bestowed on me a sensibility to distinguish the perfection of thy works! Without this blessing, all Nature would become a blank; nor hill, nor dale, nor shady grove, nor the enlivening sun, nor limpid stream,' could charm the sense to rapture.*

Night coming on, I left this enchanting place with a sigh, at the melancholy reflection, that, probably, I might never more behold its beauties!

Inclining to the right, up a glen near the FoxHoles, and following an imperfect path by a wall, C I arrived

Every step in Dove-Dale will present the lover of drawing with a picture, each of which forms a perfect whole. The soli'tude of the place, as also the impulse arising from the beautiful in nature, induced me to color some of my sketches on the spot. This is a practice I would most seriously recommend to the tyro, whenever a convenient opportunity may occur: nor need he be under the least apprehension of being too particular in giving each object its proper character. The contrary practice is too much recommended by those who profess to give advice on a subject they appear to be insufficiently acquainted with, or who view nature with too superficial an eye. An attention to the various forms and characters of trees, will add a considerable grace and beauty to the sketch; and I cannot, by any means, agree with those who say, that "Among trees, little distinction need be made, unless you introduce the pine, or cypress, or some other singular form. The oak, the ash, and the elm, which bear a distant resemblance to each other, may be all characterized alike.” This advice would excite the ridicule of a farmer's boy. One of the greatest beauties of Dove-Dale, consists in the variety of its rich and luxuriant foliage.

I arrived at a farm-house, called Hanson-Grange. Here I enquired for the Buxton road; but, from either mistaking' the direction, or having been wrong informed, I was in the end obliged to trust to my own penetration, and a pocket compass, by the assistance of which, and by exerting an additional degree of activity, I soon found myself in the right track.*

About six miles from the Dale, after passing over a moorish country, I came to New-Haven,† a commodious

* The pedestrian may proceed this way from the Dale, but he will have many stone walls to scramble over; and this road to Bakewell has little to interest a traveller. I would therefore advise, should there be ladies in company, that they leave their horses, or carriages, on the Ilam road, before mentioned, and, instead of following my route, to go back to Ashbourn, and proceed to Bakewell by the way of Matlock. They will there find scenery little inferior to the romantic Dove-Dale. From Ashbourn it will be found about twelve miles of moorish country to Matlock-bath. Though it is some years since I visited it, yet travellers may be assured of meeting with objects well worthy of their attention. Rocks, highly decorated with hanging-woods, and the most romantic walks, calculated for the purpose of enjoying the beauties of nature. Between the bath and the village, every twenty yards will afford a new scene, from the sudden turns of the river, and the majestic elevation of Matlock High-tor, which forms a fine abrupt contrast to the opposite and more gentle bank of the Derwent. From Matlock it may be about ten miles of delightful country to Bakewell,

The country round NEW-HAVEN is very bleak and open, and was formerly a barren waste; but the good effects of a bill of inclosure,

1

a

commodious inn, built at the charge of the Duke of Devonshire, where every requisite accommodation will be found, accompanied with civility and attention. The road hence to Bakewell is bleak and moorish, with but little to entertain. At about five miles from New-Haven, I struck across the meadows, into the Matlock road to Bakewell, to visit

HADDON HALL...

THIS structure is completely enveloped in trees, and situated on a bold eminence, above the Wye, about two miles from Bakewell. When viewed from a distance, it assumes a great air of grandeur, from its embattled turrets: but on a nearer approach, its true character, that of a castellated dwelling, appears; and though at present totally neglected, it strikingly exhibits the ancient C 2 baronial

inclosure, passed a few years ago, are already apparent in the cultivation of several thousand acres. A plantation of firs, and other hardy trees, has also been made hear the inn, and is now in a very flourishing state. The inclosures have a singular appearance to a stranger, from the south; as, instead of hedges, the boundaries are all stone walls, from three to five feet in height, formed of broken masses of lime-stone, rudely piled upon each other. In the country round New-Haven, are several ancient encampments and barrows. Between two and three miles to the north-east is also a Druidical remain, called the Arbor-low, or

Arbelows;

baronial style of living, after the building of regular fortresses had ceased.

Not any thing can show in so strong a point of view, the improved condition of society, as this Hall; the poorest person at present possessing apartments, not only more convenient, but at the same time better secured against the severities of the weather. Excepting the gallery, all the rooms are dark and uncomfortable. They convey but a poor idea of the taste of our ancestors, or of their domestic pleasures: yet was this place for ages considered as the very seat of magnificence. Massive and solid, this fabric would resist all the effects of the winter storms; but the door and windows are of most execrable workmanship: immense hinges of iron support the former, and these are fastened on with large spikenails, clenched down; the wood-work also is so badly jointed, that the hand can pass between

the

Arbetows; a circle of stones, surrounded by a ditch and rampart. Through the latter are two entrances, each of the width of ten or twelve yards; and on the east side of the southern entrance is a large barrow, in which the horns of a stag have been found. The stones which compose the circle, are apparently about thirty; but as several of them are broken, this cannot be determined with certainty; they all lie upon the ground, in an oblique position. Most of them are from six to eight feet in length, and from three to four in breadth. The circumference of the rampart, which seems to have been formed with the earth thrown up from the ditch, is about 270 yards on the highest part. E.

the planks; and round the extremities, are great fissures, through which the wind whistles in the most disagreeable manner, To remedy this inconvenience, the doors were covered with arras, which still hangs in tattered remnants round ma ny of the apartments; and, to save the trouble of putting it back at each time of passing in or out, clumsy iron-hooks have been driven into the walls.

The principal entrance is the north front, which appears of about the date of Edward the Third. The other parts of the dwelling are as late as Elizabeth. The whole of the chambers are ranged round two quadrangular courts. In one of the rooms is a quantity of rusty armour. Near the chapel is the Roman altar mentioned in Gibson's Camden, where the inscription is given; it is now nearly defaced.

Haddon was for a long time the seat of the Vernons, not only an ancient, but a very famous family in these parts; insomuch that Sir George Vernon, the last male, by his magnificence and hospitality, gained the name of King of the Peak, among the vulgar. On his death, in the seventh year of Elizabeth, his possessions descended to his two daughters, Margaret and Dorothy: the former married to Sir Thomas Hanley, Knt. and the latter to Sir John Manners, Knt. second son

of