A DESCRIPTION OF THE LAKE AT KESWICK.

—IN my way to the north from Hagley I paſſed thro' Dovedale; and to ſay the truth, was diſappointed in it. When I came to Buxton, I viſited another or two of their romantic ſcenes; but theſe are in⯑ferior to Dovedale. They are but poor mi⯑niatures of KESWICK; which exceeds them more in grandeur than I can give you to [...]magine; and more if poſſible in beauty [...]han in grandeur.

Inſtead of the narrow ſlip of valley which [...]s ſeen at Dovedale, you have at KESWICK a [...]aſt amphitheatre, in circumference above [...]wenty miles. Inſtead of a meagre rivulet, [...] noble living lake, ten miles round, of an [4] oblong form, adorned with variety of wood⯑ed iſlands. The rocks indeed of Dovedale are finely wild, pointed, and irregular; but the hills are both little and unanimated; and the margin of the brook is poorly edg⯑ed with weeds, moraſs, and bruſhwood.— But at KESWICK, you will, on one ſide of the lake, ſee a rich and beautiful landſkip of cultivated fields, riſing to the eye in fine inequalities, with noble groves of oak, hap⯑pily diſperſed; and climbing the adjacent hills, ſhade above ſhade, in the moſt vari⯑ous and pictureſque forms. On the oppo⯑ſite ſhore, you will find rocks and cliffs of ſtupendous height, hanging broken over the lake in horrible grandeur, ſome of them a thouſand feet high, the woods climbing up their ſteep and ſhaggy ſides, where mor⯑tal foot never yet approached. On theſe dreadful heights the eagles build their neſts: A variety of waterfalls are ſeen pouring from their ſummits, and tumbling in vaſt ſheets from rock to rock in rude and terrible magnificence: While on all ſides of this immenſe amphitheatre the lofty mountains riſe round, piercing the clouds in ſhapes as ſpiry and fantaſtic, as the very rocks of Dovedale.—To this I muſt add [5] the frequent and bold projection of the cliffs into the lake, forming noble bays and pro⯑montories: In other parts they finely retire from it, and often open in abrupt chaſms or clefts, thro' which at hand, you ſee rich and cultivated vales, and beyond theſe at va⯑rious diſtances, mountain riſing over moun⯑tain; among which, new proſpects preſent themſelves in miſt, till the eye is loſt in an agreeable perplexity:

Were I to analyſe the two places into their conſtituent principles, I ſhould tell you that the full perfection of KESWICK conſiſts of three circumſtances, Beauty, Hor⯑ror, and Immenſity united; the ſecond of which is alone found in Dovedale. Of beau⯑ty it hath little: Nature having left it al⯑moſt a deſart: Neither its ſmall extent, nor the diminutive and lifeleſs form of the hills admit magnificence.—But to give you a complete idea of theſe three perfections, as they are joined in KESWICK, would require the united powers of Claude, Salvator, and Pouſſin. The firſt ſhould throw his delicate ſunſhine over the cultivated vales, the ſcat⯑tered [6] cots, the groves, the lake, and wood⯑ed iſlands. The ſecond ſhould daſh out the horror of the rugged cliffs, the ſteeps, the hanging woods, and foaming waterfalls; while the grand pencil of Pouſſin ſhould crown the whole with the majeſty of the impending mountains.

So much for what I would call the per⯑manent beauties of this aſtoniſhing ſcene. Were I not afraid of being tireſome, I could now dwell as long on its varying or acciden⯑tal beauties. I would ſail round the lake, anchor in every bay, and land you on every promontory and iſland. I would point out the perpetual change of proſpect: The woods, rocks, cliffs, and mountains, by turns vaniſhing or riſing into view: Now gaining on the ſight, hanging over our heads in their full dimenſions, beautifully dreadful; and now, by a change of ſituation, aſſuming new romantic ſhapes, retiring and leſſening on the eye, and inſenſibly loſing themſelves in an azure miſt. I would re⯑mark the contraſt of light and ſhade, pro⯑duced by the morning and evening ſun; the one gilding the weſtern, and the other the eaſtern ſide of this immenſe amphithea⯑tre; while the vaſt ſhadow projected by the [7] mountains buries the oppoſite part in a deep and purple gloom, which the eye can hardly penetrate: The natural variety of colouring which the ſeveral objects produce is no leſs wonderful and pleaſing: The rul⯑ing tincts in the valley being thoſe of azure, green, and gold, yet ever various, ariſing from an intermixture of the lake, the woods, the graſs, and corn-fields: Theſe are fine⯑ly contraſted by the grey rocks and cliffs; and the whole heightened by the yellow ſtreams of light, the purple hues, and miſty azure of the mountains. Sometimes a ſe⯑rene air and clear ſky diſcloſe the tops of the higheſt hills: At others, you ſee clouds in⯑volving their ſummits, reſting on their ſides, or deſcending to their baſe, and rolling among the vallies, as in a vaſt furnace.— When the winds are high, they roar among the cliffs and caverns like peals of thunder; then, too, the clouds are ſeen in vaſt bodies ſweeping along the hills in gloomy great⯑neſs, while the lake joins the tumult and toſſes like a ſea: But in calm weather the whole ſcene becomes new: The lake is a perfect mirror; and the landſkip in all its beauty, iſlands, fields, woods, rocks, and mountains, are ſeen inverted, and floating [8] on its ſurface. I will now carry you to the top of a cliff, where if you dare approach the ridge, a new ſcene of aſtoniſhment pre⯑ſents itſelf, where the valley, lake, and iſlands, ſeem laying at your feet; where this expanſe of water appears diminiſhed to a little pool amidſt the vaſt immeaſureable objects that ſurround it; for here the ſum⯑mits of more diſtant hill appear before thoſe you had already ſeen; and riſing behind each other in ſucceſſive ranges and azure groups of craggy and broken ſteeps, form an immenſe and awful picture, which can only be expreſſed by the image of a tem⯑peſtuous ſea of mountains.—Let me now conduct you down again to the valley, and conclude with one circumſtance more; which is, that a walk by ſtill moon-light (at which time the diſtant water-falls are heard in all their variety of ſound) among theſe inchanting dales, opens a ſcene of ſuch de⯑licate beauty, repoſe, and ſolemnity, as ex⯑ceeds all deſcription.