The Sun.
London, England, 1853-06-30 00:00:00

the scene, we could fancy the well-known lines of Gold-
smith prophetic of the occasion :
"And all the village train, from labour free,
Led up their sports beneath the spreading tree;
While many a pastime circled in the shade,
The young contending as the old survey'd ;
And many a gambol.frolick'd o'er the ground,
And sleights of art, and feats of strength went round;
And still, as each repeated pleasure tir'd,
Succeeding sports the mirthful band inspir'd,
The dancing pair, that simply sought renown
By holding out to tire each other down ;
The swain, mistrustless of his smutted face,
While secret laughter titter'd round the place."
We have little doubt, had it been possible to remain,
that we should have found the fireworks and fun as
fitting to the evening, as had been the flowerworks they
succeeded in the sunny hours that were gone, and to
which, in conclusion, a bright starry sky would not be
an unfitting crown.
An enthusiastic analogist, a hundred years ago, might
have said that in a region so mountainous, wild, and
bleak as the High Peak, where rheumatism and many of
its kindred ailments were sure to be rife, in consequence
of the cold and frequent showers, it was one of the
beautiful evidences of a designing Providence that medi-
cinal springs like those of Buxton had been ordained to
supply the remedy. Times have materially changed
since then. Planting and agriculture have altered all the
pictorial aspects of the neighbourhood, and buildings of
every needful kind are rising as they are wanted, until
they may be at last regarded as on the high way to com-
pletion. Buxton, under good contrivance and good ma-
nagement, may now be considered as in a fair course of de-
velopment; and modern facilities for travelling have made
it far more accessible for those residing in London, and
in the remotest districts of the country, than a cen-
tury ago it was from 'many parts of our own county.
At one time it was a common observation that, though the
country at a short distance from Buxton, in any direc-
tion, was beautifully romantic, the town itself, and the
scenes immediately around, had little interest, except in
relation to the medicinal waters. But it was the busi-
ness of art to step in and complete what nature had left
undone, and one is at length made to harmonise so ex-
quisitely with the other, that, whether he stay about the
town, or ramble out, the visitor's eye is gladdened every-
where with something agreeable and cheering. If dis-
posed to a little exercise in retirement, there are wind-
ing wood walks close at hand ; or if the gaieties of the
promenade should better please, lawns and terraces are
equally at his service,—with the music of gentle waters
to soothe him in the first, and the occasional strains of
an excellent instrumental band to enliven him in the
second • while every comfort may be commanded within
doors that the invalid could desire, or the fashionable
loiterer require, to relieve the hours of dull weather
when they happen to interfere with out-door diversions
and excursions. We said excursions : and what glorious
excursions may be made from Buxton ! With Speßcer
Hall's new work " The Peak and the Plain," Rhodes's
"Peak Scenery," or Adam's "Gem of the Peak,P
for a companion—to Haddon or Chatsworth, Castle-
ton or Dovedale, and to all the beauties that abound
in the neighbourhood of Bakewell or of Matlock—
with a map full of sweet spots besides, that it would be
as impossible as unnecessary now to particularise—the
angler, the rambler, or the sketcher, might take his way
at his leisure, on foot or with the aid of a car if he needed
or preferred it, and fear no ill ; he might enjoy his fill
of pleasure and return in the evening or the next day—
the country having now a cheerful inn almost wherever
one could be desired for the accommodation alike of the
wayfarer or the sportsman who might wander too far for
an early return. Thus it is, that what was once little
more than a local benefit in the healing efficacy of the
Buxton waters, has been made a national one bythe pro-
gress of the times, the improved modes of travelling,
and the increased accommodations of every kind in the
town itself ; and while the invalid is taking advantage
of all these, the invalid's friends can be relieved of tedium
and anxiety, either by residence or pop visits, as may
best suit their convenience ; so that ennui is about one
of the last things that need be complained of, since so-
ciety or solitude, gravity or gaiety, may be as rapidly
exchanged, one for the other, as the most versatile mind
could wish, while every service and attention that could
be desired is most assiduously rendered by the permanent
residents.