise up before his sight, and pass away from it unostentatiously, succeeding each other. But when they are fixed upon an easel for the express purpose of being admired, the judicious are apt to take offence, and even to turn sulky at the exhibitor's officiousness. But these novels are likely to be much overrated on their first appearance, and will afterwards be as much undervalued. Waverley heightened my opinion of Scott's talents very considerably, and if Mannering has not added much, it has not taken much away. Infinitely the best part of Waverley is the pictures of Highland manners at Mac Iver's castle, and the delineation of his character, which are done with great spirit. The Scotch baron, and all the circumstances in which he is exhibited, are too peculiar and outré. Such caricatures require a higher condiment of humour to give them a relish, than the author of Waverley possesses. . .

Excuse this dull and hasty letter, and believe me,-Most sincerely yours, WILLIAM WORDSWORTH."

In the spring of 1815 Wordsworth was in London, and the following account of Haydon's taking a cast of his face, and of the judgment which the artist formed of the poet's work, has an interest of its own.