448. To Sara Hutchinson Address: Miss S. Hutchinson | Gallow Hill | Wykeham | Malton | Yorkshire Single Sheet MS. Dom Cottage. Pub. with omis. Chambers, Life, 336. Stamped: Keswick. Tuesday, July 27, 1802 My dearest Sara If the weather with you be what it is here, our dear Friends 1 must have had a miserable Day yesterday. It rained almost incessantly at Keswick; till the late Evening, when it fell a deep Calm, & even the Leaves, the very topmost Leaves, of the Poplars & Aspens had Holiday, & like an overworked Boy, consumed it in sound Sleep. The whole Vale presented a curious Spectacle / the Clouds were scattered by the wind & rain in all shapes & heights, above the mountains, on their sides, & low down to their Bases -some masses in the middle of the valley -- when the wind & rain dropt down, & died -- and for two hours all the Clouds, white & fleecy all of them, remained without motion, forming an appearance not very unlike the Moon as seen thro' a telescope. On the Mountains directly opposite to our House (in Stoddart's Tobaccojuice Picture) the Clouds lay in two ridges -------- with a broad, strait road between them, they being the walls of the Road. Blessings on the mountains! to the Eye & Ear they are always faithful. I have often thought of writing a set of Play-bills for the vale of Keswick -- for every day in the Year -- announcing each Day the Performances, by his Supreme Majesty's Servants, Clouds, Waters, Sun, Moon, Stars, &c. -- To day the weather is mild -- tho' (as Mrs Bancroft informed my wife in a note last week) 'the humid Aspect of the general Atmosphere is eminently hostile to my fondly-cherished Hopes.' For I wait only for a truly fine Day to walk off to St Bees. Best compliments to the River Bee, & if he have any commands fo the Saint, his Relation, I shall be happy to communicate the same. -- I write now in order to send dear Tom word of an advertisement in the Whitehaven Paper of to day -- concerning Lord Lowther's Farms -- 'To be let by private Contract, & entered upon at Candlemas, 1803 -- I Woodhouse Demesne, in the Parish of Barton, 274 acres. 2. Sockbridge Demesne, in the said Parish, with Sockbridge High Field, & High Field Closes, containing together about 823 acres, with ten Cattle Gaits on Tirrill High Moor. 8. The Lands in Sockbridge called Louth. But, with the House & Croft in Sockbridge (late Stockdale's) containing together about 48 acres, ____________________ 1 On 26 July William and Dorothy Wordsworth left Gallow Hill for London, on their way to France. -825- with 5 Cattle Gaits on Tirrill High Moor. 4. A Farm in Clifton called Town-end Tenement, with Long Lands containing together about 112 acres. 5. A Farm, called Abbots' Farm, near Melkinthorpe, about 95 acres, with FOSTER PASTURE, about 80 acres. 6. Lands near Lowther, called WALKER'S GRASSING about 80 acres. 6. KNIPE SCARS, with the Land called WARTHEY'S & SHAP BECK TENEMENT, about 587 acres. 7. WHALE ING near WHALE (expressively so called) about 48 acres. N.B. Grows capital Train Oil, & Bones for Old Maids' Stays. I recommend this Farm to Tom's particular attention. -- 8. Lands, part of Meaburn Demesne, with the Park, about 268 acres. 9. Hartson Demesne with it's extensive Sheep Heaths. 10. Wet Sleddale Demesne. 11. Wastdale Head & Foot with Demings & it's extensive Sheep Heaths. (The Farm of the three last Farms may be accommodated at a fair Price with what number they choose of the same Heath-going Sheep &c) 12. Frenchfield Estate, near Penrith, 170 acres, recommended to adventurers in Manufactures -- All persons desirous of taking any of these to transmit their Proposals in Writing under Seal to John Richardson, Esquire, at Lowther Hall, Westmoreland, before the 29th of September next.['] -- O would that Lot 11 were as good for FARMER Tom, as it would be for FRIEND Tom. I know it well -the situation is fine beyond description, eleven miles from Keswick, thro' Borrodale!! Ravenglass is it's market Town. I have no doubt the Farm would answer capitally, but for one Thing -- The People of England, 'od rabbit 'em! are not Stone-eaters -- if they were, I don't know a Place in which there is a greater Plenty & variety of that solid & substantial Food. What soft washy pap-like Stuff is a piece of Beef compared with a stout Flint! But there is no persuading People to their own good! So we will have done with it.-As I have been transcribing, I must give you a touch out of WARNER'S ['] Tour thro' the northern Counties' 1 --. P. 14. Vol. 1. 'In the walks of Literature &c &c Bristol has made & still makes a figure, &c &c. The gigantic Intellect & sublime Genius of COLERIDGE, which were here first publicly developed, &C &C. CHATTERTON, second only to his MONODIST (see COLERIDGE'S monody on the Death of Chatterton) &c. Southey's Muse also poured forth those beautiful &c & the two COWLES have given from their own Press works which would add to the fame of any Poets of the Day.' -- Ha! Ha! Ha! -- even to the fame of GIANT COLERIDGE, I suppose! -- Now isn't this a Proof, that it does not depend altogether on a man's own Prudence whether or no he is to become ridiculous. Vol. 2. p. 100. 'The animated, enthusiastic, & accom- ____________________ 1 Richard Warner, A Tour through the Northern Counties of England, and the Borders of Scotland, 2 vols., 1802. -826- plished COLERIDGE, whose residence at Keswick gives additional charm to it's impressive Scenery, inspired us with Terror (A LYING SCOUNDREL!) while he described the universal Uproar (O Lord! what a lie!) that was awakened thro' the mountains by a sudden Burst of involuntary Laughter in the Heart of their Precipices; an incident, which a kindred Intellect, his Friend & Neighbour at Grasmere, WORDSWORTH (whose L.B. exclusively almost of all modern Compositions, breathe the true nervous & simple Spirit of Poetry) has worked up into the following admirable effusion / ['] here follows Joanna. -- Could you believe now, that the Rogue made up all this out of my telling him, that Wordsworth's Echo, tho' purposely beyond Nature, was yet only an exaggeration of what really would happen -- for that I myself with John Wordsworth & William had laughed aloud at Stickle Tarn in Langdale, & that the effect was quite enough to justify the Poem from being more extravagant, than it was it's purpose to be. -- Whatever I told him, the Fellow has murdered in this way -- a book fuller of Lies & Inaccuracies & Blunders was, I believe, on my conscience, never published. From foolish men, that write Books, Lord deliver me! -It has been my Lot to be made a Fool of by Madmen, & represented as a Madman by Fools! Mrs Coleridge is but poorly -- the Children are tolerable -- I am but so so / this Weather has been my Enemy. O that I may be well & look bonny when you all come to us! ---- Dear Hartley -- ! -I picked up a parcel of old Books at Wilkinson's which he gave me / among them is an old System of Philosophy by some FANTASTIC or other, with a large Print of Sun, Moon, & Stars, Birds, Beasts, & Fishes ---- with Adam & Eve, rising out of a Chaos! -Derwent immediately recognized the Horse & Cow -- Hos! Cu! -- & then putting his finger to Eve's Bosom, said -- Ma! -- Ma! PAP! -Ma -- pap! -- i.e. his Mother's or Mary's bosom / into which he puts his little Hand when he is petting. But I asked Hartley what he thought of it -- & he said -- [']it is very curious! A Sea not in a World, but a World rising out of a Sea! (these were his own umprompted words, & entirely his own idea) -- There they all are -Adam & all! -- Well! I dare say, they stared at one another finely!' -- This strikes me as a most happy image of the Creation -- Yesterday, crazy Peter Crosthwaite (not the Museum Peter) came in to Mr Jackson -- (and Mrs Wilson & Hartley only were at home) -Hartley soon found out that he was crazy, turned pale & trembled -- & Mrs W. snatched him up & brought him in to us / as soon as he came in, he cried aloud in an agony, nor could we appease him for near a quarter of an hour -- When I talked to him how foolish it was, Well! says he, you know, I am always frightened at things -827- that are not like other things. But, Hartley! said I -- you would not be frightened if you were to see a number of new Beasts or Birds or Fishes in a Shew -- Yes -- said he! when I was a little Boy, I was frightened at the Monkey & the Dromedary in London (so he was, poor fellow! God knows) -- but now I am not frightened at them, because they are like themselves. What do you mean, Hartley? -- Don't ask me so many questions, Papa! I can't bear it. I mean, that I am frightened at men that are not like men / a Monkey is a monkey -- & God made the Dromedary -- but Peter is a crazy man -- he has had a chain upon him!' -- Poor fellow! when he recovered, he spent the whole afternoon in whirling about the Kitchen, & telling Mrs Wilson wild Stories of his own extempore composition about mad men & mad animals -- all frightful: for tho' he cannot endure the least approximation to a sorrowful Story from another Person, all his own are most fantastically tragical. ---- O dear Sara! -- how dearly I love you! Dear Mary! Heaven bless you & send back our dear Friends to you! S. T. Coleridge.