“The pleasantest season in the country for one who
lives in it, is undoubtedly the month of blossoms and beauty, when we have not
only immediate enjoyment but summer before us. The best season for seeing a
country, and especially this country, is during the turn of the leaf. September
and October are our best months. We have usually long and delightful autumns,
extending further into the winter than they do in the south of England. Our
harvests, such as
| Ætat. 33. | OF ROBERT SOUTHEY. | 95 |
“Mrs. Rickman has seen all that water colours can do for our lakes, in seeing them as delineated by Glover, who is of all our artists the truest to nature. But I will show her sights beyond all reach of human colouring,—such work as nature herself makes with travelling clouds, and columns of misty sunshine, falling as if from an eye of light in Heaven, like that upon Guy Fawkes in the prayer-book. Every point of sight is beautiful, and Derwentwater can only be judged by a panorama, such as you will have from our boat. Do not wait for another year for the sake of including your Scotch journey. God knows what another year may produce, either of good or evil, to both of us. There is always so much chance of being summoned off on the grand tour of the universe, that a man ought not, without good reason, to delay any little trip he may wish to take first upon our microcosm. . . . .
What you say about breeding up a boy to understand the
Keltic language, has often been in my mind. Have you seen a good book in reply to Malthus by Dr.
Jarrold? This disjointed question comes in, because he shows how
animals that are the most highly finished are most apt, like looking-glasses,
to break in the making; and I have always the fear of too much sensorial power
in my children so before my eyes, as never willingly to shape any plan about
them which might occasion more cause for disappointment. How easy would it be
for the London
| 96 | LIFE AND CORRESPONDENCE | Ætat. 33. |
“God bless you!
