The writer being engaged by Mr. Yates, of Liverpool, in his survey of Lancashire, made Ulverston his primary station for that part of the county which is north of the Sands, and here he had the happiness to be noticed by the worthy Mr. West, who with a fatherly care not only tempered his wild feelings, but taught him how to see and appreciate the lovely wilds of Furness. Were a county surveyor at the same time a landscape draftsman, how great must be his advantages, for traversing every road, and climbing every mountain, scenes must be presented to his eye, which would rarely be discovered by a professional artist.

The writer was encouraged to the pursuit of painting by Mr. West, but why he knows not, his few sketches were humble, his mind untu

* Mr. Close, in his new edition of West's Antiquities of Furness, says "The following particulars concerning him (Mr. West) we have received from the most respectable source, and think it incumbent to subjoin for the information of our readers.

"Thomas West was a native of North Britain. He was born about the year 1717, and received the earliest part of his education in the public schools in Edinburgh. Having a taste for learning, and a great desire to investigate the truths of religion, he entered the English college at St. Omers, where he went through his studies with application and brilliancy: and after having entered the holy Order of Priest-hood, and residing some years upon the Continent, he came to England, and was as much respected in his station of life, as for being a studious antiquarian. His residence in Furness was for some years at Titeup Hall, near Dalton, where he compiled his elaborate work on the antiquities of Furness; and then at Ulverston, where he wrote his well-known tract, entitled "A Guide to the Lakes." During the compilation of this last work, he made several tours to the Lakes, in order to examine the

tored, and he knew none of the requisite the ories, but geometry, perspective, and architec

ture.

Mr. West, by his Guide, did much for the accommodation of travellers, by pointing out delightful stations; the writer will not so much speak of points as roads, leaving his followers to station themselves at pleasure; but, feeling much respect both for Mr. West and his Guide, he will occasionally avail himself of his observations, especially those relating to Lancashire, the northern part of which county he was particularly well acquainted with.

Mr. West, in speaking of his Guide, observes that "the local knowledge here communicated,

B 3

surrounding scenery, and to collect information, frequently making Sizergh, in Westmorland, the ancient seat of the Strickland family, his occasional residence, where he died, much lamented by all who had the advantage of his acquaintance, on the 10th of July, 1779, in the sixty-third year of his age; and, according to his request, was interred in the choir, or chapel, belonging to the Strickland family, in Kendal church. He had, at the time of his death, almost finished a second and improved edition of his Guide to the Lakes, and had also the revision of his Antiquities of Furness in contemplation.

"He was a man revered for his piety and the benevolence of his disposition, as much as for his learning,-of all which many proofs might be produced. His memory has been justly revered for the service he rendered by his ingenious and elegant publication concerning the beauties of this country, which has drawn a number of strangers from all parts of the kingdom, and also many foreigners, to see the beauties of the lakes."

will not, however, injure, much less prevent, the agreeable surprise that attends the first sight of scenes that surpass all description, and of objects which will always affect the spectator in the highest degree.

"Such as wish to unbend the mind from anxious cares or fatiguing studies, will meet with agreeable relaxation in making the tour of the lakes. Something new will open itself at the turn of every mountain, and a succession of ideas will be supported by a perpetual change of objects, and a display of scenes behind scenes in endless perspective. The contemplative traveller will be charmed with the sight of the sweet retreats that he will observe in these enchanting regions of calm repose; and the fanciful may figuratively review the hurry and bustle of busy life (in all its gradations) in the variety of unshaded rills that hang on the mountains sides, the hasty brooks that warble through the dell, or the mighty torrents precipitating themselves at once with thundering noise from tremendous rocky heights; all pursuing one general end, their increase in the vale, and their union in the ocean.

"Such as spend their lives in cities, and their time in crowds, will here meet with objects that will enlarge the mind, by contemplation, and raise it from nature to nature's first cause. Whoever takes a walk into these scenes, must return penetrated with a sense of the Creator's power in heaping mountains upon mountains, and enthroning rocks upon rocks. Such exhi

bitions of sublime and beautiful objects cannot but excite at once both rapture and reverence.

"When exercise and change of air are recommended for health, the convalescent will find the latter here in the purest state, and the former will be the concomitant of the tour. The many hills and mountains of various heights, separated by narrow vales, through which the air is agitated and hurried on, by a multiplicity of brooks and mountain torrents, keep it in constant circulation, which is known to add much to its purity. The water is also as pure as the air, and on that account recommends itself to the valetudinarian."

Mr. West observes that "the late Mr. Gray was a great judge of landscapes, yet whoever makes choice of his station at the three mile stone from Lancaster, on the Hornby road, will fail in taking one of the finest afternoon rural views in England, The station he points out is a quarter of a mile too low, and somewhat too much to the left. The more advantageous station, as I apprehend, is on the south side of the great, or Queen's road, a little higher than where Mr. Gray stood; for there the vale is in full display, including a longer reach of the river and the wheel of Lune, forming a high crowded isthmus, fringed with tall trees, that in time past was the solitary site of a hermit. A few

Hugh, to whom William de Lancaster, sixth Baron of Kendal, gave a certain place called Askeleros and Croc, to look to

trees preserved on purpose by the owner, conceal the nakedness of Caton Moor on the right, and render the view complete."

But the vale of Lune, all the way from Lancaster to Hornby (nine miles), is singularly beautiful, and has its charms between the latter place and Kirkby Lonsdale (eight miles more). Hornby Castle, though of various dates and architecture, is a fine object from many points, the valley in which it stands abounds in wood, and is watered by the Lune and the Wenning; on the northern banks of the latter river and higher up the stream than the Castle, are some exquisite relishes of Claude, which represented by that faithful naturalist might more have refreshed the eye than his grandest efforts in pastry walls and jellied fountains.

But excursionists limited to time, may do well to leave the vale of Lune, and pass direct from Lancaster by way of Kendal and Bowness to Ambleside, or through Ulverston and by Coniston Water to Ambleside.

Mr. West says that "Mr. Gray was too late in the season for enjoying the beauties of prospect and rural landscape in a mountainous country; for in October, the dews lie long on the grass in the morning, and the clouds descend soon in the evening, and conceal the

his fishing in the river Loyn [or Lune].-Burn's Westmorland p. 31.