‘My dear Sarah,—Many thanks for your letter. The mountains and
lakes are just as beautiful as ever, and have lost little by the comparison, so
you may come and see them without apprehension. After all, I did not see the
regatta, as Wordsworth was impatient for
Ulleswater. We set off on Monday, and had two beautiful days for it. On
Wednesday we dined at a Mr.
Marshall’s, a Liverpool merchant, whose wife’s
sister, living in a small house on the lake, said she had seen you at
Mr. Lloyd’s, and slept at Keswick that night,
since which we have had cold, wet and cheerless weather, but on Thursday there
were races here on Crow Park on the lake notwithstanding, and on Friday I went
up Causay Pike, a huge mountain, with Wordsworth,
Southey, and Sir George Beaumont—nor have I ever
dined at my inn but once, and then W. dined with me. Mrs.
Wood has lost her old mother and her husband; and has married
again, and is now Mrs. Jackson. She asked after you the
first moment she saw me, and is the same tidy, civil lady as ever, and no older
to my eyes. Southey’s house is a model of neatness
and comfort, the admiration of Wordsworth, and I must say,
a contrast to his. We have had two wet days, and
| DOROTHY WORDSWORTH'S 'TOUR' | 233 |
‘“Sunday, September 25, 1803.—A beautiful autumnal day. Breakfast at a public-house by the road-side. Dined at Threkeld. Arrived at home between eight and nine o’clock, where we found Mary in perfect health, Mary2 Hutchinson with her, and little Johnny asleep in the clothes-basket by the fire.
‘“Finished copying this journal May 31, 1805, in the moss hut at the top of the orchard. William, Mary, and I finished the moss hut on the afternoon of June 6, 1805. After the work was ended we all sate down in the middle of the seat, looking at the clouds in the west.”
‘But, after all, it leaves a sadness on the mind from the perpetual difficulties they had to struggle with—rain, fatigue, and bad accommodation. I am very sorry indeed to hear of Sutton. I was in hopes he was better before I left town, and wish with all my heart he was
1 ‘Mr. Rogers and his sister, whom we had seen at our own cottage at Grasmere a few days before, had arrived there that same afternoon on their way to the Highlands; but we did not see them till the next morning, and only for about a quarter of an hour’ (Recollections, &c., edited by J. C. Shairp, LL.D., p. 5). 2 It should be Joanna. In the published journal the entry at the close is omitted, but it is surely as characteristic as any the journal contains. |
| 234 | ROGERS AND HIS CONTEMPORARIES |
